the three modes of material nature (tri-guṇa) as public policy

The Three Modes of Material Nature (Tri-Guṇa)

As a Basis for Public PolicyChristopher Shannon, MS Statistics

http://samprajna.org

Email: [email protected] on 16 December 2016 at the

International Veda Conference – Jawaharlal Nehru University

The World Happiness Report (WHR)

• WHR summarizes the “state of happiness in the today and show how the new science of happiness explains personal and national variations in happiness” (WHR 2012).

• Why happiness? “Higher average incomes do not necessarily improve average well-being, the U.S. being a clear case in point. . . . U.S. GNP per capita has risen by a factor of three since 1960, while measures of average happiness have remained essentially unchanged over the half-century.”

• Why happiness is important? (1) reducing overconsumption, (2) better use of shrinking resources, and (3) improving public policy.

How is happiness measured in WHR?

• Main analysis of happiness is based on individual life evaluations.

• Response variable: The Cantril Ladder question: “Please imagine a ladder, with steps numbered from 0 at the bottom to 10 at the top. The top of the ladder represents the best possible life for you and the bottom of the ladder represents the worst possible life for you. On which step of the ladder would you say you personally feel you stand at this time?”

Six key factors for predicting the Cantril Ladder score:

• GDP per capita

• Social support

• Healthy life expectancy

• Social freedom

• Generosity

• Absence of corruption

True Happiness

• Veda (वेद): Knowledge, comes from the dhatu ववद्, from which we get ववद्या and अववद्या. From Gita 13.11:

• John Stuart Mill: “It is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied; better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied. And if the fool, or the pig, are a different opinion, it is because they only know their own side of the question. The other party to the comparison knows both sides.”

• The big idea: there is such a thing as objective happiness, which we can know and measure but cannot discover by science alone.

Happiness under the three guṇas

• Sattva-guṇa: That which in the beginning may be just like poison but at the end is just like nectar and which awakens one to self-realization is said to be happiness in the mode of goodness (18.37).

• Rajo-guṇa: That happiness which is derived from contact of the senses with their objects and which appears like nectar at first but poison at the end is said to be of the nature of passion (18.38).

• Tamo-guṇa: And that happiness which is blind to self-realization, which is delusion from beginning to end and which arises from sleep, laziness and illusion is said to be of the nature of ignorance (18.39).

Case Study: Guṇas, Marriage, and Public Policy

(APA) “Happy Couples: How to keep your relationship healthy”:

• To keep things interesting, some couples plan regular date nights. Even dates can get old, though, if you're always renting a movie or going to the same restaurant. Experts recommend breaking out of the routine and trying new things — whether that's going dancing, taking a class together or packing an afternoon picnic.

• Intimacy is also a critical component of romantic relationships. Some busy couples find it helpful to schedule sex by putting it on the calendar. It may not be spontaneous to have it written in red ink, but setting aside time for an intimate encounter helps ensure that your physical and emotional needs are met.

Guṇa metrics: Foods

• Sattvic: increases duration of life, purifying, strengthens, and improves health, happiness and satisfaction. Also juicy, fatty, wholesome (Gita 17.8)

• Rajasic: too bitter, too sour, salty, hot, pungent, dry and burning are dear to those in the mode of passion. Such foods cause distress, misery and disease (17.9)

• Tamasic: Food prepared more than three hours before being eaten, food that is tasteless, decomposed and putrid, and food consisting of remnants and untouchable things (17.10).

Guṇa metrics: Workplace habits

• Sattvic: Performs duty without association with the modes of material nature, without false ego, with great determination and enthusiasm, and without wavering in success or failure is said to be a worker in the mode of goodness (Gita 18.26)

• Rajasic: Is attached to work and the fruits of work, desiring to enjoy those fruits, is greedy, always envious, impure, and moved by joy and sorrow (18.27)

• Tamasic: The worker who is always engaged in work against the injunctions of the scripture, who is materialistic, obstinate, cheating and expert in insulting others, and who is lazy, always morose and procrastinating (18.28).

Guṇa metrics: Motivations

Example: Different motivations for truthfulness.

• Sattvic: being truthful because it ought to be done and not expecting any reward (Gita 17.17)

• Rajasic: being truthful out of pride or for the sake of gaining respect, honor and worship (Gita 17.18).

• Tamasic: performed out of foolishness, with self-torture or to destroy or injure others (Gita 17.19).

Note: Max Weber’s example of Benjamin Franklin’s maxim on truthfulness in The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism is a case of rajo-guṇa.

Some Statistical Findings

Developed World vs. Others - No Difference Detected (Tukey-Kramer Test)

Group 1 Varname Group 2 Difference p-Value

Developed World

Confidence NGov

Bottom Rung -0.016 1.000

Hardscrabble and Hopeful -0.085 0.546

Middle of the Road -0.052 0.805

Optimists -0.101 0.278

Upwardly Mobile and Anxious -0.043 0.883

Generosity

Bottom Rung 0.103 0.301

Hardscrabble and Hopeful 0.059 0.685

Optimists 0.054 0.711

Gini Gallup HH IncomeMiddle of the Road -0.037 0.163


Gini WB AvgMiddle of the Road -0.044 0.250


Negative Affect





Sd Ladder Cty Yr





Results of Linear Discriminant Analysis

Variable namePartial F-

test Lambda p-Value Rejects Null Hyp.

HLE (Healthy Life Expectancy at Birth) 1047.848 0.029 0.00E+00 Y

Delivery Quality 89.752 0.262 0.00E+00 Y

Log GDP (per-capita) 88.773 0.264 0.00E+00 Y

Life Ladder 60.423 0.345 0.00E+00 Y

Democrtic Quality 37.086 0.462 0.00E+00 Y

Social Support 24.331 0.567 0.00E+00 Y

Gini Gallup Household Income 23.876 0.571 0.00E+00 Y

Stddev Mean Ladder Country Year 22.727 0.583 0.00E+00 Y

Freedom of Life Choice 8.626 0.787 2.97E-07 Y

Perceptions of Corruption 6.422 0.832 1.83E-05 Y

Positive Affect 5.845 0.845 5.51E-05 Y

Generosity 5.106 0.862 2.27E-04 Y

Gini World Bank Average 3.774 0.894 2.95E-03 Y

Stddev Ladder by Country Year 2.931 0.916 1.47E-02 Y

Negative Affect 2.111 0.938 6.68E-02 N

Confidence in National Government 1.158 0.965 3.32E-01 N

Hypothesis degrees freedom: 5.000

Error degrees freedom: 159.000

F-test critical value F(0.95, 5,159): 2.271

Table 3: Results of LDA. Variables sorted by order of importance.

Diversity?

Vedic perspective in public policy missing by its absence.

• 2016 report (Special Rome Edition) contains Civilization-specific perspectives:• Chapter 2: Human Flourishing, the Common Good, and Catholic Social

Teaching (Anthony Annett)• Chapter 3: The Challenges of Public Happiness: An Historical-Methodological

Reconstruction (Luigino Bruni and Stefano Zemagni)• [From the blurb:] "The central idea of this paper, drawn from Aristotle, is that there is an

intrinsic value in relational and civil life, without which human life does not fully flourish."

If the World Happiness Report considers ideas from Roman Catholicism and Aristotle, why not also from the Vedic tradition?

Please support

1. Policy makers and allied institutions should sponsor the research and development of new metrics based on the Vedic conception of “the good life”.

2. The Vedic framework of the three guṇas should be explored and developed with a view towards providing a useful guide for scientists and policy makers to leverage Vedic knowledge.

3. Researchers should explore how traditional techniques of statistical inference along with newer machine-learning approaches can be used to refine and integrate Vedic insights regarding happiness with the insights derived from other fields.

References

• Helliwell, J. "World Happiness Report 2012 [Electronic resource]." The Earth Institute.—2012.—Available at:\www/URL: http://worldhappiness. report/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2012/04/World_Happiness_Report_2012. pdf.

• U.S. Census: “Measuring childbearing patterns in the United States”, <https://www.census.gov/newsroom/cspan/childbearing/20120817_cspan_childbearing_slides.pdf>.

• "Happy Couples: How to keep your relationship healthy“, American Psychological Association, 15 Dec. 2016 <http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/healthy-relationships.aspx>.

the three modes of material nature (tri-guṇa) as public policy

Government & Nonprofit