” The ancient Chinese symbol of yin and yang represents the value of the eternally shifting balance between seemingly opposite principles. Religion and science, for example, are often thought to be opponents, but as I have shown, the insights of ancient religions and modern science are both needed to reach a full understanding of human nature and conditions of human satisfaction. The ancients may have known little about biology, chemistry, and physics, but many were good psychologists. Psychology and religion can benefit by taking each other seriously, or at least by agreeing to learn from each other while overlooking the areas of irreconcilable difference.
The Eastern and Western approaches to life are also said to be opposed: the East stresses acceptance and collectivism; the West encourages striving and individualism. But as we’ve seen, both perspectives are valuable. Happiness requires changing yourself and changing your world. It requires pursuing your own goals and fitting in with others. Different people at different times in their lives will benefit from drawing more heavily on one approach or the other.
And finally, liberals (progressives) and conservatives are opponents in the most literal sense, each using the myth of pure evil to demonize the other side and unite thier own. But the most important lesson I have learned in my twenty years of research on morality is that nearly all people are morally motivated. Selfishness is a powerful force, particularly in the decision of individuals, but whenever groups of people come together to make a sustained effort to change the world, you can bet they are pursuing a vision of virtue, justice, or sacredness. Material self interest does little to explain the passions of partisans on issues such as abortion, the enviornment, or the role of religion in public life. (Self interest certainly cannot explain terrorism, but the selflessness made possible by group selection can.)
An important dictum of cultural psychology is that each culture develops expertise in some aspects of human existence, but no culture can be an expert in all aspects. The same goes for the two ends of the political spectrum. My research confirms the common perception that liberals are experts in thinking about issues of victimization, equality, autonomy, and the rights of individuals, particularly those of minorities and nonconformists. Conservatives, on the other hand, are experts in thinking about loyalty to the group, respect for authority and tradition, and sacredness. When one side overwhelms the other, the results are likely to be ugly. A society without liberals would be harsh and oppressive. A society without conservatives would lose many of the social structures and social constraints that are so valuable. A good place to look for wisdom, therefore, is in the minds of your opponents. You already know the ideas common on your side. If you can take of the blinders of the myth of pure evil, you might see some good ideas for the first time.
By drawing on wisdom that is balanced– ancient and new, Eastern and Western, even liberal and conservative– we can choose directions in life that will lead to satisfaction, happiness, and a sense of meaning. By drawing on humanity’s greatest ideas and best science, we can know our possibilities as well as our limits, and live wisely.

Spirituality is how one feels inside–when you feel complete. It is a cognitive blanket and, ultimately, a denial of the external–of what perception tells you. In short, it’s bunk–it’s why hippies become hippies after being raised Baptists: they cannot escape the closed-in metaphysical feeling that there is something else out there–when, chances are, there is not.