If Life Was Perfect

[Aeson]

So deprived people should exist so that you can be philanthropic? You have a very weird take on what it means to be "caring".

[Kidlicious]

Originally posted by Darius871


Well since you ask, I'm sure I'd hate getting born with a silver spoon for the same exact reasons I'd hate a [material] utopia. At least with the former I could seek some fulfillment in philanthropy though.

So you also desire other people to suffer for your needs to have a purpose?

Look, people don't spend so much effort avoiding pain because they like it. They avoid it because they don't like it. Why don't rich people give everything up for the ghetto life. Or for that matter why don't they have themselves thrown in prison for some good olde ass rape.

[Perfection]

Just so you guys know, my life kicks ass.

[Kidlicious]

Originally posted by Perfection
Just so you guys know, my life kicks ass.

[Darius871]

Originally posted by Kidicious
It's incredible how you think most people like work.

Of course it's rare for people to "like work," and I never said otherwise. However, I do get the impression that a vast majority of people need to at least keep their minds occupied with some tangible tasks oriented toward ultimate goals to remain sane. I've never met someone that could put up with an entire life spent in a metaphorical hammock.

Aeson might be right about people scratching the itch with mere hobbies, however. It wouldn't be enough for me but maybe it would for most huh-mons.

[Kidlicious]

Originally posted by Darius871


Of course it's rare for people to "like work," and I never said otherwise. However, I do get the impression that a vast majority of people need to at least keep their minds occupied with some tangible tasks oriented toward ultimate goals to remain sane. I've never met someone that could put up with an entire life spent in a metaphorical hammock.

Aeson might be right about people scratching the itch with mere hobbies, however. It wouldn't be enough for me but maybe it would for most huh-mons.

Utopia doesn't necessarily mean no work. It just means people don't have to work. The problem is today that people have to work. That's what they don't like.

[Aeson]

Who's talking about mere hobbies? People already devote their lives to such work. And you're still ignoring the vast array of jobs that would need to be filled to maintain the Utopian way of life.

[Darius871]

Originally posted by Aeson
So deprived people should exist so that you can be philanthropic? You have a very weird take on what it means to be "caring".

Originally posted by Kidicious
So you also desire other people to suffer for your needs to have a purpose?

I only said I'd hate exorbitant wealth for the same reasons I'd hate [material] utopia, and then noted one small difference between the two. How do you go from that to implying I think anyone should suffer so philanthropists can feel good about themselves?

[Kidlicious]

Originally posted by Darius871



I only said I'd hate exhorbitant wealth for the same reasons I'd hate [material] utopia, and then noted one small difference between the two. How do you go from that to implying I think anyone should suffer so philanthropists can feel good about themselves?

Maybe it stems from the fact that you don't see value in the end of suffering.

[Darius871]

Originally posted by Aeson
And you're still ignoring the vast array of jobs that would need to be filled to maintain the Utopian way of life.

Material perfection assumes there is no work or other pain whatsoever. We get what we want when we want it, and do only what we want to do. All that would need to be done is eat, sleep, and make babies. Socializing and hobbies would be additional, and who knows, maybe they would be enough for some people.

[Aeson]

Originally posted by Darius871
I only said I'd hate exorbitant wealth for the same reasons I'd hate [material] utopia, and then noted one small difference between the two. How do you go from that to implying I think anyone should suffer so philanthropists can feel good about themselves?

You phrased it such that you put your fulfillment (philanthropy) as more important than the needs of the deprived.

If you truely cared about their needs, you would have said, "In either case I'd be bored, but at least in the later case, no one would be starving, raped, killed, ect..."

[Darius871]

Originally posted by Aeson
You phrased it such that you put your fulfillment (philanthropy) as more important than the needs of the deprived.

If you truely cared about their needs, you would have said, "In either case I'd be bored, but at least in the later case, no one would be starving, raped, killed, ect..."

It's about context. I looked at the question given the discussion's focus on emotional fulfillment in the absence of material deprivation. If we were talking about what's materially worst for mankind, my answer would have been the one you pose.

[Darius871]

Originally posted by Kidicious
Maybe it stems from the fact that you don't see value in the end of suffering.

After all this you're still not getting the crucial distinction between material suffering and emotional suffering. Of course I "see value in the end of suffering," but the point of contention was whether ending material suffering would necessarily end emotional suffering. I highly doubt it.

[Aeson]

Originally posted by Darius871
Material perfection assumes there is no work or other pain whatsoever.

Utopia != material perfection.

We get what we want when we want it, and do only what we want to do.

To be technical, it wouldn't be materially perfect if it didn't allow for you to do what you want. Which is what you are implying it would disallow, since you want to do something this "perfect" world wouldn't allow.

All that would need to be done is eat, sleep, and make babies.

Technically, no. We wouldn't need to do any of those things in a materially perfect world.

Socializing and hobbies would be additional, and who knows, maybe they would be enough for some people.

No, in a materially perfect world your fulfillment would be ensured. If it weren't, it would denote a physical imperfection in the options available to you. Even if that option happened to be a complete takeover of your consciousness to give you the illusion of a fulfilling life full of whatever **** you think is necessary.

(Start to see why arguing about materially perfect is senseless? It would be perfect. Any imperfection you might find in it, even within our own chemical structure, would be an imperfection and thus not allowed.)

[Darius871]

Whatever, that's enough entirely hypothetical mental masturbation (i.e. trolling) for one night. We'll all be six feet under before any of these questions are addressed anyhow.