Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

[deleted] OP t1_j8hnfth wrote

Reply to comment by Kaninenlove in Drawing the line between positive use of technology and degeneracy by [deleted]

Focus on hedonism above all else is not a logically balanced goal. Pleasure can only be experienced when it is compared to a less pleasurable state of being so thus a society focused entirely on hedonism will endlessly seek more and more extreme forms of pleasure. It's a road straight to insanity.

Again this isn't to say that everyone needs to be some austere monk, it's just that I think that a post-scarcity ultra-tech society should teach its citizens how to balance their hedonistic desires in a way that is balanced and doesn't lead to ruin. It's the same principle as how we allow alcohol but discourage people from being alcoholics.

1

Kaninenlove t1_j8hnwr5 wrote

I suppose that is a good argument against trancendant hedonism, but it doesn't seem entirely aligned with the rest of your post.

8

backroundagain t1_j8hpthy wrote

I don't think that's teachable. The best current society can do is scare tactics, mostly in the form of religion. Either you chase that sort of thing, or it's a non-issue for you.

5

TheInvisibleJeevas t1_j8ilht3 wrote

I don’t think there’s some inherent “dangerous” level of hedonism. If it was impossible to overdose on heroine, no one would have a problem with it. The human brain can only process so many positive chemicals before it reaches a plateau. We’d have to augment the brain itself to both process more of those chemicals and make it possible for us to perceive those increased chemical loads. It might be a useless endeavor, since peaking and returning to baseline is how human brains are wired, and if we keep raising the baseline and peak capacity, we’re just staying the same, relatively speaking. But will it do harm? Nah.

And remember, different cultures see different things as “degenerate.” There isn’t even consensus among the human species on what is and isn’t socially appropriate. And social rules and tastes shift within cultures overtime. Many would say that maximizing the ability for individual expression should be the goal of humanity. As long as you’re not hurting others, let your freak flag fly.

3