| Akvod said: I want to practise hedonism restricted by morality. After doing the right thing, the next thing on my priority is to do whatever would make me the most happy. Stuff that could make me happy: Games, good food, masturbation, sex (?), moderate ammounts of alcohol, having a healthy body, lack of stress, enough money, family (?), etc. It should all be seen in terms of cost-benefit and opportunity cost. If I discover that I would actually be happier divorcing and focusing on my work, then I should do so. If I discover I'm happier being a drug addict, then I should do so. Some of you may disagree and say "That's outrageous! Being [homeless, poor, fat, etc] is crappy!". But that's after I consider which one would make me happier. If I end up being more unhappy being homeless, then that's simply an error in judgement, not an error in the process.
After reading Ecclesiastes, I'm kinda more confident in this path. I shouldn't be building up wealth just for the sake of it, or because society tells me to do it, but only if I actually get some kind of joy or pleasure from doing so.
All hapiness, orgasms, pleasure, etc are the same, for those few seconds, we feel good. So my plan is to just maximize the percentage of my lifetime that I am feeling this euphoria. So far it's been 18 out of 20? 30? 40? 50? 60? 70? 80? (Kinda depressing, because even if I live up to a 100 years old, for 20%) years that I feel like shit. So I'm not doing a very good job at it =/ Pleasure and hedonism has been seen as a negative thing, especially by most religious ideologies and some philosophers. So I was curious what you guys follow. |
Your program sounds good. Just one quick observation/warning: happiness and pleasure aren't the same thing. Orgasm, for instance, brings pleasure, but not necessarily happiness, which is a much more complicated thing. Sometimes achieving happiness requires *avoiding* certain temporary pleasures, and this is where things like drug addiction get challenged.
So yeah, cost/benefit analysis, and happiness is good, etc., but just remember that "euphroia"--things that bring you a temporary sensation--neither are the same as the requirements for actual happiness, nor do they always lead to them.
