<p>In today's world, people are seeking instant gratification.They just want to have fun, live a hedonistic life? Do you think this is a good lifestyle to lead? Also many college students join organizations which they think will help the needy people but do you think donating money or watching a video about Darfur genocide will actually help those people?</p>
<p>. no .</p>
<p>Your last point is a good one, but the nastiness you imply with your first point is undue. I personally think delayed gratification is not the way to live your life. If you are making sacrifices now for gratifications later (and <em>gasp</em> if the gratification is post-mortem), then you will invariably continue to make sacrifices. This does not go to say that human's only enjoyments are hedonistic. Remarkably, some people enjoy productive work - medicine, law, & design come to mind as three things that people ussually do for a percieved delayed gratification (that being to make money and live a comfortable lifestyle).</p>
<p>Moreso now than ever, millenia old religious ideas about what is right and wrong are being neglected in favor of what you would call hedonistic values. You have to establish a better basis for why hedonist values are actually bad other than "well the lord God says so, so it must be the truth." We are a Christian country, so most of what we consider right and wrong (think pious and hedonist) will have Biblical origins, a work well known for its faulty proofs and ill-gotten logic.</p>
<p>Hedonism/Zeno predates the bible and greatly influenced christianity...</p>
<p>DanishBoy, I would be greatly interested to hear what your sources are for the claims that Hedonism and Zeno greatly influenced Christianity</p>
<p>Oooooh, deep philosophizing on the college discussion forums. </p>
<p>Here's a hint: if your all-encompassing philosophical ruminations can be expressed in 4* sentences, they're probably not very deep or true.</p>
<ul>
<li>There are really 5 sentences there, one of them should actually be 2 sentences.</li>
</ul>
<p>I meant to say Hedonism and Epicurus (both Zeno and Epicurus dealed with pleasure) yet Zeno and Stoicism did influence christianity because it offered individuals advice on how to come to personal salvation in a world descending into chaos and disintegration. Plus the whole good and evil descending upon the self. (Philosopher major; )</p>
<p>I don't the direction our society is headed to and yearn for simpler times.</p>
<p>The last point is interesting. I go to PSU and a few clubs have organized huge events to raise money for families of the victims of the virginia tech massacre. Does this make sense? I can see if the parents were the ones who had died, living the children unsupported through their college education. But how is money supposed to help the parent's grief? They already have jobs and a career, so what difference will it make? Wouldn't a memorial, a collective display of condolence, or other symbolic act be much more meaningful?</p>
<p>No, money heals all wounds.</p>
<p>If only .</p>
<p>i think as a fact of human nature, humans have always been hedonistic, and are no more now than before. it's just that technology has made almost everything faster and easier, so human desires are just being satiated faster. so i don't think it's so much that human desires are greater or more "immoral," just that we now have the means to satisfy the more immediately. also consider the fact that moral constructs constantly evolve, while at their core, human desires don't.</p>
<p>i don't think people should recklessly pursue pleasure, but it's unavoidable that we do to some degree. i agree with cwatson that delaying pleasure for the pursuit of future pleasures or security is not the best idea, or else you'll just keep delaying them. it's easy to forget that in the midst of accomplishments and necessary financial goals that you still have the same desires and wants (and they may not be "immoral" ones at that)...just that they've been obscured in practicality and the illusion that the future will be happier because of accomplishments now.</p>
<p>i like to think of it this way: if i exclusively devote my time in college to work and getting the highest GPA possible, can i be assured that my life after college will be happier? sure, i'll have a job and a prestigious title. and while that may undoubtedly make me happy, many of those are still facets of happiness are still social constructs, not necessarily in line with individual pleasures. or...if i work hard once i'm out of college and save for retirement, and i figure "well i'll be happy once i'm 65." but will the nice cars, nice house, and nice neighborhood really make me happy?</p>
<p>and lets not forget...i could just as easily die tomorrow. what happens when you've lived so much for tomorrow that you've forgotten today?</p>
<p>i'm not saying you should be hedonistic and throw all responsibility to the wind, but that in a way, not wanting to pursue pleasures can be almost as reckless. life requires a balance...you can do the things you want, and still do the things you need to do, all within reasonable bounds...heck, even moral bounds :rolleyes:.</p>
<p>Quickly and example:</p>
<p>I thought to myself: what am I going to do once I'm out of college and making serious $$$.</p>
<p>Well, I'm going to party all of the time - so I started that early, just Natty Light instead of Crystal</p>
<p>I'm going to want a nice sailboat - 100% Carbon fiber high performance boat - so much more fun than some 60ft racer-cruiser</p>
<p>I'm going to shoot - spare the handcrafted .308 for a inexpensive .22</p>
<p>I'm going to want a fast car - well on my way to keep that under $6k (within budget, no ricer job)</p>
<p>I'm going to want to design - rigging systems, new ammunition, aero packages already doing it</p>
<p>I love to learn - eng 101 is the last necessary evil I have to endure, I want to learn everything in my college courses next year</p>
<p>I want to live independently - proposed a feasible off campus living situation for next year, already signed the lease.</p>
<p>I'll be majoring in engr, so my job is just one of my hedonistic loves. I spend more time debating between which fun thing I want to do than trying to find something to do at all. And, remarkably, I'll probably end up contributing something to the world. I could die any day and I'll have known I did everything in my power to achieve my own felicity. And have done so without the cost (and ussually to the benifit of) others. I'd prefer not to though, I've got so much to do.</p>
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[quote]
The last point is interesting. I go to PSU and a few clubs have organized huge events to raise money for families of the victims of the virginia tech massacre. Does this make sense? I can see if the parents were the ones who had died, living the children unsupported through their college education. But how is money supposed to help the parent's grief? They already have jobs and a career, so what difference will it make? Wouldn't a memorial, a collective display of condolence, or other symbolic act be much more meaningful?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>The families of those deceased are probably more secure financially than they were before, as is the school. Throwing money at them is a rediculous way to ease their pain.</p>
<p>edit: medical expenses maybe...</p>
<p>That is exactly what I thought when I heard they were organizing this fund raise. They were asking for small donations(5$-10) to be sent for the families of those who died in the incident. </p>
<p>I guess our society has become so accustomed to asking for donations and forming fund raisers for natural disasters and crimes that this act is thought to solve everything-- so cynical.</p>
<p>this reminds me of the picture of Dorian gray....its okay at times, but it can get carried away.</p>
<p>He is an excerpt from the email that I received about this event:</p>
<p>" We are asking that if even all of the organizations can donate $5-10, we will be able to get everything we need and any donations that are left over from that will be deposited directly into the "We Are...All Hokies" Fund. This also holds true that any extra food will be sent to the families."</p>
<p>Sending extra food to the families!? How naice and humiliating is this? These kids are desperate for attention.</p>
<p>They were organizing a large dinner, by the way. Hah! that is comic. Let's show our condolences by getting together and having an all you eat buffet. Despicable!</p>
<p>Fras, you did not benefit by the food donated after 11 September- I can tell from your post. Since you have never benefited from the food given to grieving families, your opinion that its worthless means nothing.</p>
<p>Sometimes small gestures of what people can do to let others know they care are the most helpful. I know when my family has gone through difficult times and been given food, it helps. That is one less thing to worry about: feeding one's children.</p>
<p>not for nothing but most of these families just lost a kid in this massacre....anyways it does seem ridiculous to me as well.</p>