posted
After much thought and observation, i have deduced that there are 3 driving forces for the human race.
1. Greed: it drives the world economy with out money is worthless.
2. Stupidity: How else would the greedy people make money. By preying on the stupid and gullable.
3. Sex: this has started and ended wars, forged civilizations and is geneticaly ingrained into the human genome, this is the ultimate of the 3, the drive to mate.
I would like to here your oppinions on this.
------------------ I am not responsible for the stupidity of other people.
posted
Not greed. The wish to better your conditions is not nesecarily greed. It's greed when it's to the exclusion of all else, or when you knowingly harm someone else.
And there's protection, either of self or loved ones.
------------------ You are wise, witty, and wonderful, but you spend far too much time reading this sort of trash.
posted
I hesitate to make sweeping pronouncements, but seeing as how the "meaning of life" has been the topic of much formal debate for over two thousand years, I am not anticipating that the answer can be summed up in three catchy lines.
However, that isn't to say it can't be. I'm just not anticipating it. Heck, I didn't anticipate having to wake up early this morning, which shows you what I know.
------------------ "20th Century, go to sleep." -- R.E.M.
posted
Those three things show the "Fallen World", but with lots of different people trying to undo that the exact three opposite would also have to be included.
Does that make sense to anyone except me?
------------------ What started in Jerusalem as a relationship, went on to become a philosophy in Athens, an institution in Rome, a culture in nothern Europe, and was turned into an enterprise in America. -paraphrased, author unknown-
posted
I have read his book, i formulated these way before that. But is still agree with much of what scott adams has to say, they have a lot of truth to them.
Plus he is funny as hell. ------------------ I am not responsible for the stupidity of other people.
[This message has been edited by Necromancer (edited February 06, 2000).]
posted
i did not mean that people are driven by stupidity, but many for some reason act stupid, i have not been able to determine the exact cause as of yet, but you are right much is in response to certain stimuli.
------------------ I am not responsible for the stupidity of other people.
[This message has been edited by Necromancer (edited February 06, 2000).]
posted
Forget that-I meant what I 1st posted here.
------------------ What started in Jerusalem as a relationship, went on to become a philosophy in Athens, an institution in Rome, a culture in nothern Europe, and was turned into an enterprise in America. -paraphrased, author unknown-
[This message has been edited by bryce (edited February 06, 2000).]
[This message has been edited by bryce (edited February 06, 2000).]
posted
It seems to me that the principle of utility as expressed by that Bentham guy makes much more sense than any list of various bad qualities of people. (Forgive the jargon, but midterms, etc.)
In other words, people act to maximize their pleasure and minimize their pain.
By no means as universal as that aforementioned Bentham guy might have liked, but a good starting point.
------------------ "20th Century, go to sleep." -- R.E.M.
posted
I remember studying something about the hierarchy of human response. I have no idea what it was called or who formulated this theory though. I think it fits in well with Sol System's comment about maximizing pleasure while minimizing pain.
The theory was very basic and was organized into a pyramid. Basically, our day to day concerns take up only the very top of this pyramid and are subserviant to everything below it. It stated that basic needs override superficial ones. In other words, people will not worry about what to have for dinner tonight if they find they can no longer breathe! Nor will they be terribly worried about sex if they are starving.
I have no idea if this adds anything to the conversation or not. What I'm basically saying is that generally, survival instincts will always kick in first and foremost. Of course, as intelligent, conscious creatures, we have the ability to override these instincts based on moral or other ground. Only animals act purely and unthinkingly on instinct.
------------------ "A gathering of Angels appeared above my head. They sang to me this song of hope, and this is what they said..." -Styx
Printer-friendly view of this topic
