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Pain VS Pleasure
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
Hello everyone I wrote an article about the fact that sometimes to do the right thing you experience pain. Yet also if you do the wrong thing you may experience pleasure. It is a paradox of sorts. :wave: All opinions are appreciated. http://freakmag.com/The_Vibe/The_Pain_Pleasure_Principal.html
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I read your article, Ace, and have several things to say about it but I'll have to do it later now when I regain my energy.
*crushed spirit*
Just to note:
Principal: usually refers to the head of an educational establishment.
Principle: set of rules/norms forming the basis of other things.
Firstly, the examples you've used come across as very weak. What I mean is that if my friend started using drugs then I'd sure as hell tell him what a complete and utter idiot he was, maybe even grabbing him by the shoulders and shaking him violently whilst shouting "YOU FOOL! YOU FOOL!" over and over again. If put in that situation any good friend would kick the ass of the druggy friend for getting into something so incredibly stupid and harmful. I wouldn't expect anything less from my chums if I was to do the same. If someone just stood by and watched their mate sink into the depths of hell called Heroin Addiction because they were "scared" that their friend would get mad at them and not like them any more, well, that friendship had some serious issues from the start.
The same goes for the bad-doer co-worker. If he's stealing from customers and even assaulting people then there's NO WAY most people would pretend that they never saw it and not tell anyone. I'd damn well step in, too (providing he wasn't 7 foot tall with no front teeth and a history of breaking people's legs with very little warning) and tell him I saw him. I might even growl like a lion as well, just to psyche him out a bit. If he's abusing his position then that sucker's going DOWN, by which I mean legally, i.e. I'll inform the boss/police/Batman of his actions and let them deal with it. Someone who just stands by and let's stuff like that go on around them because they're scared of everything is almost as bad as the person they're scared of in the first place.
Anyway, I know that's off on a slight tangent to your point but I just felt that those examples weren't very typical of most people (I hope).
I see your article is basically about how it's much easier to sin than to stay on the straight and narrow (I'm presuming that this is influenced by it being Lent at the moment?)
The problem I see here is that your audience are two groups of people: Christians and non-Christians. Well the Christians will agree with what you're saying and understand the importance of resisting temptation. The non-Christians, however, will most likely see that most of what you say makes sense but that it's not so important. Neither will likely be altered by what you've said.
I mean from a religious point of view, saving yourself for marriage and only ever having sex with your wife is great because that's what God tells you to do, you're supposed to do it, you'll make him happy, it'll strengthen your relationship with him and ultimately you've got heaven to look forward to.
But from a non-religious point of view, not having sex until you're married makes sense in principle (avoid STDs, babies, heartbreak etc etc) but without anything more than these worldly problems it's hardly going to stop most people from doing what their whole body and mind is telling them to do i.e. SHAG SHAG SHAG SHAAAAAAAG. I mean after all, apply a bit of common sense and you can have sex thousands of times without ever getting a virus or spawning a bawling baby. It's just the silly or very unlucky ones who end up in that boat.
So what I'm getting at is that your point isn't really targetted at anyone because whichever of the two groups the reader falls into, the message doesn't really apply to them.
Anyway, that's all I have to say for now. Hey, check out this guy's monobrow --->
"Shy Dave Quiet Head" the kids used to call me. Damn them. DAMN THEM TO HELL.
What a load of shite.
Stupid example. Here's the reality. You do not know if doing drugs will result with anything you've claimed. Your friend might report considerable benefits from drug use, including spiritual development. You have no idea what the results - if any - will be.
Confronting him is not the 'moral' thing to do, because what is moral advances the good (anything which increases overall human happiness) and reduces the bad (anything which reduces overall human happiness). Confronting someone who uses drugs with or without a problem serves no purpose as people with any sense of independence will not suddenly quit to please the misplaced concerns of an ignorant friend. Especially since the drugs they are taking may be offering new insights and life-affirming experiences. You'd be most likely to fail in your aim and end the friendship if you continued bitching - in other words, you'd maximise the bad.
The sensible and moral option would be to accept your friend's lifestyle and provide support should he have any problems - 'pleasure' or 'pain' doesn't play a part.
The basic survival instinct's promotion of passivity towards wrong doing does not lead lead to the conclusion that man is inherently 'sinful'. If human life is valuable, and survival instinct promotes passivity to certain wrong doing as a means of self-protection, then surely it's purpose of saving life is, at least, equally as moral as it is immoral?
Not all instincts promote passivity to wrong doing either. If i saw a woman or an old man getting beaten up i'd step in - so instincts don't always choose the the comfortable look the other way approach. If anything, your view of human nature in this regard is likely to be a product of your own personal cowardice.
You need to prove that your conception of God and 'sin' are real as well. Otherwise, your argument has absolutely no basis.
If i gave up drugs and sex then i'd be fucking miserable. What's moral about that?
Daaaamn, sometimes it hurts being so right :cool:
Not as much as trapping my fingers in a door, mind you.
I was hoping it was.