Hunter gatherer societies are the happiest [...] while [...] societies such as our own lie somewhere in between.
I’ve heard this kind of thing before, but I would reply that hunter gatherers are happier at the expense of being (basically) animals. I know that sounds harsh, but just becuase Ug the caveman shares my biology doesn’t mean he’s on the same level as me as a person. I have philosophy. I have science. I think about ethics. I can do abstract mathematics. I know about the ways that my brain is systematically broken and I am working towards a better life for myself. The human brain is quite plastic; the space of possible beings that it can turn into is perhaps a little larger than we would naively think by examining the people we see around us (who have all been immersed in the same culture as us), and I am probably at the opposite end of that space from my ancestor Ug.
Wanting to be a hunter gatherer because they are happier (for their breif lives) is a bit like wanting to be a permanently blissed out heroin addict, except hunter gatherers weren’t that happy. Pleasure/happiness is not the only important thing in life.
No, I’m not. It does, a sense of superiority and meaningfulness is nice to have. Presumably you think this puts my position in danger of being self-contradictory?
That depends on whether you consider unhappiness/pain to be distinct from pleasure/happiness. Your original comment wasn’t particularly clear on this point.
Does anyone else read this as an argument against happiness?
I’ve heard this kind of thing before, but I would reply that hunter gatherers are happier at the expense of being (basically) animals. I know that sounds harsh, but just becuase Ug the caveman shares my biology doesn’t mean he’s on the same level as me as a person. I have philosophy. I have science. I think about ethics. I can do abstract mathematics. I know about the ways that my brain is systematically broken and I am working towards a better life for myself. The human brain is quite plastic; the space of possible beings that it can turn into is perhaps a little larger than we would naively think by examining the people we see around us (who have all been immersed in the same culture as us), and I am probably at the opposite end of that space from my ancestor Ug.
Wanting to be a hunter gatherer because they are happier (for their breif lives) is a bit like wanting to be a permanently blissed out heroin addict, except hunter gatherers weren’t that happy. Pleasure/happiness is not the only important thing in life.
So, are you saying that thinking how much better you are than Ug doesn’t give you pleasure?
No, I’m not. It does, a sense of superiority and meaningfulness is nice to have. Presumably you think this puts my position in danger of being self-contradictory?
That depends on whether you consider unhappiness/pain to be distinct from pleasure/happiness. Your original comment wasn’t particularly clear on this point.
Hm. Well the book is posted on “hedweb.com″ (hedonism web), so...