Have you read The Giver? This is exactly the case they make. I tend to agree with the main character. I would rather have the beauty AND suffering as cause and effect than a world full of nothing but happiness. I’m not sure the latter is possible, but it also sounds incredibly depressing. Then again, the author was obviously biased when he wrote the story.
“I would rather have the beauty AND suffering as cause and effect”
If you’re interested, here’s a video that makes a strong case for why preserving the package-deal is an unconscionable view in a world like the one we find ourselves in, where nothing is guaranteed and where no limitations exist on the magnitudes of suffering: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyA_eF7W02s
If you had endured any of the video’s “Warning: Graphic Content” bits that other individuals endure routinely, I somehow doubt that you’d be as taken in by the lessons on display in the ‘The Giver’.
Ideally, let’s say that you, as an individual, get to forward-program your own misery-to-happiness ratio over the course of your life, ensuring that some suffering would still exist in the universe (as per your preference). If this were possible to do, would you still think it necessary to program other individuals’ ratios? If everyone else picked total non-stop bliss for themselves, do you think it’s morally appropriate to forcefully alter their preferences, because ‘The Giver’ has a certain (non-moral) charm to it?
Interesting. I watched 14 minutes of the video and I wonder if its possible to separate the two at all. Then again, the imaginary, opiate-using world seems to do that. It’s sort of like Brave New World isn’t it? Some people choose the charm of the package deal and others are content with their controlled environment. I guess you and Claire make valid points.
Have you read The Giver? This is exactly the case they make. I tend to agree with the main character. I would rather have the beauty AND suffering as cause and effect than a world full of nothing but happiness. I’m not sure the latter is possible, but it also sounds incredibly depressing. Then again, the author was obviously biased when he wrote the story.
“I would rather have the beauty AND suffering as cause and effect”
If you’re interested, here’s a video that makes a strong case for why preserving the package-deal is an unconscionable view in a world like the one we find ourselves in, where nothing is guaranteed and where no limitations exist on the magnitudes of suffering: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyA_eF7W02s
If you had endured any of the video’s “Warning: Graphic Content” bits that other individuals endure routinely, I somehow doubt that you’d be as taken in by the lessons on display in the ‘The Giver’.
Ideally, let’s say that you, as an individual, get to forward-program your own misery-to-happiness ratio over the course of your life, ensuring that some suffering would still exist in the universe (as per your preference). If this were possible to do, would you still think it necessary to program other individuals’ ratios? If everyone else picked total non-stop bliss for themselves, do you think it’s morally appropriate to forcefully alter their preferences, because ‘The Giver’ has a certain (non-moral) charm to it?
Interesting. I watched 14 minutes of the video and I wonder if its possible to separate the two at all. Then again, the imaginary, opiate-using world seems to do that. It’s sort of like Brave New World isn’t it? Some people choose the charm of the package deal and others are content with their controlled environment. I guess you and Claire make valid points.