Monday, February 16, 2009
In class we discussed how many people of today are somewhat naturaly greedy. I feel this is very true. Many people, not all, buy things that they can not afford and dont need. I see this all the time with people i know. Why is it that people do this? Is it because it makes them look good having fancy things? I think people just need to step back and look at what is most important in life.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
You know, I think a lot of what's referred to as our "natural tendency" to be greedy come from our innate survival mechanisms. Our animal side tells us to hoard, to acquire more and more and not share. In the wild, this would ensure our survival, however detrimental it is to others. And I think this is where Annie Dillard's philosophy can come in. Because humans have the ability to overcome their natural instincts -to share with others, to sacrifice their comfort for someone else- we should, because no other animal is going to do it. She reasons that it is this very capacity that sets us apart from the rest of the animal kingdom, and that we should flaunt this part of our "human-ness." To behave greedily is to lower oneself to the level of other animals, and she claims (perhaps condescendingly) that it is below us to do so.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with what you are saying, but when you say "people need to step back and look at what is most important in life" is where you could get hung up. Some people are entirely materialistic and they think the most important thing in life is to have things, therefore they disregard any sense of biocentrism and hoard. Their "stuff" is their key pleasure in life. So how would you go about telling someone to worry about the important things in life if what is important to them seems selfish to others? It is all about people's interests and values.
ReplyDelete