Numbers to a “good life”


VonNoble
 Share

Recommended Posts

My grandma always use to tell me; "If you've got food, shelter, and your health, stop bitching, because everything else in life is just frosting on the cake"..  So I suppose that a guy living in a cardboard box under an overpass would consider every one of us as living the "good life".. A persons perspective on what's constitutes a good life, is dependent on his vantage point.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 2/22/2018 at 10:40 AM, mererdog said:

Consider the difference between "having shelter" and "having the ability to shelter."

Interesting notation.   Access to shelter.... mobility to exit in advance of disaster.... we rambled all over the place.   AT LEAST we had all team members engaged this time.....THAT ALONE was progress. ;)

von

Link to comment
Share on other sites

21 hours ago, Key said:

Had to break it to you, my friend, but nobody ever mastered philosophy. Folks have gotten degrees in it, yes, but it isn't limited by that and therefore isn't ever truly mastered.

There are thoughts that have been considered before, but there haven't been considered the thoughts that have yet to come.

Drat! :D

 

I’ll settle  for speeding to the exit ramp on this class.    They do not have to give me the $200 bucks when I pass “go” :thumbu:

 

I am toying getting another degree.   

I believe I have enough credits to roll me back in as a junior or senior .... I might have to check on that.

 

we can safely assume I will NOT. Major in philosophy:seesaw:

von 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 hours ago, Dan56 said:

My grandma always use to tell me; "If you've got food, shelter, and your health, stop bitching, because everything else in life is just frosting on the cake"..  So I suppose that a guy living in a cardboard box under an overpass would consider every one of us as living the "good life".. A persons perspective on what's constitutes a good life, is dependent on his vantage point.

I think I like your grandma.   Does she bake pie? :russian:

 

Had to ask... some grannies are pretty wise.    They always get my full attention when the bribe me with home-made pie.

 

Your spin on granny’s outlook put a good spin on it.

 

von

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, VonNoble said:

Interesting notation.   Access to shelter.... mobility to exit in advance of disaster.... we rambled all over the place.  

 There is a nail that needs to be hammered. A hammer is a thing you can use to make hammering easier. But hammering is something you can do with whatever is handy. So if a man has competence in hammering, pretty much everything is a hammer. If everything is a hammer, what does it really mean to say you need a hammer?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, mererdog said:

 There is a nail that needs to be hammered. A hammer is a thing you can use to make hammering easier. But hammering is something you can do with whatever is handy. So if a man has competence in hammering, pretty much everything is a hammer. If everything is a hammer, what does it really mean to say you need a hammer?

....providing whatever is handy...is stronger than the nail?

von

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think the hierarchy of needs is worth reviewing here (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow's_hierarchy_of_needs).

 

A lot of the arguments above seem to stem from category errors when desiderata from different levels of the hierarchy are compared. It seems to me that the Good Life TM involves having all of your needs (but probably not all of your wants) at all levels met.

 

 

 

Edited by Seeker
grammar check.
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, Seeker said:

I think the hierarchy of needs is worth reviewing here (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow's_hierarchy_of_needs).

 

A lot of the arguments above seem to stem from category errors when desiderata from different levels of the hierarchy are compared. It seems to me that the Good Life TM involves having all of your needs (but probably not all of your wants) at all levels met.

 

 

 

Yes, that was quite helpful. Thanks.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 hours ago, VonNoble said:

....providing whatever is handy...is stronger than the nail?

von

You're starting to sound like a philosopher...

You can hammer a nail with a chunk of wood. It takes longer and does a number on the chunk of wood, but I've done it. It may not work well with a nail that doesn't have a decently sized head. The wood you're nailing with may also need to be slightly stronger than the wood you're nailing into. I'm not completely sure on the physics of it.

Edited by mererdog
Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 hours ago, Seeker said:

It seems to me that the Good Life TM involves having all of your needs (but probably not all of your wants) at all levels met.

I think that not having your needs met is the only way to learn how to reach the top of the pyramid amd attain "self actualization." We need at least a little deprivation to build empathy and motivation. Struggle keeps us strong.

Edited by mererdog
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 24/02/2018 at 1:55 PM, mererdog said:

I think that not having your needs met is the only way to learn how to reach the top of the pyramid amd attain "self actualization." We need at least a little deprivation to build empathy and motivation. Struggle keeps us strong.

 

That's why I said not all the wants. If you don't have your needs (at least at tier 1) you are dead. That doesn't make you strong.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

19 hours ago, Seeker said:

 

That's why I said not all the wants. If you don't have your needs (at least at tier 1) you are dead. That doesn't make you strong.

 

This is where things get interesting. There is no real difference between a need and a want, because what you need depends on what you want.

Von's original question is about what is needed for a good life.

Maslow's hierarchy is about what is needed, purely in terms of what you are motivated to get.

You are speaking now to what is needed to be alive.

 

If I have the food I need to survive, I may still not have enough to be healthy- which is something most would agree is needed to live a good life.

If I have less than I need to be healthy today, it may motivate me to improve myself and/or my circumstance in the hope that I can have enough tomorrow. 

So to be able to fulfill one need may require having other needs unfulfilled... even if only temporarily.

And, most importantly, to fulfill your needs requires knowing what you want. If you don't know what you want out of life, you can't know what you need to get it. What's the priority? Death before or after dishonor?

Edited by mererdog
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share