"So, if you're talking about the more general allure of drugs to the extent that I understand it, which is about as specifically as I'm going to talk about it, It seems to me to be, and this isn't a very original thing to say, it's a pretty natural extension of corporate capitalist logic, which is, I want to feel exactly the way I want to feel, which is good for exactly this long and so I will exchange a certain amount of cash for this substance and I will do it, but it's all of course a lie, because the control gradually goes away and it stops being that I want to do it, it becomes that I feel I need to do it and that shift from, I want something, to, I feel I need it, is a big one. Yes? I mean ... Most of the problems in my life have to do with my confusing what I want and what I need."
Both quotes are from David Foster Wallace an author that I love. Currently I read a short-story from him. The quote in the title comes from his magnum opus Infinite Jest and the other quote from an interview with a German TV channel.
My first idea was to discuss the quote from the title but maybe the other quote can make it more clear what DFW means.
So the first question is is it really true that wanting something, the desire for it can be more exciting than the time your desire gets fulfilled? I think there is no black or white answer to this questions. It probably depends on the context.
Here comes the second goal into play. We sometimes confuse what want with what we need. I think this is meant in a broader context not only drugs. I think this is what marketing and entertainment relies on. DFW talked a lot about the effects of advertisements and their effect on us. The anxiety some commercials can invoke in us. The anxiety not to belong to the peer-group. It is like a pain not being able to purchase something really deeply want.
Personally I think DFW had mostly people from the middle-upper class in mind. People who are materially saturated but still feel empty deep inside of them.
I think poor people who really suffer due to their lack of money are not really the core group that he thought about.
Maybe you know Maslow's hierarchy of needs. When I hear DFW talking about this topic I often have to think about this concept.
The first needs of human beings are the physiological ones. Then safety. Then love/belonging. Then esteem. And then finally self-actualization. I won't elaborate in detail the whole concept it is way more intricate.
I am personally not fully sure whether this confusion can happen on all these different levels. I rather think yes. Some people have a romanticized notion of what the fullfilment of their desire will change. I don't say this about an individual in a specific case but I think it can happen in general. I mean I think we all know this. We think if I had this or that then I would finally happy. And then when we get it still we are not really happy. With that I don't want to say a fulfilled desire could not improve your life quality. It absolutely can. But I think this is a thinking fallacy that it always will result in true happiness.
Then I could elaborate on the notion of happiness. I think I did and someone on here lectured me on it in this forum. Don't listen to me I often only have half knowledge. Lol. I think true happiness is really hard to achieve. But I think there is something in the human nature that has a greed for more. New products with new allures will emerge. The entertainment and marketing culture will make us believe we all need this new product. I am not sure how artificial these new needs are. If they really can make us more happy or whether they are a proof we are slaves of our conditio humana/human condition.
I am not sure after all in which context the quote of the title is true. Recently I bought me a new phone. I was pretty excited and wanted to buy a new one for a long time. I am glad that I now have a new one. But part of this satisfaction is that I waited so long and always postponed getting a new one. If I bought a new one every singly year this excitement would be way less. I realize the more I get used to new phone the less I feel satisfied by it. Not sure whether I really needed it or whether only wanted it. I had some anxiety about safety and getting a new one relieved me in some sense.
What is your opinion on this quote?
Both quotes are from David Foster Wallace an author that I love. Currently I read a short-story from him. The quote in the title comes from his magnum opus Infinite Jest and the other quote from an interview with a German TV channel.
My first idea was to discuss the quote from the title but maybe the other quote can make it more clear what DFW means.
So the first question is is it really true that wanting something, the desire for it can be more exciting than the time your desire gets fulfilled? I think there is no black or white answer to this questions. It probably depends on the context.
Here comes the second goal into play. We sometimes confuse what want with what we need. I think this is meant in a broader context not only drugs. I think this is what marketing and entertainment relies on. DFW talked a lot about the effects of advertisements and their effect on us. The anxiety some commercials can invoke in us. The anxiety not to belong to the peer-group. It is like a pain not being able to purchase something really deeply want.
Personally I think DFW had mostly people from the middle-upper class in mind. People who are materially saturated but still feel empty deep inside of them.
I think poor people who really suffer due to their lack of money are not really the core group that he thought about.
Maybe you know Maslow's hierarchy of needs. When I hear DFW talking about this topic I often have to think about this concept.
The first needs of human beings are the physiological ones. Then safety. Then love/belonging. Then esteem. And then finally self-actualization. I won't elaborate in detail the whole concept it is way more intricate.
I am personally not fully sure whether this confusion can happen on all these different levels. I rather think yes. Some people have a romanticized notion of what the fullfilment of their desire will change. I don't say this about an individual in a specific case but I think it can happen in general. I mean I think we all know this. We think if I had this or that then I would finally happy. And then when we get it still we are not really happy. With that I don't want to say a fulfilled desire could not improve your life quality. It absolutely can. But I think this is a thinking fallacy that it always will result in true happiness.
Then I could elaborate on the notion of happiness. I think I did and someone on here lectured me on it in this forum. Don't listen to me I often only have half knowledge. Lol. I think true happiness is really hard to achieve. But I think there is something in the human nature that has a greed for more. New products with new allures will emerge. The entertainment and marketing culture will make us believe we all need this new product. I am not sure how artificial these new needs are. If they really can make us more happy or whether they are a proof we are slaves of our conditio humana/human condition.
I am not sure after all in which context the quote of the title is true. Recently I bought me a new phone. I was pretty excited and wanted to buy a new one for a long time. I am glad that I now have a new one. But part of this satisfaction is that I waited so long and always postponed getting a new one. If I bought a new one every singly year this excitement would be way less. I realize the more I get used to new phone the less I feel satisfied by it. Not sure whether I really needed it or whether only wanted it. I had some anxiety about safety and getting a new one relieved me in some sense.
What is your opinion on this quote?
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