Discussion Why are things that feel good often not actually good?

[OzymandiAsh]

There seems to be a major and significant discrepancy in this world between the things that feel good in it and yet are not actually good.

Examples:
* Sugar and fats; satisfying but bad for health.
* Sex, masturbation, and porn; pleasurable, but complicated. Sex can lead to reproduction and therefore increased suffering (and perpetuation of karma and reincarnation, in my spiritual view).
* Violence, which is ubiquitous throughout history for a reason; it can feel very good sometimes even when it isn't. For example, there was a disgusting housemate I lived with who kept provoking me. I mostly managed to control myself until I could get out, but holy fuck I cannot stop fantasising about beating the shit out of that weasel, and how good it would have felt if I had lost control. I actually regret that I didn't but I was worried if that I did lose control I wouldn't know where to stop and could have killed him, but knowing what I do now (for example if I knocked him unconscious he would most likely regain consciousness quickly, and I wouldn't need to panic), I wish I had taught that fucker a lesson, even if I had to go to prison for it for a couple years.
* Addictions to things like TV, games, or drugs.
* etc.



... Why? In my opinion, that can't be accidental. The contradiction seems to be built into the design of the world and the human experience.

 

[Forever Sleep]

It doesn't seem very fair. I tend to feel like, if there is a creator behind this world- a God of some sort, it's pretty cruel. To make us prone to temptation and addiction towards so many things that are then considered a sin and that are bad for us. Like a really sadistic experiment.

If it's just down to chance/ evolution though- it's not quite so suprising. For animals who can't just nip to the supermarket or get Uber Eats- they are naturally attracted to foods that will sustain them for longer. Imagine how many vegetables and beans etc. they'd need to scavenge to fulfil their needs for protein, sugar and fats. It better suits them to be attracted to sweet, high fat foods because they need less of them.

It seems more likely that if we were still living more in the wild- our sugar and fat cravings wouldn't be such a bad trait. It's more that we've 'progressed' with industrial and farming revolutions far quicker than our bodies have evolved to be able to properly process an abundance of sugar, salt and fat in our diets.

The food industry and our governments are evil too. They've known about the harmful effects of sugar and salt for decades. They also know that the right combination of sugar, salt and fat makes us crave more and both make so much money- they've hidden that information for years. Plus, snuck it into so many foods. I imagine the only reason we are made more aware now is that it is starting to tax our healthcare services.

I suppose with sex and violence- it's sort of the same. We're animals ultimately. Animals can be oversexed and extremely violent in nature. It's not necessarily a great trait. Especially for the female of the species I imagine. God knows how many rapes happen in nature. Again though- we've created whole industries to cater to our needs. Porn, violent sports- although- that would seem a healthier release, war.

I think we make sense if you consider we are animals underneath. Just pretending to be more developed and civilised.

Plenty of people have their most base drives under control though too. We are capable of using self control.

 

[Timpinghetat]

I've always wondered that.

 

[Hvergelmir]

Sugar and fats

Those stave off starvation. Fat people are much better suited to survive a famine.
An over abundance of food has not been the historical norm.

Sex, masturbation, and porn

It's not about "good", but viability. [Number of offspring] x [Survival rate]
Those who procreate successfully will have children, inheriting the ability to procreate.

Masturbation and porn is not an impediment, as long as it doesn't interfere with procreation or survival.

Violence

Violence trumps all other strategies. If one of us is using violence and the other isn't, the one using violence will win in every conflict.
To dissuade people from using violence, we must be able to use it ourselves - either directly, or indirectly through others.
A heavily armed and strongly organized police force, available on a few minutes notice, has not been the historical norm.

TV, games, or drugs.

Those are just modern forms of manufactured meaning.
TV and games can have potential utility. It's good to stay up to date with recent information, and games are safe environments to train and test things. Drugs are just exploiting weaknesses in the bodies reward systems.

Why? In my opinion, that can't be accidental.

It's not perfect, but our drives have led us to completely dominate the planet. They've been very successful. That's the why.
Modern society certainly presents some challenges, and we'll see how long our success lasts. It's also worth noting that if society starts unraveling, many of those same drives that were successful in the past, will become successful again.