Wow super interesting stuff in here, lots to untangle, I think a few things stuck out to me.
It seems odd to try and quantify goods in a sense. I also think I need a clearer definition of meaningful life in this context. Are you saying impactful? Or meaning to the individual?
I also think it’s dangerous to claim that one life is more meaningful than another. I would say Mother Theresa’s life had the same meaning as any other human being, you and I included. I’d even go so far as to extend that to all living things.
I think I’m just struggling with semantics here and what do better understand what is meant by meaningful life.
When I think of the meaningful life I think of Sartre and how existence preceded essence. We all find our own meaning, so wouldn’t the way we evaluate that be up to the individual and not a quantifiable thing?
Imagine someone like Emily Dickinson, whose career took off after her death really. Or any artist whose work became famous posthumously.
That artist might’ve died thinking their lives had little meaning, even though to us, the observer, they do.
Maybe meaning should be separate from those whose life were evaluating than the observer?
Sometimes when I met a "my-dog-is-special" person, I count that as one good. Then I watch them go to work and then watch their dog bark and scare people as they also go to work and I say that's one bad, two bad, three bad…. o0h look that one got a really bad scare …11 bad plus 3 bad… ….and so on through the day, I don't know how to count all the bads all the constant barking does to peoples heads that I can't see, and then I watch them come home and have a good interaction with their dog, so that's two good and many many bads. I try to explain this to dog people and they just feel victimised, why don't you learn to like dogs, they may say, I say why don't you learn to not bark at people vicariously through your meat puppet dog all day long.
Wow super interesting stuff in here, lots to untangle, I think a few things stuck out to me.
It seems odd to try and quantify goods in a sense. I also think I need a clearer definition of meaningful life in this context. Are you saying impactful? Or meaning to the individual?
I also think it’s dangerous to claim that one life is more meaningful than another. I would say Mother Theresa’s life had the same meaning as any other human being, you and I included. I’d even go so far as to extend that to all living things.
I think I’m just struggling with semantics here and what do better understand what is meant by meaningful life.
When I think of the meaningful life I think of Sartre and how existence preceded essence. We all find our own meaning, so wouldn’t the way we evaluate that be up to the individual and not a quantifiable thing?
Imagine someone like Emily Dickinson, whose career took off after her death really. Or any artist whose work became famous posthumously.
That artist might’ve died thinking their lives had little meaning, even though to us, the observer, they do.
Maybe meaning should be separate from those whose life were evaluating than the observer?
Sometimes when I met a "my-dog-is-special" person, I count that as one good. Then I watch them go to work and then watch their dog bark and scare people as they also go to work and I say that's one bad, two bad, three bad…. o0h look that one got a really bad scare …11 bad plus 3 bad… ….and so on through the day, I don't know how to count all the bads all the constant barking does to peoples heads that I can't see, and then I watch them come home and have a good interaction with their dog, so that's two good and many many bads. I try to explain this to dog people and they just feel victimised, why don't you learn to like dogs, they may say, I say why don't you learn to not bark at people vicariously through your meat puppet dog all day long.