Moderation

Everything in moderation. Eric says it all the time, and I agree. Over-indulgence is a common vice. Everyone is over-indulgent of something at some point, but when it becomes a habit, or even a ritual, it breaks the rule of moderation. And the rule of moderation is really just a virtuous principle of common sense.

I say this for clarification. Sometimes we frown upon guilty pleasures in life. Guilty of what? Who knows, maybe of simply being counter to widely held social ideals. Not everyone sees this but some, myself in particular, look at things such as intoxication, recreational drug use, or even things like skipping classes or eating too much dessert as “bad.” I could go into great philosophically dense cross-examinations of “bad” and “good,” but that is missing the point—some just do not agree with these indulgences. But what I think is not important to you, and shouldn’t be. We should feel free to live life the way we want to, and to indulge as we please.

However, moderation is a virtue. Virtues are as the dictionary puts it, “qualities of being morally good or righteous.” They are as objective as philosophical reasoning can get. The lack of this virtue would indubitably lead to a boring life, but the excess is more dangerous. Drinking too much alcohol continually, or skipping classes every day will obviously lead to problems.

Not only is the excess of this virtue problematic, but it also destroys the virtue itself. “Indulging” is usually thought of as rewarding and pleasurable. But too much of anything can desensitize you to that reward, and the pleasure in it fades. I do this all the time—I find a really good song or album and buy it, listen to it repeatedly for a week, and then…I don’t seem to like it as much anymore. People who love a particular sport will many times ruin it by playing it competitively, draining the fun out of it with hours of training and repetition each day. Over-indulgence causes desensitization.

Now, are those who are consistently overindulgent stupid? No. They are ignorant. Stupidity is something that has more permanence than ignorance. Ignorance is an analogical state of darkness, a condition that can be overturned by simply turning on the light. Stupidity is an unofficial mental capacity that stupid people never seem to be able to overcome. This is entirely subjective of course, but I think it takes the edge off of some insults. For example, the statement “young and stupid,” which I have referred to before, should instead be altered to “young and ignorant.” The stupid are ignorant, but that is not commutative.

I have witnessed quite a bit of over-indulgence this year, which is why I bring this up. Vices of virtues cause respectability to decrease if not just slightly. Technically if someone were not virtuous they would not be respectable at all, so there has to be an incremental decrease for vices somewhere on the moral scale. I don’t hate people for it—but don’t push your limits. Everything in moderation.

Current Mood: Calm

Listening To: "Forever Young" by Alphaville