Questions to answer for today.
1. What would be your super hero power of choice?
2. What are your guilty pleasures? (Or guilty pleasure, if there's really only one.)
3. How do you feel about regret? Is it inevitable or unnecessary, or a combination of both?
I'll work on the rest in installments.
1. What would be your super hero power of choice?
There was actually a fantastic "This American Life" episode dealing somewhat with this topic (Listen Here), although it actually was more strict: Which super-power would you rather have: Flight or Invisibility? While you've left it open, I suspect most people would fall naturally into one of the above two camps. And I suspect it probably ties in with other personal dichotomies like Type A / Type B, Introvert / Extrovert, or Beatles / Elvis. Hmm... perhaps I can combine these for indicators into the "ish index" and compete with Myers-Briggs. I'm an IBIB :)
So I'll admit to being boring and being in one of the two camps: Invisibility all the way. I think more than flight, or super-strength, or the ability to speak with dolphins in Swahili, invisibility is the most appealing. As a writer, I think a certain degree of voyeurism is inevitable. Its not a creepy sexual thing, but rather an insatiable curiousity for "real life" when you're not there, to be an actual independent observer.
It would also feed my anti-social streak when I don't feel like dealing with people.
The only comparable thing I could come up with would be the ability to manipulate time (to make it slower, I don't want any less time).
2. What are your guilty pleasures? (Or guilty pleasure, if there's really only one.)
Despite attempting to be reasonably green, I have an absurd love for hot showers. Or hot tub or steam sauna. Anything involving hot and water together in the most wasteful possible ways, I love it. I suppose its good that I am somewhat concerned about the waste, as otherwise I'd be in the shower for an hour every day. World Civilisation as a whole is coming to some real dangerous and difficult problems relating to freshwater consumption, and sooner than you think. I know this, and yet, hot showers feel so good. Hooray for Hot Water!
I play video games far more than I really should. I should be writing or working on music or opening my mail. I rationalise it to myself because I don't watch TV more than an hour a week. But that's like saying, "Its OK to eat this ice-cream, because I didn't eat cake earlier." Or, "Its alright to stab this kitten, because I didn't drown a kitten yesterday."
Otherwise, I try not to allow myself guilt over pleasure. I happen to think pleasure is nice, I just try to avoid getting it by taking something from others. On a philosophical level, you could argue that's impossible, but I've never been a zero-sum kind of guy.
3. How do you feel about regret? Is it inevitable or unnecessary, or a combination of both?
As a Zenist, I consider it illusory and ultimately meaningless. I also recognize it as very "real" in the personal frame of reference.
I'll say in my personal life I try incredibly hard not to have regrets, but I'd be a great big liar if I said I suceeded at that. I think regret can have value as a guide toward where the universe wants you. And it should be used in that way, not as something to hit yourself over the head with, but to show you the ways in which you've lost touch with what's important to you.
Someone much smarter than I said that we regret the things we haven't done more than the things we have. I find this to be true. So if you find regret about the things you haven't done, that's a good indicator towards where you should be headed. And if in doubt, do it. If it doesn't kill you it makes you stronger (to quote the typically wrong Nietzsche), and if it does kill you, you won't regret it for very long. (OK, this might be bad advice. Perhaps a little more examination is needed than "If in doubt, do it". Lets assume you've already made the rest of the judgements about benefit, likelihood of death, etc. )
I try very hard not to let my fear of things interfere, and not to make decisions based on my fear. I fail at this as well, but I think it is a good prescription for avoiding regret, as regrets are unlikely to happen when you behave in a way unspoiled by fear. This doesn't mean to throw caution to the wind, but rather to judge a course of action on its merits, rather than on your fear about the outcome.
So, to finally come to an answer, I think regret is both inevitable and unneccessary. But there is some value to appraising and observing my regrets for what they can tell me about me.
Posted by ktismael at April 17, 2004 12:57 AM