Be a Hedonist

Maybe positive hedonism is the way: to seek the maximum pleasure out of life, but not at the expense of its sustainability.

The usual notion of hedonism gets wrong that all pleasures should be sought. But that necessarily means we will end up pursuing pleasure that, by its very nature, ends up undermining our very ability to even feel it. This could be, for example, doing hard drugs, endulging in countless hours of video games, eating tons of junk food, and so on. Even though these activities feel good momentarily, they are profoundly harmful to us, and they will eventually disable our ability to appreciate them. Thus, pleasure turns into pain.

On the other hand, positive hedonism goes hand-in-hand with self-improvement: to seek the most fulfilling experience out of life, to seek pleasure, but to attain it through quest, not mere on-demand consumption. In other words, the goal is to create pleasure, not to consume it. Exercising and thus getting an attractive physique, learning how to cook tasy, healthy food, and optimizing our life-habits are examples of this. This way, we turn pain into pleasure.

Thus, it would seem, the goal is to achieve maximum pleasure; the difference between this being beneficial, or disastrous, lying in how we get this:

• Short-term pleasure from indulgence will undermine itself and result in long-term suffering.

• Short-term suffering form productive activities will transmute into long-term pleasure.

Seek pleasure, seek purpose and meaning.