GirlChat #730657
Erich Fromm had a book To Have or to Be. Nothing more about Fromm now or later, but unfortunately most (almost all?) people want "to have" rather than "to be".
We want to have/possess not only money and objects, but also fame and experiences. "I have experienced" is one form of possession. I can understand if you collect sexual experiences, I can understand why they can make you happier even after the experiences themselves. "I have had so and so many experiences" may permanently improve your self-confidence. But eating? I have seen at least two people who have said that eating makes them happy. One of them was a woman who is already dead, the other was... what was the name of that moron... Anthony Bourdain. He said that eating a certain dish makes him happy. Eating makes you happy? Incomprehensible for me. It can make you pleased on a very physical level, if you are hungry and if the food is good. But happiness that lasts past the eating experience? Impossible -- if you are not an idiot. So it is possible to collect sexual experiences and feel permanenty happier, or at least a little bit less unhappy. If you possess many experiences, you feel that you are a better man. (Or a better woman?) But collecting eating experiences? Nonsense, incomprehensible. I feel that if eating makes you happy, you are a very primitive person. |