Hedonism

Hedonism is the school of thought that the acquisition of happiness is the ultimate goal of every person. According to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, "Motivational hedonism is the claim that only pleasure or pain motivates us."

'But surely not!' You say. 'We do things that harm ourselves all the time!' This is is true in a sense. For example, giving to charity, becoming a martyr, doing a hard workout, or commuting suicide all seem to harm us.

It may be helpful to note that 'net' happiness is what is sought after. This means that we may do things that are painful, such as taking a biology test or the MCAT. BUT, we only do these things because we think that we will gain a greater amount of happiness from doing so.

I would argue that even in cases of suicide, people are attempting to gain the most happiness. A suicidal person sees the future as containing a net negative happiness, and so decides to end their life.

On a less bleak note, I think that everything we do is motivated by a search for happiness. Going to school, going to work, helping someone with homework, getting married, having kids, going on a search for truth, we do all of things with our own best interest in mind.

4 Stats on World Hunger

Lately I have been trying to raise awareness about various humanist efforts. Here are a few facts about world hunger that everyone should be aware of. All my stats come from this website: http://www.worldhunger.org/articles/Learn/world%20hunger%20facts%202002.htm. If you need specifics on the meaning of certain terms or would like more information, go check out www.worldhunger.org!

4 Stats on World Hunger

1. The world produces enough food to feed everyone
2. In 2010, there were 925 million hungry people
3. The primary cause of world hunger is poverty
4. The number of people who are hungry in the world is increasing

I find it quite unfortunate that we produce enough food for everyone, and yet not everyone gets food.

I will also point out that the increase in the number of people who are hungry is probably related to the global population increase. An increase in population complicates the process of keeping people fed. Unfortunately, feeding people also increases the world population. This means that fixing the problem actually makes the problem harder to fix.

Anyway, a complicated issue to be sure. Hopefully we can make progress!

Specific References:

• http://www.worldhunger.org/articles/Learn/world%20hunger%20facts%202002.htm#Number_of_hungry_people_in_the_world
• http://www.worldhunger.org/articles/Learn/world%20hunger%20facts%202002.htm#Does_the_world_produce_enough_food_to_feed_everyone
• http://www.worldhunger.org/articles/Learn/world%20hunger%20facts%202002.htm#What_are_the_causes_of_hunger
•  http://www.worldhunger.org/articles/Learn/world%20hunger%20facts%202002.htm#Progress_in_reducing_the_number_of_hungry_people_

What if I told you that someone died today whom you could have saved?

I realize this is a very complicated issue, and I haven't even begun to address it with a few paragraphs of text. Right now all I want to do is start a conversation. Hopefully it will be a conversation that will result in lives being saved.

But really, what if I told you that someone died today whom you could have saved?

Yes, this is likely going to be depressing. Most people will probably choose to ignore this so that they can remain comfortable.

Anyway, the truth is that there are people that died today who could have been saved by you and I, had we chosen to take the initiative.

Let's say that the person living next door to me is starving. They never ask me for food, but I know that they are starving. Instead of doing something about the problem, I heat up my microwave dinner, plop down on the couch, start watching TV, throw away the vegetables that I didn't feel like eating, and after a few weeks, my neighbor dies of starvation. What kind of person am I?

Due to massive jumps in technology, the globe has been radically connected. Thanks to this website: http://www.worldhunger.org/articles/Learn/world%20hunger%20facts%202002.htm, we have plenty of statistics on world hunger. In addition, we have the ability to do something to effect the number of starving people. This drastically increases the number of 'neighbors' that we have.

Sure, it might cost us time and money, but if we tried, we could prevent some of the starving people from starving.

Thank you to those who are already trying to make a difference!

Humanist Maximalism

The ultimate goal of Humanist Maximalism is to obtain maximal happiness for humanity in terms of quality of life and percentage of the global population that is effected. If this goal were reached, 100% of humans would be extremely happy.


Because this primary goal is very likely impossible, a secondary goal must be introduced. Namely, that the maximum amount of improvement towards the primary goal must be realized.

Here are a few examples of what a Human Maximalist would attempt to accomplish:

• End poverty
• End slavery
• End war
• Modify human society such that we won't destroy our environment
• Provide education to everyone who wants it

It is quite obvious that these are lofty goals. Keep in mind, however, that just because a goal is lofty does not mean that it is impossible to accomplish it. In addition, if everyone had the mentality that lofty goals should not be pursued because it would take a lot of work, then the world would be a terrible place.

Because of this, it is most helpful to attempt to make as much progress towards each of these goals as is humanly possible.

As a Human Maximalist, I hope to develop and carry out strategies to make as much progress as I can towards making as many people as possible as happy as I can make them.