Minimalism and moderation!

I’ve never been a fan of asceticism as a permanent lifestyle. If you want to use it as a personal experiment? Sure, fine. Experiments have an end date, right? You might actually learn something from it. As long as you aren't causing misery for everyone else, I don't see the problem.

Now, moderation—that’s something I can get behind, provided we don't confuse it with just being mediocre, but let's stay on track here.
The truth is, people today are chronically incapable of being moderate. For the last 40 or 50 years, this total lack of restraint has spread across the country like a plague, growing exponentially. It used to be something reserved for the ultra-wealthy elite—just a tiny drop in the bucket compared to the rest of the population. Then progress happened (which was a good thing), but people immediately threw moderation out the window because they operated under the logic that "you can't trust a full stomach." It's a biological fallacy, and frankly, that's when everything started going downhill.

And it isn't stopping. That’s the kicker. This trend isn't going to die down anytime soon.
You want to know where people actually practice moderation? In the "spiritual" realm. Some of you will catch my drift.
People are perfectly moderate when it comes to acting polite or even being decent human beings. They’re great at that. They’ll even go out of their way to praise some monk living in a desert. But the moment it involves gluttony, indulgence, or chasing physical pleasure, the vast majority of people head in the exact opposite direction.

placidjackal36 said:I’ve never been a fan of asceticism as a permanent lifestyle. If you want to use it as a personal experiment? Sure, fine. Experiments have an end date, right? You might actually learn something from it. As long as you aren't causing misery for everyone else, I don't see the problem.

Now, moderation—that’s something I can get behind, provided we don't confuse it with just being mediocre, but let's stay on track here.
The truth is, people today are chronically incapable of being moderate. For the last 40 or 50 years, this total lack of restraint has spread across the country like a plague, growing exponentially. It used to be something reserved for the ultra-wealthy elite—just a tiny drop in the bucket compared to the rest of the population. Then progress happened (which was a good thing), but people immediately threw moderation out the window because they operated under the logic that "you can't trust a full stomach." It's a biological fallacy, and frankly, that's when everything started going downhill.

And it isn't stopping. That’s the kicker. This trend isn't going to die down anytime soon.
You want to know where people actually practice moderation? In the "spiritual" realm. Some of you will catch my drift.
People are perfectly moderate when it comes to acting polite or even being decent human beings. They’re great at that. They’ll even go out of their way to praise some monk living in a desert. But the moment it involves gluttony, indulgence, or chasing physical pleasure, the vast majority of people head in the exact opposite direction.

What’s the common thread linking hedonism and asceticism? It's self-gratification. Plain and simple. 😬

So what's the difference? A hedonist satisfies themselves through instant gratification. An ascetic does it over a long haul—using time and energy—trying to reach peace of soul through sacrifice and hardship. 🤷

Gorging, chasing beauty, and sleeping around—that isn't just a perk for the hedonist. Asceticism isn't immune to that either. The whole "difference between them" really just boils down to your vital context! 😬

Ronald Rogers27

Ronald Rogers27 said:What’s the common thread linking hedonism and asceticism? It's self-gratification. Plain and simple. 😬

So what's the difference? A hedonist satisfies themselves through instant gratification. An ascetic does it over a long haul—using time and energy—trying to reach peace of soul through sacrifice and hardship. 🤷

Gorging, chasing beauty, and sleeping around—that isn't just a perk for the hedonist. Asceticism isn't immune to that either. The whole "difference between them" really just boils down to your vital context! 😬

Ronald Rogers27

😁An ascetic also just gratifies themselves; they're basically feeding their ego. The more they deny pleasure, the better they feel about themselves, which just feeds their narcissism. Meanwhile, the hedonist focuses on physical pleasures. Honestly, both are just different flavors of narcissism.
I guess people should probably find some middle ground—you know, that "golden mean" idea.

Tyler Evans4 said:😁An ascetic also just gratifies themselves; they're basically feeding their ego. The more they deny pleasure, the better they feel about themselves, which just feeds their narcissism. Meanwhile, the hedonist focuses on physical pleasures. Honestly, both are just different flavors of narcissism.
I guess people should probably find some middle ground—you know, that "golden mean" idea.

That’s exactly what I said—that an ascetic satisfies themselves. Why are you skipping over my actual point and just cherry-picking parts of what I wrote?😬

A true ascetic isn't trying to stroke their ego in the traditional sense. They follow a routine to reach a specific level or hit certain predefined goals and challenges. Most people couldn't touch those levels even if they tried—we're talking extreme outliers here, well beyond the norm.

Hitting those milestones gives the ascetic a massive sense of satisfaction because they’ve actually achieved the impossible. A real ascetic doesn't do this out of narcissism.🙂

The "golden mean" in the North America? Yeah, right.😍

Ronald Rogers27