The Status_quo is a series of conventions. Conventions allow us
to have greater predictability in so-and-such a situation, but they
also outline what we should expect to occur. The Positivists /
“the glass is half full” people have altered their perception of
reality to the point where they will never expect, and therefore
never achieve, a better outcome to manifest than the absolute worst-
case scenario as seen by Realists and especially Pessimists.
If we “manage our expectations” then we will never have an
objectively better life. If one sees Stalin execute 20 million of
his so-called Comrades, one could see it as a grave injustice —
even a crime against Humanity. Alternatively, one could see it as
a necessary culling of the un-indoctrinated or even the
extermination of, god forbid, “destructive ambition.” Which way
leads to a better outcome? Cultures vary, for they each have their
own set of moral priorities and agendas. Individualists versus
Collectivists (as in the above example), Hedonists vs Utilitarians,
Theologians vs Humanists, and the list goes on. Before we get
bogged down by Cultural Relativism and other mind-killing
eventualities, perhaps we should make an attempt at finding an one-
size-fits-all solution to combat arbitrary cultural bias.
We need something all cultures can agree on. Therefore what is the
basic impulse of every human being? Every animal being, even? The
aversion to pain and discomfort, and the favoring of pleasure over
the same. This is how kids learn not to touch a hot stove. They,
intrinsically, don’t really need to be told not to do it. If they
do happen to touch a hot stove they will quickly learn not to do it.
By this same method, every human being comes to terms with reality.
This reality then is extended by the Humanist notion that we should
treat others the way we wished to be treated. Nobody has to
explicitly impart this notion on kids, it merely saves time and
trouble for both the kids and their families to do so. For added
utility we throw in the factors of future happiness and privation,
and we humans then choose the path (ideally) that offers the most
happiness and the least amount of misery. An example of this might
be that I sort of want this ice cream sunday, but if I don’t share
I’ll get a guilt trip later on which outweighs the immediate
gratification; Therefore I will share my ice cream. This is
Hedonism through and through! Our culture, being biased in favor
of 2000+ year old fertility cults/religion strives to make us jump
through a bunch of hoops to hide this easy, pragmatic, and entirely
natural way of decision making so that we aren’t shunned by our
neighbors, and eventually ourselves. Consequently we have
Collectivism, wherein self-sacrifice (however unnecessary) for the
“good of humanity” or “the majority” is lauded. In contorting what
should be an easy quasi-mathematical process, we only delude
ourselves and others. I doubt that God cares about our
transgressions any more than we care about the “sins” of an ant or
bee.
Hedonism provides us with clarity; it gives us an easy solution to
all moral questions; and the only reason it is shunned is that it
takes away the artificial contrivances of antique ancestor worship,
(overgrown) fertility cults, and other superstitions.