Chit Chat Philosophy

2 Happy Halloween! In reverence for this auspicious occasion, can you define for me the term “zombie?”

1 Well, a zombie is a creature that craves naught but for one thing: brains.

2 Don’t we all crave but one thing?

1 If you’re implying the pursuit of happiness – or more accurately, pleasure – is the same as a zombie eating brains… I have to disagree.

2 Ah but why does the zombie crave brains?

1 … I suppose because zombies like the taste?

2 That would seem to imply they are seeking pleasure from their activities. Would it not?

1 It might be argued as such but, oh I see where this is going, don’t you dare say–

2 Ergo, might we all be zombies?

1 God dammit. No, we are not all zombies. The zombie craves brain because that is all it is capable of doing. Sometimes we choose pleasure, and sometimes we choose other things. Human beings are not so myopically focused.

2 What evidence do you have to support this claim?

1 We create. We make love. We work towards a better society. Humans are capable of acting for many different reasons.

2 Is not the act of creation, the art of love, and the camaraderie of society all rooted in the same thing. Pursuit of pleasure?

1 No, surely it’s not all about that.

2 Is anything truly selfless?

1 Chaos is a good example. What if I commit a random crime just for the sake of anarchy. How is that in my best interest? We have free will, and that gives us the choice to optimize for something besides just pleasure.

2 Would you agree that committing a random crime just to prove a point is peak egotism?

1 Okay, when you put it that way, yes… How about a parent’s love for their child? Surely that is as pure an expression of compassion as one can find in nature.

2 Providing for your progeny may seem selfless on the surface, but there are many intrinsic benefits to it. How can we know for certain that these intrinsic benefits are not the justification for those actions?

1 Well, I suppose we can’t be certain.

2 At the end of the day, we are all just zombies aimlessly shambling about seeking fulfillment of the flesh. Would you agree?

1 … God dammit.

---

_{Featured image by CGP Grey distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic License}