The dictator

I’ve always wondered how we make decisions when there are several options to choose from. Situations as simple as to buy product A or product B, or to escape from prison or not, there must be a reason behind the choices we make insofar as there must be a tangible logic behind this ‘reasoning’.

Today, I happened to be in a pet shop and I was observing the behaviour of people while they make decisions on their purchase. Being an eavesdropper, I listened to the conversations between the promoters and the customers (Well, it’s not against the law). I realised that the words ‘fear’, ’scared’ and ‘worried’ popped up in the conversation at numerous occasions. It appears that customers are concerned and worried of the various risks and inconveniences that may happen in the future (Assuming that the customer is moderately price-sensitive).

Risk is a complicated and yet tedious matter to understand, however our lack of understanding is compromised by our in-build cognitive decision maker – our brains. Ironically, this ingeniously designed feature varies from one individual to another, causing variation on how people perceive and manage risk. I was watching this programme “One way out” on television one night and it opened my mind to the different sources people seek pleasure from. The programme shows an escape artist who doesn’t mind putting himself through gruesome amount of pain to achieve the thrill of escaping. We call him a masochist, he calls it science.

Let us now exclude the minority who seeks happiness through risk taking.

Why do we respond to risk? According to the principle of existentialism, we realise that we are fully responsible for our own actions through the feelings of angst or anguish. Consider yourself being on top of a mountain and you feel lazy to walk down the mountain. You have 2 options, to jump down the mountain at 9.80665ms^-2 or to take the longer way down by walking. Although the analogy is flawed in practicality, the theme of this concept is “fear” and how we steer away from it.

How do you manage your fears? Is fear a barrier to the things you wished you would do?

Cosmetic Surgery

Today I debated the negative of the motion “This house would provide medical benefits for cosmetic surgery”

Note: These are not my actual debate points.

Personally I disagree with the whole concept of cosmetic surgery because it distorts the image of women in society.

The leading cause of people undergoing cosmetic surgery is simply because they are not satisfied with their current physical image and they wish to have it changed. People often see cosmetic surgery as a solution to their problem of having ‘un-lifted face’, ‘pot-belly’ etc. But why are they unsatisfied with their current image?

The media played a very big role in this, people are ‘in dire need’ of cosmetic surgery because they want to emulate the body contour of the stars in Hollywood. However, is this realistic? This act is justifiable under the Kantian ethics by Immanuel Kant because the intention of looking good is a positive motive. However, the act of modifying one’s own body to seek the approval of others is an extrinsic value that leads to a slippery slope of ‘going with the flow’ or the act of being a blind follower.

In general, the ‘end’ of the ‘means’ (cosmetic surgery) is to make one more attractive or more approved by society. According to the principle of existentialism, a human being  are defined through their undertakings in life as Jean-Paul Sartre writes “Man is nothing else but his plan; he exist only to the extent that he fulfills himself”. Assuming that most people who undergo cosmetic surgeries are atheists like Sartre himself (most of the major religions opposes cosmetic surgery), is it really morally justifiable to seek the approval of others through ‘masquerades and facades’ of silicon?

Coming down to the root of this problem, society is in need of a major reform. I am aware that the statement is in direct conflict with psychological egoism and ethical egoism, however the problem with society is that they constantly seek material pleasure which will eventually bring more harm to themselves. The persuit of temporary happiness. So what if cosmetic surgery gaives you the ideal bust size?  So what if cosmetic surgery makes you look more attractive? It is all fake and plastic anyway.

It seems that there is no solution to this.

People should be accepted for who they are and who they will eventually be in the future (aging cannot be controlled).

So stop the botox and spend the money on something else!