Jul 30 (edited) • General discussion
Getting High on Intelligent Decisions
Integrity sacrifices highs
One of the painful truths about living virtuously, that is to say living with integrity and adhering your behaviour to align with your core values, is that it’s not as pleasurable as living hedonistically or thoughtlessly.
The Stoics noticed this when they explored the virtue of Moderation, and it was probably their main issue with Epicureanism. They realised that for a longer term quality of life, short-term pleasures needed to be sacrificed. Things like gambling, drinking and promiscuity had such disastrous long-term effects that the highs these behaviours delivered simply weren’t worth the cost.
When I first started building my confidence, I noticed this effect as well. While living more aligned with my core values gave me a sense of power, bravery and love for myself, I wasn’t really feeling as much pleasure as I was before. Being honest did have a certain deep reward, but emotionally did not compete with taking MDMA or thrilling people at a party with a false yet entertaining performance.
On a rational level I understood that I would gain more in a total net sense by giving up alcohol and drugs, and people pleasing, and one night stands with strangers. I knew that my life would have a higher baseline quality. But I also knew that I wouldn’t feel this improvement in a strong way, like how you barely notice your body changing as you exercise consistently and eat healthy.
So this raised a valid question: if it feels better to live in “sin” and just chase short-term highs, what’s the appeal of living with integrity?
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Getting High on Intelligent Decisions
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