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> "You've been down-voted, probably because this assertion seems somewhere between weird and offensive to most people here, but I'm genuinely curious as to why
by Crito 11y ago
> "You've been down-voted, probably because this assertion seems somewhere between weird and offensive to most people here, but I'm genuinely curious as to why you believe it."
I have come to believe it because I have come to realize that it is the only notion of "nice" that has real utility.
I only wish somebody had explained that to me earlier in life. I spent too much of my youth disadvantaging myself socially by failing to prioritize how I present myself to others.
- dragonwriter 11y ago> I have come to believe it because I have come to realize that it is the only notion of "nice" that has real utility. Utility means that something produces (directly or indirectly) satisfaction for the person making the decision. Doing what society judges as nice has instrumental utility, in that it can help you get better responses from society, which either can produce utility for you directly or help get others to do things which produce utility for you. Doing what pleases yourself -- including aesthetically as in favoring what "looks nice" to you -- has direct and immediate utility, however. Both are "real" utility. Which is greater utility will vary considerably.
- Crito 11y agoPut it this way, I find that what other people think about me has more impact on my life than what sort of cloth is hanging from my body. I think that anyone who actually stops to consider this, actually weighs how their dress effects how the rest of society interacts with them, will arrive on the same conclusion (unless they have some serious issues to work out). If cloth honestly has more of an effect on you how other people treat you, you've probably got a disorder.