Philosophy, ethics, waste. --- .See also: Technology, resources and waste. --- 12/30/1992
Philosophy, ethics, waste. --- .This section is about the concept of waste from an ethical standpoint. Topics include: ( ) Garbage. ( ) Resources. ( ) Waste. --- 1/24/2006
Philosophy, ethics, waste. --- (1) Ethics of waste. Waste of time, waste of ability. Doing nothing. (2) Ethics of destruction of physical objects, and hurting of people. (3) Ethics of building of objects (work), creation of ideas, caring and nurturing, loving and helping people. (4) Even if there was such thing as neutrality (which there is not), doing nothing is not an ethically neutral act. It is a waste. --- 9/10/1998
Philosophy, ethics, waste. --- (1) How to survive in a world of junk and poison? How can I build an "idea-life" in the wasteland of tourist-trap kitsch? Make like an Arab in the desert. (2) How to reuse "garbage-ideas"? I.e., how to live sustainably? (A) How to make something useful out of junk (idea junk) like many sculptors do? (B) How to turn lemons into lemonade? (3) Reduce, reuse, and recycle. We do it with physical garbage, should we also do it with garbage-experiences (experiences of little value) and garbage-ideas (ideas of little value). --- 8/20/2000
Philosophy, ethics, waste. --- (1) If you waste 20 years of leisure time, is that as bad as killing yourself 20 years before you would actually die? Or is it worse, because you are offing (wasting) 20 years of quality time (15-35). (2) An extreme view: If you are just doing your job and watching TV in your free time, you have no right to live. Life is something you have to earn. It is an obligation, not a right? (3) Good life = having done something good (in thought or action), and not having done nothing (waste or throw away talents, abilities, and opportunities), and not having done something bad. What counts is intention and effort, not results, payoff, or luck (good or bad), or money made. --- 05/20/1994
Philosophy, ethics, waste. --- (1) Most people piss their lives away. They waste most of their free time. They think only of 1% of the things that exist. They think only of unimportant things, not important things. (2) What if one worked 100% of one's free time (or better yet, used any brain down time) at important stuff? --- 04/24/1997
Philosophy, ethics, waste. --- (1) Most people waste most of their lives. (2) Most people have most of their lives wasted by the situation they are in. --- 1/1/2002
Philosophy, ethics, waste. --- (1) The reason people dislike thinking about garbage is because they fear death. A piece of garbage is something that is used up and dead. Garbage reminds us that someday we will be used up and dead. The reason why many people love things that are new and shiny, like cars and clothes, and the reason why they dislike worn out things is because they fear death. The reason why people pursue youthful good looks is because they fear death. (2) An alternative explanation to the above is that people find youthful looks and new shiny objects to be sexy. Garbage and worn out old things are not sexy. --- 9/1/2000
Philosophy, ethics, waste. --- (1) To waste something. This is an ethical judgment, is it not? To waste something you have, or something you could get. To not use it, or to destroy it. To waste an object, an ability, or an opportunity. (2) Things earned vs. things gotten for free. Things used vs. things wasted. --- 01/30/1994
Philosophy, ethics, waste. --- (1) Wasting. Wasting you life. Not using your resources, including your abilities. Not reaching your potential. (2) Garbage, junk. Creating something not useful. There is a certain amount of unavoidable garbage produced by the system. 90% of everything is garbage. Everything is garbage by degree. --- 12/30/1992
Philosophy, ethics, waste. --- (1) When someone dies, or is psychologically or physically injured into un-productivity, all the resources spent creating them are wasted. The resources used to create a 20 year old human. Oxygen breathed. Food ate. Water drank. Garbage made. Waste products made (urine, excrement, C02). Schooling in dollars for grades 1-12, plus college. (2) The thesis is that we have x amount of resources to spend raising y amount of people. Can we advance ourselves fast enough (through learning and doing) to save ourselves before the resources run out? This is the global endgame, the race to survive. When we waste physical resources, or our lives, we lessen the chance of future generations surviving. (3) To not think hard is to waste your life. To not work hard is to waste your life. --- 10/10/1997
Philosophy, ethics, waste. --- Ethics of waste. To waste something is to have it and not use it. Use all you got, all the time. Develop your entire self. --- 12/30/1992
Philosophy, ethics, waste. --- Four conceptions of waste. (1) Waste as wanton, mindless destruction. (2) Waste as the by-products of thoughtful use. Pollution and garbage. (3) Waste as using up, even if thoughtfully. (4) Waste meaning to not use or to let go unused. --- 11/20/2001
Philosophy, ethics, waste. --- Garbage. Poison: hurts. Junk: wastes resources, and doesn't help. --- 12/30/1992
Philosophy, ethics, waste. --- Junk (worthless, useless) vs. Poison (unhealthy, deadly). As applied to physical stuff, experiences, and ideas or attitudes. --- 8/20/2000
Philosophy, ethics, waste. --- PART ONE. Junk. (1) A useful thing (or idea) is useless if its not what you need at the moment. (ex. snow cones in the arctic). (2) One man's junk is another man's useful thing. Useless junk is useful to someone else. (A) You can't use it but someone else can. (B) It may have another type of value: symbolic value, aesthetic value, or sentimental value. PART TWO. Poison. (1) Too much of anything can be harmful. (2) Some things are useful in one context but poisonous in another. Ex. hydrochloric acid is useful for some things but poisonous if you drink it. --- 8/18/2000
Philosophy, ethics, waste. --- Resources. Ethics of spending resources, especially money. Should you spend it on stuff or experiences? Old repeat experiences or new experiences? --- 11/20/1993
Philosophy, ethics, waste. --- Resources. How to spend my resources? How to get more resources? --- 10/30/1997
Philosophy, ethics, waste. --- Resources. When you have no time and energy, how do your values change? --- 05/30/1993
Philosophy, ethics, waste. --- Salvage. What can we salvage from memory? There is something about the word "salvage" that is different from the word "recycle". To salvage means to save from oblivion. A salvage business is commonly referred to as a junkyard. Saving junk from oblivion. There was always something dirty yet noble about junkyards. The noble salvage. When I look about I see mostly junk. When I look to the past I see mostly junk. Is there any junk I can salvage from my life to build a new life out of second hand parts? --- 9/1/2000
Philosophy, ethics, waste. --- Some things we waste by using them up. Some things we waste by not using them (ex. the brain). --- 12/30/2000
Philosophy, ethics, waste. --- Three types of garbage: (1) The physical stuff we throw out. (2) Garbage experiences. (3) Garbage ideas. --- 8/20/2000
Philosophy, ethics, waste. --- To recycle means to recast or to change the form of a thing. But some objects, like memories, are not so easily changed, and they lay rusting in the tall grass of our minds. --- 9/1/2000
Philosophy, ethics, waste. --- Two types of idea-pollution. (1) Pollution by excess (too much of a good thing). (2) Pollution by poison. This can occur at two levels: in an individual's mind or in a society. --- 8/20/2000
Philosophy, ethics, waste. --- Uses of the term "waste". (1) Waste meaning "to not use". (2) Waste meaning "to use inefficiently". (3) Waste meaning "what is left over after 100% efficient use. (4) These terms can be used for any resource, such as time, money, energy, physical material, etc. --- 4/29/2001
Philosophy, ethics, waste. --- Waste is the opposite of effort (?). --- 5/30/1998
Philosophy, ethics, waste. --- Wasting one hour a day adds up to 365 wasted hours a year, which is almost ten forty-hour work weeks. Over ten years this adds up to wasting 400 forty-hour work weeks, which is the equivalent of ten years of 9 - 5 work. --- 6/30/1999
Philosophy, ethics, waste. --- Wasting time is one of the biggest ethical problems we face (it terms of quantity). The causes of wasting time can include (1) People fear growth because growth involves change. And they fear change because they fear the possibility of changing for the worse. (2) People feel growth is not necessary. --- 3/20/1999
Philosophy, ethics, waste. --- Wasting time is the biggest ethical issue in terms of amount done. Wasting time for me means not thinking and not writing. --- 2/25/1999
Philosophy, ethics, waste. --- Wasting time is the most important ethical issue. --- 4/22/1999
Philosophy, ethics, waste. --- Wasting your life vs. using your life. Doing what you want vs. doing what society wants. --- 12/30/1992
Philosophy, ethics, waste. --- What is the biggest problem? Wasted lives and wasted potential. Couch potatoes, vegetation, blobs, those who give up on life. Misfits, misanthropes, loners. Anguish, alienation, hopelessness. Most people being a little messed up most of the time is a greater waste than a few people who are very messed up. --- 1/25/1998