Zack argues that humans will soon transcend their limitations through the invention and application of “emoticeuticals.”
“Pain and negative feelings often are more intense and longer lasting than they need to be, especially for people living in today
I couldn’t agree more Adina. This modern obsession with removing all pain is the root of a lot of our problems. We create the impression that life without challenges or setbacks is somehow better. We remove ourselves from the pain of the real world through drugs, TV, material acquisition etc yet lose sight of the fact that it is invariably through the pain of misfortune and our response to our challenges that we make the greatest leaps in our understanding of oursleves and the universe.
I’m not so sure I agree with this. I think that drugs sometimes provide very real and much needed help to situations. You say it takes some peoples entire life to achieve a certain state of happiness that can only be had through satisfaction of relationships, work, and achievement. I agree with this, drugs don’t give the satisfaction and joy that real life can give, but I think that it can help when it is needed and provide a stepping stone to make things right. Anti-depressants such as paxil or mdma allow the user to become more in touch with themselves and can help them confront the root cause of their problems. You say it is bad to have a fight and use drugs to solve it. Well, if you use the drugs (like alcohol and marijuana) to ignore the problem and allow it to go away temporarily only to come back later even worse, than that is bad. But, for example, psychiatrists use anti-depressants to help the user confront the problem and help them to realize that they must deal with it. Some of these drugs help people get over their problems with each other and allow them to connect on a much deeper level which can renew a relationship after a fight. I think there are many uses for drugs in this world, but unfortunately people have a hard time using them responsibly and they can be a trap of abuse instead of use.