Personal Though - Necessities into Pleasures

[pkafka]

Last week I had dinner with a friend who had recently read a book by a food critic (ill get the title); in the book, the critic discusses two things: food and sex. My friend thought it was odd that this critic intertwined the two. At first thought, I agreed. However after thinking a bit more about it, I realized that their connection is clear - they are both necessities that people have learned to make pleasurable.

Our nature requires us to reproduce and eat... I guess people must have gotten bored with just "doing" these activities and have pushed these practices to the point of pleasure.

So we started to wonder, what other necessary activities have people turned into pleasurable ones?

The only other very solid example was communication. Cave people did it because they had to, we choose to, and at times, really enjoy it.

Can't wait to hear some others.

-pk

[BarbeyGirl]

I can think of some people who would add sleep to the list. :)

Personally, I would add physical motion. Necessary, yes -- and sheer joy.

I wonder about the cause and effect, though. Do we enjoy eating because we need food and therefore developed a taste (ha ha) for it? Or have we always had a taste for food, and therefore enjoy eating?

Do we have sex because we enjoy it, or enjoy it because we have to have it? (I'd venture a guess at the former.)

The example of communication, though...that's an interesting one that seems to work best if it starts with necessity.

[chadwick]

Well, the basic necessities of life are generally: food, water, clothing, and shelter.

Water - it has turned into (or been replaced by) bottled water, vitamin water, soda, juice, beer, liquur...all of which may be pleasurable!
Clothing - self-explanatory! Nice clothes...the fashion industry as a whole. Self-expression, etc.
Shelter - same as clothing, in a design-sense it can bring pleasure, the type of stuff one has in a house (TV, furniture, high-end gadgets)...can even bring stuff such as hotels and resorts into this!

[iluvthors]

Actually, some could argue that nudity was a necessity (had to be naked when clothes didn't exist) but that now, after getting lean from being primal, it is a pleasure! haha.

Seriously though, I will think more about it. I guess inevitably, every necessity must evolve into something pleasurable... needing something, and being bored by it is not a good combination.

[dwccrew08]

Who gets bored from eating and reproducing, haha!

[62shelby]

So maybe we have made those 'needs' that chadwick mentioned into 'wants'................and they are transformed into stylized commodities. I think advertizing for sure has had a hand in steering those needs into greater wants.

(geez I cant win, the spell check in windows is american, the spell check in ubuntu is english! I am in ubuntu right now and it doesnt like the 'z'!)

[iluvthors]

62Shelby that is an interesting take... As we know, the average person rarely thinks for him/herself, they simply follow what the masses tell them. I am sure advertisers have had a hand in creating what we want...