overdrife, you're right.
Smoking is useless. Furthermore,
noding is useless.
Falling in love is useless.
Babies are useless.
Music is useless.
You and I are useless.
Everything but eating, sleeping, and shitting is useless.
In an ideal world --
a world without uselessness -- we would all eat identical algae paste, because that is
the most efficient way to produce protein.
Appetizing food is useless! The only "useful" purpose it could possibly serve is to tempt people who just aren't hungry, but you know what?
People like that are useless! Hell, are people with asthma and allergies useful? Frankly, I doubt it. In your ideal
utilitarian paradise,
those people could easily be replaced with more efficient units, units which require less upkeep and waste less
gasoline driving to the doctor's office.
What the hell are you doing in a restaurant anyway?
What useful purpose does that serve? If you can't justify restaurant-attendance on strict
utilitarian grounds, I'm not at all sure that I can take you seriously.
overdrife: Sorry, I misunderstood. You're not suggesting that utility is
an absolute moral yardstick; you're saying that
your convenience is
an absolute moral yardstick. That's different.
The
mere existence of
sanctimonious health zealots raises my
blood pressure and shortens my life. Furthermore, my life is worth vastly more than yours because I do not
spend every moment of it working to prolong it. I enjoy what I've got instead of wasting it getting more (which you'll also waste once you get it, so why bother?)
Your life is worth absolutely nothing, because you devote it to crawling up my ass instead of living. What I'm saying is that
your behavior is repulsive and antisocial, and it
does physically harm me. My only
recourse is to lower my
blood pressure and elevate my mood by indulging in
a nice relaxing rant, but what does
that lead to? It's a
vicious circle!
Now I need a cigarette.
My poor little head is spinning.