What is simple living?
Details
Our lifestyles have been transforming at an unprecedented, accelerating rate over the past few decades. We are surrounded by more material goods than ever before, and continue to increase the consumption of the limited resources available in our environment. This has far reaching implications - both on the Natural world and our experience of life.
In this discussion we ask the question of what it means to live a simple life, and have an open dialogue regarding its implications on our experience and its ethical standing.
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The following questions will act as a rough guide, and more will be added as we get closer to the date:
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##Material/physical resource consumption
1. What is the average lifestyle of a person in the current epoch? How far are we, as individuals living in Sweden, from this mean?
2. With the current levels of consumption by our species, how far into the future can we continue living on our planet?
3. Is buying more/consuming considered morally good? How is it encouraged/discouraged in the society?
##Simplicity and its impact on our experience
0. What is your idea of a simple life?
1. What is the boundary that separates necessities from luxuries? Does crossing the boundary makes us suffer more?
2. Does exercising self-restraint, add any value to our lives?
3. Can experience be categorised as being shallow/superficial or depthful/rich? Does our lifestyle influence the category in which our experience falls?
4. Is there a difference between inward and outward displays of simplicity?
#Society and its organisation
1. What are the traditional measures of an individual's success in our society? What is a measure used for a country?
2. Does our current socio-economical model support or hinder a transition to a simpler/sustainable lifestyle? Do we have alternative examples?
3. With the current technology, and limitations imposed by the laws of physics, can we expand the "dominion" of humans to interstellar dimensions and evade the scarcity of resources on our planet?
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Resources/Food for thought.
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Nature article on human consumption: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08154-w
Random quote:
"We notice that the mind is a restless bird; the more it gets the more it wants, and still remains unsatisfied. The more we indulge our passions the more unbridled they become. Our ancestors, therefore, set a limit to our indulgences. They saw that happiness was largely a mental condition. A man is not necessarily happy because he is rich, or unhappy because he is poor. The rich are often seen to be unhappy, the poor to be happy."
- Mohandas Karamchan Gandhi in What is civilisation? [source: https://www.mkgandhi.org/hindswaraj/chap13_truecivilization.php]