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On hedonism and presence
About this film
In this ~40-minute-long video I walk and talk about the connection of living in the here-and-now while seeking pleasurable experiences. My points in brief: An explanation of what “hedonism” means. It comes from the Greek word ηδονή (hedony, pronounced as “ee-thó-nee”). Practical example of what “presence” is using my unscripted video presentation as a case in point. Presence lets us break the cycle of overthinking by acting. Action is actual: it always happens in the here-and-now. Presence is about recognising our humanity’s limited resources. Our time is finite, we always face opportunity costs (we face trade-offs), and we also are not omniscient. We fathom all eventualities in all possible scenaria: we thus act under these constraints and cannot afford to reach perfection before doing so. Extensive commentary on these questions If you are always present, doesn’t that make you always react to stimuli? If you are always reacting to whatever comes your way, won’t you be mindlessly engaging in the pursuit of pleasures (hedonism)? Having presence does not mean that we lose our knowledge and sense of direction. We still carry out purposeful actions. We thus are not reacting mindlessly…
Directors & creators
Protesilaos Stavrou
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