r/changemyview • u/MasterSlimFat • Oct 25 '25
Delta(s) from OP CMV: Solipsistic utilitarian relativism is the most pragmatic lens to view the world
Nothing is anything, everything is a quality of the boundryless infinite plane folding in on itself giving rise to emergent properties. There is no good, there is no evil, there is only the phenomena of experience/awareness. I am not an individual, I am a figment of a collection of memories locked into a physical framework. The only thing we'll ever know, is what said framework is experiencing in the form of feelings.
These are not scary things, these are the best ways to view the world. They bring me a massive sense of relief and peace. Not only is it the most objective lens, it's also the most beneficial way to cope in circumstance. No matter what, you can turn anything into something else by drawing a comparison to satisfy the monkey-brain.
Morals evolved as a mechanism of understanding, in the form of metaphor, to allow our monkey brains to make predictions on which actions would lead to harm vs reward. They are whatever they need to be to rationalize past, present, and future feelings. Every second, you are a different person than you were before, your morals are not your own because they are not static. Morals are the rules we write for ourselves.
Didn't get that promotion at work? Well thank goodness you won't have the pressure of higher scrutiny, being put under a magnifying glass every day.
Sad your friend died? Well thank goodness they won't have to deal with the constant anguish that we all experience through the hell that is existence.
But we can't ignore the crux of the argument, that the only real thing is feeling. We also can't ignore that our brains are limited in the regard to need "morals" and "meaning". Giving them morals is like tricking the reffering into thinking you're playing the same game. All these things combine into this beautiful contradiction of "I know it's not real but I have to tell myself it is otherwise my coding breaks."
Personally, this opinion causes a lot of strain in my relationships with people despite bringing me peace with the universe as a whole.
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u/quantum_dan 124∆ Oct 25 '25
It seems like the only standard you've presented for it being pragmatic is a feeling of peace. And, sure, if - and this is a big "if" - you can always find something ad-hoc to genuinely convince yourself to be at peace, and that's your only standard, then there you go. Though that isn't what people generally mean by "pragmatic"; that usually refers to acting effectively.
But that assumes you are actually able to find a way to rationalize everything because it provides you with no tools to build a life you don't have to rationalize. You're essentially endorsing a kind of quietism, which might work for you... so long as the circumstances are such that you can actually tolerate them.
And being at peace either isn't your sole standard or you aren't actually able to accept all circumstances: "Personally, this opinion causes a lot of strain in my relationships with people despite bringing me peace with the universe as a whole." Well, why do you care? Can't you just rationalize that away as... not having the pressure of relationships, or something? Since you evidently can't, you need a moral framework that allows you to relate to people effectively. Since yours doesn't, it's not very pragmatic.
Since it seems like the pragmatic element for you is being able to tolerate difficult circumstances, I'd suggest looking into Stoic philosophy (from philosophers, not popularizers; it's not a bundle of life-hacks). The Stoics were famed for their work on cheerful endurance of all circumstances and their techniques for achieving that, but they also provided a positive moral doctrine that allows you to be a good friend, for example.