Ice cream is needed to survive?

Okay.

food is, yes
did you see me type the word "food" there? yes you did

why does it matter what kind of food it is
it doesn't

And so is happiness.

yes

what i'm arguing is that our happiness may as well come as a result of productive or utilitarian activity

anything else is a waste of time, and a waste of life

Happiness has utility, and its source is generally irrelevant.

how can the source possibly be irrelevant

In fact, it's been argued on here that pedophiles should be allowed a safe environment to express their desires (I think through CP cartoons or something) because attempting to ignore them is physically detrimental to them.

i agree, but that's not the subject

is just pointless.

i disagree

obviously

dissuading people from doing pointless activities (some of which are potentially dangerous) is something i'd call the opposite of pointless

Of course it does. Happiness is essential to one's health.

a pedophile rapes a ten year old and feels happy

Name ANY (ethical) recreational activity that doesn't involve any kind of drug.

The pleasure derived from that activity is going have more utility than any recreational drug.

Okay, how about a delicious salad? Or a vegan dessert? Now you're just being pedantic.

hardly--my veganism is well-known, so i'd have expected you to optimize

It's just so pointless to take issue with the exact cause of peoples' happiness in a time where the means to experience it are so common and available.

in other words, "millions of people smoke weed and enjoy it, so it's pointless to be upset about it"

which is an appeal to majority
i don't care what you think is pointless--smoking weed is pointless

If happiness in itself has utility and benefits the human condition, then it shouldn't matter what the source is (assuming it's ethical; like, it's not okay to derive happiness from murdering toddlers).

but happiness does not have utility in itself

and i've never made such an argument

I can live a full life without ever eating a perfectly cooked steak or a pint of ice cream, yet you're not on here giving people shit for sharing their experiences of their first time eating those.

i'm a vegan

yes i do

Okay. Argue it. And explain why recreational drugs in particular are bad, but any other chemical that you ingest or are exposed to that causes it is good (i.e., food, beverages, scents, etc.).

you need food to live
you can live a full life without ever smoking a single joint

being happy about food is a rational happiness--if food didn't make us happy, we wouldn't eat it, and we would die

At no point did I say that something is good if it releases dopamine. I'm pointing out how flawed it is to say meeting a friend is good because it makes you happy, but marijuana is bad because it makes you happy artificially.

this really isn't a complex or controversial statement that i'm making

why be happy over literally nothing when you could be happy about something

even if you derive pleasure from playing video games--at least you have the illusion of doing something productive

weed is nothing
you are happy over nothing
you are happy for the sake of being happy

I don't mean to. I'm going off of your statement, "what goes into the mindset of 'i'm gonna play around with the most precious and valuable organ in my body' "

yes, and there's nothing in that statement that speaks anything about harm

in my opinion--and i'd even go as far as to call it a philosophy--given that the brain is the most valuable organ in your body--you should feel obliged not only to take special care of it, but also with a degree of dignity and respect

this includes not marring it with toxic chemicals simply because they make you feel good

Sorry about doing this immediately after you asked me to not put words into your mouth, but your appeal to nature is pretty silly.

i'm not appealing to nature

i'm appealing to reason

there's an intrinsically good reason to be happy about all the things i listed
except for smoking weed

dopamine is irrelevant--for what reason is the dopamine being released?
THAT is what's being discussed

But your argument for its stupidity is that it's harmful. Well if it's not harmful, then how is it stupid?

you are putting words in my mouth

don't do that

There are quite a few recreational drugs that are very safe.

i don't really care

I've never tried drugs, but I look forward to trying marijuana. I've heard ecstasy and LSD are awesome.

you know what else is awesome

a healthy brain functioning the way it is supposed to

(if you've ever done any drugs at all)

what were you thinking?

you realize that's, like, really dumb, right

but no, seriously, what were you thinking

lies

hope so :/

the results are in

i found a more fair RNG generator--one that generates eight unique numbers at once, so everyone has the same chance

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lol no one got who they wanted

this is gonna be fun

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i will have a bracket set up by tomorrow
if battles could be held off until then, that would be great

sup