commit 510c51c57f5c5eccb05b70fee40899cc97cba0da
parent 059bd356efd0e3090ea3206a44ed2416016a065b
Author: Andrew Laack <andrew@laack.co>
Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2025 00:31:44 -0500
Formatting
Diffstat:
3 files changed, 6 insertions(+), 10 deletions(-)
diff --git a/posts/entries/you-dont-need-anything.md b/posts/entries/you-dont-need-anything.md
@@ -12,11 +12,11 @@ Need: a requirement, necessary duty, or obligation.
## My Thoughts
-> Do You Really *need* Anything?
+**Do You Really *need* Anything?**
I often say this when people use an unqualified need. An unqualified need is as follows:
-> I *need* to eat food, I'm starving!
+**I *need* to eat food, I'm starving!**
Aside from the fact that they likely aren't starving, they don't *need* food. This can be thought of in a similar way as the is-ought problem [2]. If someone says they *need* something, you can ask them, "Why do you *need* it?". In the case of food they may say, "I *need* food to survive", and to this you may say, "Why do you *need* to survive", and this can continue indefinitely as needs are predicated upon something. Often need has an implicit qualification as is the case of, "I *need* food" implying that it is needed to survive, but you don't *need* to survive. I don't want you to die, but it is not necessary for you to live. Tying this to the definition of need, there is no requirement, duty, or obligation for someone to be alive. There are no universal requirements to do things, no one has a universal duty to do things, and no one has a universal obligation to do anything. You may *need* to complete a project at work to not get fired, but you don't *need* to complete the project, you can just get fired, you are not obligated to not be fired.
diff --git a/posts/site/feed.xml b/posts/site/feed.xml
@@ -7,12 +7,12 @@
<language>en-us</language>
<managingEditor>andrew@laack.co</managingEditor>
<webMaster>andrew@laack.co</webMaster>
-<lastBuildDate>Fri, 17 Oct 2025 00:30:03 -0500</lastBuildDate>
+<lastBuildDate>Fri, 17 Oct 2025 00:31:35 -0500</lastBuildDate>
<atom:link href="https://blog.laack.co/feed.xml" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"/>
<item>
<title><![CDATA[You Don't Need Anything]]></title>
<link>https://blog.laack.co/you-dont-need-anything.html</link>
-<description><![CDATA[<h2 id="context">Context</h2><p>The words we say have an impact on how we think. A word I find problematic is the word need.</p><h2 id="definition">Definition</h2><p>Need: a requirement, necessary duty, or obligation.</p><h2 id="my-thoughts">My Thoughts</h2><blockquote><p>Do You Really <em>need</em> Anything?</p></blockquote><p>I often say this when people use an unqualified need. An unqualified need is as follows:</p><blockquote><p>I <em>need</em> to eat food, I’m starving!</p></blockquote><p>Aside from the fact that they likely aren’t starving, they don’t <em>need</em> food. This can be thought of in a similar way as the is-ought problem [2]. If someone says they <em>need</em> something, you can ask them, “Why do you <em>need</em> it?”. In the case of food they may say, “I <em>need</em> food to survive”, and to this you may say, “Why do you <em>need</em> to survive”, and this can continue indefinitely as needs are predicated upon something. Often need has an implicit qualification as is the case of, “I <em>need</em> food” implying that it is needed to survive, but you don’t <em>need</em> to survive. I don’t want you to die, but it is not necessary for you to live. Tying this to the definition of need, there is no requirement, duty, or obligation for someone to be alive. There are no universal requirements to do things, no one has a universal duty to do things, and no one has a universal obligation to do anything. You may <em>need</em> to complete a project at work to not get fired, but you don’t <em>need</em> to complete the project, you can just get fired, you are not obligated to not be fired.</p><p>The danger in statements like, “I <em>need</em> to eat food”, is they create a dependence upon something. By saying you <em>need</em> something you are telling yourself that without it you are incomplete. You are beholden unto this thing. This is dangerous because it leads to acts of immorality because of the perception that something must be done. I believe this is what has led to mass surveillance. People think they <em>need</em> to do what their boss tells them to do even when they know it’s wrong.</p><p>YOU DON’T NEED ANYTHING. You want it because you perceive the consequences of not having it are worse than having it. This is not a need. This is a want. Understand the difference.</p><p>You don’t need to live. You don’t need food. You don’t need water.</p><h2 id="citations">Citations</h2><p>[1] - <a href="https://www.dictionary.com/browse/need.md">https://www.dictionary.com/browse/need</a></p><p>[2] - <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Is%E2%80%93ought_problem.md">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Is%E2%80%93ought_problem</a></p>]]></description>
+<description><![CDATA[<h2 id="context">Context</h2><p>The words we say have an impact on how we think. A word I find problematic is the word need.</p><h2 id="definition">Definition</h2><p>Need: a requirement, necessary duty, or obligation.</p><h2 id="my-thoughts">My Thoughts</h2><p><strong>Do You Really <em>need</em> Anything?</strong></p><p>I often say this when people use an unqualified need. An unqualified need is as follows:</p><p><strong>I <em>need</em> to eat food, I’m starving!</strong></p><p>Aside from the fact that they likely aren’t starving, they don’t <em>need</em> food. This can be thought of in a similar way as the is-ought problem [2]. If someone says they <em>need</em> something, you can ask them, “Why do you <em>need</em> it?”. In the case of food they may say, “I <em>need</em> food to survive”, and to this you may say, “Why do you <em>need</em> to survive”, and this can continue indefinitely as needs are predicated upon something. Often need has an implicit qualification as is the case of, “I <em>need</em> food” implying that it is needed to survive, but you don’t <em>need</em> to survive. I don’t want you to die, but it is not necessary for you to live. Tying this to the definition of need, there is no requirement, duty, or obligation for someone to be alive. There are no universal requirements to do things, no one has a universal duty to do things, and no one has a universal obligation to do anything. You may <em>need</em> to complete a project at work to not get fired, but you don’t <em>need</em> to complete the project, you can just get fired, you are not obligated to not be fired.</p><p>The danger in statements like, “I <em>need</em> to eat food”, is they create a dependence upon something. By saying you <em>need</em> something you are telling yourself that without it you are incomplete. You are beholden unto this thing. This is dangerous because it leads to acts of immorality because of the perception that something must be done. I believe this is what has led to mass surveillance. People think they <em>need</em> to do what their boss tells them to do even when they know it’s wrong.</p><p>YOU DON’T NEED ANYTHING. You want it because you perceive the consequences of not having it are worse than having it. This is not a need. This is a want. Understand the difference.</p><p>You don’t need to live. You don’t need food. You don’t need water.</p><h2 id="citations">Citations</h2><p>[1] - <a href="https://www.dictionary.com/browse/need.md">https://www.dictionary.com/browse/need</a></p><p>[2] - <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Is%E2%80%93ought_problem.md">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Is%E2%80%93ought_problem</a></p>]]></description>
<pubDate>Fri, 17 Oct 2025 00:00:00 -0500</pubDate>
<guid>https://blog.laack.co/you-dont-need-anything.html</guid>
</item>
diff --git a/posts/site/you-dont-need-anything.html b/posts/site/you-dont-need-anything.html
@@ -32,13 +32,9 @@
<h2 id="definition">Definition</h2>
<p>Need: a requirement, necessary duty, or obligation.</p>
<h2 id="my-thoughts">My Thoughts</h2>
-<blockquote>
-<p>Do You Really <em>need</em> Anything?</p>
-</blockquote>
+<p><strong>Do You Really <em>need</em> Anything?</strong></p>
<p>I often say this when people use an unqualified need. An unqualified need is as follows:</p>
-<blockquote>
-<p>I <em>need</em> to eat food, I’m starving!</p>
-</blockquote>
+<p><strong>I <em>need</em> to eat food, I’m starving!</strong></p>
<p>Aside from the fact that they likely aren’t starving, they don’t <em>need</em> food. This can be thought of in a similar way as the is-ought problem [2]. If someone says they <em>need</em> something, you can ask them, “Why do you <em>need</em> it?”. In the case of food they may say, “I <em>need</em> food to survive”, and to this you may say, “Why do you <em>need</em> to survive”, and this can continue indefinitely as needs are predicated upon something. Often need has an implicit qualification as is the case of, “I <em>need</em> food” implying that it is needed to survive, but you don’t <em>need</em> to survive. I don’t want you to die, but it is not necessary for you to live. Tying this to the definition of need, there is no requirement, duty, or obligation for someone to be alive. There are no universal requirements to do things, no one has a universal duty to do things, and no one has a universal obligation to do anything. You may <em>need</em> to complete a project at work to not get fired, but you don’t <em>need</em> to complete the project, you can just get fired, you are not obligated to not be fired.</p>
<p>The danger in statements like, “I <em>need</em> to eat food”, is they create a dependence upon something. By saying you <em>need</em> something you are telling yourself that without it you are incomplete. You are beholden unto this thing. This is dangerous because it leads to acts of immorality because of the perception that something must be done. I believe this is what has led to mass surveillance. People think they <em>need</em> to do what their boss tells them to do even when they know it’s wrong.</p>
<p>YOU DON’T NEED ANYTHING. You want it because you perceive the consequences of not having it are worse than having it. This is not a need. This is a want. Understand the difference.</p>
