The Nirvana Fallacy

Recently reading an article on Cracked.com I came across an article about The Five Ways Common Sense Lies You Everday.

But my personal favorite was The Nirvana Fallacy. Because so many opportunities I missed out of because of this! Ha!

What is the Nirvana Fallacy? Well here you go.

The Nirvana Fallacy is when you dismiss anything in the real world because you compare it to an unrealistic, perfect alternative, by which it pales in comparison. It wouldn't be a problem, except it keeps us from getting anything done.

For instance, procrastination can happen for a lot of reasons--you drank too much the night before, or you're feeling uninspired, or it's your first time doing gay porn and you're having second thoughts--but one of the most common reasons we procrastinate is fear that the end result won't live up to the "perfect" idea in our heads. Think about the writer friend of yours who has never actually written anything, because they're "waiting for the right idea" for a book to come along.

This is why people wind up living in their parents' basement--waiting for the perfect job, the perfect girl, the perfect friendship--before committing to anything.

If you're not full of that kind of self-doubt, don't worry, there are plenty of a-holes willing to supply it for you. Any incremental improvement on someone else's part is mocked as some kind of deluded hypocrisy, because anything short of perfect is not worth doing, so you might as well do nothing, like them. "Ha! You're drinking a Diet Coke with your hamburger? Like that's really going to make a difference!"

It gets worse...

Politicians use this to attack any idea they don't like. "Sure, your plan is helping millions of families in poverty. But I found examples of people abusing it! So we might as well scrap the whole system!"

Or, you'll hear radical political types on the Internet say, "I'm not voting for any of those guys! They're no better than Bush! They're all corrupt agents of the NWO! I'm staying home until you can show me a perfect, incorruptible, intelligent politician who believes the exact same things I do!"

Who else has fallen victim to The Nirvana Fallacy?

So this is like somehow related to the is-ought problem,i think?

en.wikipedia.org...

But if you look at it another way,human advancement would'nt be as it is if those who invested in it,hadn't set their minds on a higher goal,think about graham bell and how far telecommunications has gone right down to the internet.

Human beings are naturally goal oriented,and seek perfection and most often attain it or one step closer,but that's just my opinion,otherwise i have no idea what im talking about and wether its even relative to the post,sheeesh

I think that everyone to one degree or another make judgements based on this fallacy.

Some more than others.

I remember working with a guy who would not date a girl unless she met every criteria he had. Last I saw of him he was a very lonely guy.

You have given me something else to think of now, as if I didn't have enough.
Where do I fit into this??

Thanks

I think my husband falls under that description perfectly. I just chalked it up to him being an unmedicated bipolar mess.

It does seem to ring true, and I also read cracked.com every day. Some of it is good, other stuff isn't.

A_L

reply to post by Okiminletsdoit!


But this isn't so much a higher goal, as perfection (Nirvana).

To seek a higher goal in anything you do is natural (for most)...To obsess about nothing less than perfection can turn into a serious illness.

I agree. When you start to not do ANTHING because you assume it wont turn out perfect, then thats where it starts to become a problem.

The Nirvana Fallacy is when you dismiss anything in the real world because you compare it to an unrealistic, perfect alternative, by which it pales in comparison. It wouldn't be a problem, except it keeps us from getting anything done.

I think of all us on some level, experience this type of thought process...

The idea, that if something isn't done a certain way, the results will not be ideal.

I'm one of these people: I believe in Timing. I agree, this has probably hindered me in some ways when it comes to doing things in life...

Think about the writer friend of yours who has never actually written anything, because they're "waiting for the right idea" for a book to come along.

Ah yes. This is me. I'm a writer - I write a lot of Poetry. But I have dozens of ideas for books that I haven't even yet come to think of as being possible. I tried writing a few times when I was younger - which for me - proves my point on timing. The idea was right, but perhaps the timing was not ideal for exactly the point I was trying to prove, or the message I was trying to send.

This is why people wind up living in their parents' basement--waiting for the perfect job, the perfect girl, the perfect friendship--before committing to anything.

Lol - Oh yes... I've witnessed this - but I also attribute this to a lack of motivation and a resistance to change...

Sometimes being scared of the possibilities that lie ahead, can inhibit a person from living out their dreams, or exploring different avenues.

Who else has fallen victim to The Nirvana Fallacy?

I raise my hand, and the only thing holding myself back - is me.


- Carrot

I don't mean to come off too serious or pious or anything, but the writer conceptualized nirvana, and should have titled it "the idealist fallacy" as nirvana has nothing to do with jobs, girlfriends, or even perfection. The word itself has been molested by western new age types for years.

I can't stand bull# writers.

Hi,

I don't know what you are talking about. Why don't you or they call it Christian Heaven Fallacy? It suits most Christians as they have the most number in this world, and they are the most felt into this trap crap.

Originally posted by DeadFlagBlues
The word itself has been molested by western new age types for years.

the state of Nirvana cannot be experienced by the mortal flesh,
the state of ecstacy & bliss is not achievable by the crass, mankind...

Nirvana is always 'one-inch-beyond-our-grasp' & comprehension

i agree with DeadFlagBlues... and bequeath a STAR to the alert/aware author !