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val_t Offline OP
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I know there is a word to describe the act of doing exactly what one wants to do, even though one knows one oughtn't.

For example: I know I shouldn't eat this entire tray of brownies but I will anyway, because I want to.

This concept can be expanded to define a philosophy that asserts that people will always do exactly what they want, because if they didn't want to do it, they wouldn't.

Perhaps it ends in 'esis- or 'gesis'? For some reason I'm wanting to say "Achresis" but I'm pretty sure that word just doesn't exist.

I've been up and down the internet, my dictionary, and my bookshelves (because I know I encountered it in a book sometime in the past year or so) but I'm still at a loss. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank You,
val

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welcome, val!

selfish? narcissistic?


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idious
(id-i-o-us)

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Welcome, val. I ran *gesis through Onelook, and it's not that. Though the religious ref.'s made me think of the word sinning, but I can't imagine that's what you're looking for. (And running sin through the thesaurus didn't work, either.)

Then I tried *esis...and there are so many that I'm going to ask you to check the list yourself. Sorry I couldn't be of help. Though perhaps tsuwm might know off the top of his head.

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Happy

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What do you want, Val, egg in your beer?

Precedence precedes usage. As in...

Id: instinctual impulses and demands for the immediate satifaction of primitive needs.

-ious: indicates "full of".


What? You want something with "bling"? smile

Last edited by jenny jenny; 07/10/10 04:58 AM.
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And if you're happy after eating a whole plate full of brownies there's something seriously wrong with your digestive system.

My definition of junk food is food that you want to keep eating even after it starts making you vaguely ill.

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val_t Offline OP
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Faldage- I believe your definition of junk food is also the definition of Monosodium Glutamate. wink

Jenny- 'idious' would work... although it's too reminiscent of 'idiocy' for my comfort. :P

Thanks, all, for you kind suggestions, but I'm afriad it's still escaping me. I've been reading a lot of Nick Hornby recently, and I'm thinking it must have come from there... it seems like a concept his characters would apply, no? I'll find it eventually.

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Originally Posted By: val_t
I know there is a word to describe the act of doing exactly what one wants to do, even though one knows one oughtn't.

For example: I know I shouldn't eat this entire tray of brownies but I will anyway, because I want to.

This concept can be expanded to define a philosophy that asserts that people will always do exactly what they want, because if they didn't want to do it, they wouldn't.


All my medical brain can offer is compulsion. However, I'm not sure this is the word you're looking for, and I'm pretty sure that it would be inappropriate to use it for the philosophy you describe.

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What's wrong with Hedonism? I don't mean that as a philosophical question, but as a possible answer to the original post.

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