In this post, I wrote about how I thought materialism was the most urgent issue described in Jonathan Rowson’s Seven Deadly Chess Sins. Though each ‘chess sin’ overlapped with its counterparts in some ways, materialism seemed to be the only one that actually influenced all six.
Since Rowson’s framework is based on the concept of ‘the seven deadly sins’, I wondered if there was a deadly sin that influenced the others in the way materialism did (1). After having a look and thinking it over, I think I have a strong candidate – greed.
This deadly sin is essentially the insatiable urge to accumulate. It seems like the other six deadly sins all build on this concept until a healthy behavior becomes detrimental. The feature that links them all together is how there appears to be no end in sight for someone under the influence of a deadly sin.
Consider:
Greed – the sin of endless accumulation
Gluttony – the sin of endless accumulation as it relates to consumption
Sloth – the sin of endless accumulation as it relates to rest or idleness
Envy – the sin of endless accumulation as it relates to social standing
Lust – the sin of endless accumulation as it relates to sexual desire
Wrath – the sin of endless accumulation as it relates to anger
Pride – the sin of endless accumulation as it relates to selfishness
Now, whether there is any actual substance to be the above is a question I leave to you, reader. For me, the exercise reveals my general sense about greed’s prominent role among negative qualities. When I think about the worst quality an otherwise normal person can have, I usually end up settling on greed (2). There is something fundamentally regrettable to me about greed. I think it is because greed feels like a manufactured product to me, almost like it wouldn't exist unless it was created by us humans, and I suspect that when I encounter a greedy person, I feel that we have collectively failed this person in the same way I feel when I walk past someone sleeping on the sidewalk.
What's the part about greed that feels manufactured to me? When I stack greed up against the other sins, it almost seems to stand alone in how it is not an example of an other otherwise healthy impulse or instinct gone wrong. We should all eat without reaching gluttony and we should all rest without becoming slothful. A person who can express him- or herself without anger is going to be emotionally healthy while those who can use success stories as inspirations rather than sources of jealousy will be vital components in any progressing society. Surely, we all agree that we must think about our own self-interest every once in a while. And might I point out that a little lust, handled with maturity and respect, goes a long way to the future of the species?
But greed… what positive quality or outcome is greed obscuring? Saving for a rainy day, maybe? I don't know, to me it just doesn’t seem to have any purpose at all. Perhaps another way to make this point is to suggest that of all the negative qualities, greed just doesn’t seem to come naturally to us at all. So why do we suggest it is some kind of natural impulse by placing it alongside these six other examples? Surely, we should think about greed in a different way - not as a forgivable example of poor self-control but rather as a symptom of the unfortunate disease invented and spread by our greatest collective achievement to date, civilization.
Footnotes / how closely related are materialism and greed?
1. The insatiable urge for… accumulation?
The link I make between materialism and greed through the common property of accumulation isn’t a cut and dried sort of connection. But I those who understand the real-world connotations of ‘materialism’ might tend to agree. In some ways, I think materialism is used as a synonym for greed. Where the two concepts diverge is in the commonly used quality-quantity duality – whereas materialism seems a preference for accumulating quality, greed is perhaps more oriented toward accumulating quantity.
2. Disclaimer…
There are far worse things to be than greedy. But for a normal person?
