Albeit super reductive
It seems like all of your feelings really do come down to chemicals in your brain (which are highly influenced by outside factors obviously). Fuck me, now I’m realizing all of my wants/desires are just certain feelings that may or may not be influenced by how others perceive me (i.e. social status)
I did not need this realization 😀 someone please tell me I am wrong
Sure, feelings are partially generated through some chemical pathways, but who cares much about the mechanism? Us being complex biological machines doesn't really change our perception of the world. It's also true that our feelings aren't intrinsic and are affected by our surroundings and what happens around us. I feel joy seeing my friends have fun, I feel anger seeing my comrades suffer, I feel sorrow seeing capital destroying our world.
What's your takeaway from your realization? I don't mean to diminish what you're saying, but I'd like to know why you feel this is a big step forward in your perception of the world.
Honestly, I think he was a psychological hedonist