Chemist Goldilocks ponders whether to eat or not to eat

Chemist Goldilocks ponders whether to eat or not to eat

Yes, my title is strange. However it helps me tie many of the concepts and ideas raised by Aristotle. One needs to first know that Aristotle was a student of Plato and the son of a court physician. In addition to teaching Alexander the Great, he founded Lyceum, a school in Athens, and he wrote many writings; no complete manuscripts remain of his to this era. What we know of him is comparable to how we know about Socrates’ thoughts. Neither of them are able to tell us what they thought in their own words, it is only through what others stitch together. In this instance, the Nichomachean Ethics are edited by students, possibly including Aristotle’s son.

            To understand the Nichomachean Ethics, to the best of my ability, according to the reading and class notes; I can present a scenario common to any school of science major taking a chemistry course. For those of you who don’t have the pleasure of enjoying a semester in chemistry, I will outline the process for one lab in the lab section of the course.

Here are the steps:

1. Complete reading the appropriate material
2. Complete the graded ASA (Advance Study Assignment)
3. Arrive to class on time hopefully with a vague idea of what you are about to do
4. Find the instruments you will need
5. Follow the process presented in the reading material

Depending on the specific course, there might be variations, however it boils down to reading and doing the experiment. Aristotle might argue that to read it is enough, but Plato might say reading is beneficial, but not necessary. But what would Goldilocks say? Well, I met with her the other day and saw her deliberate on what cereal she would have for breakfast. She was deciding between steel-cut oats with bananas and quinoa with raisins and milk. She told me she had read about the quinoa, but had never tried it and had grown up with oatmeal porridge, but had no knowledge of how it was grown or if it was healthy. Her question was “Should I eat something that I have previously experienced the taste or something on which I can teach a course?” That’s a tough question; similarly this is the issue at hand in a chemistry lab if you had to ask what is more important: reading or actually doing the lab? From my experience, the happiness or satisfaction results after I have completed both the ASA and the actual lab. And like the traditional Goldilocks story, I would say it is “Just right.”

To get back to answering Goldilocks’ question, I think I would tell her to reason through the decision with Intellectual and Practical virtue. She has read about quinoa and has a seasoned taste for oatmeal. Going upon this, maybe there is an option to integrate the procedure she used to learn about quinoa for oatmeal. In this way, she would learn about oatmeal and it would help her decision. On the other hand, she could apply the same technique that helped her experience oatmeal with her encounter with quinoa. So how would she make a decision? Aristotle might provide the next statement, “Deliberation can be good or bad; too much would cause anxiety and too little might cause hastiness.” So I would propose to Goldilocks that after she has given it a fair amount of time, just decide on one and by doing so it would increase her level of understanding for the world around her.

What would you tell her? Maybe she is also thinking should she eat or not eat. What would you tell her in that instance? How do we arrive to the “Just right” phenomenon or the Greek word “eudaimonia”?