I like teasing subtly related ideas apart. I can usually quickly decide whether or not there is a meaningful distinction and explicate it...
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...but the distinction between 'want' and 'need' has defeated my best efforts for like 6 months.
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Huh? It's there in the words themselves -a need is a necessity, a want is a luxury. You die without the 1st, you're sad without the 2nd
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yeah, that's what it looks like on the surface, but the boundary gets very grey and psych responses can be counter-intuitive
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- Aaron Sorkin defines characters by what they "want"; wants point to man's chosen self-concept; needs are universal, choiceless.
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The problem is that wants are subjective and "needs" call upon an objective, shared understanding.
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fun oversimplification: a need is a want which doesn't go away when you stop believing in it
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