1. Afternoon Class
It was an afternoon class. Iraj had been talking about the topic of the session for a few minutes. On the board he had written a few words: pleasure, newness, habit.
He put the marker on the edge of the board and turned back toward the students.
“Suppose you got something you really wanted. At first it was wonderful. After a while… what?”
A few people looked at each other.
Someone from the middle row said, “It becomes normal.”
Iraj said, “You mean its pleasure disappears?”
The student paused. “No… I mean it becomes normal.”
Iraj smiled. “Those two aren’t the same. But a lot of the time we take them as the same.”
A few people went quiet.
2. A Laptop That Had Three Days of Excitement
A boy from the back row said, “I have an example.”
Iraj nodded.
“I saved up for two years for a laptop. When I bought it, for three days I was genuinely excited. I’d wake up at night just to look at it.”
A few people laughed.
“After a week, that excitement wasn’t there anymore. It was just a laptop.”
Iraj asked, “So its pleasure disappeared?”
The boy thought. “No. I still like it. But it’s not that first feeling anymore.”
Iraj said, “So what remained?”
The boy shrugged. “I don’t know. A kind of… habit?”
A girl from the front row said, “But I think that’s natural. A person can’t be excited about one thing forever.”
Iraj said nothing.
Another student said, “Actually, that’s exactly the problem. If everything becomes normal, then why do we go after something that only lasts a few days?”
The class went quiet.
3. Something That Only Had Intensity
A girl from the middle row said, “Maybe the problem is that we only call something pleasure when it has intensity.”
Iraj looked at her. “Meaning?”
“For example, that same laptop. The first three days had intensity. Excitement. But afterward… it became calm. We think the pleasure is gone, when maybe only its shape has changed.”
Iraj asked, “What shape?”
The girl paused. “I don’t know. Maybe… satisfaction?”
Iraj wrote on the board next to “pleasure”: **Satisfaction?**
One of the students said, “But those two are very close to each other.”
Iraj said, “They’re close. But maybe they’re not the same.”
4. Habit or Betrayal?
A student who usually spoke less said, “There’s something I don’t understand.”
Iraj looked at him.
“If everything becomes normal after a while, then why are people afraid of becoming normal?”
A few people looked at each other.
“For example, I’m afraid that one day I’ll wake up and see that I’ve gotten used to everything I have. Not that it’s bad. Just… that it doesn’t matter to me anymore.”
Iraj said, “You mean you’re afraid of indifference?”
The student nodded. “Yeah. Maybe.”
From the back of the class, a voice came: “I disagree.”
Iraj looked at him. “Why?”
“Because becoming normal means something has become part of your life. It means you no longer have to fight for it every day. That’s not bad. That’s security.”
The first student said, “But security isn’t the same as pleasure.”
“Maybe it shouldn’t be.”
The class went quiet.
5. Why Do We Expect It to Last?
Iraj turned back to the board. Under “pleasure” he wrote: **Why should it last?**
He turned to the class.
“We usually assume pleasure should last. But we never ask why.”
One of the students said, “Because if it doesn’t last, then what’s the point?”
Iraj said, “For example?”
“For example, why should I pay for a trip that only gives me a week of excitement?”
Another student said, “Maybe the point isn’t how much excitement it had. Maybe the point is what it leaves inside you.”
Iraj asked, “Like what?”
The student paused. “Like a memory. Or a change. Or even a new question.”
The class was silent for a few seconds.
6. A Question With No Answer
Iraj put the marker on the table.
“Well. So far we’ve had a few opinions.”
He pointed to the board.
“One says pleasure comes and goes. One says becoming normal means security. One says maybe something remains after pleasure.”
One of the students said, “Professor, what’s the answer?”
Iraj looked at the board.
“I don’t know.”
A few people laughed.
“But I think there’s a more important question.”
On the board he wrote:
**If pleasure comes and goes, what do we expect to remain?**
The class went quiet.
This question was different from the previous ones.
