Tag Archives: Cruises

This is Part Four in our series of Five Terms Made Up By Yours Truly.
Check out Part One, Part Two, Part Three, and Part Five.

4. The Cruise Ship Principle

Definition – The impulse to continue in a particularly positive or personally meaningful activity despite the conscious knowledge that the activity would only continue to be positive or meaningful if others continued in it as well.

The Story – When I was twelve, I went on a cruise with my family. During the vacation, I’d met up with a nice group of kids my own age whom I quickly became good friends with. At the end of the week, when we were disembarking, I said to my family, “I wish we could stay on the cruise ship.” My dad pointed out, quite rightly, that what I really wanted was to spend more time with these friends, and so that wish wouldn’t work unless they all stayed on the cruise ship as well. It was at that point that I realized the pleasure I took in certain activities was largely dependent on those with whom I had shared the experience, and continuing them on my own would not have sufficed. Thus, the Cruise Ship Principle was born.

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