(no subject)
So, life has a funny way of kicking you when you're up and giving you a lift when you're down. I've had several of both genres of incidents in the last few days. I feel like the proverbial yo-yo or rollercoaster or submarine or Vietnamese hooker, or whatever. It makes me wonder--are all incidents related by some macrocosmic plan, or is everything just random? Is randomness itself part of a plan? And, of so, does that contradict the meaning of the word "random?"
I've been told that I have a good perspective several times in the last few days. I don't know where these people get their info, because they certainly didn't get it solely from having a conversation from me. All I do is invent circular arguments that end in me concluding that everything in life is relative, subjective, or otherwise meaningless. Then I contradict this by insisting that everything we do matters, somehow. I guess that's the problem with existentialist thought, or any school of thought... It either tries to maximize or minimize the importance of being. There's realy no middle ground. Philosophers are either really lazy, or really highly motivated. Either we nihilistically conclude that there is nothing that matters and so we should just live ignorantly, giving up philosophy and truth in favor of enjoying every moment of life or we have the crushing anxiety-ridden theory that EVERYTHING we do matters, even if we do nothing, because every moment is precious and every action leads to another action, forming a mind-boggling never-ending tree of infinite realities. Even inaction is an action and after a while, one is tempted to say, "F this; perhaps Nietzsche was right," because it's minute after pressuring minute. Every day is a test of courage, knowledge, and reaction time (much like being a music major). However-- backpedalling here-- that "tree theory" all depends on if you believe in pre-destination--if you do, forget the tree, and forget trying to live life, because it's already lived for you. Perhaps there's an alternate possiblity though. Maybe if we think really big, one life becomes small. We are limited by how we are born-- color, parents' income level, various pre-existing conditions.
And then there's genetics. My brother has this theory that EVERYTHING is pre-determined by genetics. (Of course, he refers to this mostly when talking about longevity, I don't think it would apply to things like my car randomly losing its right side mirror.) (BTW, my brother is going to Dartmouth med school and thinks he knows everything.) (which he is probably right about.) Like whenever I mention that I should eat healthily or exercise, he says,"That's just re-arranging the chairs on the Titanic." Of course that doesn't stop him from exercising or eating Cheerios instead of Froot Loops every morning. Besides, I doubt that genetics would dictate one getting hit by a bus, or randomly catching malaria. I mean your immune system would be suspectible to it, that's true, but the suspectibility could come from poor lifestyle choices rather than genetics. Whatever, Ben. However, genetics play a great role in limiting the inifinite posibilities of life. It's not everything, but I'd venture to say it's at least 40%. Your intellect, body shape, number of toes, various genetic diseases, etc. We limited not only by genetics and pre-existing conditions in our environment, but also by time. Time limits are one of the most difficult things for human beings to accept-- probably due to the frustration of not being able to exist in any given moment, but being limited to one at a time. We are on a great train being propelled (conceptually) forever by an unseen force. We are constantly reminded that we can only do so much at a time, and we keep routines to comfort us--they reassure us by deception, making us think of time as circular, rather than linear-- as we can go back in time, retracing permanently engraved branches of possibility and finding a different outcome for ourselves.
Maybe that's why the idea of pre-destination is comforting as well. When the tree becomes a single log, one path, we are removed of responsibility for any past actions and for any we may make in the future. If we feel guilty, too bad; it was "meant to be." I mean, yes there are some things you can't change without being God or having major reconstructive surgery-- those would be classified as "meant to be." But daily choices are left up to us-- stupid menial things, like wearing the purple shirt rather than the green one. There are consequences, whether simple or complicated, noticeable or subtle. But this is just details, The point is, we all think about this stuff. We feel like we need to have a plan or philosophy, or some ideal that we can depend on or govern our lives with. No matter what, we all believe that philosophy matters in some way and therefore life matters. And life no longer becomes a question of coincidence because we feel like philosophy gives meaning to those random events.
That is all. Wild weekend. Barely any sleep. Gotta work out now, even if I am just re-arranging the chairs on the Titanic.
I've been told that I have a good perspective several times in the last few days. I don't know where these people get their info, because they certainly didn't get it solely from having a conversation from me. All I do is invent circular arguments that end in me concluding that everything in life is relative, subjective, or otherwise meaningless. Then I contradict this by insisting that everything we do matters, somehow. I guess that's the problem with existentialist thought, or any school of thought... It either tries to maximize or minimize the importance of being. There's realy no middle ground. Philosophers are either really lazy, or really highly motivated. Either we nihilistically conclude that there is nothing that matters and so we should just live ignorantly, giving up philosophy and truth in favor of enjoying every moment of life or we have the crushing anxiety-ridden theory that EVERYTHING we do matters, even if we do nothing, because every moment is precious and every action leads to another action, forming a mind-boggling never-ending tree of infinite realities. Even inaction is an action and after a while, one is tempted to say, "F this; perhaps Nietzsche was right," because it's minute after pressuring minute. Every day is a test of courage, knowledge, and reaction time (much like being a music major). However-- backpedalling here-- that "tree theory" all depends on if you believe in pre-destination--if you do, forget the tree, and forget trying to live life, because it's already lived for you. Perhaps there's an alternate possiblity though. Maybe if we think really big, one life becomes small. We are limited by how we are born-- color, parents' income level, various pre-existing conditions.
And then there's genetics. My brother has this theory that EVERYTHING is pre-determined by genetics. (Of course, he refers to this mostly when talking about longevity, I don't think it would apply to things like my car randomly losing its right side mirror.) (BTW, my brother is going to Dartmouth med school and thinks he knows everything.) (which he is probably right about.) Like whenever I mention that I should eat healthily or exercise, he says,"That's just re-arranging the chairs on the Titanic." Of course that doesn't stop him from exercising or eating Cheerios instead of Froot Loops every morning. Besides, I doubt that genetics would dictate one getting hit by a bus, or randomly catching malaria. I mean your immune system would be suspectible to it, that's true, but the suspectibility could come from poor lifestyle choices rather than genetics. Whatever, Ben. However, genetics play a great role in limiting the inifinite posibilities of life. It's not everything, but I'd venture to say it's at least 40%. Your intellect, body shape, number of toes, various genetic diseases, etc. We limited not only by genetics and pre-existing conditions in our environment, but also by time. Time limits are one of the most difficult things for human beings to accept-- probably due to the frustration of not being able to exist in any given moment, but being limited to one at a time. We are on a great train being propelled (conceptually) forever by an unseen force. We are constantly reminded that we can only do so much at a time, and we keep routines to comfort us--they reassure us by deception, making us think of time as circular, rather than linear-- as we can go back in time, retracing permanently engraved branches of possibility and finding a different outcome for ourselves.
Maybe that's why the idea of pre-destination is comforting as well. When the tree becomes a single log, one path, we are removed of responsibility for any past actions and for any we may make in the future. If we feel guilty, too bad; it was "meant to be." I mean, yes there are some things you can't change without being God or having major reconstructive surgery-- those would be classified as "meant to be." But daily choices are left up to us-- stupid menial things, like wearing the purple shirt rather than the green one. There are consequences, whether simple or complicated, noticeable or subtle. But this is just details, The point is, we all think about this stuff. We feel like we need to have a plan or philosophy, or some ideal that we can depend on or govern our lives with. No matter what, we all believe that philosophy matters in some way and therefore life matters. And life no longer becomes a question of coincidence because we feel like philosophy gives meaning to those random events.
That is all. Wild weekend. Barely any sleep. Gotta work out now, even if I am just re-arranging the chairs on the Titanic.