For whatever reason, human beings exist. Unless you're a philosophy major you'll probably agree. We exist, we roam around for awhile, and we die. Individual human lives are very short, and there have been so many of them come and go already in our history, it's difficult to fathom. Too many lives to count. It's almost too much to wrap your brain around, isn't it?Regardless of the fact that life is radically short and our lives are meaningless, we still search for meaning until the day we die. Why? Because if we could comprehend the true futility and frivolousness of our existence we would choose not to go on. We would all be depressed and suicidal and nothing would be accomplished. No one would invent, create ideas, start movements. What's the point of all that if we are all going to die in the end? The knowledge of the inevitability of death would drive us all to depression. So instead we all believe we're here for a reason, and we search for that reason until the end. It is what keeps us sane.
That and the quest for happiness. Human beings can be smiley and chipper and sunny even in the most adverse of circumstances. They can be happy even when they know in the back of their minds that there's no point. True happiness doesn't really exist in the palpable sense. It's a state of mind. Happiness is an illusion that keeps us from giving up on life. The ultimate defense mechanism. It protects us from feeling small and insignificant, and when our happiness goes away we wonder what the hell all this is for. This life, constrained in the dimensions of expectation and inevitability. When we're not happy we don't want to try anymore. The fact that the entire human race is running on such a fleeting and unpredictable emotion scares me. Brain chemistry determines whether we live or die, and whether we care either way. But that's the way it's always been, and aside from moderate suicide rates and the fact that two out of five people are clinically depressed, I'd say we're doing ok. Most people never have to look death right in the face anyways, so they never have to think about it.
This life, constrained in the dimensions of expectation and inevitability.
4 comments:
Great post. Your words on happiness remind me of a couple scenes in the movie Man on Fire with Denzel Washington. It's actually a remake of a 1987 movie starring Scott Glenn, but that's neither here nor there. My point: Peta (the little girl in the movie) asks Creasy (Denzel) if he was happy when he was kid. He replies that he doesn't remember. And explains that happiness is a state of mind, not something that can necessarily be stored in memory as an event. It's obvious that he's been through some shit in his life that makes him feel that there's no point to life other than death.
Then in a later scene, Christopher Walken is explaining to an investigator why Creasy has become an extremely dangerous man to the kidnappers who snatched Peta. And hes tells the investigator, "You have to understand, Peta gave Creasy something that he hasn't had in a long time." The investigator asks what that is. And Walken replies, "A reason to live."
And the reason your post reminds me of these scenes is because it seems to zero in on your point that maybe there isn't a greater Truth to life. That maybe we only have to create or find reasons to live life or be happy. And those reasons may be temporary as it was in Creasy's life, his new reason to live being to bring Peta's kidnappers to justice (or rather murder them in cold vengence). So, of course, while our reasons to keep on keepin' on may not be so extreme, I think we do have to constantly evaluate an re-evaluate our lives and find and make reasons to keep on going. And for me, that's actually inspiring, the thought that life is what I make it. Because I want to make it good, I want to make it matter, so that just means it's up to me. And that gives me something to do. I like that.
Big words = Bad
Small words = Good
Especially the day after the most drunkest night of the year!
I like living in my simple happy world in which I think that I actually matter. I don't know if I actually will do anything which "changes the world" but I do mean something to somebody. And as a Psych major you should know that emotions are an essential part of a person's life. Thus I do make a difference because I play with Emotions, more specifically, those of boys.
I think these cleaning chemicals might be getting to my head!
Wanna go smoke? YES YOU DO!!!
Jesus, you're totally right about needing a reason to live. Humans need to feel purposeful, even if our purpose is a small one (like feeling socially accepted by finishing a degree). I want to go further and say that although we may have all these reasons for living, none of them really matter in the long run. Bringing Peta's kidnappers to justice is only a temporary remeady for one person on the earth. Yes, you're killing two bad guys who could potentially harm others, but there are always going to be new bad guys and other harm to others. And then everyone dies and gets lost in history in the end, anyways.
Kelly, it's a good thing you're pretty. How did you get through university this far if you don't like big words?
All I know is, happiness itself is worth living for, if you're doing it right.
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