| Focus on Reality |
| The problems with truth... (1) Nothing is ever absolute (2) Nothing is permanent (3) Nothing remains unchanged through time The universe is constantly rearranging itself in countless ways. Ideas, people, nature, all of them evolve. Some die, some adapt. But nothing truly stays the same. Then, why do I have to focus on the ever changing world? I will die, but people will follow behind me. The important contributions to society are life-long gifts. Gifts that will not last, and will likely vanish shortly after my death. But those gifts help people, no matter the duration. In reality, we die. It is inevitable. We also, as humans, suffer from our unrighteousness. In our short life spans, we have the opportunity to affect our human universe in startling ways. Thoughts may not destroy stars or create human beings, but they do allow actions and behavior that have never been attempted before. Our lives are fleeting, but agony can make life seem endless. No one wants to live forever, we need to die or face insanity. Insanity is a very bad thing, because no sense of morality takes away a part of what makes us human: a capacity to understand. In a way, agonizing makes life seem much longer and more painful. The balance between duration and quality of life isn't a difficult one. We can experience a stream of bliss or an extended period of torture. Each has its own points, but I am satisfied with our current medium. If we life an extra thirty years, so what? Old age is a depressing state. If we can keep our youth longer, than we are fully blaspheming our bodies. Besides, we can't live an extra thirty years. Even if we did, would it change anything? More memories, yes, but not a higher quality of life. Mastering the quality of life, milking our stays on earth for all that they are worth, that is a worthwhile venture. Abstract philosophy is entertaining, but entirely unnecessary. If it can not be understood by people, and it fails to alleviate pain, it is worthless. On second thought, another thirty years MIGHT be better than I hoped. You could help humanity more, and as long as you were giving society more than you were taking, you would be a benefit to everyone. Isn't that what life is all about? Serving. Serving those who are older than you, safeguarding the futures of those that are younger than us. We are always in-between caring for the dying and caring for the living. Still, one must appreciate all that has been done by past generations. They have made so many sacrifices just for our common benefit, it can make your head spin. We do not own this world, it is on lease. The people who used to own it made some mistakes, but they also patched up some problems on their own. We will do the same, and so will everyone that is to come. Some people always hold a strong reverence for the old. Some hold a strong revernce for the young. The old because they have lived and cared for us, and the young because they will care for us someday as well. Life can be so neatly defined at times, it is frightening. One can just sit here and find pattern after pattern of boring and endless human cycles, which seem to grow in depth like a puddle in the sun. Yet, there are lasting achievements. Where did radio come from? Television? Railroads, cars, buses, airplanes, boats, anything and everything had an inventor, someone who wrote his name into the footnotes of history. Nothing would work without the wheel, and no one came up with anything like it before its time. Don't you want an invention like that? Something that will be totally original and long lasting? Is that what you want? It is not important that you get your name across, just think of the universal good that you can do for humanity, just by thinking! Yet, the atomic bomb was created by thinkers. So were the V-3 rockets, and hydrogen bomb, full metal jacket rounds, c-4, coal power plants, fusion power plants, those did not exist before some person thought each one up. They changed the world, and not all gave money to scientists in their wills like Alfred Nobel. What are we to do? Use good judgment, rely on every person to use their conscience and decide what is worse for humanity? Sounds good, and I need an ending fast. There will always be bigger bombs, more effective weapons of mass destruction. There will always be people to build them, for the right price. But there will always be people working behind the scenes, planning, thinking, designing. The future is in their hands, and they must make their contribution to both the old and the young. For better or for worse, at least we tried. That counts for something... Return to Philosophy Return to Homepage |