Thursday, February 6, 2020
if our lives were mapped out
After reading Part I, I started thinking about if our lives were mapped out for us. If we really ever conquered the human psyche, I don't believe that it'd have solely negative results. I think you could still find happiness and purpose in a society that has condensed your life into mere calculations. I think civilization as a whole would be much more progressive if we knew why we did everything. Most of the time, people are frustrated by their actions that they can't explain. I know I am supporting the "ladies and gentlemen" that he is referring to in his monologue, but I was wondering what ya'll think? Could you find meaning in a life that is already mapped out for you? Or are you in agreement with Underground Man, and feel that we could never actually achieve this formula, let alone prosper in its' appliance?
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6 comments:
I feel is if no matter what your situation is, you can always find meaning. We can look back at the article on Sisyphus that we read. His entire eternity was set for him, but more just a moment he was able to find meaning/happiness in his punishment. Humans are always able to find away around everything, so even if we had our life planned out I think we would still find meaning and happiness.
I believe we can find meaning even if our world is mapped out. Figuring out what we are going to do with our lives is how most find meaning now, but as humans we can just find other ways to achieve purpose in our life. For example, love and family. Our lives don’t have to be centered around ourselves and our futures in order to possess meaning. I actually think this would help people live in the present and maybe even value more of their time.
Sophia, I agree with you. No matter if our lives were planned out, we still have the ability to find meaning in it. I think this is exactly Camus’s story, “The Myth of Sisyphus.” Although he is doomed to roll the rock up the hill and watch it roll back down the rest of his life, he is still in control of his thoughts. Since he is control of his mind, he can then still find meaningness in life. I also think that if our lives were mapped out, it would eliminate much worry. Due to this, the time we spend worrying could be put into other ways of thinking.
In a sense, when we go to school, our lives are mapped out. We have a schedule from 8 to 3:30 that determines where and what we will be doing at each time. However, within the allotted time for class, we still have the ability to choose how the class goes, if we participate, not participate, etc.
So in conclusion, I do agree that meaning comes from within and the mapping out of our lives cannot change this.
I agree that our lives are mapped out for us. Every decision we make is for a reason. We may think we have control and free will, but we don't. Our brains function as a combination of two things: genetics and our environment. Therefore, our actions are controlled in such a way that you could say that they are mapped out." However, I still think that we can find meaning and purpose in our lives. Wherever we are in life, we have a duty. As students, for example, our duty would be to study. Thus, we can still live our lives joyfully, even though they are mapped out for us.
I feel that if everyone knew they had no control over what they do, and given the lack of a perspective of a better life, then people could lead minimally meaningful lives. If we suddenly all discovered that we have no free will, I know I'd be trying to go against the status quo, and I think most people would too, however futile it may be. But if everyone knew what the future held, and why it will occur the way that it does, then I think the idea of a meaningful life wouldn't even be applicable. It'd be like watching a movie about a clock ticking for the 900th time. We know what happens and exactly when it will happen, and we've all known from the start, so given the lack of a perspective of anything different, nobody has any independent actions or even thoughts. This is distinguishable from the idea of a mapped out life, since in that example we don't know what's coming next, just that we can't prevent it from happening. We also have independent thought, and question our reality despite not being able to change it necessarily.
I think that even if our lives were mapped out for us, we could still find meaning. This is a topic which Camus addressed in "The Myth of Sisyphus." Though Sisyphus has no control over his actions, he has control over his outlook. Ultimately, even without control over our actions, we would maintain our outlook on them. Through this independence of outlook we could still find meaning in our experience.
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