Final Paper Part I: Introduction
Introduction
A statement of purpose and personal identity:
Why do we choose to write? Why me, just an average college student with any sort of bearing in the world? Is it right to impose our ideas on other people? What right have I to do so?
On average, human beings are graced with about 28,000 days if you happen to live in a well-developed country today, if you happen to be lucky enough to live out your full life[1]. Every passing second this hidden timer counts down perhaps striking when you do not expect it, or maybe happening precisely when you know it will. Time is the most precious resource in the world, it is one that no individual can ever seek to gain, something that has plagued human beings since their inception. Yet how easy it is to lose this valuable gem, so many days of our lives can pass with so much insignificance.
Can we be satisfied with our lives as they are today? Probably not. Many of us our striving for something, even if it is something we cannot fully define. For some, it is simply to be able to survive to the next day. For others, it's to build towards an uncertain future in hope of creating a better lives for themselves or others. Regardless, part of the human experience is to be able to experience struggle and hardships, to be able to strive for something more. This is part of what separates us for animals, however similar we may be according to our DNA. A dog does not wonder what lies beyond in the reaches of space, a dolphin cannot fathom what happens on a microscopic level, a chimpanzee cannot think about another chimp that is across the globe. Our ability to change ourselves and the world around us is something that makes us innately unique.
The world is far from being right. All throughout history and in the present day there are grave injustices, pain and hatred, an insurmountable amount of suffering. We think about those that commit the unthinkable, we think about how we ourselves always seem to fall so short in ways we cannot ever hope to control. Is there ever an end, a solution to the problems that plague the world? Do we have a responsibility to save the world, do we even have the power to?
Sorry to disappoint you (if you were even expecting anything in the first place), but I don't have any answers. Really, the point of this entire piece is not to give answers, but to raise questions; it is to bring subjects to thought and shift paradigms. I mean, I'm just somewhat that's technically and adult who has barely any handling on how he's going to cook food everyday. I don't happen to be very charismatic, I'm introverted in every sense of the word, I'm the last person you'd go to for encouragement or inspiration. I cannot throw any truth bombs or give a galvanizing personal account of my trials and tribulations, nevertheless, I hope that what I can say in this series is ultimately useful for you to find your own way, to be able to answer your own questions, to become a life that is not insignificant.
Next: On Knowledge and Ignorance
A statement of purpose and personal identity:
Why do we choose to write? Why me, just an average college student with any sort of bearing in the world? Is it right to impose our ideas on other people? What right have I to do so?
On average, human beings are graced with about 28,000 days if you happen to live in a well-developed country today, if you happen to be lucky enough to live out your full life[1]. Every passing second this hidden timer counts down perhaps striking when you do not expect it, or maybe happening precisely when you know it will. Time is the most precious resource in the world, it is one that no individual can ever seek to gain, something that has plagued human beings since their inception. Yet how easy it is to lose this valuable gem, so many days of our lives can pass with so much insignificance.
Can we be satisfied with our lives as they are today? Probably not. Many of us our striving for something, even if it is something we cannot fully define. For some, it is simply to be able to survive to the next day. For others, it's to build towards an uncertain future in hope of creating a better lives for themselves or others. Regardless, part of the human experience is to be able to experience struggle and hardships, to be able to strive for something more. This is part of what separates us for animals, however similar we may be according to our DNA. A dog does not wonder what lies beyond in the reaches of space, a dolphin cannot fathom what happens on a microscopic level, a chimpanzee cannot think about another chimp that is across the globe. Our ability to change ourselves and the world around us is something that makes us innately unique.
The world is far from being right. All throughout history and in the present day there are grave injustices, pain and hatred, an insurmountable amount of suffering. We think about those that commit the unthinkable, we think about how we ourselves always seem to fall so short in ways we cannot ever hope to control. Is there ever an end, a solution to the problems that plague the world? Do we have a responsibility to save the world, do we even have the power to?
Sorry to disappoint you (if you were even expecting anything in the first place), but I don't have any answers. Really, the point of this entire piece is not to give answers, but to raise questions; it is to bring subjects to thought and shift paradigms. I mean, I'm just somewhat that's technically and adult who has barely any handling on how he's going to cook food everyday. I don't happen to be very charismatic, I'm introverted in every sense of the word, I'm the last person you'd go to for encouragement or inspiration. I cannot throw any truth bombs or give a galvanizing personal account of my trials and tribulations, nevertheless, I hope that what I can say in this series is ultimately useful for you to find your own way, to be able to answer your own questions, to become a life that is not insignificant.
Next: On Knowledge and Ignorance
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