Tuesday, November 27, 2012

I Know This Means Something...

But does it really? Maybe, through looking for a meaning, we are losing the real and true meaning of whatever anything is? Whenever we "know" something, we make it into a form. Something that only exists in our minds, because we made it that way. We gave it a meaning, instead of just accepting it as it was. At least, that's my current state of mind. I don't want to look for meaning in anything, because now, deep inside, I'll always doubt it because I know it's not real, just something I made up. But what's stopping me from accepting whatever I made up to be what's really real?
And that's where this infinite loop of beliefs and implications and doubt comes in. I think it's because I'm thinking too hard about it, or even thinking about it at all. Therefore, I'm not sure I really even want to know anything. I don't want it to mean anything. I want it to just be as it is.

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Life Is Beautiful?

The lasting impression I got from this movie was of Guido's death. The way it was carried out did not give him an emotional death scene, it didn't elongate it or attach any particular meaning to it, like deaths of heroes usually are. Guido was killed off in a couple of seconds, just like any other Jew who died there. The only thing he cared about upon dying was that his son was safe and that his innocence was preserved. "That was the sacrifice my father made for me." And I believe that this death was carried out in such a non-heroic way because Guido wasn't supposed to be a hero, not to anyone except for his son. And to his son, only posthumously.

As for the connection to Man's Search For Meaning, I find much in some aspects, but almost none in others. There was very little emphasis on suffering, and the three stages that Frankl describes are not seen at all. However, Frankl does say that everyone put in a concentration camp has a choice. They can either retreat into themselves, or they can be selfless, retain their morals and reach spiritual heights. On top of that. people do not lose the desire to keep living if they have someone to live for. Guido obviously had a very good reason; his only goal, the only thing he cared about was his son.

Friday, November 2, 2012

Who Would Voltaire and Camus Vote For?

I have no interest in politics. None at all. Honestly, I don't really even know what separates republicans from democrats other than one is liberal and one is conservative. However, in the case of Voltaire and Camus, they probably would do the same as me and not vote at all.

Why? Because they don't care. The characters in Candide go through all these adventures and exposure to different types of philosophies and worlds, but in the end, they never stick to one particular one. They would draw their own conclusions based on all their experiences put together, and as they had experienced pretty much everything a person can in a lifetime, those conclusions tended to be pretty vague. Voltaire made fun of pretty much every one distinct philosophy that a character came across, which to me is a sign that he most likely would not care who the candidate was, because in the end, what does it matter? Life is what you make of it.

In the case of Camus though, the choice is much more obvious. His philosophy IS that life has a purpose. In The Stranger, Meursault stays away from choices and just goes with the flow. Even when his mother dies, which is usually a very hard ttime in someone's life, he even says that nothing has changed. So why would voting for a presidential candidate change anything? There is no meaning to it, and so it is better to stay away from making that choice.