Bleh
My knowledge of existentialism is (unfortunately) confined to the basic concepts of Albert Camus' The Stranger and some other random short stories that I read during my junior year of high school. My understanding of the philosophy is more or less summarized by, "No matter the situation that confronts us, ultimately we 'get used to it' and our resultant emotions regarding that situation are further and further dampened as time goes by." Please correct me if this is an incorrect characterization--it is at best simple-minded and vague.
Nevertheless, this is my understanding of existentialist thought and quite frankly I find it both comforting and saddening.
Most of us can probably agree that we (human beings) have the capacity to adapt to changes. The speed with which we adapt varies from individual to individual, but we all do so in some way. This trait has both positive and negative implications for our lives. When something good happens to us, we are particularly happy for awhile, but we become accustomed to this newfound level-of-happiness and those good feelings wane into neutrality over time. On the other hand, when something bad happens, we gradually get used the unfortunate circumstance and, once again, our grief fades and we pass back into general contentment.
This is a necessary but (in some ways) depressing trait that we all possess. I suppose what truly matters is how we respond to it. Do we choose to forget what made us happy last month? last year? Do we simply block out the pain that we once felt? How does the journey from strong emotion back to a lukewarm soup-of-feelings affect our memory of the experience?
I, for one, do not want to forget.
Nevertheless, this is my understanding of existentialist thought and quite frankly I find it both comforting and saddening.
Most of us can probably agree that we (human beings) have the capacity to adapt to changes. The speed with which we adapt varies from individual to individual, but we all do so in some way. This trait has both positive and negative implications for our lives. When something good happens to us, we are particularly happy for awhile, but we become accustomed to this newfound level-of-happiness and those good feelings wane into neutrality over time. On the other hand, when something bad happens, we gradually get used the unfortunate circumstance and, once again, our grief fades and we pass back into general contentment.
This is a necessary but (in some ways) depressing trait that we all possess. I suppose what truly matters is how we respond to it. Do we choose to forget what made us happy last month? last year? Do we simply block out the pain that we once felt? How does the journey from strong emotion back to a lukewarm soup-of-feelings affect our memory of the experience?
I, for one, do not want to forget.
posted by Mike at 6:31 PM
8 Comments:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Existentialism
you are a deep person
I, for one, think you are a total fag.
Nice blog... DORK
Lets watch futurama and we'll think. He'll be reading this and think, "hey, its people typing what they are thinking"
I, for one, think you are a total fag.
You say "fag", we are all impressed, and we move on to something more interesting.
Many years ago there was book written called "The existential pleasures of engineering", and it was written in response to the stereotype that engineers are cold, emotionally detached, passionless freaks who have no deeper need for emotional fulfillment many find in art and culture. The book disproved this stereotype by claiming that engineering was an artistic act, one that utilized creativity and celebrated the magic of creation.
Anyway, perhaps one day you'll write a book disproving the notion that economics people are cold, overly-intellectual freaks.
I resent the anonym-ASSES who wrote DORK and fag!!!
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