Been A Little While. · 2:34pm Apr 18th, 2020
Seems like silly old me all but forgotten about my blog page, haven't I? Well, I suppose, I can always get back to speed.
So, with all that happens around, how about we talk a little about something every would-be philosopher cannot possibly avoid - The Matter of Life and Death.
My reader, forgive me for a straight question, but have you already thought on how would you like to die? In times like these, this is a paramount question, I believe. After all, the body count for our latest planet-wide catastrophe has already passed 150 000. The plague of our age looks bleakly compared to Black Death's 50 million score, but does it really matter much which exact disease is going to be one's end?
Be it Alzheimer's Disease (which is much-much deadlier than any plague in history, ending over a million lives each year), Tuberculosis or a common Stroke, we all will meet our disease one day.
On the other hand, there are so-so many ways to die, even without diseases. As long as there is life, there will always be ways to die.
Death is all but assured for all life, but there's is still one thing we can do about it: we can choose the way we die. I ask again: how do you wish to die?
Some ways are, obviously, better than others. Some of us would like to die in old age, surrounded by friends and family. This is a very good way to go, most of us could only dream of. But living until old age has many downsides. What is the most valuable thing you have, my reader?
I suspect it isn't material. Perhaps it is memories? Your quick wit? Perhaps it is the mentioned friends and family? Well then, I have very-very not-news for you: mental capabilities tend to degrade with age. Eventually, and much sooner than we all think, we will no longer remember our younger years, we will stop recognizing people and I am not even going to say anything about our intelligence. Imagine waking up, not remembering where you are, who are the people around you and being too decrepit to even move by yourself. At that moment you are a burden for the very people you so love, not to mention the pain. Is this is how you wish to die?
There is another view on this, it is very common around the place I come from, amongst other locations. Perhaps you would prefer not to cling to your life, after all, life is only worth something if there is anything that makes it worth living. Would you like to live life to its fullest and die while you are still young? What is the point of being afraid to die, if your life is going to become much-much more painful than any possible death can be? There are some really bad ways to die, but unlike the living, dying doesn't last long.
What I've been always wondering is why should I be afraid of something I can never escape from? It may just be my culture, but I've always been taught that being afraid of anything isn't productive. Is there a single good thing that comes from fear?
There is a gland in our brain that produces a curious substance called "Cortisol," ever heard of it? I imagine you did at some point, it's kinda a big thing in our time. What it does is streamlining our brains to work for more... practically tasks when we are stressed. You ever wondered why people suddenly become amazingly dumb whenever they really 'ought to stop and think? That's Cortisol for you.
The question here is why would you want to turn off your best tool? Humans aren't the strongest or quickest on this planet we have. Humans are the smartest, why would you want to limit your rational thinking?
Just like that, even if you wish to live long, you should not be afraid to die, for fear makes you weaker.
I am weak I'm afraid of death I know I will die I am just afraid of when I will. I want to live till I'm old I am just afraid it will come suddenly and without warning
5245011
It's debatable what really is a weakness here. The thing with life and death is that they are both very much worthy of your fear, the only question is which side you fear more.
5245037
Paranoia always was a very useful adaption. Though, like everything, it needs to be kept in check. Planning for your own death is wise. Indeed, you never know where the time comes. Instead of fearing it, we should prepare.
5245100
Worry? Oh, but this has nothing to do with pessimism. Pessimism is expecting the very worst results from any given action at any given situation, how does one reacts is a completely different thing. For one, the "Weeping Philosopher" Heraclitus did not complete some of his works solely due to melancholia. At the same time General George Patton, despite being a stereotypically disgruntled old officer in his latter years, still was very productive and ambitious.
What matters is not the general outlook on life, but kind of material is a person made of.
5245206
As unfair as it is, yes. Some people are simply born to be stronger; while others become stronger through their experience, but they tend to lose parts of their very humanity in the process. Life is a cruel teacher.
5245271
I disagree with it being love. The world is consistently trying to kill us. The entire universe hates us. It always did and it will. In time, we simply learned to survive despite the odds. This isn't love, you wouldn't need strength in the first place if the world wasn't this hostile.
Such a waste. Just imagine what we could do if we weren't forced to spend the better years of our lives trying to carve a way of living for ourselves. So much wasted time, so much wasted potential.
Instead of doing something meaningful we waste ourselves on completely inconsequential things like office work, manual labour and even warfare. I respect your personal hardships and the way they shaped you, Nocturnalis, and I am sorry if this sounds patronizing; but I don't think you can understand just yet how much of you had been simply wasted and the scale of tragedy it creates every single day.
5245463
Not just that. It is more than just about what you could physically do.
There are also more subtle things. Have you ever looked at someone like... hard to find not a polarising example, perhaps Augusto Pinochet would do, and wondered what would he be like if had a better life in general? Our life shapes the very essence of who we are and, practically, never in a good way. Brutal life requires brutal people. As they say: "To win you gotta play dirty."
Have you ever wondered how much better a person you would've been?
From pain comes wisdom, but for everything, there is a price and knowledge is... overpriced, to say the least.
5245625
Yes, just how much better would that be, wouldn't it? Well, in the end, these thoughts only serve to propagate the melancholia. What could be never will be.
And to hell with it. The two of us may be broken, but we are hardly useless yet. There is little honor to be found in basking ourselves with sorrows. Let the past serve to fuel our determination, for we might forever be locked out of the heaven that others live in their entire lives, but we still have labours to do. We can still offer others the things that we cannot have ourselves and help to nurture the world that has no place for the likes of us, to ensure our kind stops multiplying.
Allowing ourselves to be overcome with sorrows is cowardness. Cowardness is a weakness very few can afford to have.
I fear death in some ways, I mainly fear it when I can prevent it
I would want to be able to remember things and not be in pain, still able to function properly is also desired.
I would want to be around family and still have a reason to cling on in these last difficult years.
5245921
That's how we all would like to be, yes. That's just not how life works, now is it?
5245981
not often, there are the lucky few that get to have that idea death and be at peace when it happens.
5246064
I remember slipping into that mentality myself, many years ago. Like everything, strength has a price, that's another thing you learn from war. War demands a lot of strength, often all that can be surfaced. The way we gain strength is by purging weakness, not just from the body, mostly from the thoughts.
Being a soldier requires a certain mentality. Some believe what they do is just and right, they are not soldiers, they break easily. Others simply enjoy it, they are not soldiers, they are cowardly, selfish. And then there are people, who have no choice, those people who are forced to fight, whether by necessity or law they fight bravely and bitterly, still, they are not soldiers. The reason why these people can never become soldiers is that they refuse to give up their weakness. War demands complete and total devotion, one who does not dedicate oneself to it completely can never become a real warrior. The very things that make us human become the greatest weakness, we need reasons to fight.
War does not tolerate people like this. Idealists die off almost instantly, the very nature of what they are doing ensures that they are either changed or killed., no other way. Those with poor motivation follow soon after, they either serve their times and return home, with bitterness towards the entire world no less, or they outright desert. The passionate ones, now these have long. They tend to survive unchanged the longest, though hated by friend and foe alike. In the end, they either die, being stabbed in their sleep, or left on the field, for they are human filth and deserve little more.
The real soldiers are not like people picture then. In fact, you can rarely say exactly how they are different, but you always know they are. Everything they are, how they move, speak, act, rationalize, all is not completely right, they miss the... spark everyone else possesses. They are like aliens trying to mimic humans. You can always tell they are not in their place.
People like that have a radically different way of approaching war. They do not fight for glory, for money, for ideals or even for honor. They fight because it is their responsibility. It is what they are. They fight because it is the only thing they can still do. Once a soldier always a soldier, there is no return; and a soldier has a very narrow purpose, they cannot do anything else. To these people giving up the fight means giving up their whole life, no less. They are strong, but they paid for their strength with everything they had, even their very humanity is long gone, it is merely another weakness after all. All that remains is cold-blooded determination and purpose, more a machine, than a man.
Beware what you wish for. Strength always needs to have a purpose, you need to know exactly why you need it and what do you intend to do with it. You will only maim yourself for nothing, once you tear away a piece of yourself, you can never have it back. This is the price for strength.
5246147
Your "innocence" is what makes you human. Safeguard it as much as you can. Once it is stripped off you sufficiently, others will avoid you like a plague. It doesn't matter what kind of person you are any longer, all that matters is that you feel wong. Humans sense this kind of thing very keenly and instinctively avoid those who do not fit in.
5246151
I do not believe it so. Those two things are in direct dependence, I found such from experience. It hard not to get into specifics, but the rule is that the more "grown-up" you become, the less you believe into "being a good person." This is... paradoxical, you can only be somewhat decent if you do not pay attention and if you are not... aware enough, I suppose.
I tried being a good person once. In result, I became an even larger scumbag than I always was. The worst part is that I remember myself being a decent person. A very-very long time ago I used to be like that, then I grew up and too quickly for my own good at that.
5246160
Aye, not a little girl you aren't. Though to me people say I sound like their 50 + year old uncle. Well, I suppose, I really did get 50 years worth of shitty luck.
5246165
Oh, I am no soldier, I assure you. I wouldn't be here I was. Soldier kind has an awful lot of job in my country. There is a certain kind of human filth living across the eastern border that spilt over my land, though my country mandatory military service policy means I may still get a chance to get some job done. But I would make a poor soldier, I am too independent thinking and wilful, I hate when people tell me what to do. I will not shirk from my duty, but this does not make me a soldier. I will do what I must but brings me no satisfaction.
5246426
Selfish is the name of the game, especially for people like me, who always have to do things by themselves.