#8 - Objectives

'Alice came to a fork in the road.

"Which road do I take?" she asked.

"Where do you want to go?" responded the Cheshire cat.

"I don't know," Alice answered.

"Then," said the cat, "it doesn't matter."'

~Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

Ahh, objectives. The purpose of life, the deeper questions, why are we here, and what are we doing? Perhaps something a little strong to consider for the purposes of my meagre little literary offering, however - Something which must be brushed across in order for it to be considered even slightly complete! I think the quote above is in fact one of the most easily understandable ways of looking into this, far removed from all the mystery of the Zen Buddhists or the logic games of the Ancient Greeks.

Why are we here, what are we doing, and more importantly, does it actually matter? The intellectuals of humanity have for the past five thousand years busied themselves with such confusing questions, searching for a greater purpose in life. Religion, borne of fear of the unknown, Heaven and Hell, borne of a lust for order in chaos, and the idea of a soul, borne of the fear of being nothing special.

Well, today I've got a poser for you. Is there anything wrong with not being special? Yes, we can fight to achieve things, work to better ourselves, our lives, humanity as a whole and increase our moral and ethical understanding as well as our understanding of the universe. I think, however, that as long as we enjoy ourselves, there's nothing wrong with appearing ordinary to others. What's important is that we live life to its fullest as we want, and ignore those problems that are greater than ourselves.

Why are we here? Because we are! What are we doing? Whatever we want! Do we have a soul? Maybe! But it doesn't really matter, you see, until after it's too late for it to matter any more.

So far from me asking you those deep important questions, just let me know what you think -

Does it matter, if we're special, or not?

Hoho,

Cheerio,

~The Thinker

#4 - Temporary Enlightenment

Time for a break from the traditional, and a move into the more hypothetical. Here's something that has always amused me and given my brain a run around on more than a few occasions, and while there's no concrete conclusion to come to (Personally I think that's part of the joy) it's still a fascinating thought exercise.

Sometimes we forget about the truly transient nature of life - It's from that which this statement arises, and arguably it is impossible to disprove.

"What if you only live today? Every day you remember in the past, and every day you anticipate in the future is a lie. You can remember your past as if it stretched into oblivion. But what if this is only a time share? You live today - But then tommorrow, a new you will fulfill your duty - Like you in every way, and remembering the events of yesterday and yesteryear as if they were decisions they made, tasks they completed, and experiences they themselves experienced."

What if we really aren't ourselves of yesterday? But a new entity taking on the mantle of the last, and doomed to pass away into finality at the end of the day. Nobody can possibly know, there could be a heaven up there filled with one day old people, asking 'But no, I'm SURE I was the one who was in that car crash.'

Is there really any way to know if, when we wake up with memories of our past, whether we truly experienced those memories ourselves, or whether it was simply a similar persona, taking its time in what we consider our body, and living our life?

Think about it, for a moment - And let me know what you think in the comments as always. Are we really who we remember we are?

A little depressing, perhaps, but interesting nonetheless!

Cheerio,

The Thinker