This post is part of the "First Few Old Blog Posts" archive.
You could expect a certain lack of coherency/maturity from these posts.
Ok , first of all , as usual , an apology. I had two successive exams on and so I could not find the time to post a blog in two months ( Not like you care anyway ).
Now , before I can answer the very tantalizing question which I presented as the title , I need to introduce you to how I came about it.
I place a quality of a man by how much he has completed two processes of his life. The first process is what I call "knowing" , and the second process is "deciding".
It's like listening to two sides of a story (knowing) and then forming an opinion on which one you think is correct (deciding).
I am a teenager and thus consider myself in the learning stage. Meaning that I may not have decided for everything that I have known yet and reserve my decision for when I reach a higher form of understanding of that topic.
And so going on , the last thing that a person must do to end the process of "deciding" is to philosophically define the word "life" . Which I hope to one day do so with a satisfactory conclusion.
So then I started to think about those questions that I can answer by myself. Stuff like "Why is life necessary?" and "What leads to belief?" , etc.
And that lead to the question in the title which put me into a long trail of thought.
But after around an hour of thinking , I came up with an answer which atleast applied to me and most other people.
A satisfied ego and a satisfied hunger for adventure.
The first bit is kinda obvious , but it is the last bit that will attract questions. Well , we're gonna discuss both anyway.
Now , the first thing that came into my mind when I thought of the question was this movie called Revolver.
Revolver is kinda my favorite movie and it also happens to be a movie which has influenced me a lot.
It happens to answer most of the question in the title and described in detail about how our ego supersedes us.
"A satisfied ego"
Come on , we all know this to be true. What don't we do everyday to make sure that we get what we want , to do what we want , to satisfy every whim that our ego puts forth?
To quote from Revolver :
"There is something about yourself that you don't know. Something that you will deny even exists until it's too late to do anything about it. It's the only reason you get up in the morning, the only reason you suffer the shitty boss, the blood, the sweat and the tears. This is because you want people to know how good, attractive, generous, funny, wild and clever you really are. "Fear or revere me, but please think I'm special." We share an addiction. We're approval junkies. We're all in it for the slap on the back and the gold watch. The "hip, hip, hoo-fucking-rah." Look at the clever boy with the badge, polishing his trophy. Shine on, you crazy diamond. Cos we're just monkeys wrapped in suits, begging for the approval of others. "
The sad part in the whole thing is when you understand that you cannot destroy your ego. Because it is your ego itself that says that it must destroy ego. You just think that it's you trying to do it.
"The greatest con, that your ego ever pulled... was making you believe... that he is you. "
Well that's for the ego part.
"A satisfied hunger for adventure"
Ah , this bit is interesting. In fact , it might even be a part of the previous statement. But it stands out like a sore thumb , so I decided to add this in the statement anyway.
"I'm happy with my quiet life." - Said almost everyone.
But how many people actually meant it?
Every time you get up from a movie , every time you finish that video game , every time you finish reading that novel , you sigh. You sigh because you have to return back to your boring miserable life. What would you give to be Sam Witwicky? What would you give to be Altair Ibn-La Ahad? What would you give to be Sherlock Holmes?
Everything.
If only it was possible.
You may not want to all so much , but admit it. You know the feel when you want to be part of it. Part of the drama. Part of the action. When you want to be the character that does it all.
How many times have you sat at work/school bored , and dreamt of how a bunch of terrorists randomly burst into the place and you saved everyone there? Admit it. You've done it.
And why did you do it?
Hmm , you can pretty much answer that yourself.
And you can always spot those who want adventure really bad. These sort of people may seem quiet at first glance. But you can always tell them apart by how they easily turn a really small issue into a huge thing.
They easily respond to emotions and you can easily make them very happy or very sad.
It's just that these sort of people are the ones who've accepted that they're never gonna get the adventure of their life. So instead , they turn whatever of the boring life they have , into as much drama as possible.
I remember this one girl in my class some years ago who used to cry at every small thing. At first I suspected that she had some problems to face back home. But then one day , I read her English essay on "My Thoughts Last Night". And My God , was I shocked! She'd written stories of gore and blood and war and murder and what not. Soon enough , her condition became apparent to me.
So there ya go. I've justified my answer. But I do not claim it to be correct. In fact , every person may have a different answer to what they want from life. And every answer may seem as convincing as the next.
If you have your own answer to this question , write it in the comments below. Also don't forget to mention anything that you may think that I've written wrong in this blog. Please do point out any errors you can find.
Catcha laterz. I got more exams coming up.
Quote : "In every game and con there's always an opponent, and there's always a victim. The trick is to know when you're the latter, so you can become the former. " ~ Revolver
You could expect a certain lack of coherency/maturity from these posts.
Ok , first of all , as usual , an apology. I had two successive exams on and so I could not find the time to post a blog in two months ( Not like you care anyway ).
Pre-introductory warning : This particular blog post does not apply for nihilists and such other people who's only reason for not committing suicide yet is because it'll upset their parents.
Such people will be unable to reach an agreement between their views and the one that this post will offer due to the presence of such elements that assumes that you still have some motive left in life.
Such people will be unable to reach an agreement between their views and the one that this post will offer due to the presence of such elements that assumes that you still have some motive left in life.
Now , before I can answer the very tantalizing question which I presented as the title , I need to introduce you to how I came about it.
I place a quality of a man by how much he has completed two processes of his life. The first process is what I call "knowing" , and the second process is "deciding".
It's like listening to two sides of a story (knowing) and then forming an opinion on which one you think is correct (deciding).
I am a teenager and thus consider myself in the learning stage. Meaning that I may not have decided for everything that I have known yet and reserve my decision for when I reach a higher form of understanding of that topic.
And so going on , the last thing that a person must do to end the process of "deciding" is to philosophically define the word "life" . Which I hope to one day do so with a satisfactory conclusion.
So then I started to think about those questions that I can answer by myself. Stuff like "Why is life necessary?" and "What leads to belief?" , etc.
And that lead to the question in the title which put me into a long trail of thought.
But after around an hour of thinking , I came up with an answer which atleast applied to me and most other people.
A satisfied ego and a satisfied hunger for adventure.
The first bit is kinda obvious , but it is the last bit that will attract questions. Well , we're gonna discuss both anyway.
Now , the first thing that came into my mind when I thought of the question was this movie called Revolver.
Revolver is kinda my favorite movie and it also happens to be a movie which has influenced me a lot.
It happens to answer most of the question in the title and described in detail about how our ego supersedes us.
"A satisfied ego"
Come on , we all know this to be true. What don't we do everyday to make sure that we get what we want , to do what we want , to satisfy every whim that our ego puts forth?
To quote from Revolver :
"There is something about yourself that you don't know. Something that you will deny even exists until it's too late to do anything about it. It's the only reason you get up in the morning, the only reason you suffer the shitty boss, the blood, the sweat and the tears. This is because you want people to know how good, attractive, generous, funny, wild and clever you really are. "Fear or revere me, but please think I'm special." We share an addiction. We're approval junkies. We're all in it for the slap on the back and the gold watch. The "hip, hip, hoo-fucking-rah." Look at the clever boy with the badge, polishing his trophy. Shine on, you crazy diamond. Cos we're just monkeys wrapped in suits, begging for the approval of others. "
The sad part in the whole thing is when you understand that you cannot destroy your ego. Because it is your ego itself that says that it must destroy ego. You just think that it's you trying to do it.
"The greatest con, that your ego ever pulled... was making you believe... that he is you. "
Well that's for the ego part.
"A satisfied hunger for adventure"
Ah , this bit is interesting. In fact , it might even be a part of the previous statement. But it stands out like a sore thumb , so I decided to add this in the statement anyway.
"I'm happy with my quiet life." - Said almost everyone.
But how many people actually meant it?
Every time you get up from a movie , every time you finish that video game , every time you finish reading that novel , you sigh. You sigh because you have to return back to your boring miserable life. What would you give to be Sam Witwicky? What would you give to be Altair Ibn-La Ahad? What would you give to be Sherlock Holmes?
Everything.
If only it was possible.
You may not want to all so much , but admit it. You know the feel when you want to be part of it. Part of the drama. Part of the action. When you want to be the character that does it all.
How many times have you sat at work/school bored , and dreamt of how a bunch of terrorists randomly burst into the place and you saved everyone there? Admit it. You've done it.
And why did you do it?
Hmm , you can pretty much answer that yourself.
And you can always spot those who want adventure really bad. These sort of people may seem quiet at first glance. But you can always tell them apart by how they easily turn a really small issue into a huge thing.
They easily respond to emotions and you can easily make them very happy or very sad.
It's just that these sort of people are the ones who've accepted that they're never gonna get the adventure of their life. So instead , they turn whatever of the boring life they have , into as much drama as possible.
I remember this one girl in my class some years ago who used to cry at every small thing. At first I suspected that she had some problems to face back home. But then one day , I read her English essay on "My Thoughts Last Night". And My God , was I shocked! She'd written stories of gore and blood and war and murder and what not. Soon enough , her condition became apparent to me.
So there ya go. I've justified my answer. But I do not claim it to be correct. In fact , every person may have a different answer to what they want from life. And every answer may seem as convincing as the next.
If you have your own answer to this question , write it in the comments below. Also don't forget to mention anything that you may think that I've written wrong in this blog. Please do point out any errors you can find.
Catcha laterz. I got more exams coming up.
Quote : "In every game and con there's always an opponent, and there's always a victim. The trick is to know when you're the latter, so you can become the former. " ~ Revolver
