-My personal interpretation based on experience-
There are approximately 6.8 billion people in the world with 6.8 billion different opinions and perspectives. There is no right or wrong answer to the question of how to live a good and meaningful life.
However, at this point I do have an answer for this question. This answer would apply only to my own life for being something that fits my beliefs, my experiences, my thoughts, etc. Therefore it cannot apply to anyone else.
One of the people I interviewed regarding the elder research back in February said, "Living a life meaningfully makes a life worth living" This statement represents all people with all kind of perspectives. Everyone has something meaningful in their lives and they base their decisions and actions on what they have created. And at this point this statement also represents me.
I used to believe that adding no meaning to life would be rather effective to move forward. There would be no reason to suffer from a breakdown if there was no meaning in it to begin with. There was also no reason to get excited over a compliment for the same reason. Currently I do not believe that this is the right way to live my life. My perspective has changed; I am not as acute about it as I used to be. However, being this way I still do not consider this the right way to live my life either. I do not feel satisfied with the way I am living my life. Therefore, I have agreed to study some of the social alternatives of how to live a good and meaningful life in this course.
My current definition of meaning of life is a translation to purpose.
What is my purpose to live?
After all, I do not have an answer for this question.
The dominant, marginal and prohibited messages suggesting the type of life I should have are not helping me. During this course we have overlooked at these different types of messages and I concluded that these were just definitions of happiness that did not fit my beliefs, thoughts, feelings, etc. I have grown used to these but I do not acknowledge them as my purpose in life.
As I understand, being able to distinguish the different types of messages, dominant, marginal and prohibited, that are constantly communicated, allow us to create an access to profoundly analyzing ourselves under cultural influences. It's also important to distinguish how these messages contradict one another and for what purpose. Living as we are told makes the world a much more organized place.
Corporate media indeed contributes greatly into what we believe or think is right or wrong. We are taught that we need to improve so that we are accepted into society. We have representations on how a beautiful woman is supposed to look or how happy and complete we can be with money. People live their lives "trying" to become better, wealthier or skinnier so that one day in the future they can achieve that described happiness, and if they don't, they keep on "trying" until they die.
Furthermore, I am aware of how these messages impact my life. I too have the need to be part of something, and live happily along with others. But personally I do not agree on how we are told to be in a specific way in order to fulfill the expectations of somebody else. This is what I recognize as culture. I have been living under culture my whole life as a fish has been living underwater without being aware that he is wet. Accepting or avoiding reality makes no difference in reality. Our cultures have raised us as puppets and a puppet cannot cut his own strings, but the puppeteer can always change.
It is inevitable to live under culture. As human beings we have the capacity of thinking way beyond our imagination, we just do not allow ourselves to do so. Most of us are designed to live limitedly. Even if we analyze and understand corporate messages or folk culture messages to live our lives in a different way, it will never be enough. Most of us do not feel satisfied. Our lives are so corrupted by idealisms that we do not have a sense of what is to be happy, or even alive.
Achieving perfection is always an alternative to live happily. At this point my definition of perfection remains the same. There is no such thing as the ultimate perfection. To someone, even one person, that definition will not fulfill his expectations, therefore the ultimate perfection will not be quite ultimate, or even perfect. Perfection is an opinion. In most cases it is a culture's opinion, but we believe it is the truth. In my opinion being perfect is boring. There is no room for creativity or analysis. There is nothing to improve, nothing to work on. Even though people pursue perfection they do not accept it, because truly, it is not wanted. By communicating that perfection is difficult or even impossible to achieve, people would automatically have a reason to live. Perfection is easily interpreted as happiness, which is what we need to live a good and meaningful life. For example, finding the perfect wife, the prefect job, the perfect car, etc. would complete our lives. But according to whom will these be complete when we do not feel satisfied?
Would we feel satisfied once we reach an old age? In order to feel more at ease about where my life was heading, I have studied the elder life during this course. I considered this a good opportunity to confront my fear of growing old and even overcome it. However, I did not succeed. My thoughts on seniors and their way of life remained the same. I think Old people have still so much to live. Most people see them as our past but they could also be our future. It is because elders do not participate in our lives as much that they are seen this way. They are kept away from us by us, and they keep themselves that way.
Furthermore, I also think old people have so much to offer. They have experienced so much in their lives and their words can guide us out of particular problems they have experienced before. Even though I do think that their advice might not work because of the generation gap, it can still be applied to our lives as a way of learning the vast difference between that generation and this one. Regardless if the person is wise or not they still contribute to the 6.8 billion opinions in the world, somebody will listen to that person thinking he or she is right.
Most of us do not bother to know beyond more what is communicated about old people. We believe that the information we receive about them is enough to have them participate in our lives time to time. In our culture it is believed that we do not need old people to function, therefore there is no need to include them. This is due to their lack of physical strength and reliability.
I believe that old people are no victims, and they should begin contributing. Not only to the lives of their families but to their community. There are many ways to contribute. Elders are physically capable of doing simple tasks that would benefit others and themselves. They lived a long time without depending on others but themselves to make things happen, there is no reason to stop now. If old people wish to participate more in our lives, then they should make it happen. If we feel that old people is being pushed away, then we should stop it. In the end we are all human beings that have experienced being young and will experience being old.
Although the main aspect that differences me from an elder is age I am still afraid of becoming one. This is because I have the feeling that if I live 60 more years the relationship between youth and the old people will not change. This inauthentic fear of loneliness at old age has contributed to my unhappiness at this point.
It could be that I am rather uncomfortable with the idea of dying before even learning my purpose in life. I am personally not afraid of dying at this point. I am only afraid of the transition. I might not feel comfortable with the idea of growing old because I am scared of the loneliness I might also experience, and loneliness is one of the ten aspects of death. After analyzing the inevitability of death in this course I have concluded that there are indeed only ten aspects of death in most cultures. These are: loneliness, time (inevitable), sacrifice, nihilism, despair, destruction, intoxication, madness, greed and rage. After learning these, the idea of growing old and even dying in some way became less scary to me.
This reminds me of the quote from the movie Brave Heart, "Every man dies, no man really lives". What is being alive to us? If our definition of death is entirely clear, then why is it that our definition of life is often confusing to us? Life could be a mere balance between good and bad; a balance that no one entirely possesses. It is possible that by experiencing sadness and experiencing happiness equally would allow us to discover the feeling of being alive. However, I have not experienced this in order to know if it could really teach me how to be alive.
Death can only exist if there is life. But is there really any life in this current world? At this point, I have a different understanding of what life is. This understanding contributes greatly to my own happiness and it has to due with living as an animal, which was the following unit of this course.
Before now I did not used to consider myself as an animal, but as a human being. This unit is the one that has affected my habitual way of living the most. We are indeed animals but we do not behave as such and this is because we do not see or think of ourselves as such. If we are not animals then what are we? How does our culture respond to this question? Our culture has set different types of "obstacles" through time. These prevent us from seeing ourselves as our natural being. These obstacles insist on communicating the significant aspects that difference us from other animals, and these are the truth for most people. However, at this point I still believe that identifying ourselves as actual animals would allow us to live happily. We would value our bodies more and become more physically active. These changes in our lives would physically and mentally impact our lives as human beings. These are based on our animal self rather than our usual self.
If we were to identify ourselves as animals and be aware that we are on our own in terms of surviving then we would be much capable of not only providing ourselves with what we need but also accomplishing the act of living and depend on our physical. This is my current ideal way of living happily. Responding to my natural needs without question and not living under any culture or obligation would give me a sense of freedom. However, at this point I have not achieved this way of living. I think this is due to my actual natural way of being which is living as a machine; a machine that constantly questions life and give meaning to every aspect that occurs. The main difference that I identify between human beings and animals is that animals are unreasonable and live presently. Because of our culture and the messages we have received we cannot live in such way.
Furthermore, we might indeed share some aspects with other animals, such as our natural needs. However it is not complicated to interpret ourselves as different from animals because of our level of reasoning. Regarding the philosophy obstacle, humans also treat other humans as objects. We even treat ourselves as objects the most without even considering our feelings. However considering our feelings for such thing would not make us behave naturally either. It is complicated to understand the animal way of life because we are not familiar with it, in terms of actually experiencing it. I think that our fear to experience this significant aspect of ourselves is due to how we were educated and influenced.
I am aware that regardless of my beliefs, I am just like an animal surviving each day in wilderness. As different species we now have a different concept of survival. Society is difficult to survive in. Similarly to animals we prepare to live in on our own, and provide ourselves with needs. However, we also provide ourselves with wants, which makes us break this bond. . It is because of our consciousness that we keep on dividing ourselves with other animals. However, I think it is possible to become more in touch with our natural beings. Taking care of our own bodies, appreciating and respecting our natural needs, and do not hesitate in surviving would represent a life in which I finally could live satisfied.
How am I expected to live? I still have a very specific idea of what I am supposed to do as a human being in this culture at this age. I have been taught that as a human being I should follow an idealism created by the corrupted mind of the adults. The ones who bestowed "the truth" upon us, we are different from animals. The world relies on this reasoning to keep rotating. The "the truth" has been long wrecked and it is nothing more but a mere skeleton of a concept. Communicating that we are not like the rest of the animals happens to fit the truth that we are seeking. It is no different from a puzzle one cannot solve. Animals seem to live the moment they are living. In our case adults fondly remember the past and children use the future to escape. However, we live in the present that is why we try to find the right way to live our lives for the future. But ultimately who lays out the right path? And how can we tell if we have deviated if we cannot see what is true? My understanding of life is not nearly complete and I honestly do not think I will fully understand the purpose of the human being habituating this planet.
The five different aspects of health could contribute the discovery of my purpose in life.
My thoughts regarding health in April are currently the same as they were. Before this unit I did not explore or even thought about what IS health. Like most people I followed the ideal of: If a person has a disease or doesn't have an adequate physical and/or emotional balance then that person is not healthy. I think that this is due to the lack of education of health in our culture. However, there is available information regarding the five aspects of health. According to our culture the five aspects of health and also known as the requirements to be considered healthy are the following: Social health, Spiritual health, Emotional health, Physical health and mental health.By simply stating these different aspects I automatically realize that no one is entirely healthy under this culture. In my opinion, covering these five aspects in a day to day basis is practically impossible as a human being with a monotonous life. However, studying these separately could provide an insight into our own lives and even lead us to apply one of them or even a few of them into our daily lives. This as a result could foment into our happiness and cause us to adopt a different perspective on life.
My definition of health was different before studying this topic in this course. Investigating and researching health has led me to reconsider my definition of health. Based on the most outstanding pieces of information provided, physical health is suggested to be the most important aspect out of these five different aspects. I am aware now that society gives more importance to looking good, not only physically but socially as well, than actually being healthy. For example, obsessed exercise and excessive consumption of vitamins and/or steroids are actually mentally, spiritually, and physically unhealthy. However, because of the massive messages communicated by our culture we do not consider the negative consequences of the instructions we are following on our own body and mind. By giving a good image of ourselves we think that things become much more easier, socially speaking. And we are also considered healthy.
However, most people do not remember the fact that It does not matter how healthy or happily we live our lives we are going to die one day. So, because not thinking about this people spend their entire lives or most part of it "trying to improve" physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually and socially and do not enjoy their lives because their attempts are never enough. I still think that no human being is healthy in this planet. Regardless of the social definitions of health, being healthy is also known and identified as being happy by most people. If happiness is such a struggle, then health must be equally complex.
Would eating right comfort me enough? During this course, I have studied what food is. Regarding this topic I have changed my point of view on defining food. Back in April the author, Michael Pollan, greatly influenced my understanding on food. Reading part of his book: The Omnivore's Dilemma provided me an interesting perspective on the human relationship with food. This involves other cultures and what these have done through time regarding their diet. This book is mainly known because the author "examines the ethical, political, and ecological factors that are intertwined in the industrial, large-scale organic, local, and personal (hunted-gathered) food chains, while describing the environmental and health consequences that result from food choices within these chains". After analyzing Pollan’s words and the current eating behavior in America, I have concluded that people do not appreciate food. This might be because of the current availability of food in the market. However, once this is no longer available people will begin reacting differently towards food. According to this book and other philosophers my physical body has a lot to do with what I consume. As Pollan stated "we are not only what we eat, but how we eat." I have never considered this statement before until I read it. Even though I have heard "you are what you eat" I did not take it into consideration. Where does this idea come from? Who decides what to eat and what not to eat?
In extreme cases, when the world begins running out of resources, humanity will eventually begin fighting for food. The natural selection will begin and human kind will "appreciate" food at once. Taking food for granted takes the value that it has. However, at this moment the food is still available and as soon as it is this way people will not reconsider their action regarding food nor prepare for any crucial moment. My understanding of food is actually a gift. This might be because of personal beliefs and cultural education, but I have been taught to always thank for my food. As many other things in the world there is no specific definition for it however, I am willing to improve my understanding of my relationship with food and most importantly who should I thank for it?
Where does my food come from? Industrialization in America is one of the greatest businesses in the country. This unit is the one that emotionally affected me the most. Therefore I have carefully reconsidered my current actions regarding food for good. In this course while analyzing this unit I have realized that what I have been consuming all my life in order to "survive" has contributed to the destruction of this planet. And by so, I was also contributing to animal abuse in American industries. The irony of this has enforced my ideal that there is no person in this world that is entirely nice, caring, or right. And working towards achieving something like this is futile. Indeed it is more comfortable ignoring reality but at this point I cannot bring myself to do that. Becoming aware of facts such as these or facing reality allows me as an individual not to avoid it for the second time.
As Jared Diamond in his writing The worst mistake in the history of the human race said, “we do not appreciate agriculture. Destroying barns and replacing these with mass industries we have lost our ability of working for our food and respecting the domesticated animals raised in barns”
Companies have demolished barns and build industries to fasten the production of food from these domesticated animals. However, we are as guilty as them for purchasing what they offer. These companies would be nothing without us, the purchasers. There is no such thing as the innocent one at this point. Because of our development and ambition to improve there is not stop to these industries. I find it nearly impossible to make companies and purchasers reconsider their actions. I wonder, are we truly that blind that we cannot see our own self destruction or are we simply masochists?Is this Human nature?
To understand more our current choices and actions regarding self destruction, we have discussed human nature in this course. My ideas regarding this essential topic have not changed. I do think It is our nature to kill. As a quote from the movie Natural Born Killers stated: "It’s just murder. All God’s creatures do it. You look in the forest and you see species killing other species, our species killing all species–including the forests. And we just call it industry, not murder" If it is indeed our nature to kill then our actions are pure. But at what point is it not pure any longer?Killing other animals and plants to survive is in our nature. What is it that makes it so terribly impure? Another quote from the movie suggested a possible answer to this question. "You’ll never understand, Wayne. You and me, we’re not even the same species. I used to be you, then I evolved. From where you’re standing, you’re a man. From where I’m standing, you’re an ape. You’re not even an ape. You’re a media person. Media’s like weather, only it’s man-made. Murder? It’s pure. You’re the one made it impure. You’re buying and selling fear. You say “why?” I say “why bother?” Even if media is the one who communicated this right or wrong ideas to us, I still think there is no reason to murder such high number of living things. I think killing life might be pure, but over killing it is outrageous. In other words, I do not see a logical nor valid reason to cause this much damage to our surroundings. I am aware that my understanding of human nature is no nearly as much to state what it is exactly, however I think that by analyzing situations like this approaches my understanding to a next level.
Can change provide me a sense of happiness?I think that No changes can be done if people do not change their way of thinking. This would also involve question and reconsider our own actions. As Martin Luther King said, “the destiny of every man is tied up with others’ by the fact that we live together as a nation”. I agree with this quote and I also wonder: Why fight each other, when there is nothing to win? Although we might have experienced change in the country because of our new president Obama, it is still not enough to make a significant change that contribute to a positive outcome. We cannot relay our future in a single man. For not correcting out bad habits of over consumption due to greed we will experience nothing else but collapse.
Will experiencing collapse provide us an opportunity to live differently in the future?
Jared Diamond said:"In just a few centuries, the people of Easter Island wiped out their forest, drove their plants and animals to extinction, and saw their complex society spiral into chaos and cannibalism. Are we about to follow their lead?"
In this unit we have studied an extinct civilization that reflects all current civilizations in the world. The Rapa Nui's civilization took advantage of the surroundings and destroyed what it was elementary to survive, which in the same thing we are currently doing. I think that the reason of explaining why they unconsciously chose to terminate their own kind was because it was important for them to improve or become better. While living with this idea, they created their own independent world that only involved their daily needs and comfort. They eventually forgot about taking care of their home. They simply wanted to protect their values and it was inevitable not to do so as a human being. As a consequence the island could no longer feed the heads of each clan, which were: chiefs, bureaucrats and priests who kept the complex society running and the civilization drove to chaos. Because of this chaos a social and cultural collapse was triggered.
Our culture was influenced by another culture in the past, and as a civilization we are easily influenced by what is "better". As a consequence we try to improve ourselves mainly by the use of technology, which is the main factor that has been damaging our planet. It has been experienced by the Rapa Nui's civilization before and at this rate it will be experienced once again by us. We do not want to learn from our history's mistakes, we just want to modify them. Also, Despite hundreds of books and thousands of papers on the 'mysteries' of Easter Island, this genocide which wiped out Rapa Nui's civilisation has been largely ignored. As a matter of fact, nobody to date has written a detailed history of these traumatic events. Before this was mentioned in course I was not aware that this civilization even existed. This supports my idea that people is not interested in knowing about our self-destruction nor do something about it. As human beings we are rather afraid of our end but by not doing something about it, we are highly contradicting ourselves. Do we want to die, or do we not want to die? Based on our current actions I would say we have chosen to die. The world will keep on rotating but the human kind will banish because of this "foolish" choice. As the Moai Statues built by the Rapa Nui's civilization remained but their creators didn't, It is the same as what will happen to us.
“2 things are infinite, the Universe and human kind stupidity, and I am not so sure about the Universe”
And at this rate I am also not so sure about Human kind either.
Taking responsibility about all this damage would help us. I think that if we face reality before it is too late we can produce a positive outcome instead of what it is expected. My definition of responsibility has remained the same. In reality, responsibility does not exist. Therefore neither does right or wrong. Things are what they are. Responsibility is a linguistic phenomenon and it is also a choice. Sometimes people choose it automatically, others decide taking it based on a situation, while others never choose it. Responsibility does exist in a linguistic domain and people are identified as responsible or not based on the definition of being responsible. Right and wrong are also determined by language, and there are consequences as an outcome in either of these cases, making these WORDS reality for many people.
In conclusion, I have focused more on the insufficiency of life while studying each unit. This is because I do not feel satisfied with the way I am living my life, as previously mentioned. I do think that it is our nature to feel incomplete. Therefore we can never experience full happiness. Since the beginning my purpose was not achieving happiness, but simply finding a purpose in my life that would explain my existence. To me without any acknowledment regarding my existence it would be the same as being death. Happiness or Sadness should not be a reason to live. These are emotions that come and go as we experience life. Every human experiences it and he would never meet the extreme of one or the other.
As for myself I have not yet found my porpuse in life, but I belive that it relies in the future.
“A day without sunshine is…you know…night”
