I wonder whether television and stories and movies are actually good for us, or whether humans have trouble differentiating between the real and the unreal on some deep level and as a result we are all unhealthily infatuated with people who do not exist.
I wonder whether any great books actually exist or we are all just fooling ourselves that certain works are particularly profound because the idea of there not being greatness to aspire to or some meaning inherent in some particular words is just really depressing.
I wonder whether everyone walks around all the time feeling like an alien, but pretending like they fit in fine. I wonder whether someone might have done a psychological study on this. I wonder whether anyone thinks about asking 1000 people 'Do you walk around all the time feeling like an alien?' for the sake of science. I wonder if we are a nation of 20 million weirdos but no one will admit it.
I wonder whether, had I been able to choose before being born, I would choose to be a human. I know if I were a human I would choose to be me, because my life is comfortable and easy but I am not so rich I feel guilty all the time, but I think I may have chosen to be a preying mantis or a salmon or a germ instead.
I wonder whether I believe what I believe because I think I should believe it, and do what I do because I think I should do it, and whether any aspect of me is anything other than a product of everything around me and everything that has happened to me. I have possibly read too much Chuck Palahniuk.
I wonder whether achieving great things and being remembered is really important at all, whether maybe the important bit is just being a kind person day-to-day. What's the point in being remembered and admired once you're dead? You won't really be there to enjoy the adoration.
Um, yes. I totally think about these things. The first one the most.
ReplyDeleteSometimes I wish we had no movies or TV or poorly-written books because they make us think the world is a way that it isn't and that makes us a little sad and maybe a little crazy when we realize this.
But then again, even if we didn't have these media influences in our lives, we would probably be in the same boat, ie our expectations of the world wouldn't meet what actually happens, since we're still going to be alone in our heads, running our own stories, guessing what other people think of us and wondering if anyone else is having a hard time understanding why you can't divide by zero.
No idea if this made sense. Long story short, you're totally not alone in this.
-Alyssa
Makes sense to me! :)
DeleteI do wonder a lot whether people think differently now than they have done throughout history... like maybe people thought totally differently (i.e. focusing more on survival, less on the narratives in their head) hundreds or thousands of years ago, and we just think this way because of the comfortable circumstances of most of our lives. I can't imagine cave people being self-conscious, for instance.
I think about the last one (and maybe the possibility that everyone feels like an alien), but especially the last one. Maybe being kind is the big deal. Not being "successful". What's successful anyway?
ReplyDeleteExactly! Imagine if everyone put as much effort into being kind as they did into earning lots of money and impressing people!
DeleteI LOVE this. Especially the question of whether everyone feels like an alien. I think that's pretty accurate. Thanks for sharing such thought provoking musings! :)
ReplyDeleteThank you :)
DeleteI feel like an alien every single day, probably becasuse i don't think that i fit....
ReplyDeleteThis post is wonderful, thanks. Now i know that i'n not alone :)
It's okay! There's heaps of people walking about, feeling like aliens, I bet :)
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