Archives for April 2014

Insight Paper: An Artificial Human Condition

The human condition of modern times is a manufactured one. Today’s society maintains order and establishes peace through a mechanized dehumanization that began at the advent of the Industrial Revolution. This order relies on the forceful organization of people’s lives into a technological system that makes the daily lives of people lugubrious and dull. This creates an omnipresent unconsciousness in the population that has now essentially become the human condition. It is an unconsciousness that hinders individual subjectivity and stifles questions that may be posed by conscious observers of the manner in which society is run. The upper echelons of society oversee a gradual process of conditioning done over the formative years of young people that encourages routine over spontaneity. Through a need for money, people find themselves fixed in a mundane but necessary daily routine that has to be followed in order to subsist. People fit into roles and become mere cogs in the intricate gears of a modern society; their unique consciousness is veiled under the roles they have to fit into in the process. This unconsciousness is representative of the artificially produced human condition that modern society has instilled into most of the population. It is inherently dehumanizing because it goes directly contrary to the quality of humanity that is uniquely human: an immaterial, self-aware consciousness that is constantly questioning and curious about the world it occupies. [Read more…]

Significance in a Superfluous Existence

In life, there is not always someone around to reassure us that what we are doing is important.  Contrastingly, more often than not, there is no one to explain to us why some aspect of our life is insignificant.  Values, although largely influenced by various aspects of society, are mainly determined by the individual because of the subjective (personalized) nature of existence, and the access to the infinite possibilities of a naturally superfluous human life.  The superfluousness, or contingency (both will be used to describe the concept), of human existence implies that no one’s life is truly necessary, and that everyone simply is without having to be so, thus suggesting that life contains the possibility for constant meaningful occurrences whose significance is born out of their lack of necessity.  Said significance is rooted in the fact that one’s actions, and even one’s existence, are entirely unnecessary when it comes the basic facts of human life, which elevates and gives meaning to certain actions and experiences that vary from person to person.  That being said, I believe that everyone has the potential to live a fulfilling life, one that is more resemblant of an adventure than a stroll down a predetermined path.  Ultimately, I will try convey the idea that there is no set meaning to life, and that no one may justifiably impose a negative judgement on another person’s significance because of his or her inherently subjective input.  Additionally, based partially on my atheistic existential perspective, I believe there is no life beyond this one on Earth, and that every moment has the capability – a capability which should be taken advantage of – of becoming an incredible and memorable one.  These moments are what truly define one’s existence and allow one to reflect on life not as a bundle of wasted opportunities, but as a series of new and significant experiences. [Read more…]

I Think Therefore You Are

When one witnesses someone else acting in a way that they believe to be wrong or irrational, they often instinctually pass judgment on that person. Whether it be for who they vote for, how they raise their children, or how they present themselves (their clothes, their watch, their car), everyone thinks that they have the right formula on how to live. They see someone acting in a way that violates their morals, and think to themselves how terrible it must be to live such a life, or how bad of a person they have become. Many of these judgments stem from the values their parents gave them and the experiences they have had in their life, and ignores any possibility that people who think differently can also be good and just people. Classifying a person based on their actions or beliefs presents a great deal of ignorance, and proclaims “if anyone lives or thinks differently from me, they are wrong.” This leads to a great deal of animosity towards people, and proclaims that they possess the correct code of morals. People should avoid judging because it eliminates the possibility of understanding why people act differently, unjustly classifies people based on only a few aspects of that person, as well as distracts one from their own problems. [Read more…]