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Shallow on Purpose
I am nearly to the point where I can accept someone who decides to be shallow after seeing what it means to be deep and deciding that it’s too depressing. I don’t think many shallow people have done this, to be clear, but I think I see the point of those who have.
The search for true meaning and purpose exposes you to unimaginable pain. It shows you how arbitrarily evil the world is. It shows you that all meaning is made ourselves. It shows you that evil exists in the world because it’s natural for it to do so.
This is depressing to the point of debilitation.
Some become callous because of this; they embrace the naturalistic fallacy and say that because nature forces us to do this to each other, then it’s ok to play along. I group many successful businesspeople who are apathetic to the poor in this category. Well, the smart ones.
Many have made their money and realized they are lucky to be there, and that some are unlucky, and…”Oh well…sucks to be them…”
This is sad.
But it’s understandable.
The alternative involves so much work. It’s a slippery slope down from questioning why you aren’t hungry to questioning why you have anything at all. When you start asking questions, all the previous answers given become tragically porous.
This is why a particular religious narrative, or Fox News, is so compelling. It provides clear, consistent answers that only fall apart when exposed to other narratives…or questions. But if you just take the narrative it’s extremely comforting. I see this as clearly as I feel the draw of believing that I have free will.
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So when I see someone go to a four year university and start popping out kids, you have to ask questions before you can know if they’ve always been asleep or if they used to be awake and decided to go to sleep.
Their lives are scripted.
Keep in mind: University isn’t bad. Kids aren’t bad. Necessarily. It’s the tracked approach to it that’s so depressing.
But perhaps that’s what leads to the most happiness, despite its shallowness. And maybe others have figured this out, where I have not. Kind of like embracing Fox News.
But today I stand here refusing to do so.
And so my quest for happiness continues. I’ll forge a new path. I don’t like those that already exist. They don’t offer the ability to re-enter the woodline once you take them. ::