Random Thoughts #1

An uneducated person to whom suddenly new doors of information are opened, such as by learning to read and speak English, is so fascinated by the newly available information! He finds it so interesting to take in all the new information from newspapers, TV, books, from other people and indulges in becoming a great, knowledgeable person.

We highly educated people, on the other hand, have SO many doors of information open to us since long that, we are initially overwhelmed and then soon, bored. It becomes a buyers market for our brain and we go along the path of least resistance. Academic study, stock market research, learning about whats going on in the island of Tonga, exploring public information from NASA, learning counting of cards for blackjack, reading novels, getting to know your colleagues better, helping in social service, reading novels, taking a free online course, learning bowling techniques - these are among the countless number of things we can do. But we choose the simplest (laziest) of them. The laziest of us just watch movies and TV series and gain some information. The less lazy ones read novels or actively search for new information and read it. Its human tendency to follow that path which requires least effort and yet gives satisfactory gains. So whats wrong in watching movies back to back all day? Its that, we are short-sighted in evaluating the gain/effort when deciding what to do.

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Thought inspired by English Vinglish movie.

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Joker vs Batman - Nihilism vs Society

The Question: Who would you rather be? -

Batman: The incorruptible, conscientious, intelligent, eccentric watchful protector of the "good" people; not just a man, but a symbol of hope who strikes fear into the hearts of evil-doers.
OR
Joker: An agent of Chaos, equally intelligent and eccentric but who sees life in an alternate way, incongruous to established society; who understands there is no "good" or "evil", that hope & fear are all man-made, who embraces the craziness of existence... a Nihilist.

Do not think that The Joker is the obviously wrong choice; there's more to him than meets the eye. Read on.

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There are two drastically different points of views to life. You are probably familiar with the first :-

1) Find joy / sorrow in day to day things - You feel happy when someone gifts you ice-cream, you feel content when your work is appreciated, you feel sad if you are the reason for someone else's pain, you feel jealous if a colleague gets the girl you like, you feel sorrow if you lose someone dear.
Living life like this for your entire life, sharing the joys and sorrows, you achieve some career goals, personal goals and influence everybody around you, ultimately contributing towards the progress of humanity. (Progress is defined by humans, for humans, of humans). After say 80 years, you'll die and humanity will continue with your imprint on it.
This way of life has been passed along to us since generations by the society.


2) Nihilistic view:-
Question the fundamental assumptions that we take for granted everyday and see what hell breaks lose.... The previous view has been passed along to us since generations by the SOCIETY. But why conform with the society? Why should I run after a career, money and all the man-made stuff? Money itself arose because of population, to trade goods. But why should I care if I steal rice from the farmer instead of trading it for money? Why should I let myself feel "guilt" for doing so? Guilt is taught by society just to give everyone a fair chance. Same goes for a "sympathy", "pity", "being considerate".

If a friend yells at me because I hurt him, I would feel sad. But once I abandon all conformance with society, once I abandon care for others, there is no reason to feel sad in such cases.

If I feel curious and interested to see what happens if I stab my arm with a knife, I should do it! Why should I fear what my body is telling me to feel - pain? May be just because of the survival instinct, evolution has obfuscated our true nature. Possibly killing is not a bad thing either. May be the life after death is the better one, or maybe death is the road to freedom. Or may be we are in a Matrix (movie) and this is not the truth. There's no way of verifying if what we are living in is the truth. Its all undefined.

Happiness, joy, sadness, love, hatred, guilt, sympathy, greed, envy etc are ALL either man-made or enforced by your body on you due to evolution! If I consider myself as just my mind trapped in this materialistic body in this materialistic society, I have absolutely no reason to feel them.

There is no reason to feel them. But here's the twist: Just because there is no reason to feel them doesn't mean I should not feel any of these feelings. I can feel what I want to and ignore what I don't want.
Example: If I feel like eating a cake and then board a plane and then kill the pilot, I should do it all!! In the process if I lose my partner to the cops, I shouldn't feel sorrow. If I take a bullet to the hand, I would just observe the blood oozing out and how the body makes me feel pain and carry on with whatever I feel like doing next.

It doesn't make much sense does it? Thats coz its all very chaotic! Chaos is the answer. That is how the Joker's mind works. He does what he feels like just because he exists (which he didn't ask for) and doesn't want to conform with the society because there is no natural reason to conform with the society. In such a case what he does, is simply unpredictable. Its chaos to others as well as inside his mind!!

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The Nihilistic way of life is not "wrong" because it is fundamentally the natural way - doing what you feel like doing without conforming to society which is man-made. Moreover, if you accept it, then there is no "wrong" or "right".
However, with many people living together, the natural way of life cannot keep everyone happy at the same time. Thats why it is considered "wrong".

Imagine this: You are the only person on earth. You did not even grow up among humans as we know them now. No society. No culture. Just the way nature intended it to be. Then you would by default be following the Joker's way of life except that you wont hurt yourself. But add in the understanding that you are separate from your body, and then you would be following Joker's way of life, won't you?

So if you were to live the most natural way, it would be the Joker's way.

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Now that you understand these two ways of life, first of which Batman follows and the second, Joker, who do you think is more close to as nature/god/creation intended you to be? Now, what do you choose?

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