A collaborative search for wisdom, at Middle Tennessee State University and beyond...
"The pluralistic form takes for me a stronger hold on reality than any other philosophy I know of, being essentially a social philosophy, a philosophy of 'co'"-William James
I can't agree with him, I can understand him. When it comes to "love" people tend to think it is an emotion. Love is a decision, it doesn't fade away, or you can't really fall in and out of love, because peoples emotions are always changing. Love would never go past the honeymoon stage, and if you "love" someone too much, that becomes infatuation. Love is a decision to make because even through hard times, if you truly love someone you'll stick by them.
I like your point. But you speak of love as something that is REQUIRED by another person. You speak of love as if it's a choice, but really it sounds like you see it as an obligation to someone. In short you are saying that once you love someone you HAVE to stick by them, or you don't "truly" love them. Sometimes we can love people greatly, but sometimes those people are toxic to our existence. You can love someone and not be with them. You can love someone and not stand by their decisions. Just because we have chosen to love someone at some point, but ultimately leave them if they are a detriment to their own lives, doesn't mean that love was not true or that it goes away.
I like to think that us humans, with all the knowledge and technology around us, we like to make life more complicated than it really is. Our ancestors many thousands of years ago never thought about any of these ideas or concepts, it was always: food, water, shelter, and survival. There is no manual to life and so we should live it in the way that we want, and not think about these sorts of ideas because they always lead down rabbit-holes that can sometimes bring about depression. Life is meant to be lived, not thought about.
Life is vastly different from our ancestors, because we no longer have to scavenge for our food and water, constantly be on the lookout for predators, etc. We have the luxury of being able to have all of these great thoughts and ideas about life, and those great thoughts have brought us so many things, so much innovation. We would be completely stuck in our primal ways if it weren't for this kind of thinking. Depression is situational sometimes, yes. But it is very much chemical and out of ones control. So just because we are thinking of the meaning of life and love and how to handle it, doesn't mean we will automatically spiral into a state of depression. Some people prefer to not think too hardly about these kinds of things, and that's okay. But it's not bad to THINK about these things. In fact, some people find significance and purpose in it. They find a reason for life beyond just survival, and I think that's beautiful. Our thoughts and interactions are what make us human. They are what separate us from other animals.
Survival and living life are two very different things.
I can't agree with him, I can understand him. When it comes to "love" people tend to think it is an emotion. Love is a decision, it doesn't fade away, or you can't really fall in and out of love, because peoples emotions are always changing. Love would never go past the honeymoon stage, and if you "love" someone too much, that becomes infatuation. Love is a decision to make because even through hard times, if you truly love someone you'll stick by them.
ReplyDeleteI like your point. But you speak of love as something that is REQUIRED by another person. You speak of love as if it's a choice, but really it sounds like you see it as an obligation to someone. In short you are saying that once you love someone you HAVE to stick by them, or you don't "truly" love them. Sometimes we can love people greatly, but sometimes those people are toxic to our existence. You can love someone and not be with them. You can love someone and not stand by their decisions. Just because we have chosen to love someone at some point, but ultimately leave them if they are a detriment to their own lives, doesn't mean that love was not true or that it goes away.
DeleteI like to think that us humans, with all the knowledge and technology around us, we like to make life more complicated than it really is. Our ancestors many thousands of years ago never thought about any of these ideas or concepts, it was always: food, water, shelter, and survival. There is no manual to life and so we should live it in the way that we want, and not think about these sorts of ideas because they always lead down rabbit-holes that can sometimes bring about depression. Life is meant to be lived, not thought about.
ReplyDeleteLife is vastly different from our ancestors, because we no longer have to scavenge for our food and water, constantly be on the lookout for predators, etc. We have the luxury of being able to have all of these great thoughts and ideas about life, and those great thoughts have brought us so many things, so much innovation. We would be completely stuck in our primal ways if it weren't for this kind of thinking. Depression is situational sometimes, yes. But it is very much chemical and out of ones control. So just because we are thinking of the meaning of life and love and how to handle it, doesn't mean we will automatically spiral into a state of depression. Some people prefer to not think too hardly about these kinds of things, and that's okay. But it's not bad to THINK about these things. In fact, some people find significance and purpose in it. They find a reason for life beyond just survival, and I think that's beautiful. Our thoughts and interactions are what make us human. They are what separate us from other animals.
DeleteSurvival and living life are two very different things.