This I Believe

I believe that life is a story.  

I believe that from the moment it begins to the moment it ends, each and every life on this planet has its own story to follow.  I believe that life has ups and downs, but even the worst moments have a reason for happening.  Please don’t mistake me for someone who believes in fate: I don’t.  I do not believe that we are all destined to follow a specific path and end and a point that has been predetermined.  Life is full of variable, unforeseen changes, and ripple effects.  It’s impossible for everything to be completely prearranged.  That being said, I do believe that even the worst moments in a life have a purpose.  The tragedies that happen to us may seem completely unwarranted and unnecessary, but they help to shape us and continue to weave the story of our life.  

We are the only creatures on the planet that have the mental ability to look beyond our own lives and create lives and fake individuals.  Some of us actually take time out of our days to orchestrate the life of a fictional character, even though it seemingly does not contribute anything to our life and the lives of others.  Why do we do that?  Why would we waste time making and telling stories, when we could be pushing society forward with tangible creations and directly benefit us?  I believe that it is because stories remind us of the possibilities of our own lives. 

With the rapid advancement of our own intellects, paired with the constant changes of our society and our planet, we have to right and the responsibility as individuals to reach for the greatest potential we can.  We should take risks, help others, think beyond boundaries, and search for excitement.  Humanity has the duty to explore every inch of our planet, and when we’ve accomplished that, explore the stars.  We should talk to people that we normally wouldn’t, help people who may not ask for it, and protect people who can’t protect themselves.  We should create large things, and minimalize dangerous things.  We should be trying to become they greatest person we can each be, like the protagonists of a novel.  To me, that is by stories exist.  The allow us to have a taste of what we can be.  It gives of a preview of our potential, and pushes us to aim for it.  

When I was 8 years old, I took to a trip to New York City.  It was breathtaking how large the city was, and the dense population was almost overwhelming.  I remember standing in Time Square with my family, when a thought occurred to me.  Each and every person that was standing near me, living in the city, in the state, and in the entire world, has their own life.  They have their own dreams, desires, fears, thoughts, experiences, beliefs, mistakes, and perspectives.  It was mind-blowing to think that across the planet, someone else living a completely different life may be having a similar thought, but they are not at all like me.  The life of an individual is sacred to that person, and they deserve to live their life to the fullest.  They have their own story to live, and so do I.  

And I will my mine a bestseller. 

Blog Post #1

Here I my first of many ethics-related blog posts.  Better late than never, I suppose.

The teachings of Aristotle’s “Nicomachean Ethics” are not an easy thing to understand.  It’s clear why this particular writing was chosen to introduce us to the idea of communication ethics.  After all, the The first part of the Nicomachean Ethics basically discusses what ethics is and why we study it.  Aristotle explains the different forms of argument, making a clear difference between Dialectic and rhetoric.  I would be interested to discover whether his ideas of happiness and his views on how it should be achieved in society could still be applied to modern societies today. 

Furthermore, I’m curious whether the majority of the current population would agree to his teachings, or if most people would simply write him off as an archaic thinker from a different time.  Surely he’s still respected by scholers and philosophers at this time, but how often are his teachings applied by normal members of society?  The world is far more educated than it was 2000 years ago, which should suggest that his ideas should reach a larger audience.  Perhaps his philosophies are absorbed by modern society, but not directly.  Instead, his values have been passed down by similar teachings, philosophies, and memes. 

It is anyone’s guess how many of Earth’s great thinkers who came after Aristotle were inspired by him, but I would guess that there were numerous ones… at least enough to transfer his teachings into our minds, without us even realizing it.

Perhaps.