Humans are social animals. And even though a lot of us do not like socializing, we cannot live without direct or indirect help from each other. We live in a culture that feeds off the needs of everyone who lives in it to supply the needs of everyone who lives in it. Let’s personify it as the Society for the sake of this article. And even though we may think that we are separate individuals, let me tell you something that you already know.
As infants, humans know nothing. We are nothing but a blank sheet of paper, where our personality is shaped firstly by our parents/guardians, then our teachers and friends, and after that everyone, we meet in any direct or indirect way. All our actions are based on whatever has happened to us and around us. And if you think about it, we are nothing but a part of an organism that was previously personified as the Society.
Society is basically a bigger version of the butterfly effect where we’re all the butterflies, and we’re all being affected.
You might argue that this removes the concept of free will from the picture. Saying that if everything that is happening and will happen is defined by everything that has happened, where do we stand as individuals? If all our thoughts are results of our experiences, then do we even have a real thought of our own?
That is where the physical brain comes in. The human brain is the most complex organ in our body, and there are still some unsolved mysteries about it. And every brain is different, physically. Variations in each brain can lead to varying personalities like being more or less empathetic, being prone to anxiety, having a good or bad memory, and things like that. These “differences” determine who we are as individuals, even though it is not a lot. If two separate people live the same life from infancy, their personalities would be extremely similar, if not the same.
If outside sources define everything that we do, does free will even exist?
Well, the thing is that even if our actions are determined by everything that we encounter, they’re still our actions. Everything that we do is because of some thought that we had. All our actions, even the involuntary ones, are outcomes of thoughts. These thoughts that define our actions are only inside our brains. If two people made the same choices in similar conditions, it doesn’t mean that they both had the same ideas in their heads. Similar, yes. But not the same. And those differences are what make us individuals.
Is there a meaning to it all?
If whatever we do is defined by whatever we face, why do anything? Why love if you know it will hurt you later?
There isn’t. That’s the beauty of life. And still, we somehow do it. We want to do it all. Love, hate, work, procrastinate, whatever. Finding meaning in the universe is an absurd thing to do because as big as this universe is, there cannot be actual meaning in any of it. Well, of course, if you believe in some higher power, that’s good for you because then you have all the answers. But for the rest of us, there is no meaning to life. There is no reason to love. And that exactly is what makes life livable—knowing that it will all end in nothing. And still trying to make something out of it because that is what makes us Us. That is what makes you, YOU.
Something To Think About In Isolation :
Who are we if nothing but a product of this loop of actions and consequences…?
Some guy (might be me)