Don't Let Anyone Put You In A Box

Life has meaning.

No matter which way you choose to look at it, that is what I believe in. The very fact that I am alive means something. Have you ever thought about how amazing the single action of living is? I’m a medicine/science geek so the many abilities of the human body are mind-blowing to me. I have knowledge of words and I can make them represent something and I can sit here and type and my fingers do what I tell them and you on the other side of that screen, you’re reading what I’m saying and you can hear me even though I’m not physically there. Maybe I shouldn’t be so excited about a simple task, but I am. It’s extravagant.

 I think the question associated with this topic that I wonder about the most is will my life mean anything after I die? I do not know and I do not care. The fact that in the end, my life may not accumulate to anything does not discourage me. It does not matter whether or not I’ll mean anything after I’m gone because my life has meaning now. The possibility that in the grand scheme of things my life may mean nothing is completely fine. Within my personal life, I’m creating an entire world. I will fill my life with whatever I want it to include and I will give meaning to the things I like doing. Why? Simply because I can. The fact that I can give my life meaning means something. Some people give their lives more meaning than others and that’s fine. The very beauty of life is that you can choose what you do with it.

Candide's Punishments, Do They Fit His Crimes?

Candide has had some bad luck, to say the least. His life has been in danger numerous times and despite all he's been through he still doesn't have the girl. His lovely Cunegonde belongs to another man and there's not much he can do about it. Does Candide deserve all of the perils he's had to endure? It all depends on his crimes, but what are his crimes? Candide isn't a saint, he causes his fair share of evil throughout the book. But where does it all start? What is the first crime he commits? That would take us all the way back to his paradise. When he was first living with the Baron and Cunegonde. The first crime he commits is his relations with Cunegonde. All that happens to Candide afterwards is essentially because of that one act. So does Candide deserve being...wait. The better question is, what have Candide's punishments been? In every situation he's been in Candide has been able to land on his feet and sometimes in an even better position than he was before. Sure, there have been moments where his life has been threatened, but at the end of it all he's okay. When he's about to be shot by the Bulgars, the King of the Bulgars saves him. When Candide is almost boiled and eaten by "savages", he and Cacambo are able to talk their way out of it. Despite being robbed of his sheep, he gets them and their value back and ends up in Paris. During the auto-da-fe, his life is saved and he is reunited with Cunegonde.

So no. Candide's punishments do not fit his crimes. Candide has killed 3 men...and he got away with every one of his murders. I don't doubt that Candide has been punished, he certainly has. But his punishments don't coincide with his crimes.

how do you know what you know?

Answering this question could get very confusing very quickly. There's the argument that I don't know what I know and that I never really will. That what I think I know is actually a lie. But I don't think that's true. Not completely. 

I don’t think that there are ever behaviors or ideas that I just know. Everything I know has been learned. I’ve picked up lessons from the people I’ve been surrounded by, the experiences I’ve had, the questions I’ve asked, and the mistakes I’ve made. This consumption of knowledge happens gradually and that’s why kids stay kidlike for a long time. But eventually it happens and that’s why we grow up.

Everything that I’ve said so far has been on a broad spectrum. Narrowing it down may be even more confusing…but I’m going to try it anyway. If I wanted to narrow down exactly how I know the things that I know I’d say it’s from experience, and therefore from observation, and therefore from patterns.

I see life as a giant mess of patterns. Some patterns are composed of only a few elements, others go on for ages, and others are strung together coherently in a line. My favorite type of patterns are the circular ones. Chains of events and circumstances that link together to form causes and effects and causes and effects and so on and so forth. I learn from these by observing what happens. Testing out different decisions and paths to see where they lead me. Maybe I’ll end up at the beginning of the same circle or maybe I’ll find myself in the midst of an entirely new one. Who knows and who cares. Whatever happens, at least I’ll learn something.

There are some people who would be glad to be free of the circles. I’m not one of them. I live for circles and for patterns. I live in them. The more I learn, the greater my circles grow and the greater my circles grow the more I learn.