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What's the measure of individual human success? (pg. 6)
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| SuspicionVandit |
impact on civilization.
For this, we are almost all negligible. |
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| Halcyon+On+On |
| quote: | Originally posted by SuspicionVandit
impact on civilization.
For this, we are almost all negligible. |
What a sham this whole civilisation business is though, no? We have created complexes of mechanical amusements and conveniences to quell our needful natures to the point where we are too distracted or lazy to show one another our teeth. What outbursts of violence, even in speech and attitude one may hold, are offensive if they're too sudden, too savage, too honest to have any place in a world where everyone is guaranteed to be as equally ineffectual as possible. But do we know just what this is getting us closer toward? Because it sure does seem like we're merely amending the standard of judgment, as we plod along, chasing our Gods off one by one, to some lofty goal where even at best, children of different backgrounds will play with one another in their places of supposed safety; Oh, I'm shivering with achievement in my Nike sweatshop-made shoes. |
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| igottaknow |
| quote: | Originally posted by Halcyon+On+On
What a sham this whole civilisation business is though, no? We have created complexes of mechanical amusements and conveniences to quell our needful natures to the point where we are too distracted or lazy to show one another our teeth. What outbursts of violence, even in speech and attitude one may hold, are offensive if they're too sudden, too savage, too honest to have any place in a world where everyone is guaranteed to be as equally ineffectual as possible. But do we know just what this is getting us closer toward? Because it sure does seem like we're merely amending the standard of judgment, as we plod along, chasing our Gods off one by one, to some lofty goal where even at best, children of different backgrounds will play with one another in their places of supposed safety; Oh, I'm shivering with achievement in my Nike sweatshop-made shoes. |
I bet you didn't take a breath while writing that. |
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| Halcyon+On+On |
| Who can breathe in a world polluted by such injustice?! :p |
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| SYSTEM-J |
| The measure of success is the number of things I set out to achieve and came back victorious. |
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| Halcyon+On+On |
| So quantity over quality, then? |
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| SYSTEM-J |
| quote: | Originally posted by Halcyon+On+On
So quantity over quality, then? |
Who ing cares, really? As if there's some cosmic calculator that can work out the relative value of an achievement, or keep track of them all. There is no measure of a man, even in his own head. There's just a simulacrum of contentment. |
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| Spacey Orange |
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| Halcyon+On+On |
I suppose that's true enough... though if I resolve to eat 3 sandwiches each day for the rest of my life - and succeed - would you say that I have achieved something on the same level as, say, somebody who teaches themself how to write music and works their entire life to improve the complexity and richness of their compositions?
Does nothing really matter all that much in the end, so long as you're happy?
My ultimate point is that the most pertinent measures of success - so far as I am concerned, of course - are not quantifiable in the least, and will likely never be concluded or 'achieved' in any sense of finality. We make short goals for ourselves to keep that carrot dangling before us - often at the behest of social prescription - but things of true value will likely never be realized, and that is not a negative thing in the least, but attests to the ephemeral and thankfully communicable beauty of the human condition. |
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| djhaziel |
| I would consider myself successful and satisfied , if deep down inside of me I know that every opportunity that life gave me wether its my job , health , love life ,friends etc. was used wisely and got me to a better position . |
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| SYSTEM-J |
| quote: | Originally posted by Halcyon+On+On
I suppose that's true enough... though if I resolve to eat 3 sandwiches each day for the rest of my life - and succeed - would you say that I have achieved something on the same level as, say, somebody who teaches themself how to write music and works their entire life to improve the complexity and richness of their compositions?
Does nothing really matter all that much in the end, so long as you're happy? |
Well, this is the thing. If you're content with achieving very limited things, is that a measure of a successful life? Does the effort of an activity give it worth, or are some activities a lot of effort for no real reward?
My post was a rather facetious tautology: a measure of success is counting up your successes. My real point is there is no measure of success, and why should we try and divine one? Half the posts in this thread read like self-congratulatory statements of how humble and selfless and righteous the poster can manage to be. If you achieve something worthwhile, you should get a tangible reward from it in your life, not an abstract sense of success. The achievements I'm interested in are the ones I haven't accomplished yet. |
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