Purpose | Teen Ink

Purpose

May 8, 2014
By Overcastt SILVER, Ridgefield, Connecticut
Overcastt SILVER, Ridgefield, Connecticut
7 articles 0 photos 7 comments

I don't know if there is a reason for our existence. Maybe our existence isn't even as solid as we believe. Nothing is really completely set in stone. Every piece of information we have was formed, in some way, by our minds. But why should we trust ourselves so much? It's completely possible that our abilities to find accurate information are not as keen as we believe. There is always a possibility that everything we know is false. In the end, we just have to assume that what we are living truly is a reality. Everything we see, hear, taste, smell, feel and think are really just our mind's interpretations of our surroundings (assuming, of course, that everything's not simply something conjured by the very mind we get all our information from. In fact, as I write this, you can be sure that there are several points during which I've questioned whether there is a point to writing this. But i'm going to give my brain the benefit of the doubt and assume that everything is real, or at least as real as things can be.) We have no way to know what other people think, feel, see, taste, smell, hear or experience. Therefore, any knowledge we have has no real credibility. We'd be giving ourselves far too much credit to assume it did. In fact, we're giving ourselves too much credit in assuming that we will ever know our reason for existing, or that assuming there even is a reason. I believe that it is completely coincidental. We have complicated living far too much. With money, music, technology, art, really anything beyond simple necessities. There is no longer the option of simply surviving happily. We have grown past our basic needs, and now no longer have proper priorities. Expensive pleasures and power are now considered more important than health. Beauty and wealth have invaded our minds, making us value them over other human beings. We can no longer live simply.

Think of it this way; There are trees, and there are humans. Humans have evolved to believe we are higher than any other being or object. We are not. We are made of the same basic materials as everything else. Trees simply survive. They do not need material things, they do not need emotions. They just are. Yet humans have tainted that. We need the most beautiful, the most fruitful trees. We have infected the entire planet. Nothing is simple anymore. Grass must be short, land must be clear, rivers must be crossed, skies must be flown in. There is no simplicity anymore. It's all been corrupted by vain animals, truly the most vicious creatures.

We all believe we must know, must understand everything. We will keep trying, convinced that we will someday know everything. That is impossible. We cannot fully understand ourselves, let alone entire universes. There is no purpose in trying to know why. Everything we do simply complicates living more.

Everyone is so confident in the way they feel and think. The problem is, emotions are all in our head. And who is to say that everyone enjoys what we consider happiness? How can we know that everyone really feels? How is it fair and just to categorize people as being sane and insane? Nobody is insane that is a mediocre belief. Why do we fear those whose minds do not function the same way as the majority's? Because we fear death, we fear the unknown. All it boils down to is that we fear we will not survive. But we ourselves have complicated survival. The fact that we are all so desperately fearful of death is pointless. We will all die, and it will not matter. Because after we die, we will cease to be aware. We will never know if we are remembered, and we are all to someday be forgotten, because everything will end eventually. There is no way to prevent that, so we might as well accept it.

I suppose my purpose in writing this was not to educate, for this is not fact, merely my own opinions, but to hopefully make you think. I thought several new thoughts while I was writing this, and hopefully you did as well. I don't expect this jumble of words to make any difference on any level, nor do I believe anyone will take me seriously. This was merely for my own benefit. To have my thoughts in a place that is, hopefully, more trustworthy than my own mind.



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This article has 1 comment.


Livii BRONZE said...
on Nov. 4 2014 at 4:56 am
Livii BRONZE, Worrigee, Other
1 article 1 photo 5 comments

Favorite Quote:
Be yourself; everyone else is already taken
-Oscar Wilde

This is a really cool idea and something that is actually on my mind a bit - do other people share the same experiences as us? Really made me think - good job