We need spaces that offer us a break from the rigorous routine of everyday life and facilitate a reflection on being. We need a culture that reads Camus and Sartre as much as JK Rowling or Nicolas Sparks. We really need to get over our obsession with sentiments and beliefs that have been thrust upon us through generations, and attempt to rediscover the meaning of our personal heritage. The long legacy of our biological and intellectual evolution must not end in a passivity of human awareness. Rajit Roy
French philosopher Rene Descartes made the first daring attempt to question the basis of human existence. What defines a person’s being? In his personal quest for understanding the meaning of human life, Descartes arrived at a remarkable proposition- "Cogito, ergo sum!" I think, therefore I am. This established philosophy as the most fundamental of human pursuits, academically or otherwise, and triggered a new wave of introspection. Auguste Rodin, another great Frenchman, visualized this doctrine into his famous “Thinking Man” and personified human thought as a vital cultural figure. Today, however, in a world full of chaos and anxiety, philosophy, or in fact simple introspection in our regular lives has become largely obscured. Attempts to face the questions of life and existence, which had defined a progressive society in the golden age of renaissance, have been condensed down to regressive and old fashioned textbooks in universities. The new-age industry and glam culture argues that we have become more practical and any endeavor to revive contemplation in our overflowing lifestyle is a waste of effort. Despite the fact that not so long ago, the 20th century gave us some great geniuses like Neitzche, Camus and Sartre, our culture today has largely failed to grasp the universal appeal of their brilliant ideas. How do we justify philosophy then? Do we really need all this intellectual masturbation in a world plagued with grief and suffering? I would say that the answer is as ironical as Descartes’ famous doctrine. I think, therefore I am, but if I don’t think, am I still there? We need to address this dilemma first before taking any leaps of faith. In a society which is inherently based on collective ignorance- our political system thrives on deceiving the masses, religion teaches cognitive passivity as a virtue, and even our education system propagates humble submission to established knowledge systems with no scope for intellectual evolution. Are we still human then? Haven’t we been lured into an illusion of consciousness when we have actually lost our ability to think freely to mechanically functional brains? How many times do we sit silently alone and attempt to perceive the greater depths of our seemingly obvious environment? How many times do we dare to ponder on our existence? The questions of life and death seem distant, but isn’t that a myopia we have constructed for us to escape the effort of thinking? Sufi mystic Shams Tabriz once said- “The summary of the advice of all prophets is this: find yourself a mirror.” We need that mirror today more than any other time. We need spaces that offer us a break from the rigorous routine of everyday life and facilitate a reflection on being. We need a culture that reads Camus and Sartre as much as JK Rowling or Nicolas Sparks (not to trivialize their great literary works). We really need to get over our obsession with sentiments and beliefs that have been thrust upon us through generations, and attempt to rediscover the meaning of our personal heritage. The long legacy of our biological and intellectual evolution must not end in a passivity of human awareness.
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About Me
Rajit Roy
An existential romantic, an agnostic and a prospective biologist. Archives
September 2018
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