Reflection on Out of the Silent Planet Socratic Seminar

The issue of the distinction between humans and other animals was brought up today. Although many people believed that humans are superior in intelligence to animals and therefore capable of evil, I don't think the dualism between humans and other species is that defined. Dolphins and apes have been proven to be self aware and intelligent, and many other animals are also constantly surprising us with how similar to humans they really are. I don't think humans are really "evil". First off, evil is subjective. What one person may view as evil may be seen as heroic by another. For example, terrorism. One side sees it as evil, the other as noble. In this case, evil really depends on what side of the conflict you're on. Second, no human does evil for no reason. If evil is done for a practical reason, it doesn't really count as pure evil because the perpetrator is probably doing it for food. To survive. Or for their families. Or because they have an unfortunate physical addiction or fetish that they can't get away from. No human does something purely evil. All of our actions have reasoning behind them, murderers have psychological problems and can't fight it. School shooters are depressed and feel wronged by society. Robbers want money to live more happily than they are currently. The problem of evil is more of an illusion than a real problem. Also, all of us have the same built in goals in life: perpetuation of our offspring and species and self preservation. "Evil" acts are often justified by these goals. Balance is also important for life. Without any "evil", there wouldn't be any good. Although evil is subjective and has problems with its definition, many of us have built in morals that preserve the goals stated previously and portraying all opposing acts as evil. Everything is relative and lies on a spectrum. Nothing is pure evil, nothing is pure good. Another issue that was brought up is war. I think war is caused by struggle for power (resources), for the same reason we want to perpetuate as much of our genes into the future generation as possible. Other causes are simply stated reasonings for the same power. Religion, for example, is an excuse for conflict and war even though the basis of religion lies in good things like hope and prayer and peace.

"Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not a truth." (Marcus Aurelius, Roman leader, philosopher, Stoic).

I agree with Aurelius in his view of our perspective of the surrounding environment is subjective and unique to each of us. No two of us experiences that exact same event quite the same. When we hear a bird chirp or see a sunset, we live the experiences differently because of the fundamental nature of who we are. Everything is relative, there is no such thing as an absolute. There is nothing 100% good, nothing 100% evil, everything is simply different shades of gray. Looking at the same item of clothing, two different people can have completely different opinions on it. In fact, this is the case almost every single time. We all have different tastes, different likes and dislikes, and therefore different world views, all based on our genetics and individual experiences growing up. We create definitions and language to help us communicate similar experiences, but no definition or language can quite entail the entire experience and all of its meaning and implications to us because we are simply different people. Because of this basic truth, "Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not a truth".

Personal Philosophy

The question "why are we here" has been asked so many times, and still no one has really agreed upon an answer. We, as humans, like to imagine other worlds and other life, often overlooking what we have right here on this rock in floating around a hotter rock in one of the whirling messes in what we call the universe. Since the beginning, people have discussed the soul, emotions, and why we, as humans, are unique from every other being. Although I don't think the latter is necessarily true, I am amazed at the mental capacity we have that allows us to feel. Even if everything is based in neurological roots, there is a difference between knowing about something and really understanding it. Knowing what the word "love" means and really, truly understanding it are about as different as night and day. Teaching a blind man that the colors are electromagnetic waves with varying frequencies in a limited range that can be perceived by our eyes somehow doesn't really seem to cover everything that "red" is to us. I believe that simply being alive in this world is such a unique opportunity, we have the freedom to pursue what makes us happy, even if it's just because something in our genes or environment makes it so. We are allowed to love and laugh, even if it's just a deep instinct for reproduction and survival that promotes it. We are all the same, emotional humans, but we are also all individuals with our own unique experiences.  We should strive to make something of our lives, to enjoy it while it lasts, however clichéd it may sound. We don't have to be the smartest or the richest. Living a life that, looking back, you are proud of, is its own reward.