Day 14

Today’s class discussion was relatively limited, but my thoughts on the thought experiment are as follows.

First Scenario:

Disappointment. The demon came at my "loneliest of loneliness," but after it told me that my life would be repeated over and over again, that would probably be the new low.

Second Scenario:

An enthusiasm to attempt to fill the missing chunks of life in a way that I believe would fill them. But I think that enthusiasm would wane, unfortunately.

I watched the movie Cloud Atlas recently. The ending was anticlimactic. “This is it?” were my thoughts. These “souls” were recycled and progressed through time repetitively, went through that many challenges, made that many sacrifices, and it was all for what?

My conclusion led me to the realization that maybe I should actively start looking for the missing pieces of my idealish life, but I’m failing. Maybe it's because I don't even know what that ideal life is. 

Second Thought Experiment thoughts:

There is nothing that I could do with my life that would make me want to watch ten years of it. Nothing. Not even snacks. Plus it’s hard just to accommodate that situation in my mind. It would take longer than ten years of life to watch it. I would be physically impossible for me to live ten years staring at a screen. So I will cushion this experiment. I will say inside this room, physical needs (e.g. sleep, hunger, thirst, etc.) are set on pause, while the ten year movie is on play.

I have a hard time getting through a movie of a fictional character’s life that is edited perfectly and action packed. My life to watch would be even worse. Torture of the mental  (and if not in the magic room) the physical kind.

But what if… the next ten years of one's life were to be watched, but not all at once? What if one can spread it across the rest of the remaining lifespan (assuming one would live to a as they say, “ripe old age”)? Maybe then, it would be tempting for me to live in a way that would ensure entertainment for my future self when forced to watch my life. Maybe I would even want to watch it. Especially when I’m older, because let’s be honest, what does the average elderly person do besides reminisce and watch television?

Let me do the math.  So right now I am 18 (but I’m going to go with 19 since my birthday is in less than two weeks). So I stop being recorded with an all-seeing-mind-reading recorder at age 29. Let’s say I live until I am 78(The average age one lives to be in the U.S. according to World Bank).  I have 49 years to spread that 10 year video.  That is give or take five hours a day if I did the math right and if I choose to spread it out evenly . Assuming I get that option. And I do, this is a thought-experiment.  It’s a bit more tempting to alter my lifestyle if I consider it in this light. Assuming that’s what the experiment was intending. If not, disregard the above paragraphs.

Side Notes:

  

Today’s discussion felt very similar to the day we discussed truth in the large circle.

Goodbye, Nietzsche. I would say that I will miss discussing your words in class, but I would be lying.