The Setting
I’m an existent with a measure of free will. But I’m unsure where I came from. It seems that I was thrown in this universe—a wilderness—without my volition. Meaning is not a given here. I could kill myself to escape this thrownness, this meaninglessness. But I realized I’m capable of making meaning, so I could choose to continue living.
The wilderness is deep and wide and my walk here is long. Here are other human beings as well as nonhumans.1
The Quest
My quest is to understand the universe and how to be in it.2
My worldview and my quest define my poetics.
Related
- we did not choose to exist
- life is inherently meaningless
- meaningful living is possible despite meaninglessness
- the quest of Thoreau
- my quest unifies my interests
References
Seybold, E. (1951). Thoreau: The Quest and the Classics. Yale University Press.
This note heavily relied on another note: 2022-07-12 seeds.
Footnotes
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The quest arises from the setting. The setting is how the universe appears now; not as one would like it to appear. ↩
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There are three things to be said about this quest and its articulation. First, the quest has to be articulated as minimally as this. It shouldn’t yet contain information on how the quest will be pursued. Second, the goal of the quest is elusive. It will never be achieved, making the quest never-ending. Third, pursuing the quest involves two actions: understanding reality and responding to it. ↩