I enjoyed this, but I think you're sneaking in a pretty big assumption. You seem to assume that once someone sees the truth about their life, they can simply choose differently.
I don't think that's how people work.
Most smokers know smoking is bad. Most procrastinators know they're procrastinating. Most people in unhappy jobs know they're unhappy. Awareness clearly isn't the scarce resource. The hard part isn't seeing. It's changing.
That's why I'm always a little skeptical of essays that end with "just stop postponing," or "just choose the life you really want." If it were that simple, we'd all be different people by next Tuesday.
Human beings are bundles of habits, fears, biology, family history, obligations, and contradictions. Sometimes we know exactly what we should do for years before we become capable of doing it.
So when you write that *"the choice has been yours all along,"* I find myself asking: has it?
For some people, yes. For many others, the choice is real, but their capacity to act on it isn't equally available. That's not making excuses; it's recognizing that agency comes in degrees, not as an on/off switch.
I still think Nietzsche's question is a great one. I just think answering it honestly is the easy part. Living the answer is where philosophy usually hands the microphone over to psychology.
I actually like this ending because it's a little provocative without being combative:
"Philosophy is very good at telling us what a free person ought to do. Psychology spends much more time asking whether the person is free enough to do it."
That, to me, is the question this essay quietly sidesteps. It treats human agency as if it's simply waiting to be exercised, when for many people, agency itself is part of the problem.
Well, quite often the life you keep postponing is meant to be postponed. Where is it written that dreams are wonderful and glorious? There is no biology that indicates "people who actually do stuff are any more happy than people who don't do stuff". Success is in the eye of the beholder and yet we let society tell us what success is. We hear a lot about regrets for not writing that book or taking that trip, or recording those songs...the "what could have been"? A lot of successful people are miserable. Rock stars, authors, and CEOs are not immune to depression. Chasing down that dream is no protective shield from regret. Go spend those thousands of hours chasing the dream. You think you're getting refund later if that dream doesn't taste as sweet in reality than it did in dream-form? You think your kids are going to say, "its ok, Dad, I'm happy you missed my game to go be a rock star".
Sure, you don't want to sit on a bar stool talking about how you're gonna write that great American novel and never leave the saloon. That's sound. But dreams are mostly foolish. Its why they're called dreams. There is a certain magnificence in ordinary life under the right circumstances. Did Nietzsche ever write about that? Psychopaths chase dreams. Not sure I want to embrace my inner Trump.
I wrote a murder mystery and let a few literary people read it. Yes, get that published, its great. I started that process and found out how much ass you have to kiss and that the literary world is just as corrupt as used car sales. It wasn't worth it. I'm still somehow living my best life with wife and kids. I'm just not in that dream of being on Letterman and rubbing shoulders with the other "special" people.
Personally, I'm a little suspicious of "dreamers", those that want to be a star. Not sure what the motivation behind that is. Not convinced Nietzsche wasn't a nut.
Dont confuse that with people that are ambitious and believe in hard work to get ahead. Yes, work hard, take calculated risks, but calculate. Have both feet on the ground, and never forget, extraordinary things happen to ordinary men.
I’m thinking: If I am destined to die simply for having been born, and filling my in-between life with idle distractions, then why would I want to live this life over and over again?
I enjoyed this, but I think you're sneaking in a pretty big assumption. You seem to assume that once someone sees the truth about their life, they can simply choose differently.
I don't think that's how people work.
Most smokers know smoking is bad. Most procrastinators know they're procrastinating. Most people in unhappy jobs know they're unhappy. Awareness clearly isn't the scarce resource. The hard part isn't seeing. It's changing.
That's why I'm always a little skeptical of essays that end with "just stop postponing," or "just choose the life you really want." If it were that simple, we'd all be different people by next Tuesday.
Human beings are bundles of habits, fears, biology, family history, obligations, and contradictions. Sometimes we know exactly what we should do for years before we become capable of doing it.
So when you write that *"the choice has been yours all along,"* I find myself asking: has it?
For some people, yes. For many others, the choice is real, but their capacity to act on it isn't equally available. That's not making excuses; it's recognizing that agency comes in degrees, not as an on/off switch.
I still think Nietzsche's question is a great one. I just think answering it honestly is the easy part. Living the answer is where philosophy usually hands the microphone over to psychology.
I actually like this ending because it's a little provocative without being combative:
"Philosophy is very good at telling us what a free person ought to do. Psychology spends much more time asking whether the person is free enough to do it."
That, to me, is the question this essay quietly sidesteps. It treats human agency as if it's simply waiting to be exercised, when for many people, agency itself is part of the problem.
The question is only complete, when one is dying.
Well, quite often the life you keep postponing is meant to be postponed. Where is it written that dreams are wonderful and glorious? There is no biology that indicates "people who actually do stuff are any more happy than people who don't do stuff". Success is in the eye of the beholder and yet we let society tell us what success is. We hear a lot about regrets for not writing that book or taking that trip, or recording those songs...the "what could have been"? A lot of successful people are miserable. Rock stars, authors, and CEOs are not immune to depression. Chasing down that dream is no protective shield from regret. Go spend those thousands of hours chasing the dream. You think you're getting refund later if that dream doesn't taste as sweet in reality than it did in dream-form? You think your kids are going to say, "its ok, Dad, I'm happy you missed my game to go be a rock star".
Sure, you don't want to sit on a bar stool talking about how you're gonna write that great American novel and never leave the saloon. That's sound. But dreams are mostly foolish. Its why they're called dreams. There is a certain magnificence in ordinary life under the right circumstances. Did Nietzsche ever write about that? Psychopaths chase dreams. Not sure I want to embrace my inner Trump.
I wrote a murder mystery and let a few literary people read it. Yes, get that published, its great. I started that process and found out how much ass you have to kiss and that the literary world is just as corrupt as used car sales. It wasn't worth it. I'm still somehow living my best life with wife and kids. I'm just not in that dream of being on Letterman and rubbing shoulders with the other "special" people.
Personally, I'm a little suspicious of "dreamers", those that want to be a star. Not sure what the motivation behind that is. Not convinced Nietzsche wasn't a nut.
Dont confuse that with people that are ambitious and believe in hard work to get ahead. Yes, work hard, take calculated risks, but calculate. Have both feet on the ground, and never forget, extraordinary things happen to ordinary men.
The saddest kind of delay isn’t procrastination. It’s postponing the person you’re meant to become because you’re waiting to feel ready. Thank you!
I’m thinking: If I am destined to die simply for having been born, and filling my in-between life with idle distractions, then why would I want to live this life over and over again?