The Unexamined Life is Not Worth Living

25 years old and I’m going back to my roots; ideas represented in text.  The title of this post comes from the trial of Socrates.  Socrates was a philosopher that spread his ideas about civics and life and discussed his conclusions with the people of Athens.  These conclusions ultimately went against many of the established social norms, lots of powerful people got angry, and Socrates got charged with heresy and corrupting the youth.  During his trial, he stated that the unexamined life is not worth living and chose death over exile.  This guy truly was the man.  Socrates makes Frederich Nietzsche look like the Dane Cook of Philosophy.

[Figure 1a: Dane Cook presenting his signature ‘sufi’ to Queen Elizabeth, circa 2007]


[Figure 1a: Friedrich Nietzsche presenting an awesome ‘stache, circa 1875.]
[Figure 1a&b: They were cool and awesome when you first heard about them in high school, but soon realized that they were over-rated and under-developed.]

A couple of months ago, my friend asked me what animal I am most like.  It took me a couple of days to come to an answer, but I live most like a jellyfish.  No central nervous system, moves around mostly by ocean drift, but somehow moves around and eats. This animal/personality exercise was a small introspective look into myself, but it’s something that yielded a useful bit of knowledge.  A lot of this jellyfish-like attitude probably stems from my lack of volition, which ultimately stems from a crippling fear of failure.  The revelation’s not pleasant, but I’ve got to know what’s wrong before I attempt to change it.

I find it harder and harder to be less introspective as I get older.  It’s much easier to just collect paychecks and buy things than to add the burden of evaluating the current state and nature of my life and life in general.  Material goods are tangible signs of accomplishment, and mere introspective analysis is often vague and ever-changing in every agent’s own mind; the struggle’s there and it increases with age.  I’m rambling a bit, but the main point is more introspection for John Choi, aged 25+.

[Figure 2a: “True ballas drink hemlock.  Peace.” Last words of Socrates, circa 399 BC.]