|
|
Post by connorswauger on Jun 11, 2024 22:38:38 GMT
One thing that stuck out to me at the end of the Sisyphus video was the relation of Sisyphus’s punishment to the cycle of human life. In the video they mentioned how tasks from day to day can seem mundane but in another way too, we as living creatures live and pass on from generation to generation. Each new wave of life has their issues to try to solve in pursuit of making life easier for the next but at each end and new beginning, there are still questions to be answered and problems to be solved. The boulder could represent the never ending effort of the human race trying to mold and shape existence.
|
|
|
|
Post by Dr. Nemmers on Jun 12, 2024 15:05:08 GMT
Right, that's a good point too, Connor. If you zoom out, the entire human race (and all living beings, and the earth as an eco-system) is making progress only for that progress to bend around and become part of a cycle. It's hard to say that anything outside of humans has made lasting "achievement" or "progress" or "meaning" in the world--- the purpose of life for these non-human beings is simply to survive and procreate and bring about the next generation.
The question becomes, then, whether this is true for humans as well. As you note, humans do attempt to transcend the cycle of life by creating lasting achievements, by leading meaningful lives, and by determining their own destinies. There are always questions to be answered and problems to be solved. But yes, the dilemma is still: can we mold and shape existence? Or is it pre-given, end-stopped, circular?
|
|
|
|
Post by Rylee Wenzel on Jun 12, 2024 17:38:15 GMT
I think you raise some really interesting things to think about here. This is what separates us as humans from everything else on the planet. We want things to have meaning. We almost can't bear the idea that everything is meaningless to the point that we make up all sorts of things to cope with it. But I don't find this as something negative. I think it is special that we are able to give things meaning simply because we say so. And yes, there will always be new problems and new questions, but doesn't that make life interesting?
|
|
|
|
Post by meagangcurrie on Jun 12, 2024 17:44:31 GMT
Well is that an accurate analogy of life? I mean you can live in a mundane and dull way, similar to the never ending task Sisyphus was placed with, but life isn’t always a futile struggle. I believe everyone has the potential to create meaning in their life. I suppose it depends on how a person views life. What perspective someone had on it.
|
|
