User blog comment:Jeremiah Garland/The Inapposite and Superfluous Philosophical Enigmas of Jeremiah Garland/@comment-4093783-20130607002744


 * 1) We do not have a "purpose". We're like all the other animals on this planet, just with more mental and physical capabilities. However, if we were to have a purpose, it'd be to survive and live a fun life.
 * 2) We are naturally born "evil," although many have certain naturally good qualities (the guilty conscience, etc). However, what organism isn't born evil? The other animals of the wild hunt each other down in cold blood and kill each other for survival. "Evil" is a necessary element in the world, although humanity's advancements and technologies and such allow some to drive it too far, harming others (whether they be human or not, or whether said actions be intentionally harmful or not) far beyond the needed extent.
 * 3) A utopia can exist, but not on a large scale. A utopia can exist within the confines of, say, a town, village, or other small type of community. However, unless we were to have a 1984-esque world (which isn't very utopic at all), we wouldn't be able to keep a close eye on everybody breaking laws which is probably the biggest obstacle that's keeping a society like the ones seen in the 21st century from being utopias.
 * 4) There are two reasons these concepts were created and maintained; power and unification. In feudal Europe, probably the only two things keeping Europe from returning back to a more nomadic lifestyle were the manors that people lived on and worked on and the Roman Catholic Church. Although the practices and morals of both of these entities are controversial and questionable as far as fairness goes, they unified the people and gave their leaders the power that humans so heavily crave. Additionally, after humans first figured out how to make crops (and therefore make permanent settlements), they probably all knew they needed some form of ruling and laws to ensure that people can't do crap like steal crops from each other or take each others' livestock (that were in the process of being domesticated at the time).
 * 5) Notorious doings are definitely more notable simply because humans enjoy violence and hatred and learning about terrible events more. They like to gather into mobs and say "these things are terrible and must be stopped!" It gives people some kind of superiority complex to know that they're rallying against evil things... and also, violent/evil things are more fun to read about. Most people would rather watch some planes crash into a building in NYC than hear about how some guys in the building were rescuing people trapped in broken elevators.
 * 6) It's corrupting us. It's giving us more things to want. In the days of the Neanderthal and Homo Erectus, all humans wanted was food, water, and somebody to reproduce with. Now, there are all these devices (like the Xbox, computer, television, etc) that people want. However, i'm not putting any hate on these products; they all kick ass. However, they corrupt us even further.
 * 7) Anything can be art. However, some art is better than others.
 * 8) Our senses can deceive us. Although empirical knowledge is definitely important, rational knowledge is probably more important. As Breasly mentioned below, some of the world's greatest and most influential people have been deprived of certain empirical tools.
 * 9) Although it's important to see things realistically and be able to evaluate them rationally, don't be afraid to be happy whenever you can. You're not making it out of life alive anyways, so wind down and brighten up. However, don't get stupid and start becoming ignorant of the world around you; balance the two out.
 * 10) Refer to #5