We all agree that this isn't reality - but what is?
People are, much of the time, engaged in distinguishing "real life" from something else - whether that be virtual (online) life, the memo-interactions of bureaucracy; or contrasted with media such as novels, movies or TV.
But the "reality" that is supposed to be contrasted with these un-realities, is unclear.
For some people reality means politics; whether international, national or local.
Yet politics is very much second-hand; with its facts, concepts and meanings all learned from secondary sources.
"Political reality" is thus a highly theoretical thing. What's more politics is a miserable, dishonest, manipulative and destructive business.
So if politics is real life... Well, for most people: "You can keep it!" It has near zero appeal.
For other people, reality is the social life involving the people around them; with all the expectations and duties, the complications of sex and love for themselves and friends, the activities of their workplace, the functional business of living... These are what they mean by "real life".
Yet this is - in a different way - a mundane business. It has pleasures and pains in various mixtures, but of-itself, our social life has neither purpose nor meaning. Social living is just something that happens, won't go away, cannot be avoided.
Social life is also experienced (by most people, most of the time) as earthbound and ephemeral, without depth or resonance - "Just one damned thing after another" - and always ending badly.
Other examples could be given of the basic, bottom-line unsatisfactoriness of what modern people regard as Real Life.
My point here is that - as most people actually envisage it - reality is much less appealing, much less enjoyable, than the various forms of unreality on-offer.
However, it is unsatisfactory to know that one is avoiding reality, and pretending that unreality is real.
Indeed, this just does not work as a life strategy. We cannot voluntarily become pleasantly-deluded and live by those lies we calculatingly tell-ourselves.
We cannot just believe what we want, just because it makes us feel better. It doesn't work. So those who try to make the choice of unreality, are caught up by the failure of trying to convince themselves of untruth.
To live "as if" simply isn't strong enough to make a basis for existence.
Consequently, when Real Life is hopelessly miserable and unappealing; and when both options of reality and virtuality/ unreality are equally hope-less - then despair seems unavoidable.
The question of what is real, what is real life - what is really-real... Such matters are vitally important here-and-now - because this is something we really Need To Know.
It seems paradoxical; but the most "realistic" thing that the archetypical modern Man can do, is to focus his best attention onto "metaphysics".
That is, we need to make the basic nature of reality into the main subject of our primary effort.
Like it or not; for us modern Westerners; right living depends on our right thinking. We don't do it; but we need to do it.
1 comment:
Do you mean focusing onto metaphysics more as a way to avoid the "fakeness" of this modern World or as a way to direct our best attention to the Romantic itself?
There's a poem by Fernando Pessoa (The Tobacco Shop) in which he states metaphysics as a consequence of not feeling well, then describes a romantic shared experience. That is paradoxical to me since it's clear how in the end he basically states indirectly that metaphysics can (also) be found through Beauty, in the middle of a delightful moment, when despair isn't present. It seems that the definition / meaning of reality has been broken for a long time. I wonder what you think about that.
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