If you are paying attention to my tags at the bottom of my posts, you will find many of them are tagged with "The Examined Life". Those of you who have some classical training probably get it immediately. For those of you who wonder what it means, at least to me, read on.
Socrates is credited with the principle of "The Examined Life" and the idea that the unexamined life is not worth living. Socrates is famous for asking questions. He asked fantastic questions in context, but it is not the questions he asked that made him great. It is the fact that he asked questions as his method of learning that made him great.
Socrates asked questions in situations where he probably knew, and knew that he knew, the answers. The act of questioning was often Socrates' method of arguing. There was nothing he could have said to convince his opponent of their errors, but by questioning them he could help them see their own errors.
How many people have you crossed paths with who were living a shallow, trite existence and slowly killing themselves while avoiding the opportunities that would provide them with happiness and fulfillment? These are people who are not examining their life, who are either not looking into their motivations and considering the consequences of their actions, or who have not asked and answered the right questions yet. Conversely, perhaps they are examining their life but not accepting the answers.
I have always lived the examined life. I have always looked inward and questioned if what I was doing and where I was going lined up with my value system and intentions. I have always questioned and updated my value system. Examining my values, motives, actions, thoughts, goals, past, present, and future has not prevented all possible mistakes, though.
I have made many mistakes because I was not experienced and knowledgeable enough to ask the right questions. I also made mistakes because I refused to examine areas of my life, or refused to accept the answers I found there. I knew for a long time that my drinking did not align with my values and goals, and that it was in fact deterring me from my goals, threatening my freedom and family, and making me fat and lethargic. It wasn't until I accepted those facts that the examination of my life paid off.
By examining my mistakes, I have accelerated my knowledge. I now know more about myself, my strengths and weaknesses, my "real" values, and my habits and tendencies. I can better predict outcomes, and I can leverage myself to set better goals and ensure success. I would argue that I have learned more by examining my mistakes than I have from any person, book, system, institution, or other source.
The examined life is one of freedom. I know, for a fact, that I have chosen my path, every step of the way. I will not look back on 80 years full of regret, pondering all the missed opportunities. I take satisfaction from knowing fairly well what I am doing, why I am doing it, and what the result will be. I have expectations of results, I have goals, I have desires and preferences; I am better assured of achieving the life I desire and creating my preferred environment by examining my life.
The examined life has spiritual ramifications. I believe that all spiritual belief systems have at least one idea in common. Whether the system is Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Taoism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Confucianism, Humanism, or Ethical Atheism/Agnosticism, these systems all aim to limit our negative impact and increase our positive impact on our fellow humans.
In addition, this is the aim of most political movements, to include American liberalism and American conservatism (contrary to each movement's claims about its opponent). By regularly examining our life as a habit and a spiritual/political/ethical/philosophical exercise, we avoid regretting our actions to others, and we get warm, fuzzy, satisfying, fulfilling, self-actualizing feelings by discovering opportunities to benefit others. The added benefit is that, due to the symbiotic nature of society, when we benefit others we also benefit ourselves.
I do not know for a fact if the unexamined life is worth living or not. I have never lived it, and never intend to. I do know that ignorance is not bliss; you eventually find out areas where you were ignorant, and that is a horrible realization. I hate finding out later that I was butt of a joke, or that everyone was talking behind my back about my choice of shirt. I really pity that guy who is madly in love, while we all know his girlfriend is...friendly. In that light, I seek to discover as much as I can about how I live my life to avoid such disturbing revelations.
A person will wake up today and find out that their 60 years of smoking has led to cancer, or their drinking has lead to cirrhosis, or their unrestricted sweet tooth has lead to diabetes, or their neglect of their family has left them alone, or their neglect of their career skills has left them without options, or their neglect of their savings has lead to a bleak retirement, etc... Don't be that person. Wake up today, find your opportunities to improve your condition, and live The Examined Life.
1 comment:
I just finished reading a book about "cognitive dissonance" called Mistakes Were Made. The book goes on at great length about how it is that people hold "conflicting beliefs". My continued smoking is a prime example, when it is supposedly my job to teach my students 'critical thinking' skills. I think this is a process we spend our entire lives walking through.
Here's the key sentence in this entire entry: I would argue that I have learned more by examining my mistakes than I have from any person, book, system, institution, or other source.
I've been trying to "help" the daughter and it is frustrating to realize that though she listens, there are so many lessons we do have to learn by making our own mistakes.
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