The ramifications of inertia

"The truth is that everyone is bored, and devotes himself to cultivating habits. Our citizens work hard, but solely with the object of getting rich. Their chief interest is commerce, and their chief aim in life is, as they call it, 'doing business.'" - The Plague, Albert Camus, 1948

The essence of humanity is to keep busy. Keep busy with work, with play, with love, with hate, with contemplation and contempt. Everything is permissible when one can keep their mind occupied with it and that it reaps some kind of "reward".  The allegory of a donkey endlessly dredging on on an unpaved path with a carrot on a stick to keep him going, is not dissimilar. Humanity needs to keep running on this invisible virtual treadmill, lapping up "points" as they go along and then one day the treadmill stops.

However, these times of plague has brought humanity to a standstill. There is a weird stillness in the world, and coupled with that a weird emptiness. Businesses are shut or are trying their hardest to remain operational, streets are deserted and the scene out of one's window looks like a scene straight out of "Children of Men"- barren, desolate and still. What would humanity have to do, in such a situation? What can the mind be occupied with, in such a situation?

Clearly, there have been multiple plagues in the past. One can never forget the horrors of the Spanish Flu, circa 1918, which infected up to 500 million people and has estimated to kill to an upwards of 100 million people. The recent COVID-19 plague has infected over 1 million globally and has killed at least 138,000- so it is imperative that we nip this plague in the bud lest it becomes another Spanish flu. For people to stay safe, social distancing needs to be maintained- which means people would have to stay shut in their houses - with no movement, no interaction. Staring at our face is a glaring contradiction- for humanity to survive, it must be still in all aspects.

Another popular saying is " The idle mind is the devil's paradise"- and that is truer than ever in today's environment. When the human mind is not occupied, it goes to deep and dark places- and can stay there for extended periods of time. One starts thinking of their life till present, envision a better version of that and project their insecurities about how life "could" have turned out. On the other hand they start thinking about the inadequacies of the present- and how they can circumvent them.  Then comes the urges, the urges to act on said inadequacies. 

One could also self-reflect during this period on genuine shortcomings and work to improve upon them- but the human mind is complicated. There are various wants and desires that one could perceive as "shortcomings" - but may not be as beneficial in the long run for one's own mental health and fortitude. The biggest harm comes to when one cannot differentiate an urge, a temporary want from actual personal shortcomings.

Now a simple solution comes to mind- "Why not act on those urges and be done with it?". A conundrum to this is that some of those urges may either be beyond our immediate control or due to the quarantine, may be either difficult to attain or downright unattainable. This leads to a feeling of lack of self-adequacy, finally spiraling down to either low self-worth or anger towards the world

Depression kicks in- and one becomes ever more reserved coupled with the acute loneliness of the quarantine. Enclosed within four walls all 24 hours, 7 days a week the mind yearns to wander somewhere, and it will eventually wander somewhere. With the low self-esteem and depression already in full swing, the mind wanders to the dark place. It stays there for extended periods of time, and that is extremely bad for your mental health and general willpower- and could result in major clinical depression.

Now there are two solutions that come to mind- either accept the melancholia for what it is, or try to deceive your mind into a positive outlook by watching positive content. Compilation videos of animals doing cute things, people getting saved out of perilous situations, even what people have done to support our amazing doctors, and some celebrities like John Krasinski with his new series "Some Good News" which details all the good news that happens around the world. 

A plague has always been a collective test for humanity- for humanity's inertia specifically. A test to see whether we can pick up the pieces, get back up and move forward after this period of inertia. There is a tendency for the mind to wander off, lost in its own complexities and that of the brave new world that has been thrust before us due to COVID-19. As Theodore Roosevelt used to say " We have nothing to fear but fear itself". Business resumes, life goes on

A sudden burst of positivity

So today, as I was browsing YouTube casually to give myself some respite from studying for the finals, I came upon a video by a channel called ‘charisma on command’ which talked about how to gain charisma and be likable around people, using the example of one of the largest and most respectable you-tuber of all time-PewDiePie.  Despite huge seemingly career-wrecking scandals and scathing articles written against him by huge media conglomerates, he still perseveres and remains to be one of the most respected and loved personalities on the site. After watching that video, I had an epiphany of sorts, hence the rest of this post. This goes out to all the people who think they can’t achieve anything, reached an impasse in life and feel like they’re inferior, and to act as a revelation for those who think they are superior to others in some way, shape or form.

I realized that to be the most positive that you can be and to radiate positivity, you must be happy or in the least content with who you are. Through learning and experience I have understood that humans are in their core unchanging and set in their behaviors. There are a few base personality traits that are integral to an individual, and one must identify and use their traits to their advantage. No matter how worthless or inexperienced with daily life one may feel, there is in every human being one or for the most part more than one attribute to their personality and ideas that they can refine and make better. Also, it is imperative that one recognizes the good as well as the bad in oneself so that the good can be made better and the bad can be worked upon for improvement. So, know thyself.

Secondly, self-deprecation is a weapon that can be used effectively to help improve one’s own personality as well as gain respect and recognition among others. The idea is to ‘use one’s own weapon on oneself to gain immunity against it’. Know your own weaknesses to leverage that also in your favor by being self-aware enough that before anybody else has a critical point to make of it, make it yourself. Make fun of yourself, but not to the point of self-deprecation or becoming the ‘class clown’, if you will. In this way, you will be aware of your own shortcomings and other people pointing a finger at you will not matter much in the scheme of things- as you would have known, talked, and joked about them yourself.

Thirdly, one must always be happy with who they are and what they do. A complete fulfillment in what one does exudes confidence, and confidence is a people magnet in any situation. Joy is infectious and when people see you happy and observe the tenacity and passion with how you live life, it would fascinate them. Happiness is contagious, and obviously people like to be happy, so they will gravitate towards someone who has a cheerful disposition. Moreover, displaying confidence makes people perceive you as someone with great integrity, and some may even look up to you as a role model.

One can construe from all this that developing these positive habits will take time and effort- but there is a huge payoff at the end. You will become a better person for yourself and for others, get better at focusing on your purpose in life and people will be more naturally favor being in your presence.

Existentialism in a strange land

“There is something infantile in the presumption that somebody else has a responsibility to give your life meaning and point… The truly adult view, by contrast, is that our life is as meaningful, as full and as wonderful as we choose to make it.” 
― Richard Dawkins

Life has no meaning a priori… It is up to you to give it a meaning, and value is nothing but the meaning that you choose.” 
― Jean-Paul Sartre

Often Ruminated by philosophers, religious thinkers and laymen alike, is one fundamental question at the core of human existence “What is the purpose of life?”. Some people would say it is to make your parents proud, others would say it is to find solace in the companionship of someone and some leaders would say it is to worship and praise a higher deity of some form. Existentialism is a philosophical concept which states that you are the master of your own universe. Life has no inherent meaning attached to it; it is clearly what you would define it to be. The existence of humanity is just a happenstance occurrence; and the individual’s thoughts, decisions and actions are what decides one’s course of life.

Living life as a foreign student, there are many situations wherein your independent thought and will to excel are examined- from cooking your own food, doing your own chores, searching for part-time jobs and internships etc. Taking full and complete responsibility for yourself is imperative and normally people who fail to do that are considered as pariahs. One must learn to take complete responsibility for his or her own well-being and success. This might seem like an ingrained trait- but as personalities differ, some self-thought is required for a person who has been primarily codependent to fully understand their existentialist nature and work with it-instead of against it. Que the age-old saying- “As you sow, so you shall reap”.

Although this train of thought concludes that life consists of only responsibilities, there is a silver lining to this cloud- that existentialism infers that humans have as much freedom as they can ergo that none of these ‘freedoms’ lead of the collapse of civilization. The USA has often been called the land of freedom- albeit sometimes ironically- and here the liberties of an individual are regarded as of the highest value. But freedom and responsibilities are both sides of the same coin- you cannot afford to have your cake and eat it too. This reflects to one of the core components of existentialism- individuals have the freedom to make their own decisions outside of any external influences and it is these decisions that dictate how their life turns out.

Also, existentialism also deals with the concept of there being a negative or in the least unforeseen consequences for every decision made; something which resonates with the human condition generally; and living an individualistic life specifically. Life is complex, and for the most part we cannot understand and predict the outcome of events that we trigger. Living far from home, with no ‘emergency disaster management team’ of family and friends in place, there are many decisions taken which lead down to unexpected and sometimes even detrimental circumstances. The best that can be done is to understand, accept and be wiser in making decisions the next time around; also, one must exercise being his/her own “emergency disaster management team”- through self-thought and reflection, thereby becoming more of an emotionally stable person.

One of the most fundamental tenets of existentialism is social and moral authenticity. This ark back to the individualism that is a common aspect of the culture here. One must be as truthful to oneself and one’s own thoughts and ideas as much as possible. Religion, laws and the society at large are only tools for an individual to construct his own headspace, but one must not completely submit to such objective rules; the decision must be made by the individual and individual alone. There exists a constant societal pressure to conform to a certain kind of ideology of lifestyle- either prescribed by a moral code in some holy book or a cultural rulebook unconsciously agreed upon. This arises because man is a social being and needs to have as big a “clan” as possible- leading to a need of turning as many people as possible to their ideology- but the individual must recognize and strive to form his own unique worldview and outlook.

Ultimately, the essence of existentialism is such- Life is by design meaningless and absurd; choices that we make for the most part might have unfavorable consequences, and the individual is responsible for his or her own thoughts, actions and the results of those. An independent way of living might alleviate those problems, but ultimately the only way we can save ourselves is pursue one’s passion and create their own purpose in life. This is a task that takes much more considerable effort than being “spoon-fed” your thoughts and purpose from another equally-flawed individual; but in the perspective of life it make’s own resolve even stronger and one’s view on life more accepting. This could also be the key to unlocking the peak of human achievement- as away from external stimuli; one can effectively operate in a “closed space” encompassing their own thoughts, feeling, actions and goal.

The American Dream and the epidemic of loneliness

During an interview, when famous Russian filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky was asked about what advice he would give to the younger generation, it was “they should learn to be alone and try to spend as much time as possible by themselves. I think one of the faults of young people today is that they try to come together around events that are noisy, almost aggressive at times. This desire to be together in order to not feel alone is an unfortunate symptom”. It was to embrace solitude, and to enjoy every moment one spends by himself. This is unequivocally true in the States, as by definition the American dream states that the individual should, if they strive for success, be able to have the opportunity to achieve whatever they put their mind into regardless of social status or circumstances of birth. There’s a flip-side to this though, as the warm comfort of solitude can easily turn into the smothering demon of loneliness, especially for us foreign students coming from a highly inclusive culture such as India.

Back home, after coming from college or office, we are always greeted with either a cup of chai/coffee, a hot meal or at the very least a warm smile and a concerned query about how our day went. We see familiar faces everywhere, and even if they aren’t overtly friendly, we know them to be our people. Society is our ultimate friend or foe, either making us feel like we belong or trying to dictate our “free” selves on how to act. It might be a heterogeneous society, but the emotion of it is homogeneous. We have our parents/ siblings to fall back on, and an almost endless number of friends with whom we can share life’s little joys and sadness. Notwithstanding the fact that there are certain trying times when one might feel lonely or depressed, there is normally an option to vent out the emotional baggage that one carries daily. We feel integrated into this grand amalgamation of thoughts, ideas and cultures.

Moving to the US, it is quite different, as the ideals and thought process of the individual is greater than society. One must learn to be fiercely independent and teach oneself to do everything- from cooking, to repairing appliances, and even thinking and feeling. There is an aura of friendliness that exists here, which might even seem welcoming, but over time you realize that it is mostly formal and superficial. This is not a fault, but a culture trait since here the power, right and capability of an individual is much greater than that of society. I have come to believe that the concept of a collective mindset such as “society” does not exist here, but a “community” in place of that. The subtle difference between those is that a community is made up of individuals, and is guided by the ideals and stigmas of each of them, which congregate together to form a cohesive ideal, whereas society at least in the Indian context follows more of a “herd mentality” approach- everybody homogeneously thinks and feels, and lays down a vague set of “rules” that one must more or less follow.

This idea of individualistic freedom might feel liberating- and rightfully is- but with it comes an effort to think and act for yourself and present yourself wholly in such a way that you are gregarious enough to contribute to a community. It might result in a polarizing cultural shift, and a need to work towards from scratch something that you might have taken for granted back home. This might not seem like a problem for extremely extroverted people- but from personal experience and interaction with quite a few highly social people I have postulated that there is the dilemma of having “too many acquaintances and not having any true friends” , not the fault of anyone but just because every one of us is dealing with these struggles on an individual level, and culture deems us to do so. We might occasionally become a shoulder to cry on, or a hand to grab onto during troubled times, but that does not undermine the fact that we are also fellow foreign students who are also going through this evidently for the first time in our lives, and we ourselves might be ill-equipped to provide such support. This leads to an Ouroboros-type paradox wherein one must deal with their own loneliness and helping others with theirs.

Of course, after all this dreary talk one must never forget that this situation can also be viewed with rose-tinted glasses. Interacting and being there for people who are going through similar situations and thoughts such as us is always the best solution for alleviating our loneliness to a degree. We could piggyback off the benefits of the community, finding our own and helping each other realize the individuals with themselves, immerse ourselves in each other’s emotional baggage and seek to understand together about the meaning of this strange land. But most importantly, we must learn to relish solitude, and enjoy our own selves. Get a hobby, go on solo trips, make a personal project- just doing something which helps us find, appreciate and have fun with who we are. There is definitely a necessity for people as homo sapiens are social beings, and especially thousands of miles away from home, but the only way to alleviate loneliness on an individual level is to learn to enjoy solitude.