the un-examined life isn't worth living.
this is something my mom has said to me my whole life. for years i thought it was just academic elitism couched in fancy language. i railed against it, in defence of — well, i don't really know who i was defending. perhaps no real people at all.
but now i realize it's not academic elitism. it's simply speaking to a truth that most people won't acknowledge: you need to examine yourself honestly, without flinching, to have a good life.
a good life.
a life where you do good.
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self-examination is not taught in schools. it's not taught at home. it's not taught, period, in our society.
in order to learn it, we have to struggle.
i believe it's learnable. i believe almost everything is learnable.
and i think without self-examination, our species is doomed to failure.
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i hope that's not the case. because i don't see much hope for people learning self-examination before we devour ourselves, like an ourobouros drunk on power.
but i do wonder if we can truly make changes to our worst behaviors if we can't even examine where those behaviors come from. or, indeed, even tell that they're shitty behaviors.