The Human Condition

Little did I know that if I wrote this blog long enough it would lead me to learn through studying.

Question for today:
What is the Human Condition?
A) Fear of Death
B) Inevitable Isolation
C) Desire for Purpose
D) Unquenchable Curiosity
E) All of the Above


...Obviously it's all of the above, and since I'm only human and I haven't even received my Bachelor's degree yet, nor do I think any of my professors flat out teach this philosophy (this makes me debate whether I picked the right institution! lol), I did not actually know what people meant when they said that. My professors would always make a casual remark about it without explaining what it is and assume that we all knew--I don't know anyone who knows what it officially is, and yet it is what the humanities study.

Since this blog is about truth, I want to summarize what I understand the human condition is. According to Plato, this is somewhat my duty, since I've left the cave and seen the real world.

A) Humans fear death. They go through the steps of denial and they simply DO NOT want things to come to an end. They have trouble coping with death because it means that there is nothing more. They fear that they will one day die and they don't know what awaits them in the afterlife, or if there even is an afterlife. They fear that others will die as well and they will cease to continue having a relationship with those people.
I don't talk much about death. I believe there is a God who will take me in once I die and that where he is is my natural home, where I am now is a proving grounds. If I had a glimpse of the afterlife I'm sure I wouldn't want to live here because there is so much better. I have however, spoken with MANY people who do not find comfort in death.
B) All humans will one day become isolated and alone. Everyone has experienced loneliness. No one likes to be isolated and separated. Many people will give up personal comforts in order to be part of the "in" crowd. People do silly things in order to have friends and relationships. Unfortunately, there is a universal constant that draws us away from people. We are ALWAYS being pulled away from people, so in order to have a relationship we have to CONSTANTLY pump energy and effort into staying together. That is the essence of the inevitable isolation: if we aren't growing closer to the people we love most, then we are growing apart and changing in our own ways.
I wrote my other blog, Dating Zion in order to explain some of these concepts in greater detail. It really concerns me how life is a catch-22: if I want to have friends, I have to spend time with them, meaning I have to spend less time with myself or other people. Having a good relationship with someone requires a lot of time and resources in order to combat that inevitable isolation. In my blog I talked about many other things that are in play related to this aspect of the human condition.
C) Humans don't want to aimlessly fulfill tasks. We are not comfortable with doing things for no reason. We need to be motivated by something specific in order to perform any task. We are not robots or dumb beasts, because we are human, EVERYTHING we do has to have a purpose. In the grand scheme of life and destiny and eternity, we desire to make a difference and to matter. We don't want to merely be a drop in a still pond, we want to make ripples. If life truly was nihilistic, then why live at all?
I talk about this on and off on this blog. Most of the time my thoughts on this aspect of the human condition are more like complaints about not making enough of a difference. Even my last post carried that theme throughout it as I described how pointless social advances have been.
D) Instilled inside of every human is the desire to learn more. I know that I have an incredibly strong desire to keep learning things. I'm trying to enjoy my Christmas break between semesters and yet I can't lay off of the introductory Japanese CDs or even learning about the human condition. My curiosity leads me to desire to understand what people are thinking at any given time, even though it is none of my business nor is it relevant to me. I am ALWAYS trying to learn things. Some humans may think they have been able to shut that part of themselves off, yet learning always remains even if it is merely learning about the present situation [What is the weather like outside? What does the future hold for me? What lead me to making that wrong decision?]

I wish I knew the specifics of this earlier on in my college career. It would have been much easier to think up arguments for all of those difficult papers I had to write--I could have merely talked about the human condition. Now, I have two strong topics: the Human Condition, and Rhetorical significance, and if I wanted to throw in a third, I could talk about an Explanation of Society--Those are my strong points (and probably in that order) and I'd imagine I could make a strong case on any one of those topics.

So...

Now that I have looked into the sun, what do I do with this new found enlightenment? How can I profit from this information and these skills?