Conversation : Part One

A: Why must you always do that? Seriously there is something wrong here when the entire world is against you. Well, most of it anyway.

B: The rest are the ones that are with me, if there is at least one person that agrees with me how can you say that I am completely wrong? Just because half the world believes one thing does not mean it is the correct thing.

A: Yes, but you see that same argument can be used against what you just said. So let's think about it another way. Forget the influence of the majority. Let us speak individuality. Don't you think you are losing your individuality by doing that?

B: No, in fact I am expanding my individuality through this medium that you discard so easily.

A: Discard? I am on your side, but something is telling me that we are both wrong. I feel great only temporarily. All pleasures are temporary, should we simply give in to that which makes us temporarily happy without taking the time or opportunities to explore that which we do not know?

B: Yes, because that which we do not know might not make us happy, this does, we know that. Why go after something when you know not the conclusion, instead of doing something which concludes with you being happy, even if it is temporary?

A: You say yes, but had we had this conversation before you discovered that which makes you happy now, you would not have tried it if I had told you it would make you happier than that which you were doing at the time. Does that not imply that you should try new things, whatever they may be, and not get stuck doing the same thing over and over again. That truly is unhappiness. Repetition because it spawns boredom. Specifics differ but the point remains the same.

B: But if I am completely content to do that which I am doing why should I go searching for something I do not know? I am not bored or unhappy as long as I am doing it.

A: Because it might make you happier, you might learn something, not just about the world but about yourself.

B: But I am learning these things doing what I do, why should I change my lifestyle just because somebody like you comes along and tells me there may be better things out there?

A: You need not believe me, only look to your past and what happened to you. As we grow we tend to discover new things, which interest us in a more significant way than the things of the past have ever done. And we get into these things, sometimes religiously and obsessively, as is the topic of this conversation. But the fact that we have found temporary happiness does not mean there is nothing else out there for us.

B: I know there are many things out there. Some I will try, some I will not try because of missed opportunity or whatever other implications arise. But I don't understand what your problem is with what we are doing right now. It is making us happy. Or rather, it is making me happy and needless to say hundreds of millions of other people happy too. It is simply something which I have chosen to put my whole being into.

A: When I look back into doing this thing. I feel as if time has been wasted watching and interacting with other creations without creating something myself. There is only internal character development and it is virtual. Not real. I am scared of the future of the world. Where one will never interact physically with another. This is a very real example of that.

B: I don't think I have wasted my time. We are all going to die anyway, might as well do something we enjoy. I am having fun doing something I enjoy. Do you enjoy trying to impose yourself on that fun?

A: I think there is a need for balance. Of all things. We live in a world where more than anything else, we are bombarded with the fact of our individual insignificance in the greater puzzle. But this greater puzzle could not exist without each and every one of us as pieces. If one goes, it is not such a big deal, the idea of the picture is still discernible, but if a significant amount of the pieces drop out of the puzzle...

B: They form a brand new puzzle, with new pieces, a new world. A world of true freedom of activity and interactivity. Where people will not judge each other by what education they have because all education is equal, where people will not judge each other by looks because they understand that it is a rather superficial concept, and where people will not try to convince other people of their ideas, rather conversations and debate ensuing in a common agreement over the right thing to do.

A: But people are dying for you to be the creators of this, dare I say, brave new world, the first cells of the new Utopian organism? And how long will it take? With people like us thinking that we can simply allow ourselves to be drowned in creation and interactivity to blind us from facts and to stop us from acting to the betterment of ourselves as a species.

B: It is truly a utopia. And I will probably not live to see the end. Or more to the point, the beginning of this society which I think humans, intellectual ones anyway, have always dreamt about and will always head towards.

A: Yes but until this is established, you realize we are simply letting ourselves be blinded like horses. Always staying on this one path, never straying too far, otherwise our temporary happiness is threatened by our foolish attempts at other endeavours. And truly there must be a limit to how much you can improve yourself with this particular medium.

B: I do not see a limit. As long as there exists in the world things I can drown myself with, to evoke my own joy and happiness, how can it be limitless?

A: That is exactly the point. Imagine this. Everyone turning over to enjoying and living and interacting with the creations of others. There will be nobody left to create things that you can enjoy. Then it will truly be over, nothing to enjoy but one's own thoughts and feelings.

B: I do not see that happening. And if it does, it will take a lot longer than my lifetime. And I say it is also impossible, because as long as there are people like me, there will be people like you, and others to create things for enjoyment and interactivity.

A: Is that no too idle? I mean do we just wait until things get better? Shouldn't we try, as long as we can, to make things better for people who come after us? As the people have done before us.

B: People before us seldom thought of the people of the future. They may have preached the future, and a greater good, but all they have truly thought of is themselves and their own power, wealth and joy. I am not going to turn into such a person. I will simply not think of it at all.

A: If you ignore a problem, it isn't going to simply go away. We must confront them head on, so that we may learn something of ourselves and see solutions for them. And then maybe, we can improve the world, shape it into something different than what we have now.

B: But I am only one man, what I do will have no true significance, and I will not have a big impact on the world. I barely have a big impact on those closest to me.

A: This is one school of thought. But think of it this way. The great majority of us think the same. I myself think so too. But I fight against it. I fight against this because again if everyone in the world thought like this, idleness would be the scourge of humanity and there would absolutely be no evolution. Sociological, technological. Why, if I cannot possibly have a big impact as one man, why should I give any problems concerning all men any thought whatsoever? I say you should, because it is your duty as a human being living amongst other human beings. Einstein was one man. And look at how he changed the world single-handedly.

B: I am not Einstein. And circumstances are much different. There is no comparison.

A: Is this Flatland? Am I the sphere?