Inside the Human Paradox

About twenty-four hundred years ago in Greece; above the

entrance to the oracle of Apollo at Delphi where the following
words: Know Thy Self. Inside, from the temple priestess, an
astute Athenian learned something important about himself -his
own ignorance. Socrates confesses that the only thing he knows is
that he knows nothing. He figured the only way to free himself
from this sort of intellectual impediment is through
introspection; of other people who proclaim to have knowledge but
most importantly of himself.
An unexamined life is not worth living.
-Socrates.
It is difficult to evaluate ourselves -to do so requires a
lot of time for thought, a luxury that seems to be always in
short supply -which may explain why there is such a proliferation
of misguidedness. To save time the most of us tend to rely on
others for feedback. This tactic may seem like a good idea at the
outset -the realization we need some form of criticism is a
desire for self-improvement- but it only provides some progress
in the struggle towards knowing thy self. The reason being, the
most of us arent very skilled at our own introspection; thus if
we cannot guide our own selves then it would be unwise to try to
guide others, to do otherwise only perpetuates the problem.

The quality of human existence seem to revolve around

desires and emotions -which seemed to have barely changed since
the death of Socrates in 399 B.C. We wish to be happy and free
but, have burden our minds and lives with too much worry and
tasks. We want peace yet we are still quarrelsome and sometimes
at war. We want to be contented but why does it seem a few of us
know how? It seems like over the last twenty-four hundred years
these social problems ought to have been solved.
Its easy to forget what really matters inside ourselves
because we spend too much time worrying about how others are
thinking of us. Its as if we turned our identity and happiness
into a sort of competition expressed in the vanity of purchased
materials. The want of wealth, status and glory have always been
known by the early philosophical thinkers as a vice that leads to
the undoing of ourselves and others. It is not wrong to want
contentment and happiness; sometimes the means to achieve that
destination is misguided. Do we know who we really are in our
hopes and expectations? Know Thy Self, let us not make the same
mistake as Oedipus; woe to the person who finds out their own
discovery too little and too late.

was only yesterday; our social problems may have changed in

appearance over the centuries but we are still plagued by them.

; most individuals measure success and happiness with

material goods, wealth and glory no thanks to media
advertisements upon impressionable minds. The result; an
insatiability that further perplexes the meaning of what ought to
be quantified happiness. Like children we look to the external,
the more the merrier. Our efforts go into possessing things which
can be taken away by misfortune and other people. The result,
after all no one wants to be thought of as unhappy.

Instead of spending time developing our internal

contentment and happiness
The answer to this conundrum can be found within the past;
in the philosophical works of the great thinkers from Europe to
Asia. Somehow they knew that insatiability and emotions will
always become the undoing of ourselves and humanity.

To paraphrase Martin Luther King Jr. it is easier to guide a

missile than to guide a man. The

the ignorance contained within our desires causes us to stumble

and grope our way inside the darkness of our minds.

This paradox is the result of our desires; because there are

so many choices it is easy to mix up wants and need
Thus we become insatiable and restless because we can no longer
make a proper distinction between the two. Like discontented
children whose expectation exceeds hope and mistake pleasure and
happiness as something that can be bought. However that is not

the case; a person of humble means can be just as contented as

someone who is wealthy. Then there are those who are exceedingly
rich but are miserable as if they were stricken by poverty.
In this consumerist society its easy to forget that basic
human needs can be easily fulfilled, -whereas anything that is
ostentatious always requires too much toil. This sort of life
direction may seem lazy to most individuals at the outset.
Consider instead what is more conducive to living well? A mind
that is free and contented or a mind that is burdened by
unnecessary worries and desires? Having too many irons in the
fire may diminish a flames vitality.