4 ms·

Read/watch "Into the Wild", but here is the spoiler: in the end, he realizes that he was being selfish and should have been working to make others happy. To so

by devmonk 16y ago

Read/watch "Into the Wild", but here is the spoiler: in the end, he realizes that he was being selfish and should have been working to make others happy. To some extent this article captures that mentality. I think it is great to do what you love and what you are energized by. Eventually, you may not be so energized by those things and need a pivot, and when you do, follow that as much is as possible, if it is your life calling. Not everyone will have the various riches in life, but if you do what you can to do what you love, you'll be more fulfilled. However, doing what you love must involve doing things for others (a service-filled life). There is a balance here. If you hate your work, you cannot serve others adequately. However, if you are not serving others, you have not found your calling. imo humility, prayer, research, and action are the ways to find the right life.

exit 16y ago
what does prayer have to do with anything?
- fgjhhgh 16y ago
  Awww, c'mon. He tried so hard not to preach during all of that - you can't just jump on the one little slip-up, the one word where he just couldn't stop himself from slipping in an advert for the big guy. It's programmed in, he did well only doing it once.
  - devmonk 16y ago
    Please note that imo my faith is a choice, it isn't "programmed in".
- devmonk 16y ago
  Notice the "imo". Atheists can substitute the following for prayer: "thoughtful consideration of what you feel is right". imo, these two aren't equivalent, but it's the best suggestion I know to provide.
  - exit 16y ago
    ok. can you make an argument for "doing things for others"? i think your comment makes an appeal to a principal most people would claim they share, but i wonder what an argument for doing so could be.
    - devmonk 16y ago
      Appreciate the question, but any answer you may find highly debatable. I am not an expert in such things, nor much of anything for that matter. However, my attempt at a response would be: "We should try to help others, if we have faith that this is our purpose." I have faith that helping others is my purpose. I am also a hypocrite, because what I say and do don't always match. Take my opinions with a grain of salt if you must, but my faith is important to me.
      - exit 16y ago
        ok > Take my opinions with a grain of salt if you must, but my faith is important to me. fair enough, but some of what you said was very normative - for example: > However, if you are not serving others, you have not found your calling. in a neighboring post you also say > Please note that imo my faith is a choice, it isn't "programmed in". so if you suddenly decided not to hold that belief anymore, it would suddenly be valid not to help others?
roel_v 16y ago
I did watch 'into the wild', and I didn't see him realizing at all that he was selfish or should've done something different. We're talking about that movie where the guy treks into Alaska and ends up in the abandoned bus, right? I wasn't quite sure what to take away from the film (apart from 'trekking without knowing what you're doing is really stupid') but I'm quite convinced that the makers didn't mean the film to be 'he thought he should've worked to make others happy'.
- devmonk 16y ago
  Watch it again. Page 132 of this version of the final script of the movie ( http://www.vantageguilds.com/itw/FinalScript_ITW.pdf http://www.vantageguilds.com/itw/FinalScript_ITW.pdf ): "Sunrise and nature awakens. Bird songs and flower blooms. A waterfall cascades. CUT TO: 245 INT. BUS - DAY 245 Chris reading Tolstoy’s Family Happiness. His POV: The page: what Chris reads: I have lived through much and now I think I have found what is needed for happiness. 132. A quiet, secluded life in the country with the possibility of being useful to people... CUT TO: 246 EXT. BUS - DAY 246 Chris sits amongst the pink bunches of fireweed choking the vehicles wheel wells, growing higher than the axles, his back leaning against the bus, finishing the reading of Family Happiness. ANGLE: Chris, reading with great interest. His POV: The page: what Chris reads: And then, on top of all that, you for a mate, and children, perhaps - what more can the heart of a man desire? ANGLE: Chris: He looks up from his book. A gentle breeze tickles morning flowers. The sunlight dances in a coppice of aspen and leaves of trees above. The sound of buzzing flies mutes. He is taking one last look at his paradise. CUT" One last look at paradise. That means that he changed his mind about staying in the woods by himself after reading the following two parts of Tolstoy’s Family Happiness: "I have lived through much and now I think I have found what is needed for happiness. A quiet, secluded life in the country with the possibility of being useful to people..." and "And then, on top of all that, you for a mate, and children, perhaps - what more can the heart of a man desire?"

by devmonk 16y ago

exit 16y ago

what does prayer have to do with anything?

fgjhhgh 16y ago
Awww, c'mon. He tried so hard not to preach during all of that - you can't just jump on the one little slip-up, the one word where he just couldn't stop himself from slipping in an advert for the big guy. It's programmed in, he did well only doing it once.
- devmonk 16y ago
  Please note that imo my faith is a choice, it isn't "programmed in".
devmonk 16y ago
Notice the "imo". Atheists can substitute the following for prayer: "thoughtful consideration of what you feel is right". imo, these two aren't equivalent, but it's the best suggestion I know to provide.
- exit 16y ago
  ok. can you make an argument for "doing things for others"? i think your comment makes an appeal to a principal most people would claim they share, but i wonder what an argument for doing so could be.
  - devmonk 16y ago
    Appreciate the question, but any answer you may find highly debatable. I am not an expert in such things, nor much of anything for that matter. However, my attempt at a response would be: "We should try to help others, if we have faith that this is our purpose." I have faith that helping others is my purpose. I am also a hypocrite, because what I say and do don't always match. Take my opinions with a grain of salt if you must, but my faith is important to me.
    - exit 16y ago
      ok > Take my opinions with a grain of salt if you must, but my faith is important to me. fair enough, but some of what you said was very normative - for example: > However, if you are not serving others, you have not found your calling. in a neighboring post you also say > Please note that imo my faith is a choice, it isn't "programmed in". so if you suddenly decided not to hold that belief anymore, it would suddenly be valid not to help others?

roel_v 16y ago

I did watch 'into the wild', and I didn't see him realizing at all that he was selfish or should've done something different. We're talking about that movie where the guy treks into Alaska and ends up in the abandoned bus, right? I wasn't quite sure what to take away from the film (apart from 'trekking without knowing what you're doing is really stupid') but I'm quite convinced that the makers didn't mean the film to be 'he thought he should've worked to make others happy'.

devmonk 16y ago
Watch it again. Page 132 of this version of the final script of the movie ( http://www.vantageguilds.com/itw/FinalScript_ITW.pdf http://www.vantageguilds.com/itw/FinalScript_ITW.pdf ): "Sunrise and nature awakens. Bird songs and flower blooms. A waterfall cascades. CUT TO: 245 INT. BUS - DAY 245 Chris reading Tolstoy’s Family Happiness. His POV: The page: what Chris reads: I have lived through much and now I think I have found what is needed for happiness. 132. A quiet, secluded life in the country with the possibility of being useful to people... CUT TO: 246 EXT. BUS - DAY 246 Chris sits amongst the pink bunches of fireweed choking the vehicles wheel wells, growing higher than the axles, his back leaning against the bus, finishing the reading of Family Happiness. ANGLE: Chris, reading with great interest. His POV: The page: what Chris reads: And then, on top of all that, you for a mate, and children, perhaps - what more can the heart of a man desire? ANGLE: Chris: He looks up from his book. A gentle breeze tickles morning flowers. The sunlight dances in a coppice of aspen and leaves of trees above. The sound of buzzing flies mutes. He is taking one last look at his paradise. CUT" One last look at paradise. That means that he changed his mind about staying in the woods by himself after reading the following two parts of Tolstoy’s Family Happiness: "I have lived through much and now I think I have found what is needed for happiness. A quiet, secluded life in the country with the possibility of being useful to people..." and "And then, on top of all that, you for a mate, and children, perhaps - what more can the heart of a man desire?"