I’ve been reading Derren Brown’s Happy recently, an exploration of philosophy and how it can help us. At the time of writing, I am only part way through, but I still wish to share mine.
My philosophy in life is fairly simple, accrued from a mismatch of Western philosophers, television shows, and The Ethical Slut, which is genuinely one of the most transformative books I’ve read when it comes to my personal philosophy, and something I would recommend in a heartbeat to anyone who doesn’t mind descriptions of non-traditional forms of love:
The world is a harsh, unforgiving place. Do what you can to make things a little brighter for people. Love others cleanly, openly, and honestly, and try to act in a safe, sane and consensual manner.
Whether you wield the influence to change many lives, or if you just have the means to help friends in need, the scale doesn’t matter, as long as you help someone.
I hung around a community of people that bullied people like me for years, trying to hide, feigning that I was one of Us instead of one of Them. Because I was one of Them, I assumed that no one would ever love me if they found out what I was really like - possibly the most incorrect assumption I will ever make. I swore that I will never lead others to make the same mistake.
This also ties into my views on the afterlife. I’m agnostic, and while I do want to believe that my friends and family who have passed are in a better place, my honest opinion is that no one can know the truth until the point in which they die.
One episode of the British sci-fi series Red Dwarf has always stuck with me.
In it, the crew face The Inquisitor, an entity who goes through time, and judges if each person has lived the best life they can - and if not, erases them from history and replaces them with a person that could have lived in their place. However, he does not judge everyone objectively - with the heart weighed against a feather, or St. Peter’s checklist of good and bad deeds. Everyone is judged subjectively, by their own self.
(These two pass the test, while Kryten, the android, fails because he does not acknowledge that he has grown beyond his programming, and Dave Lister, the drifter, feels that the Inquisitor does not have the right to judge)
That is the test which I think about passing - particularly because it’s similar to the questions I would ask myself when the anxiety got particularly bad. But it is a test I’m happy to say that I would now pass by my own standards. There might be a version of me that is far more accomplished in their career, but is also a complete arsehole - and I would say that I’ve made a far better use of my life than that.
Next time, something technical for once.