Quote:
Originally Posted by Keroko
To be fair, this is only obvious because of the relative scarcity of such stories. Few notice that the polar opposite -focusing on the positive and belittling or ignoring the negatives- is a far more recurring theme.
Many are the movies and series in which trauma's are overcome in hours and age-long animosities buried in seconds, with everyone living happily ever after. Now there is absolutely nothing wrong with this, but how is this a more complete story?
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When I said "incomplete" I didn't mean the story, but the man himself.
There's nothing wrong with either focusing on negatives and ignoring the positives, or with focusing on positives and ignoring the negatives. But imho, true strength lies in that
despite knowing everything we do would actually be futile (negatives), we struggle towards that good end
nonetheless (positives). It takes even greater strength still to not lose this resolve and to last until the (more than likely) bitter end. Gen knows that much, but probably thinks such strength is impossible to come from mere humans. Thus he gave up on the idea altogether.
"everything is futile" is a highly nihilistic view. Gen ignores happiness because they're transient, an illusion in the bigger picture. That's where I disagree. Happiness is precious because it's transient, and it's sometimes worth one or several lifetimes.
"Human is dirty and weak, therefore we must be petty and act such as it is our nature",
"Human is dirty and weak, therefore we must strive to better ourselves, and to not lose to ourselves".
To be fair though, this philosophy question has been around longer than him, and he merely took the side who focus on the negatives. Philosophically, there is really no definitive answer, and Gen likes to stress that point. But on the practicality of things, I think he's "incomplete", he's the opposite of the "happy man who's ignorant about life's cruelty"
Come to think of it, Gen might benefit to learn Buddhism.
