Nice. This week's thought experiment is filled with deep, dark, existential angst. Now we're philosophising!
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"The horror! The horror!"
Many have speculated about what inspired Colonel Kurtz to utter those famous last words. The answer lies in what he realised just before he let out his last breath. In that moment, he understood that past, present, and future were all illusions. No moment in time is ever lost. Everything that happens exists for ever.
That meant his impending death would not be the end. His life, once lived, would always exist. And so, in a sense, the life he had lived would be lived again and again, eternally recurring, each time exactly the same and thus with no hope of learning, of changing, of righting past wrongs.
Had Kurtz made a success of this life he could have borne that realisation. He could have looked upon his work, thought "it is good," and gone to his grave serene in his triumph over death. The fact that he instead reacted with horror testified to his failure to overcome the challenges of mortal existence.
"The horror! The horror!" Would you react to the thought of eternal recurrence any differently?
Sources: Thus Spake Zarathustra by Friedrich Nietzsche, 1891; Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, 1902.
Baggini, J., The Pig That Wants to Be Eaten, 2005, p. 205.
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What do you think? This isn't meant to be an accurate interpretation of what Conrad was trying to tell us through Kurtz's last words, but the thought experiment is thought provoking nonetheless. How can we deal with the eternal permanence of our actions? How do you?
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"The horror! The horror!"
Many have speculated about what inspired Colonel Kurtz to utter those famous last words. The answer lies in what he realised just before he let out his last breath. In that moment, he understood that past, present, and future were all illusions. No moment in time is ever lost. Everything that happens exists for ever.
That meant his impending death would not be the end. His life, once lived, would always exist. And so, in a sense, the life he had lived would be lived again and again, eternally recurring, each time exactly the same and thus with no hope of learning, of changing, of righting past wrongs.
Had Kurtz made a success of this life he could have borne that realisation. He could have looked upon his work, thought "it is good," and gone to his grave serene in his triumph over death. The fact that he instead reacted with horror testified to his failure to overcome the challenges of mortal existence.
"The horror! The horror!" Would you react to the thought of eternal recurrence any differently?
Sources: Thus Spake Zarathustra by Friedrich Nietzsche, 1891; Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, 1902.
Baggini, J., The Pig That Wants to Be Eaten, 2005, p. 205.
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What do you think? This isn't meant to be an accurate interpretation of what Conrad was trying to tell us through Kurtz's last words, but the thought experiment is thought provoking nonetheless. How can we deal with the eternal permanence of our actions? How do you?
