Zee Blog

The blog well is drying.

Past couple of days since blog 100 I've actually began to have a loss of words for my blog. That is hard to imagine, I know, but true.

I had two interesting discussions tonights, one branching off the other. The first was a discussion of what is love? Specifically, the love between a couple. The second one branches off the Philosophical concepts of a question like this, which lead to self-sacrifice and what I feel that means.

The talks about love really began to turn into a Philosophical view through susanL. I asked her to describe what she felt love was. She simply replied that love was something complicated and grew moreso with age.

I questioned her why she felt that way. Was it truly love that became more complicated, or was it the expectations of the people that we love? She replied that it was the expectations we have of people that make it so.

In her view she felt that love becomes something of a choice. Whereas initial love is something that kicks the wind out of you and takes you for a ride, there comes a point later in a relationship where you find yourself deciding if you truly love this person or not. For instance: do you love someone enough to have them treat your poorly? That kind of thing.

I asked her a few other questions, mostly things like, "How do you describe love the emotion?" It's always an interesting topic, and it lead me to discuss my ideas on Socrates.

I'm unsure if many of you follow Philosophy too much, but Socrates is considered to be one of the greatest thinkers in history. He was the teacher of Plato, and nearly all Greek Philosophers fell in line behind. His views on knowledge was simple, "He knew nothing." He spent his days going from person to person asking them, "Do you know something?" Every single one would say "Of course I know something!" He would simply ask what? His belief was that everything changes. What might seem like common knowledge then might not appear so 100 years later.

Because of this, Socrates found himself in a great deal of trouble. He was brought in front of Senate and tried for these acts. All the senators had to vote for his freedom or death. I think all but two voted against him

He was to die by poison.

His students spent their last hours with him in his cell. They begged him to not take the poison and to give them the chance to let him escape. He shook his head and summed it up as being, "I believe in this system. This is what was voted, and therefore I shall recognize and respect their decision." He took the poison and spent the remaining moments of his life recalling tales of his life with those that stood with him.

Humanity is not perfect. Human nature, as you all well and know is by far as treacherous as it is loyal. Yet, men like Socrates in that last moment show a level perfection that the average person will never achieve. It's moments like this when such characters will stand for their beliefs and permanently be etched into the hearts and the minds that learn about them.

Another person like this was Jesus Christ. Through his self-sacrifice billions of people through the years have had a different outlook on life and the way they should lead it.

It's these decisions that make these people extraordinary. In these shining acts they become something more than human. They become something akin to God.

For those of you that have taken Vietnam History in your schooling days, I'm sure you have at least heard a word or two about the Vietnamese Buddhist monks that set themselves ablaze in protest of the war. These men simply soaked themselves in kerosene, sat down, and lit the match. When those watching put them out, they simply sat back down and reignited themselves. They didn't scream, nor did they attempt to put themselves out. In a lotus position they meditated until life left them in a flurry of ashes.

Who today has that kind of moral courage?

Could you be like the man in China who ran into the middle of the road, defying an oncoming tank from passing him? Would you give your life to show the world and the people within it the horrors of their governments?

I'm interested in hearing what you all have to say on the subject. Feel free to comment away!

I'm out for the night!