Apathy as a Way of Life

Feelings are often the root of all evil. Don't believe me? You need proof? People commit heinous acts because of the way they feel. Hitler murdered millions of Jews because he felt they were inferior and a burden to the Aryan race (amongst other things). On a smaller scale, people murder each other largely based on emotions, such as anger and jealousy. Basically, the lack of self-control often has disastrous results.

Wait. Let me amend my opening statement: Lack of control of feelings are often the root of all evil. People who cannot control their urges show that they can't control themselves. What is more pathetic?

Apathy is the lack of emotion. An apathetic person is someone who couldn't care less about much of what is going on around him. The movie Equilibrium is a great example of apathy. The premise of the movie is that because people generally cannot control themselves, the only way for the human race to survive is to live in an apathetic society, forcing citizens to take medication that suppresses their emotions. It's basically a movie about a government that wants absolute control over its citizens (Totalitarianism), and what better way to control the masses than by controlling their emotions? But that is beyond the scope of this post....

I've come to realize the importance of self-control, mainly because I've been hampered in my life many times because of the lack of it. Controlling one's urges is paramount to happiness. People who cannot control their desire to have the newest shoes and the nicest clothes usually find themselves in a massive amount of debt before long.

I've started to fade into an apathetic abyss; I just don't care about very much. This is due to the fact that everything eventually leaves you, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. It just makes me enjoy things while they are in my life, and it makes me not hold on to anything too tight. I don't take myself too seriously either. Being cool, as in being trendy, is not a big concern for me. This outlook on life has saved me from the deleterious effects of stress. To a large degree I just go with the flow. I'm not trying to save the world, fight for a cause, or change anyone's mind. I espouse a healthy level of selfishness. Of course, no one is completely apathetic-unless you have a serious medical condition-so we all feel something. Therefore, in the end it's all about emotional control, which could be seen as a subset to self-control. The Stoics understood this best, knowing that by controlling your emotional responses to the events in your life is the best way to live.

And in the end, I think that's what we're all looking for: the best way to live our lives....