Reinventing the wheel

By Chirag Saxena

Life goes on quickly in the 21st century. It seems like the majority is living life on autopilot mode. 

There has been an incredible development in this century. However, I feel no one has stopped to contemplate if their actions are necessary. 

 

This is a problem that I have struggled with a lot in my life. One can only contemplate their actions if they are mindful of their existence and accept the void in their life. All these questions and disappointments of life led me to one question. Is there any kind of structure in our life? 

 

If there is no structure, then can we make one for ourselves? This structure should help us identify all the factors that are involved in living our life. 

 

I have made an attempt to identify the four elements that play a role in our lives. All our happiness, melancholy, and misery can be attributed to these four elements. It is our core existence, void in our life, our actions, and the outside world. 

 

Each element is connected with the other and if we understand them, then we can live a less chaotic life. 

The main benefit of such a structure is that you will no longer be living on autopilot and will get time to contemplate about your life. 

 

I have divided this book into four different parts, each according to one element of life. Each part of the book contains different philosophical essays. 

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Chirag Saxena
• Release date: Sep 4, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223780274

Chirag Saxena

Chirag is an avid reader of philosophy, psychology, and literature.  That is what inspired them to start an Instagram page named captivate.thoughts in the same genre. The author has finished their PGDM from Fortune Institute of International Business.  The book promises to be a transformative journey that encourages readers to confront their own existence, question their beliefs, and emerge with a renewed sense of purpose and agency.

Book preview

REINVENTING THE WHEEL

PREFACE

Life goes on quickly in the 21st century. It seems like the majority is living life on autopilot mode.

There has been an incredible development in this century. However, I feel no one has stopped to contemplate if their actions are necessary.

This is a problem that I have struggled with a lot in my life. One can only contemplate about their actions if they are mindful of their existence and accept the void in their life. All these questions and disappointments of life led me to one question. Is there any kind of structure in our life?

If there is no structure, then can we make one for ourselves? This structure should help us identify all the factors which are involved in living our life.

I have made an attempt to identify the four elements that play a role in our life. All our happiness, melancholy, and misery can be attributed to these four elements. It is our core existence, void in our life, our actions, and the outside world.

Each element is connected with the other and if we understand them, then we can live a less chaotic life.

The main benefit of such a structure is that you will no longer be living on autopilot and will get time to contemplate about your life.

I have divided this book into four different parts, each according to one element of life. Each part of the book contains different philosophical essays.

INDEX

THE WHEEL OF LIFE

FIRST ELEMENT- CORE EXISTENCE (HUB OF THE WHEEL)

1.1 CONTRADICTORY EXISTENCE

1.2 THE SURPRISING CERTAINTY OF PHILOSOPHERS

1.3 ACCEPTANCE OF DEATH

1.4 DISTRIBUTION OF MORALITY

1.5 BID ON YOURSELF

1.6 ACCEPT THE IRRATIONAL

1.7 FLOATING ON THE SURFACE CALLED LIFE

1.8 SYMPATHYFOR THE MELANCHOLIC

1.9 THE MOST VALUABLE RESOURCE

1.10 GET USED TO IT

1.11 EXISTENCE IS POTENTIAL

1.12 THE MIDDLE GROUND

1.13 ARE WE WORTHY?

SECOND ELEMENT- OUR ACTIONS (SPOKES OF THE WHEEL)

2.1 WHY DO PEOPLE DO IMMORAL THINGS?

2.2 SELF MASTERY

2.3 THE TRAGEDY OF TYRANTS

2.4 THE PURSUIT OF CONSCIOUSNESS IS LONELY

2.5 TWO WORLDS

2.6 BE CAREFUL WITH ART

2.7 CATALYST OF NATURE

2.8 FENCED MORALS

2.9 DISAGREEMENT AMONG GENERATIONS

THIRD ELEMENT- THE VOID (EMPTY SPACE IN THE WHEEL)

3.1 THE WOUND OF EXISTENCE

3.2 SERVE OTHERS

FOURTH ELEMENT- THE OUTSIDE WORLD (OUTER EDGE OF THE WHEEL)

4.1 ATTRACTION AND CONSEQUENCES OF FOLLOWING IDEOLOGY

4.2 SOCRATIC THINKING AND HUMAN SOCIABILITY

4.3 HIERARCHICAL INTERPRETATION OF PEOPLE

4.4 REIGNITE DEAD IDEAS     

4.5 HOW OPPRESSORS RULE

4.6 THE FEAR THAT CANNOT BE CONQUERED

4.7 APOCALYPTIC CHOICES

4.8 FOR THE PEOPLE

4.9 THE DANGEROUS FOUNDATION OF CIVILIZATION

4.10 IS THE UNIVERSE TEMPTED?

4.11 WILL TO UNITE CREATES DIVISION

4.12 THE UNITING FACTOR

ANOTHER FALSE TRUTH?

THE WHEEL OF LIFE

The wheel is a manifestation of our life. The void, the events, Our Origins, and our actions are all a part of it. The hub of a wooden wheel is our origin or core existence.

Our birth and it is something which we have no control over things like what kind of family we are born in?  Who are our parents? Are we born healthy?

The space between the spokes is void or the feeling of emptiness in our life. Many times, we feel alone and that no matter what we do, we can't make a change. I think this void or space is an intricate part of our lives and is necessary for a meaningful life.

Within this void is when we can contemplate what is good for our life and what type of actions should we take. You can either run from this void and indulge in harmful activities or accept it as you will sometimes find it. Instead of running away from emptiness, it is beneficial to meditate on it.

Then comes the spokes in a wheel. I think these are our actions and the choices we make eventually after a time these actions define who we are. The actions we take within the void and they connect with the outside world. All of our actions take place because of the hub or our origin. Without your existence, you wouldn’t have acted. Sometimes we need the void to meditate on which action is suitable.

The outer edge of the wheel represents the outside events that happen which we have little control over. In a way, our actions make a small impact on events, and that is why the outer edge and spokes are connected. This makes the whole wagon wheel and keeps our life moving.

I have always thought life and the universe are cyclic, and this manifestation that I have made is a way to give the idea that life and the universe are cyclic. You have no control over when you may come into existence and other factors. You cannot directly control outside world events. You don’t even have control over when the void may find you. A sudden sense of meaninglessness or emptiness can haunt us now and then. Although we do have control over how we interpret events and act.

What does this journey of life hold? Everyone gets to decide.

CORE EXISTENCE (HUB OF THE WHEEL)

1.1

CONTRADICTORY EXISTENCE

It is a big dilemma as to why humanity betrays nature and destroys it to fulfill its need to improve things. Human civilization has come on a long path from hunter-gatherer settlements to cities without a sign of nature.

In our attempts to improve life, people have demolished the very thing that is the basis of it and that is nature. Many philosophers say that man’s behavior should not be contradictory to nature and should be in harmony with nature.

While that is a great argument but what people do not think about is that human beings are also a part of nature. If we separate nature from ourselves then we think of it as a collection of resources that we can exploit to improve our way of life.

It is in our nature to look for better things, upgrade how we live, and improve our life. These traits have brought us here. However, when people destroy nature to gather resources they are also destroying themselves. Since nature and humanity are not separate and they never have been. If people think they are separate, that is when our behavior becomes contradictory to nature.

Humanity has an illusion of control over this world, people cannot change or improve this world. When people upgrade and improve it for their benefit they behave like a selfish lover.

Nature nurtures us and people in exchange do not return the love but annihilate it. Who has not experienced such a love?

There are people who attain some amount of enlightenment and understand that they are manifestations of this universe experiencing itself. With you, the universe can marvel at it’s beauty. If you understand this then you become a different kind of lover. You do not think about your benefits but you glance at the sheer beauty of it.

So if you love nature you do not annihilate it but nurture it in return and glance at the universe in wonder. Then your existence will be much more optimistic and wonderful. Whereas if you look for destructive improvements and your own benefits all the time then you will be stuck in an endless chain of life that actually crushes hope.

1.2

THE SURPRISING CERTAINTY OF PHILOSOPHERS

Curiosity is the trait of our species. Whatever we do not know we spend a lot of time discovering it. We do not know if there is life on other planets so we spend a lot of money on space discovery. But throughout the years most philosophers have talked about one topic and that is the meaning of life. There are different schools of thought depending on the philosophy that is followed. One group thinks that life has no inherent meaning which is the nihilists.

One group thinks that human beings live in a chaotic universe without any purpose, which is absurd. One group believes that you are free to create your own meaning that is the existentialists. Most philosophers talk about the meaning of life with such surety that it baffles me. Their belief is a belief that cannot be proved so it becomes a lot like religion.

Does it really harm us if we say that we do not know the meaning of life? To know the meaning of our life in a collective sense we will need to know the nature of God or the universe. We will need to know our importance or necessity in the universe. Only then can we come to some kind of poetic meaning of humanity but we will forever be denied such knowledge. I believe that philosophers know this and that is why they take these philosophical thoughts to move on from this defeat.

What they do however is they do not admit defeat but they become confident in the face of uncertainty. Existentialists, Absurdists, and nihilists all believe that humans are born without a purpose