On the Fragility of Human Beings
Albert Camus famously pointed out in his work ‘The Myth of Sisyphus’ that the only serious philosophical question that humans can ask is the one about suicide. Put less provocatively, he talks about the decision we have to take daily between living the existence that we have been assigned and ending our lives. Ultimately, what he is after, is the question of what makes life worth living. He correctly assesses that this should be the first philosophical question that needs to be answered in order to render all other questions meaningful. He then goes on to establish his philosophy on the absurdity of life and explains what it means to live a meaningful life in conditions where there apparently is no meaning.
Unfortunately, the very same question the French philosopher dared to ask from a theoretical point of view, is asked by thousands of people every day who try to find their very personal meaning of life. They too ask themselves why they should keep on walking the harsh road that life resembles and try to find some valid motivation to endure and overcome the many obstacles that our short journey on this planet poses us. Sooner or later most people will go through tough times and will asks themselves what keeps them moving forward, what gives them satisfaction in life or what can motivate them to push just a bit more to endure the moment of hardship. There are typically two different types of answers people find to these questions.
The first one is usually the more immediate answer people look for because it involves the more tangible aspects of our lives. As a first step people generally try to find some concrete part of their lives that deeply satisfies them and make an effort to convince themselves that the joy they receive from that particular moment in their daily routine is reason enough to move ahead and past the apparently insurmountable obstacle that lies ahead of them. Classical examples of aspects people typically deem most fulfilling include lovers and spouses, children and friends, but also some particular job, hobby or art. The concreteness of the chosen element in somebody’s daily routine makes this particular form of motivation very trustworthy in the eyes of the one asking and helps him get through the toughest situations imaginable.
The second response is less concrete and is usually sought after when one doesn’t manage to find a satisfying first answer. It involves people searching for the necessary motivation for moving forward in present times, by finding the necessary strength in the expectation of a better future. The hope that everything will get better once that obstacle or period of hardship is overcome, is the second and last answer people try to give themselves in order to be able to continue moving ahead.
Obviously, this latter way of thinking is much more fragile than the first answer people usually try to give themselves when confronted with the question of what makes their lives worth living. People need some kind tangible satisfaction in order to find the motivation to endure difficult periods of their existence. Once, however, a person doesn’t manage to find any deciding factor that gives him enough strength to keep pushing, he starts hanging on to some kind of hope for a better future in order not to be broken down by some temporary period of suffering. Interestingly, the fact that this period is believed to be temporary is a necessary condition for this kind of motivation to work. Contrarily, if the period of hardship is believed to be everlasting, there would be no reason in hoping that it can be overcome.
It is exactly this moment when people can’t find any solution other than hanging on to their hopes for a better future that they become fragile. At this point their entire existence can easily fall to pieces simply because they are not able to sustain their dreams for a prosper future anymore. Sometimes self-doubt is the triggering factor, some other times it is an external influence simply picked up by chance that shatters to pieces an entire believe system and highlights the presumable irrationality of hope. In most cases, however, it is simply the fact that the fulfillment one has so long been hoping for, keeps on not arriving. At this point it becomes too hard to keep hanging on to any kind of believe and people break down.
This is why people are fragile. Human fragility is a condition that has its roots in an unfounded believe system that people build up in order to find the last strength to keep moving forward. Humans become fragile as soon as they don’t seem to find any concrete factor in their lives that satisfies them enough as to overshadow a period of aversity in their lives.
Fragility is a byproduct of people trying to find the necessary motivation of living today in the hopes of a better future and is as such probably a natural feature of human existence. It has been explored at length throughout history and has been the main theme of classical pieces of literature and art. What else is the cause of Romeo’s disgrace in Shakespeare’s play if not the ultimate loss of any hope that he might be with his beloved Juliet? What else could have driven young Werther in Goethe’s epistolary novel to suicide if not the final shattering of his romantic dream?
