Responsibility
We did not chose the situation that we live in. We did not chose to be experience this world. Nonetheless, we are forced to live.
This lack of choice — about being born or experiencing the world — does not mean that we are hopeless.
We cannot control the world around us, but we do have some autonomy over the thoughts in our heads. As Schopenhauer said:
Man is free to will, but he cannot will what he wills.
We cannot decide to sprout wings and fly, but that does not necessarily limit our options. Humans have always found a way to stick a thorn in the eye of authority.
We were born with two feet and two arms but through innovation have conquered the highest peaks and descended into the deepest trenches; we have traversed on land, across sea, and in sky; we have created telescopes to observe the cosmos and crafted microscopes to study the intracellular world.
We appear infinite in all of these pursuits. So, is there a limit to human intellect? It would certainly be poetic to say that there are none, but that would be incorrect.
As I see it, there are three boundaries that humans cannot exceed.
Part I: Mental
When we study atoms, we look at them through microscopes with stains and dyes. These tools help us understand the various organelles found within cell membranes, and are a necessary part of understanding our subjects.
But how do we measure the mind? Many have studied, and actively study, the physical brain. Yet the abstract mind still eludes us all.
Further, items must be ‘translated’ into a language that our brains understand. We cannot observe outside of our mind, and, more importantly, the mind confines what we can understand to itself.
So, we hardly understand the brain today and the brain must be used to understand the brain. The complexity and limits here are clear.
Part II: Physical
Next, we have to look at physical habits and physical health.
Valuing physical health is the foundation for anyone aiming to reach self-actualization. To me, a life of virtuous habits allows for easy sleep.
Meanwhile, a guilty conscience cannot rest; as one filled with jealous, envy, or worry tosses and turns throughout the entire night.
The same is true for what we eat and drink, how we exercise, and how we treat ourselves. We have physical limitations that need to be understood. And these things are all related.
Our mental health influences our physical health. And our physical health influences our mental health.
Part III: Self-Inflicted
The third, and most tragic boundary, is self-inflicted. There is nothing more worrisome than setting our own restraints and judging our own failures.
To free yourself, you should understand which chains currently surround you. They could be religious or political; societal or economic; they could be chains set by your previous self or expectations placed on you by others that you embolden by believing as true.
Nevertheless, these self-inflicted boundaries are isolating.
Even wealth and popularity, if achieved incorrectly, can become anchors that drag you down. Some even find their lineage to be burdensome, so they strive to detach themselves from the expansive shadow that their family tree casts.
Resolution
The resolution is to disregard limitations that are not absolute.
The resolution is to live as if there are only two boundaries that your thoughts cannot pass: the mind and its health.
Beyond this, nothing should contain your inquisitiveness. Remember that there is only the present moment, so nothing outside of the present moment can be taken away from you.
Inside these pillars, we are free to act.
And in this freedom, we find unrelenting responsibility. Jean-Paul Sartre summarized man’s freedom to will as condemnation “because he did not create himself, yet is nevertheless at liberty, and from the moment that he is thrown into this world he is responsible for everything he does.”
