Interview Meme | Not accepting.
@roguevariables said: 30. Do we live in a world of parallels? Can there be no hope without grief? No happiness without suffering? Or is a utopia possible?
"To spare you the philosophy lecture, let's look at something a little more down to earth." Six absentmindedly reaches into a jacket pocket, and pulls out a cigarette. However, instead of lighting it, he twirls it between two fingers, spinning it over and over again. "Hunger or deprivation or need, for instance, exists in most people's minds as one pole between it and... dunno, satiation? A lack of having access to the necessities of life? Security? Something like that. That’s not important."
"What is important is that this something is something everyone feels, without exception; even the richest bastard in all the world will feel hungry and tired and sad. He's just different in that he can fix those problems a lot easier than the rest of us. Furthermore, that constant gnawing need was something that unites humanity in a way that no flag or religion ever could, because people had to deal with since the goddamn dawn of history, it's one we feel today, and unless we become immortal god-beings tomorrow, it'll be one that future generations will feel as well. People turn to religion or their leaders for solutions to this hunger, or at the very least a rationalization for its existence... but this hunger always won out, always wins, in the end. You find yourself needing something—if it's not food or safety or companionship, then it's simple time because your body starts breaking down after a lifetime of use—and then you die. Hell, if you wanna get metaphorical, it was that hunger that started the Great War, and ended it in the same breath."
"Humanity will always be hungry simply because they are living beings with a pulse and an expiration date. I can talk about metabolism, I can talk about the aging process, fuck I can talk about entropy if you’d like... I can talk about all of that shit but it's something I'm sure you've seen and on some level already understand, so I'll spare you that. In short, you can't get rid of hunger, you can't get rid of pain, and you can't get rid of suffering." Six takes the cigarette between fore and middle finger, gesturing with it like it was a riding crop or a pointer. "The closest you can, in my personal experience, is maximizing the amount of good that you feel and minimizing the pain before you inevitably die... but even that's just damage control compared to the original proposition. So I guess we do live in that world of parallels, though I’d argue that said parallels are more a human thing—a set of imagined labels that we make and then put on the world to make sense of it."
"As for a utopia? Since I've already accepted that I'll be pedantic here, why don't we take a look at the root of the word. Some ancient guy, Thomas something or other, who lived so long ago than even the Pre-War days called him ancient, stuck the Ancient Greek words for 'no' and 'place' together." He paused. "Think on that name: ’no-place’. A place that doesn’t exist. Sure, some people were saying it could be 'eu' which would mean good, and I’ve read a little about these perspectives... but..." Six smiles, though it certainly isn't a happy one. "This dead fucker used the term as the title for his little satirical daydream of a perfect world where there would be nothing but joy and peace and we’d all get along. Then take what I previously said into account and..." He trails off. "Hell, I'd love for there to be some earthly Paradise where we all frolic about without a care in the world, but from where I'm standing, that's just a daydream to fantasize about when you're feeling particularly full.”
As if to punctuate his conclusion, Six finally takes out a lighter and begins to puff away on his cigarette, which is now slightly bent.
