Love and The Idea of Unicorns
Back in the days I studied philosophy, we talked about the idea of existence. It's like when they say if a tree falls in the forest with no one around, does it make a sound - it's an egocentric saying that things only exist for humans to perceive. Perception - now, that's a whole other can of worms. Apply that to the concept of love. Quoting from one of my favorite plays - Closer:
Alice: Where is this love? I can't see it, I can't touch it. I can't feel it. I can hear it. I can hear some words, but I can't do anything with your easy words. (IMDB)
If you can't see it, can't touch it, can't feel it, but merely "sense" it from easy words, does it exist?
Back to class, we talked about the unicorn. Same idea. Applied Descartes logic - what we have is our imagination - considering all is dubious. What we think is true thus exist may very well be unicorns. Can't prove they don't exist. We think it, therefore it is (now I'm really slaughtering Descartes' theory).
Hung out with the guys from band A at their warehouse. Drank, smoked cigarettes, and talked about life and philosophy. N subscribes to nihilism. Death is all encompassing. Nothing matters. There's no such thing as free will and decisions. Love does not exist.
Is love a unicorn? Just a fragment of our imagination? If it is so, well, I say there are definitely unicorns. At least the idea of them. Even if it exists in our very imagination.
We are born to feel. It's inevitable. We are capable of a wide spectrum of emotions, and we are born with morals. That may very well be what sets humans aside from the rest of the world (also egotistic, but let's leave it at that). So if we coined this very feeling - this sensation, this passion, this indescribable desire, or yearning, or despair, or whatever else comes with it - "love," this notion exists. We feel it, and there is no denying it. It doesn't have to exist in a grand form. And certainly not in a commercial form. But it's there, isn't it? That big elephant in the room. You can paint it the same color as the background, and pretend you don't see it. But even then you get hurt. I'm not saying hurt is the inevitable result of love. But it certainly is part of it. Because we are all capable of caring about another being so much. Does it mean we all exercise it and know what it is? Not necessarily. But as cynical as I am, I still believe in it. Whether or not I find it - that's another story.
So what if love is a unicorn?
Alice: Where is this love? I can't see it, I can't touch it. I can't feel it. I can hear it. I can hear some words, but I can't do anything with your easy words. (IMDB)
If you can't see it, can't touch it, can't feel it, but merely "sense" it from easy words, does it exist?
 |
| http://www.jeffgothelf.com/blog/unicorn-a-visual-designer-with-ux-chops/ |
Hung out with the guys from band A at their warehouse. Drank, smoked cigarettes, and talked about life and philosophy. N subscribes to nihilism. Death is all encompassing. Nothing matters. There's no such thing as free will and decisions. Love does not exist.
Is love a unicorn? Just a fragment of our imagination? If it is so, well, I say there are definitely unicorns. At least the idea of them. Even if it exists in our very imagination.
We are born to feel. It's inevitable. We are capable of a wide spectrum of emotions, and we are born with morals. That may very well be what sets humans aside from the rest of the world (also egotistic, but let's leave it at that). So if we coined this very feeling - this sensation, this passion, this indescribable desire, or yearning, or despair, or whatever else comes with it - "love," this notion exists. We feel it, and there is no denying it. It doesn't have to exist in a grand form. And certainly not in a commercial form. But it's there, isn't it? That big elephant in the room. You can paint it the same color as the background, and pretend you don't see it. But even then you get hurt. I'm not saying hurt is the inevitable result of love. But it certainly is part of it. Because we are all capable of caring about another being so much. Does it mean we all exercise it and know what it is? Not necessarily. But as cynical as I am, I still believe in it. Whether or not I find it - that's another story.
So what if love is a unicorn?
Comments