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What would it be like if we lived by our senses and not by our brains? What would it be like if we noticed everything, but remembered nothing? What would it be like if we lived in necessity instead of in choice?
I think if we lived by our senses it would be both simple and chaotic. A weasel lives by his senses, his sense of survival, his sense of hunger, his sense of self. If we thought only of our senses, or lived only by them, everything would depend on our individual sense of survival. It would be an evolutionary world. We would live by reaction, seeing something and reacting in the way that would serve us best. We wouldn’t have friendships, but we wouldn’t have worries.
If we noticed everything and remembered nothing life would be full, but empty. We’d notice everyday things, we’d be full of the gorgeous little details in life, but it wouldn’t make us richer. We’d notice, but it wouldn’t fill our lives. What’s the use of noticing if it doesn’t make us safer, or happier, or more knowledgeable? A weasel notices everything in order to survive, but yet he doesn’t appreciate everything.
Of all the options, the most appealing to me is living by necessity instead of by choice. A weasel lives only by what is necessary, by only what he needs to survive. There’s no worry, but there’s no joy. Life would be simple and free of stress, but there wouldn't be joy. There wouldn’t be happiness in life. Is a weasel happy? Is it happy just because it is living, and its life makes it happy?
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Response to Annie Dillard's Living like Weasels
So many questions, angles to consider. Are animals capable of happiness? Are they aware of good or bad things happening? Do they know only instinct? Do they even know they're alive?
ReplyDeleteAugh! I'm dizzy. :)