Straw Dogs: Thoughts on Humans and Other Animals – John Gray
r/Pessimism, u/historyismyteacher
The I is a thing of the moment, and yet our lives are ruled by it. We cannot rid ourselves of this inexistent thing. In our normal awareness of the present moment the sensation of selfhood is unshakeable. This is the primordial human error, in virtue of which we pass our lives as in a dream.
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But the idea that we can rid ourselves of animal illusion is the greatest illusion of all.
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If anything about the present century is certain, it is that the power conferred on “humanity” by new technologies will be used to commit atrocious crimes against it.
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The examined life may not be worth living.
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Genocide is as human as art or prayer.
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Other animals do not need a purpose in life. A contradiction to itself, the human animal cannot do without one. Can we not think of the aim of life as being simply to see?