Maya's Discussion Post 2/12/14

          At the very beginning of page fourteen, it seems as though Dostoyevsky is saying that people are asked to find something to care about so that they keep themselves out of trouble. All their energy would go towards fulfilling their “real normal interests” instead of doing whatever “nasty things” Dostoyevsky refers to. However, Dostoyevsky presents an interesting contradiction; he points out that men, despite having a full understanding as to what their interests are, consciously decide to take a path in the opposite direction. This path leads to “nobody and nothing”. 

          To give an example, this sounds all too similar to the arguments that are used to bash Generation Y or anyone born between 1980 and 2000 respectively. The generation before this known as Generation X, even better known as your parents, argue that members of Gen-Y want all these things and have all these interests and ambitions but are unwilling to work for them. They argue that an entire generation of people is living with a sense of entitlement that leaves them being lazy. Obviously, there are always exceptions. It is a bit ridiculous to assume that everyone born within this time period possesses these qualities. I think it is safe to say, though, that we have all seen people that want all these things like going to Harvard, being rich, and so on but do nothing to work towards that goal. Yet, they are aware, they are conscious, that these things do not come easily. 

          On page fifteen, Dostoyevsky begins to mention an unspoken advantage that all the “lovers of humanity” have forgotten. I believe this is Dostoyevsky’s introduction to his thoughts on free will. I assume this because he describes the unspoken advantage as remarkable because it has the power to “break down all our classifications, and continually shatter every system constructed by lovers of mankind for the benefit of mankind”. This begs the question, is the ability to go against your best interest truly an advantage? Is this so simply because it shows that you are alive and not just existing? Does it show that you live on a higher cognitive level than the rest of life on Earth?