07-29-2017, 12:00 AM
Act 2
Where else can importance come from?
Perhaps the most common place is a desire to gain something, and/or to prevent the loss of something.
We've noticed your species seems pretty obsessive about this.
Other species on Earth do this to a limited extent as well. Many animals are territorial and aggressive about defending their food.
Yes, but you humans are like that even about gaining or losing in a purely conceptual sense. Like gaining victory in a football game, for example.
We are. We're also like that about how we spend our time. "Carpe Diem" as we say. It means spend your day doing something worthwhile. Normally we interpret that as being worthwhile in an acquisitions sense. If we don't gain something, we feel like we've lost the time we had, we wasted it. People who regularly spend their time not trying to gain anything are looked down upon, called lay-abouts, irresponsible, and other such things.
But what about stopping to enjoy what you have got? Or stopping to observe the world?
People will do the latter for brief periods just to look for new ways to gain. However, observing it just to observe it or stopping to enjoy what you've got are acceptable only in small doses.
I see.
Where else can importance come from?
Perhaps the most common place is a desire to gain something, and/or to prevent the loss of something.
We've noticed your species seems pretty obsessive about this.
Other species on Earth do this to a limited extent as well. Many animals are territorial and aggressive about defending their food.
Yes, but you humans are like that even about gaining or losing in a purely conceptual sense. Like gaining victory in a football game, for example.
We are. We're also like that about how we spend our time. "Carpe Diem" as we say. It means spend your day doing something worthwhile. Normally we interpret that as being worthwhile in an acquisitions sense. If we don't gain something, we feel like we've lost the time we had, we wasted it. People who regularly spend their time not trying to gain anything are looked down upon, called lay-abouts, irresponsible, and other such things.
But what about stopping to enjoy what you have got? Or stopping to observe the world?
People will do the latter for brief periods just to look for new ways to gain. However, observing it just to observe it or stopping to enjoy what you've got are acceptable only in small doses.
I see.