“I think, therefore I am.” – Rene Descartes
I recently attended a concert (Cloud Nothings – be sure to check them out), and while waiting for the show to start, I let my eyes wonder around the venue. There were so many people. Though it certainly wasn’t the biggest crowd I had witnessed, it still made me think about all the individuals crowded into this one space. Who were these people? What brought them to this concert? What do they do for work? Where do they live? Questions such as those filled my head as I thought about how each person has their own life, their own story that I would never know. Solipsism is the belief that nothing exists outside one’s own mind. I really felt that as I looked around that evening. I will never understand all those people, but only myself. And the same would go for them too – they would never know me. Our bodies could touch, even “know” each other in a dubious sense, but our minds could not.
Everyone has a story. Every. Single. Person. There are over seven billion people in the world, each an individual with a mind and a life they are living. To each person, their life and their story is the most important. We are so engulfed in our own lives that we rarely think about the billions of stories that are being lived out throughout the world. Now I’m not saying that we are all purely egotistical, as many people keep up with global news, and are charitable to those who are less fortunate than them. What I am talking about are individuals, not groups of people. I think that it’s fascinating, mind boggling, and even beautiful all at the same time. It forces me to become more aware of myself and the connection I have with others. I sometimes question who I am in this vast world and whether or not I even matter. But I do, and so do all the other people living their lives. As individuals, we have each won the lottery in the sense that we even exist. We have been given minds, which I think is the greatest gift of all. Our consciousness is what makes each of us who we are, and it continues to change and develop as we age and experience new things.
So next time you are in the crowd of people, whether it is at a concert, a demonstration, a shopping mall, or on vacation at a tourist destination, try thinking about all the people you see and consider the idea that they too have a life like you, though you’ll never know it, and they won’t know yours. I think part of being self aware is also being aware of others. Maybe if more people thought this way, we would actually become more altruistic, and our world a little more loving.
