The Human’s Dilemma to Give Up The Idea of Giving Up

We, humans, are projected to the concept of striving in order to obtain our respective desires and goals during our lifetime. There has always been an implication that we are obliged to make an effort in order for us to achieve the longings that we aim in life. However, the truthful probability remains existing and it declares that we are prone to encounter difficulties during our existence. This then proceeds to one of the biggest dilemmas that we encounter whenever the idea of giving up knocks in, the thought of persistence.

Generally, individuals are inclined to the idea of not giving up. We can recall that moment in our lives when we had a hard time understanding a certain lesson, yet we still tried to learn it because we wanted to pass. Think again of that time when we were not on good terms with our colleagues, yet we still endured the unbearable environment and dealt with it. And it does not stop there, because the concept of persistence was not only embodied by these situations. In fact, there are endless possible situations that represents those times when the strong desire to just quit entered, but we still disregarded it and continued.

With this, I have grasped the realization of asking myself as to why people refuse to give up when we actually can if we choose to? Why do we still continue if we can actually just quit? Is it because giving up is indeed bad?

The well-known quote which states, “try and try until you succeed” is renowned for it strongly signifies an optimistic insight that for us to reach our personal goals, we have to work hard for it. It is perceived as an extreme motivator for us to continue despite the difficulties that we come across. It also somehow announces that the concept if giving up shall always be condemned because there must always be a way in order to for us to achieve those yearnings. Therefore, the generalized belief is announcing that giving up is not a decent choice because it rejects the sense of hope, which is what many people perceive as a positive thing.

However, the existence of the big certainty that each one of us will face failure is absolute. And because we are all probable to lose, it proves that even if we exert all of our effort, we shall always suffer from defeat and hopelessness. In that case, this then states the frightening truth that even if we try our best, all of us are very much susceptible to the concept of loss no matter who we are. So, this does then denote that failure is always present and it only strengthens the claim that we can give up anytime if we want to. But it does not go that way, because if we carefully observe, humans still try and continue. What pushes us to continue despite all these then? French-Algerian philosopher Albert Camus brought us the concept that even before we are born, we actually had an essence already. The essence which he infers is the absurd, explained as the conflict of humans to find a meaning in life and the strong desire to then create it once we realize that the devoured meaning is non-existent. He entails that life is meaningless and we can never create one no matter how hard we attempt.

Hence, does this mean that even if we reach our ultimate dreams or goals in life: graduate as a summa cum laude, gain a major honorific, receive a sky-rocketing salary, or remain rich for the rest of our lifespan; our life would still remain meaningless? If that is the case, what is the point of our trying then? How is that then that if no matter how hard we try; we still fail to create a meaning for our lives?

In Camus’s stand, he claims that in order for us to bear this meaningless life, we must only delight in everything even though it is meaningless as that is the only choice left for us. Looking at it carefully, the meaninglessness of our lives is never proven to be not pleasurable though. Even if Camus’ idea of the absurd is assumed to be real, it was never indicated that a worthless life is not an enjoyable life, because those are two different concepts. In that case, we shall then consider the concept which is the person’s crave for pleasure.

Imagine a scenario wherein a student blatantly deficient at something (a certain subject in school for example), get the highest score at it in their whole class. If this accomplishment will still remain worthless, we shall never neglect the fact that the student still did receive a sense of pride and delight with that achievement. If that example fails to define the student’s value and meaning as a person, it did not necessarily reject the actuality that the student still felt the glee from it. Then, it only points out that the pleasure we experience in life acts as the strongest factor which pushes us to strive and continue regardless the presence of quitting.

Moreover, we do everything to maximize the idea of pleasure in order to minimize the realization that we, the things we do, the accomplishments we get, our very own existence, and every little thing around us will remain worthless infinitely. Then again, we are thirsty for the feeling of pleasure, not the actual meaning of our lives. This makes a valid sense which somehow proves that pleasure is a solid factor as to why we continue despite the hardships that life brings. On a different note, visualize the scenario given again wherein we graduate, gain a major honorific, and become rich. What if we say that the sense of fulfillment that are secured from those achievements are finally enough for a person, that the person finally reached the ultimatum of their own pleasure because they gained those things; is it possible that they can now welcome the idea of giving up?

Essentially, if we are only talking about pleasure, we can also conclude that it is now possible for us to give in to the idea of quitting and stop trying hard. This is because pleasure cannot be the only root. One great point that we must consider is that humans have different perspectives and preferences in life. Therefore, it is still possible that I can actually be a kind of person who rejects any affiliation with pleasure. It can be because I am not a person who does not totally crave for it. What if I only wanted a simple living, a peaceful life without actually desiring much unnecessary things? What if getting a Latin honor and being rich is not what I aim in life? One great argument that proves this is the presence of certain religions and way of living such as Buddhism and Taoism correspondingly.

For Buddhism, one of its major beliefs as declared by their “Four Noble Truths” is the samudaya, stating that desire is the cause of all suffering. Thus, if I am a monk or a person who has renounced worldly life and joined the mendicant and contemplative community, I am required to live moderately as it is believed to be the only solution to avoid the suffering. This then dictates that I must stop desiring worldly things as it is the cause of the never-ending suffering of life. On the other hand, Taoism solely focuses on the relationship towards the Tao or “the Way” and does not necessarily believe in the idea of persevering. For Taoism, its belief sticks with the idea of “nature” and it imposes that I do not necessarily need to try hard and become a lawyer if I am not really meant to be a lawyer. Taoism believes that I will be a lawyer because the nature states that I will be a lawyer. In that case, if I am a part of these religions and traditions, there remains the probability that the crave for pleasure will not be within me.

In connection to that, the concept of bad faith presented by French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre is therefore the most fitting argument that can provide an explanation to this issue. Bad faith, or implied as the habit of people refusing to acknowledge that we are entitled to be ultimately free creates a certain sense as to why we are patterned to refuse the idea of giving up. Henceforth, we can actually not attend school and just do whatever we want. We can also reject the idea of building an association with our workmates and just anger them if we are not under the influence of bad faith. Except that, the contradict lingers and it states that in real life, people actually flee into bad faith. This is caused by the different factors that surround the humankind such as laws, authorities, social norms, morality, responsibilities, and other influences that limit us to be completely capable on making our own decisions.

Perhaps, we reject the idea of giving up the privilege of education and settling to fail because we have to meet our family’s expectations towards our academic success. We can also say that that we do not give in to the idea of quitting our jobs maybe because we have a family to support financially. Therefore, even if the haunting feeling of giving up tries to win us over, we do not let it happen because we are highly influenced by those factors.

What if a person is a criminal then? It is very possible that they can give up working and just holdup a person to earn money. That way, it will debunk the concept of bad faith as they are now labeled as quitters of working hard. We can then suppose that a criminal finally gave up their own sense of morality. Does this imply that we can completely escape the sense of bad faith? It is not impossible but it is very bounded. Because even if we lose our sense of morality, the laws and authority which encircles around us will not necessarily lose their respective senses as well. Meaning, the presence of the limitations will always be there to control us no matter what happens. Therefore, if the criminal gets caught, there can be a possibility that they will regret that decision of committing the crime and the sense of morality can come back. This further proves that we are still limited by those factors and so the idea of completely escaping the bad faith is still unattainable.

Thus, the idea of giving up is due to the factors that limit us to condemn giving up. We can conclude that humans do not give up simply because we cannot, and it is strictly because there are factors that shape us to continue striving in life despite the things that we suffer from. Again, bad faith overcomes the dilemma and states that we are extremely related to those factors which then answers why we, humans, continue despite the tempting desire of quitting.

References

1. Burton, N. (2012, March 20). Jean-Paul Sartre on Bad Faith. Retrieved from Psychology Today: https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/hide-and-seek/201203/jean-paul-sartre-bad-faith
2. Hendricks, S. (2018, March 1). The meaning of life: Albert Camus on faith, suicide, and absurdity. Retrieved from Big Think: https://bigthink.com/scotty-hendricks/the-meaning-of-life-albert- camus-on-faith-suicide-and-absurdity
3. Mark, E. (2016, February 22). Taoism. Retrieved from Ancient History: https://www.ancient.eu/Taoism/
4. O'Brien, B. (2019, April 23). What Are the Four Noble Truths of Buddhism? Retrieved from Learn Religions: https://www.learnreligions.com/the-four-noble-truths-450095