Watching itself

‘An intellectual is a person whose mind watches itself’. -Albert Camus

I suppose my goal in life is to be as objective as possible. To examine and weigh in on every volitional and nonvolitional act or thought. To totally observe.

When a man asked why I was studying economics and philosophy, I told him off hand that I suppose I was trying make some sense of this world and all its happenings. He appeared thoughtful and said, “May I suggest that instead of trying to make sense of it, we observe it and learn as much as we can from what we see.” (more or less)

I don’t know why, but this was pretty damn profound. At that moment I was like, ah-ha. All we can really do is observe anyway. No sense can be found. There is no sense to it all. Thats a fastidious, if not impossible, undertaking. But to observe… ahh… now theres something.

My knowledge will help me be a better observer.

Relating back to that quote. I’m not going to make sense of this world, this life or myself. I will simply observe. I will watch it with ardent curiosity. I will no doubt learn the patterns and cycles and trends that inevitably come around. I will be wiser for it. I will observe the timeless.