Monday, February 7, 2011

Euclid's on the block

New Olympic Sport:
Synchronized Running
(This post has nothing to do with Euclid (YU-KLID), minus the fact that he is Greek. I just miss good 80s music.)

I had an exam today in one of my Greek philosophy courses. All procrastination and laughably small amounts of sleep aside, I felt pretty good about it. After being reacquainted to how a pencil actually functions, I wrote my thoughts on the old Thucydical ideal of eikos.

Eikos, loosely translated from Greek, is basically how many of the antiquity-era Greeks wrote. To use eikos was to write as it probably happened. The "probably" serves as more of a noun than anything else. It is how people function according to the "human condition."

I think the Greek philosophers were very familiar with the... well, the familiar. If one can predict how a human might react in any given situation, then it can be assumed that that person understands the human condition very well. You understand selfish tendencies. You understand the "dog-eat-dog" mentality of civilization.

I hate eikos. Some people can thrive in an atmosphere of sameness. But not me. I don't want to be definable by an eikos. Oh sure, there are some norms that must be fulfilled throughout life in order to be able to belong to a society. But I think the human condition sucks. It is broken, and there seems like no easy fix in sight. Why should we live in the predictable?

Surprise people! Don't let what others think of you define you. You define you. When you are Christ-like, you break the mold. By being a good listener, taking friends out, loving others, refusing to pass judgment on others, or even read a Bible in public, you shed the eikos that controls the lives of so many others. Do not be afraid of what others think of you. Know that you are unique. Know that you are loved. And finally, be mindful that so many others are living in this state of eikos. Show them that it is who they are, and not the labels that society heaps on them, that really matters.

It's all Greek to me... Well, it was Greek to the translator at least.
Troy