Eighteen - Unfinished and Quest#
date: July 11, 2022
slug: 1
status: Published
tags: Essay
type: Post
When I was young, I read the Book of Changes without fully understanding it, and now I have forgotten most of its content, but I still vaguely remember the names of each hexagram.
The Book of Changes begins with the hexagrams Qian and Kun, but the last hexagram is "Unfinished".
What does "Unfinished" mean? Confucius' "Sequence of Hexagrams" says, "Things cannot be exhausted, so they are received as unfinished and end." When the Book of Changes reaches the hexagram Ji Ji, Qian and Kun are almost exhausted. The contradictions seem to disappear, and the struggle has stopped. But dialectical materialism tells us that contradictions will never disappear. "Things cannot be exhausted," so there will still be unfinished after completion, and the changes in contradictions are endless.
Once the clock strikes twelve tonight, according to the Chinese lunar calendar, it means that I will officially join the world of adults.
Yes, I am eighteen years old, an adult.
Being an adult means that I have officially ended the awkwardness and fear of adolescence, even if there is still a lingering feeling in my heart;
Being an adult means that I have to officially take on the responsibilities of a citizen, even if I am not yet independent;
Being an adult means that I seem to no longer be a child. The "I have grown up" that I dreamed of when I was a child seems to be rushing towards me now, pulling me forward to face this world.
Time passes by day and night without stopping.
Fortunately, I have arrived in this world, and today happens to be my eighteenth year.
When I read, I often wonder: as a "modern person," how should we face the crisis of modernity?
What is the crisis of modernity?
What is modernity?
Modernity is "the waves behind the Yangtze River push the waves ahead, and a new generation replaces the old." It is the revolution of old and new. Now, too many ways of life are either being subverted or in the process of being subverted. Of course, optimists call it "iteration." In the frequent iterations, it seems that all industries will quickly become traditional industries. Failing to keep up with the times is the most fatal challenge of this era. Many things as solid as the Great Wall have quickly disappeared. It seems that in the blink of an eye, the familiar old jokes have become the tears of the times, and the latest news and knowledge are being poured into my brain by big data and the Internet.
"Chaotic flowers gradually enchanting the eyes" is the most realistic portrayal of this rapidly developing society.
As the values of modernity penetrate into people's hearts, liberalism and egalitarianism are gradually infiltrating our consciousness. However, liberalism and egalitarianism require pluralism, and pluralism and relativism are twin siblings. Relativism is the spiritual soil in which the crisis of modernity lurks. Everything is in flux, everything can be deconstructed at will. Standards are no longer standards, virtues are no longer virtues. Everything is relative, truth, value, beauty, good, bad, right, wrong...
This way of thinking may not be entirely wrong, but it is by no means completely correct. Allan Bloom pointed out keenly, "In this way, the differences between people and cultures seem to disappear, and there is more sufficient basis for opposing discrimination. However, on the other hand, the motivation to drive humans to pursue noble and excellent qualities has also disappeared. Even if these qualities are found, there is no need to praise them."
Whether it is the changes in the micro-narratives of everyday life or the changes in the macro-narratives of the era, the wheels of time are rolling forward. In the midst of speed and change, I firmly believe that there will always be a solid core in this society, which, after being tempered by time, still emits an unchanging brilliance. This core is manifested in the efforts of younger students for the future, in the dedication of teachers who go deep into the mountains to bring light, and in every one of us who never give up. This core is our pursuit of fairness and justice, our expectations of benevolence and righteousness, and our adherence to moral laws that are more in line with human nature and the direction of human development.
In the seventeen years that have passed, time and personal growth have changed, but my love for reading and computers, and my pursuit of beautiful things, remain unchanged.
After the college entrance examination, I was particularly anxious - big data algorithms are too powerful. Various videos and articles that I already like or may like are competing to appear on the homepages of various apps and websites. The distance traveled by my thumb on the phone screen may exceed the distance traveled by my feet. I spend a lot of time on these things every day, but they not only do not help my growth, but may also form an information cocoon, making me even more narrow-minded.
Understanding should be based on truth, but truth does not always present itself automatically.
After realizing this, I gradually narrowed down my channels of information acquisition, strictly controlled the role of big data, and consolidated the majority of my information sources. I refused the recommendations of algorithms and focused on improving myself in my own field. When faced with various events, I ask myself more often, "Is it true?" and "Why?"
The longer I surf the internet, the more I want to reopen books, not to seek the truth, but for inner peace. The information brought to me by the internet has overloaded me, and serious reading is what my heart desires. As a grain of sand in the era, sometimes I have strength, but more often I feel powerless. But there is no choice but to read, think, and make the greatest effort to live a good life.
In the midst of change and permanence, I have stumbled through seventeen years and am about to embark on a new journey. As I often say to my good friends, "No regrets in making choices, the act of choosing itself is moving forward." Along the way, despite many regrets, there is more joy, many people I love and who love me. Making choices in life is not always smooth, but I strive not to go against my heart. Summing up the experience of seventeen years, changing my shortcomings, maintaining my strengths, never giving up, and optimistically continuing to move forward.
I have rambled on for a long time. Seventeen years is so long, and the future is also so long. It is difficult to write everything in one social media post; seventeen years is short, and life seems short too. One social media post seems more than enough.
Anyway,
Happy 18th birthday to myself!