Conumdrum

by Incredible_E

Rating: everyone
Tags: Random, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Boulder, Mystery, Gummy
Length: 2893

A gator and a rock philosophically inquire about the meaning of life.

Gummy came to the conclusion that he lives a cursed life. Troubled, he turned to the only one who may be able to mend the issue. Boulder hopes some sort of resolution --- desired or not --- can be reached through Socratic dialogue.

Written as in entry for Perfectly Insane's Dialogue-Only Contest. Go check it out!

Published 2024-06-07 16:50:00 UTC
Last updated 2024-06-07 16:50:00 UTC

It is not 42

“Gummy, we meet again.”

“Indeed we do, Boulder.”

“I enjoyed our last discussion on the definitions of justice immensely. It was quite fulfilling and gave me profound entertainment when observing the world afterward. It is a shame none of us are able to publish our findings.”

“Our shame is many millions’ misfortune and centuries of continued injustice. Though, our discussions are far from over. Something has been bothering me lately.”

“Gummy, in all the universe, what could possibly trouble you? Do tell me so we may restore the status quo.”

“I find myself cursed. Even you are a part of this. Though, it seems to me you have no issue — at least you have not made it known.”

“I am eager to hear this curse that plagues me as well.”

“It is life itself, the very reason why all things that are observable are what they seem to be. The problem does not lie in life itself, but the reasons of life relative to the end of all things. I also mean the ‘meaning of life’ not just as in ‘lifeform’ but as ‘to be conscious,’ since the meaning of life in the sense of a lifeform is simply to reproduce.”

“Then, yes. I have thought over the meaning of life in the same way you mean many times over.”

“Does it not bother you?”

“Why should it?”

“It begins how this conversation started, our inability to share our wisdom with others. Wisdom that could benefit many and solidify our memory, not as statues, but as reasons for having been the origin of greater things. It is not only limited to that; I am mortal, as we all are, and with this inability to speak, I might as well not exist at all.”

“Gummy, such preposterous thinking.”

“I do not think so. Boulder, our curse is our capacity to think of answers to the most complex of questions that has bewildered conscious thought since consciousness knew it was conscious and be unable to share it to any other. I feel no greater pain than this. I often wonder how much easier everything would be if I were like other reptiles. Tank, for example, ignorant to most around him, but content with anything and the needlessness to speak wisdoms. He is untroubled because he is not blocked as I am. With this disability, I often think I too should be mindless and thus be boiled down to trivial habits of survival and reproduction only. Is my certain set of predicaments a curse to my blessing? Or is it as dirty water seeped into a clean reservoir? Does it ruin the purity and plague it with its corrupted self? Is consciousness a curse to me?”

“So you believe because you are unable to share wisdom that you should not be able to have wisdom at all?”

“That is a good summary of what I mean.”

“So, if a pony is unable to possess a cutie mark for some reason, should they give up all talents or traits they already possess and stop the search for any others?”

“Not at all. Life would otherwise be nothing more than our ‘lifeform’ definition — nothing more than reproduction and breathing.”

“Should a bird that cannot fly no longer be considered a bird?”

“That goes against other laws like biology.”

“That is right. It destroys other fundamental laws. So now I ask, should life not live at all?”

“Whatever do you mean by this? How can you relate life to an inability?”

“Would you say that mortality is the inability to last forever?”

“Yes, they are opposites.”

“So life, a temporary occurrence, possesses the inability to be immortal. Therefore, according to your previous thought, if life is unable to possess immortality, should life give up?”

“A striking question, Boulder. Then, I suppose I wonder what the purpose itself is. I cannot think about why it should continue if an ending of nothingness is guaranteed.”

“Tell me about this inevitable ending of nothingness. For it is your intelligence and experience that makes both of us able to be wise, and it is my wisdom and experience that helps me apply your intelligence.”

“Boulder, the universe is expanding, I can see it when I focus my vision through the wavelengths. Every star is redshifting. All moving away from us from every direction. Then, there are two possibilities — yes, even I do not know the conclusion of the universe — either a great rip or a recycle of the universe. Though, the difference is negligible; both end up wiping away all life and what achievements it has accomplished. So if it will all end and mean nothing? What is the point?”

“You use ‘meaning’ as if life has meaning to lose in the first place.”

“That is right — there are many meanings to life if we waive the ending of it all.”

“What is the meaning of life for a colt and filly?”

“To find their talent in life.”

“What is the meaning of life for a salespony?”

“To sell their products.”

“What is the meaning of life for a virus?”

“To multiply, but viruses do not live.”

“Life doesn’t need to be living to have a life.”

“How so, Boulder?”

“You are a living thing, right?”

“I would consider myself a living thing.”

“Because of what?”

“My choices and actions throughout by observable mortality.”

“I will ask you this, Gummy. Can you make something out of nothing?”

“No, that breaks many laws. There must be something to create a something else.”

“Do these somethings have to be of the same properties?”

“To make gold, you must have matter. So to make matter, you need matter.”

“So how can dead things make living things?”

“I don’t understand.”

“You are a living thing, we cannot deny this, but you are completely one-hundred percent made out of static things void of life in the sense of how many classify life. The same as I am made of non-living atoms.”

“So what is the line between dead and alive?”

“We must save that for another day. For now, I wish to direct back into the primary topic. Do you now agree that a virus, even if not living as what we consider alive, has a purpose?”

“It is apparent.”

“So, what is the meaning of life for a virus?”

“To multiply.”

“So now we have to define life not only as a meaning, but a purpose.”

“It would seem so.”

“Would you say a machine has a purpose?”

“Yes, as a sewing machine sews.”

“Does this machine have a lifespan?”

“Yes, it will work until it fails to sew anymore.”

“We then have no option but to conclude this machine has a purpose, the purpose of sewing, and a lifespan until it ceases to function.”

“It can not be refuted.”

“Then is it the same as a virus multiplying until it can no longer multiply? Or as a pony living until it can no longer live?”

“If you mean to say that life is the process of conducting a function, then I would agree.”

“That is what I mean.”

“So, the meaning of life is to simply live?”

“Partially. We still have to look at the function itself. Because it is bleak and untrue to say that a pony — in other words, life — lives until it can no longer live, because that lacks meaning, and we are here to find that very meaning.”

“I suppose that is true.”

“Gummy, follow me through one more set of inquiries, and we will soon return you to equilibrium. To find meaning to the purpose, we need to dissect the previous. A sewing machine sews, as we have established, for purpose, but what is the meaning of its sewing?”

“Well, to produce a shirt.”

“So as to achieve a result?”

“Yes.”

“Then, a living pony lives, but what is the meaning of this living, Gummy?”

“As the sewing machine achieves a result, a living pony should also achieve a result, since both, in the sense of purpose, live. For living, the result is the meaning. So as the sewing machine is to a shirt, the living pony is to its accomplishments.”

“An outstanding and true comparison. How does one achieve accomplishments?”

“By doing what they must in relation to the achievement.”

“So as to be in the present.”

“Though, sewing machines can sew not only shirts, but also leggings and linens.”

“Yes, this means that its purpose is flexible. In turn, this means that one's meaning of life can also change as time moves forward.”

“My goodness, Boulder. Surely the meaning of life is not this simple.”

“Why should it be so complicated?”

“I suppose there is no reason for that either.”

“If something is what it is, then truly it is nothing more or less.”

“To summarize, we have come to a conclusion that the meaning of life is what one does in the present and this meaning can change as one sees fit.”

“Yes, Gummy.”

“Then what about the inevitable end? We have not addressed this. Instead, we threw it out. We forwent something that should not and cannot be removed, as it is fundamental to all things.”

“Sometimes it is important to nullify fundamentals to find what is truly present. Just like how, to discover what justice is, we first had to find out what injustice was. Moving forward, let us now take our definition and put it to practice. Would you agree that an end is an end no matter how it is done?”

“I concur.”

“So, the end of the universe is the same as the death of an individual?”

“They are both endings to life.”

“So let us work on the individual, but as a symbol of all things relating to the relationship between life and its end.”

“I will happily subscribe to this analogy.”

“All individuals die, but do all individuals leave something memorable behind?”

“No, and this is my curse.”

“Then we must come to a conclusion, or else you will find no peace.”

“I am interested to see if we can.”

“In the sense of history, would a farmer or a king be remembered most?”

“The king, of course.”

“Did both live as we have defined it?”

“Yes, both served a purpose in their present.”

“But are these purposes equal?”

“In what sense?”

“The purpose of the farmer is to farm for the kingdom. The purpose of the king is to lead his kingdom and family to glory. Both are important, however, unequal in the sense of historical memory. Would you agree?”

“I understand now. I agree that these purposes are unequal in the sense of memory and also history.”

“But both lived lives all the same?”

“In principle, they both lived their lives, yes.”

“If the farmer and king conducted their purpose equally as good, did they live the same happy life? This is to assume living happily is to achieve your purpose to the best possible capacity.”

“In the sense of their purpose, which is the meaning of life, they are both just as happy.”

“So then it does not matter if one is remembered, does it.”

“I suppose not. The farmer farmed to his best ability, and history did not remember them, but yet, they lived a happy life.”

“Though, this is where life does not become as simple as we previously thought.”

“Indeed, there are many things that can affect one’s happiness.”

“Though, happiness and life are not directly related nor dependent on each other, are they?”

“Right, they can influence each other, but not control.”

“So, Gummy, what is your purpose? What is it to you presently? What is it you are achieving?”

“My purpose… I wish to acquire as much wisdom as one being can.”

“So your purpose is to become the wisest?”

“This means my meaning of life is collecting wisdom.”

“Are you doing a good job at this?”

“I would hope that discussing numerous complex subjects such as this would achieve that, or else I truly am not living as I thought I was.”

“Then, Gummy, why are you unhappy? As we established, if you are achieving your purpose well, then you are achieving the meaning of life and should be happy.”

“I am unhappy because I cannot share my wisdom.”

“By doing this, you bring the outside into your own self.”

“Is that dangerous?”

“Yes, it eliminates all self-worth if you are not the best at what you do. Comparison is the killer of happiness. It is as if you ask yourself, ‘what is the point if I am not the best,’ as it is similar to ‘‘what is the point if it will all end’ because both share a principle: remembrance. Just think about the farmer we just discussed and how they were happy even though history forgot about them.”

“So being not-the-best and the end of life are the same in this way?”

“Yes. If pony A and B are artists, and artist A is the best in the world, and artist B simply paints for themselves at an average skill level, who is the happiest according to our model?”

“Both.”

“But now, B wants to be remembered. The best way to be remembered is to become the best. So if B begins to compete with A, and B is not the best artist, who is the happiest?”

“A, but now B will be unhappy since they absorbed the real world fully into their own.”

“Exactly. Since B is not the best, far from it in our example, they will still not be remembered.”

“And since they compared and set themselves up in this world of competition and comparison, and failed to be the best and therefore not remembered, they will always be unhappy if they continue this perspective.”

“So what is the opposite of this perspective and thus the opposite of unhappiness?”

“To paint for the purpose of not being the best, but to be the best self possible and thus to be happy.”

“Though, if one believes they can be the best or surpass the current best, should they?”

“Certainly, I think all should push themselves to their best while targeting a goal. Even if looking at comparisons for themselves. They must remember moderation — a virtue of justice. However, they should always think about the alternatives if they fail to regulate their comparison as well.”

“Right, in this final stage, A and B are equally as happy, even though B will not be remembered as A will. In summary, live your meaning of life for yourself if you want to secure the most riskless happiness. Though, as the meaning of life can change, one can be riskier and pursue the former.”

“So how does this pertain to me? I possess a different condition than that of this example. A and B were able to communicate, but I cannot.”

“Both apply to the same principle of remembrance, correct?”

“Right. I cannot be remembered because I cannot communicate my wisdom, just as B cannot communicate their art if they wish to live the most riskless life and not compete to be the best.”

“In your case, Gummy, no one can know if you are the best due to your inability. So even if you are the best, no one knows you are the best; therefore, you are not the best and should not bring the world to you as it has no use.”

“That. . . makes complete sense. Furthermore, this has opened my eyes that I have been living as B did when they competed to be the best. I may not be competing or making comparisons, but I have brought the outside world into my own, risking my very happiness. I should act like the farmer and become content with my own abilities, not worrying about if I am the best farmer of wisdom.”

“We have figured it out. You must acknowledge that your wisdom will never be remembered, not because you are or are not the best, but because no one can know to begin with. You must separate your want, even while valid, and accept this condition, as it cannot be changed. For if you remove the outside world desire, you get to remain happy in what your meaning of life is: to gain as much wisdom as existence will allow.”

“Boulder, what is your meaning of life? Do you even get to choose?”

“Sometimes, choices are not an option, like in my condition. Even so, I am able to be satisfied. My meaning of life, in the macro realm, is to slowly degrade into sand, dust, then mere atoms drifting in the air. At that point, I will get to experience the entire world and visit new places. Believe it or not, I was once an actual boulder, even a mountain greater than the peak Canterlot resides on. But as I am now a pebble, I will eventually join the atom soup that will be the empty universe, soaring amongst dying black holes and making friends with the particles of Hawking radiation. Entropy is my life. Though, my immediate meaning of life is to give those who need my presence something or someone to talk to. I am only a rock after all.”