My wife and I have been making our way through The Good Place for the second-ish time. I say “ish” because we saw the first season about five times before the second and third came to Netflix. We love this show for many reasons, but I know that I am drawn to it through its mockery of moral philosophy and the people who wrote papers on the subject.
I am in no way a philosophy learned person. I am, however, drawn to the quandaries they present. Especially when faced head on with questions that may come up in the common day to day. The Good Place does that bit perfectly. It is the opposite of preachy, and just poignant enough to be deep.
It got me wondering where I would wind up. Without spoiling the show, the good place and bad place are what they sound like: places for your “soul” to end up after you leave this mortal coil. Looking back at my life, I can say with great confidence that I have no clue where I would end up.
It raises the question that because I am even asking the question of how things would end up, is that actually a negative trait or a positive one? Is it selfish to dilute actions without taking into consideration intentions and mitigating factors?
The very concept that we have papers and books and essays written on the topics of moral decisions, would they even matter in the grander scheme?
Then, I got wondering if “The Good Place” is really just something we do to ourselves? If our actions and self-punishment is potentially worse than any scripture or text could ever predict?
It’s very possible, in my mind, that we create our own heaven and hell. The way that we perceive our actions today dictates how pleasant our today is. To assume that we are going to be tormented for all time for something I do today is a bit, well, silly. There is a good chance that our own self aware mind is punishment enough.
I have toucher’d and tormented myself for things I have done over the last 30 years. Some of them, I should really get over and accept that either it was situational or an accident. Some things I am so ashamed that I have ever considered. Some things only I see as horrible because I know the motivation behind it.
Maybe, we’re all Good.
Maybe, none of it matters in the long run.
That brings me to a mild and brief explanation of my view: nothing matters. What matters is making now great. Now, does that mean live in extravagance? Look at it this way: is what you’re doing now hurting you later? That’s more what I think about when I say “nothing matters”. Now is all that you can admit to ever experiencing, so why not make now better?
On this topic, amazon.ca and amazon.co.uk have fully updated my book release to the newest version. amazon.com is giving me a world of grief, but I have been informed there is NOTHING I can do. As soon as I see this rectified, I will make sure to post something about it.
In the meantime, the Friessen Press bookstore continues to be the more reliable way if you want to pick up your copy. Unfortunately, I have no information on how their digital copies hold up, but hardcover and softcover? Unmatched, somehow. They do printing in the states, the UK, and Canada, and they do individual orders. And, for full transparency, they are the best for me. Just saying.
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