Is the unexamined life not worth living? Modern gadfly

The unexamined life is not worth living. If you don’t think about the deeper meaning of life or ask tough questions, then you can’t fully appreciate life. If people only focus on shallow ideas, they will be shallow people. People have to consider the reasoning behind their choices, from something as simple as choosing to give a homeless person some money to tougher choices such as a person’s viewpoint on abortion and the actions to take to support their viewpoint. Analyzing someone’s actions will help them see what kind of person they are and keep them from making the same mistakes over and over.

Of course, going to the extremes is another thing. People shouldn’t focus only on contemplating life. There are other things people must do, such as going to work. No one is expected to spend all day pondering the meaning of life. People need balance. We need to understand our options for our decisions and reflect our beliefs in our decisions, without focusing all of our lives on trying to figure out why we think a certain thing or make a certain choice. Asking questions is good, but there is a limit just as there is a limit to everything. Examining life is like water. Water is necessary to life but too much water can be harmful. Examine life, but don’t drown.

Choosing a modern “gadfly” is tough. Because there are so many ways to connect with people and so many people, it’s tough to have one specific person that a lot of people know. So many different people could fit the category: TV show hosts, politicians, family, celebrities, and so on. Different shows (such as Saturday Night Live or The Daily Show with Jon Stewart) are probably some of the closest things to a gadfly that we have in today’s society, but not one specific person stands out as a gadfly to me.