Yesterday I watched a whole bunch of movies featuring time loops, in honor of Groundhog Day (both the actual day - of mythical meteorological lore; as well as the classic 90's movie). I started off with
Looper and
Source Code (more recent movies), and followed them with another classic 90's film,
12 Monkeys. Of course,
Groundhog Day was the ultimate end-game.
Movies like these always remind me of Nietzsche's concept of
Eternal return/recurrence.
If you had to repeat the same day (or entire life), would you do things differently?
Would you consider repeating this life a blessing or a curse?
Albert Camus, early 20th century writer and philosopher, famously posed the philosophical conundrum of the value/necessity of suicide in the face of the intrinsic absurdity of life and existence. He refers to Sisyphus (of Greek mythology) and his being forced to push a boulder up a hill for all eternity. According to Camus, "one must imagine Sisyphus happy."
So, the way I see it, is that you can approach this dilemma with one of two broad approaches:
1. Take the proactive approach. Dedicate your every action, (both on the minute and trivial scale, as well as the grand and significant life choices that shape the long-term outcomes in our lives) to choices/outcomes that ultimately lead to a better life experience in the long run (one truly worth repeating indefinitely).
2. Or, acknowledging the absurdity and meaninglessness of it all, but taking it on with an attitude of acceptance.
Personally, I lean more towards the first approach, but a healthy dose of the second approach is important when it comes time to deal with the impact of failure brought about by the first approach. Not to mention, there are always some things that we simply cannot control, no matter how "free" our will truly is.
