Is the Unexamined Life Worth Living?

   
     

     To examine life is to take into question that which we encounter.  When people examine life, they grow as individuals by understanding what motivates them to do something or why something is a certain way. I would equate a worthless life to one without meaning.  We are unique in our thought and emotion, and without that, we may as well be zombies.  I'm not sure that I understand how two people could even make a true connection if they were not examining life, for if they weren't, what makes them individuals?  It is our perceptions and self-awareness that allow us to express that self to another person.  The individual is definitely a Western concept, but in the society that I've grown up in, it is the strong individual that examines the world and can bring something new.
       Nothing comes of an unexamined life.  Our human experience is distinguished by our ability of mental awareness and to examine our own existence.  Examining one's life allows one to feel emotions, on both ends of the spectrum, to the fullest.  For instance, when someone examines what they are grateful for or finds the beauty around them, they are able to feel joy far beyond anyone who has not examined these pleasures.  Also, when one reads into his or her own faults, those of the community, and of the world, they may feel far deeper remorse than one living an unexamined life.  It is these powerful emotions that give humans the drive to impact society and make meaningful connections with one another.