Blind Man’s Guide to Topography

In a series of well-organized paragraphs, explain first why you believe that good generally ought to be rewarded while evil should be punished (or if you don’t believe so, explain why you don’t). How do you justify your own good fortune? Then discuss why humans ought to act ethically, even if they might reap no rewards and might actually be punished for doing so. End by speculating on why God seems to punish a good man (Job).

Good deeds in Judaism are referred to at “Mitzvahs”. People should strive for Mitzvahs as a form of self-fulfillment, no different than waking up or brushing your teeth. People are expected to perform Mitzvahs on a regular basis, not taking it too seriously- i.e. helping an old woman across the street, turning in a lost item to police, or picking up a fallen item in a grocery store and returning it to the shelves. The purpose of these Mitzvahs is not to seek any sort of reward, and it isn’t to be given the honor of upstanding citizen. The entire point focuses on how when we do good things, we can give ourselves a feeling of righteousness and helpfulness that is special to us. If you flaunt your good deeds, then the point is erased, because now you’re bragging to others about how good of a person you are, negating the good deed. This chain reaction is explored in hit television series “The Good Place”, which I can’t recommend enough. Seriously, watch it. Anyways, I feel like good *is* rewarded- often times what goes around comes back to you. As much as I don’t believe in spirituality or karma, the sentiment is still nice. When you do something good and don’t tell anyone- or perform this “Mitzvah”- the next time something good happens to you, you’ll be inclined to think it was a “thank you” from the universe. Even though the two events aren’t really connected, some people find solace thinking they are. Using good deeds to justify your good fortune falls into this personal feelings category. If it makes you feel better to believe that doing good things will give you greater favor in the eyes of a higher power, do what makes you happy. Religious people tend to correlate things to justify their belief, so there’s really no stopping them. Adding to that, the good feeling you give yourself after doing something good is a reward in and of itself- at least to me. Doing something for someone and watching them smile, watching them rejoice over an action you thought to be so small, that feeling is indescribable to me.

As for evil- actions from others that make us angry or uncomfortable are better to ignore than to expect karma from. Of course, we believe evil should be punished in some form. In extreme cases, these actions are punished appropriately with jail time or some sort of disciplinary infraction. But for minor cases like inconveniences or rudeness, believing in divine justice won’t work. Your high school bully generally won’t have their comeuppance, your crappy boss probably won’t lose his wife and job in one fell sweep, your gaslighting mother probably won’t suddenly realize the error of her ways and buy you whatever you wanted as a kid to make up for it. In reality, moderate “evil” won’t be punished- let alone witnessed by many people other than yourself. With cases of real evil such as Hitler, he got the “easy” way out. He went out on his own terms, never brought to justice. America keeps shoveling money at Israel to “get rid” of Hamas, killing civilians, instead of some sort of solution being drawn up. Cases of true evil generally don’t get punished, really, because the universe seems pretty random. It’s up to us, not up to God, to bring such cases to light- and to justice- instead of “praying the evil away”.

Even though I don’t believe that doing something good will make you more likely to attract good, and doing something bad won’t cause karma to fall upon you, I still believe that humans should aim to do good things. Nothing comes from being mean; you won’t feel better about yourself in a week after you yelled at the underpaid teenager at Wendy’s because he gave you a regular coke instead of diet. Your parents won’t pay more attention to you if you made fun of the depressed kid for wearing the same hoodie for a week. Others can’t expect God to strike down these mean people, but these mean people won’t walk away feeling 10 lbs lighter either. People do good things for the feeling it gives them. People act morally because it’s what they believe to be right- and people like being right. Even if people don’t really reap rewards for their good actions, many people believe that they do. This belief gives them purpose- gives them solace. Is that not reason enough? If someone dies happy that they lived their life trying their best, what use is it to tell them they’re wrong?

God’s punishment on Job is often viewed by modern Christians as a lesson to stay faithful and to not let your righteousness go in the face of temptation. Speaking with an ex-Christian friend of mine, he told me that he was taught the story was Satan trying to turn Job against God, and how by sticking by God, Job was rewarded with more than he started with. My friend interoperates the story as a reason why you should stay faithful, because Job did and Job was rewarded. In my own opinion, after looking at the story through the correct historical lens (no Satan), I feel like God’s punishment on Job is a way for the Bible to explain the randomness of the universe while allowing people to still have faith. There is no divine justice, but The Book of Job combats this by taking some random guy and giving him the worst punishments possible- all really for nothing. God punishes the random guy under the context of how well he can keep his faith, but in reality, small punishments happening to us every day don’t have an explanation. It’s common for anyone to face hardship- and it’s hard for Christians to believe that there is a God looking out for them and allowing this to happen. Job’s story gives Christians a reason to keep their faith, because they believe that holding out can secure them a spot in Heaven.

a. The point of the poem is to represent the Garden of Eden- specifically Adam and Eve’s exit. Dickenson compared Eden to an “old fashioned house”, where we live in without problem. We often neglect the joy we may get from simple things, putting things where we like them, feeling comfortable. In the Bible, when Adam and Eve are exiled, they have had no previous knowledge of the outside world. Eve was only told that eating from the tree of knowledge would kill her- she didn’t know exactly what God had meant. When she and Adam ate the fruit, they were not aware of exactly what they had done. God banishes them from the garden, and suddenly they’re thrust into a new world full of new experiences they’d never have imagined in Eden. Much like the house, as soon as they left, they understood what they had lost. “Unconscious our returning, but discover it no more”.

b. I’ve been in my house since late 2016. I’ve gone through a few beds, a few couches, two tv’s, and a bathroom remodel. The house has slowly been made our own. When my brother Jasper initially left for college, I would sit in his room and think about how one day my room would be immortalized- how one day I’d pick up a stuffed animal for the last time, how one day I’d draw my curtains for the last time. When I eventually leave, I’ll have to pack as much as I can to feel like home. I know that as soon as I’m settled in my dorm, I’ll remember an important piece of clothing or toy that I just need to take with me, but I can’t move the entire room. Much like Adam and Eve, I’ll have to leave it all behind and start again. Much like Dickenson, I’ll dwell happily in my home and in my room, unaware of the life I’ll make for myself in a new place until I’m shoved out the door. I get terrible anxiety from the feeling that I’ll be on my own, but I know that the “drive away” is the first step to take- I’m just not sure how I’ll be feeling when I finally take it.

c. My maternal grandparents live in an apartment-esque downstairs area in our house. They’ve always been there, something I always assumed they’d be. The smell of Yankee Candles, the soft carpet, the tv always playing some reality show or news channel- it’s all stuck in my mind as something in the background. I don’t think about them leaving, so I often assume they’ll be there once I get back from college. In reality, my grandpa is 83 years old. Most men in his family didn’t see 84. They’re getting older, and so the thing I fear most upon my return is them being gone. My grandma has always been there for me, always sticking up for me in every situation. If my mom made something I don’t like for dinner, my grandparents would always have an extra plate of their food. If I ever needed advice on something embarrassing, my grandma would always listen. I love them with my whole heart, and can’t think of the day they’re not there for me anymore.

Best piece of advise I’ve ever gotten was “you can be the sweetest peach on the tree, but some people just don’t like peaches”. I found it on the internet at a really hard time in my life, when I was figuring out that being a people pleaser doesn’t work.

In freshman year of high school, I tried so hard to be friends with everyone. Every other friend I made I felt like I was desperately keeping up a game for their approval. In turn, I started hanging out with the wrong crowd. The impossible-to-please. And as much as I tried, and talked, and offered myself, people still decided to find me annoying and strange. I had been dealing with being called weird my entire life since I had moved to Connecticut, and just didn’t know what to do.

One of my close friends at the time had a small group they wanted me to be a part of. Even though I didn’t really like them (they had very different interests and ideas of fun), I felt the need to be accepted and liked by “cooler kids”. After weeks of being blown off and ignored with no explanation, one day it blew up. My friend had tried to have us get along, and never told me they didn’t actually like me. Since I had no idea, I kept trying, until the day I woke up to paragraphs of text calling me the worst person they’ve ever met. Of course, looking back, these people were incredibly troubled and I never really liked them either, but the amount of panic and hurt that shot through me at that moment still hasn’t been topped.

It hurt that day, and the day after that, and the day after that. For days and days I felt helpless, and even though I knew it wasn’t really my fault, it still hurts like hell to get called an asshole for not reading someone else’s mind. I spent days wallowing in my own mistakes, wishing to text them, wishing to go back, wishing to feel better. Until I was doom scrolling one day on tiktok, and came across possibly the greatest piece of advice I’ve ever heard. On a random video I stumbled across by chance, in the comment section, someone had sent a comment to cheer up the original creator of the video. The comment read “you can be the sweetest peach on the tree, but come people just don’t like peaches”. Reading it made me realize that being a people pleaser and trying everything to gain other’s approval sometimes just won’t work. Not everyone’s going to automatically love me, not everyone will vibe with me, and most importantly, I can’t expect it or force it.

Even now, I have issues with wanting others to like me. I understand I can be a little much for most people, and I’m happy with the friends I do have. Due to being neurodivergent, I have a hard time understanding social cues or having self restraint. Trying to please others comes from this neurodivergence as well. Even though I try my hardest to be the sweetest peach- I have a loving boyfriend, best friends of many years, and a family that loves me. I can make friends fairly easily now, because I understand the fact that some people will hate peaches, and I can’t do anything about that. There’s no use in trying to force others to like you, and that’s okay. Some people just don’t vibe.

I often stare at others and get the sudden realization that they are internally monologuing at this very moment. Every single person who has a conscious brain are constantly making decisions, going through unimaginable things, having thoughts and feelings. Reacting internally. Sonder is kind of a scary feeling, it’s strange to imagine someone else having as complex of a life as you. People you’ve never even seen are living their lives on the other side of the world, loving and learning and living in a completely different environment. To each of these people, their meanings of life are all drastically different. Standing in a room of people, someone may be a devout Christian, who believes the meaning of life is to please God and get into Heaven. Another may be planning to commit suicide the next day, believing that there is no purpose to life. You may believe that the meaning of life is the journey you take through it. So, what’s the right answer? Truthfully, we can’t know. Knowing the true, finite, meaning to life (in my opinion) would upset many, and ruin the experiences we go through. If everyone knew and believed that there was a heaven, people would drive themselves crazy developing a point system to figure out if they’re good enough. If people knew there was no real purpose, then they would do nothing with themselves. The way we figure out if life has value and meaning is by living. We make our stories, we drive to and from work, we get rich, we end up homeless, we start wars, we love, we hate, we experience. The human experience *is* experiencing, the meaning of life *is* to live. Humans often decide what their meaning and purpose is in adolescence, when we get out of high school and go to college. People start to develop themselves, and often find some sort of purpose. Of course, this response is just one perspective on the big question. Some others may be much less optimistic about this topic, focusing on the fact that we all die anyways so there is no point.

A) 1.) Having gone to Coachella at least once. A good Coachella, one with artists I really enjoy, and I have a personal camper van to keep myself comfortable. 2.) A “soulmate”. I don’t necessarily believe in soulmates, but I want someone to spend the rest of my life with. I have a boyfriend now, and I see him as “the one”, but anything could happen. 3.) A nice house. Not too big, because I don’t need all that space, but a house that I can decorate to my personality and make a home in. 4.) My dream dog, a Pomeranian. I want one to pet and love and train. I love tiny sweet dogs. 5.) More trips or vacations with my parents. I want more time with them, and I’m always anxious that I’m not doing enough with them.

B) I want to be remembered by the way I treated others. I always try to live my life open minded, and I always try to include people and show kindness. I’ve known many people who I won’t remember for their kindness, and so I’d like to be the person that someone can look back on and think “she was so sweet”.

C) The material items I listed are important to me because of my needs or wants for them. I need some sort of personal space to live in, hence wanting a house. I want a companion and furbaby to take care of, hence wanting a dog. The other items listed, such as a soulmate or a vacation with my parents, are valued so high up to me because of the experiences they offer. My parents won’t be around forever, and I put a high importance on finding love. As for my impression on others, I’m a firm believer that being bitter to someone helps nothing. Sometimes it feels good, but only in very few occasions. People have bullied me throughout my school experience, and so I know very well how it feels. It sucks. I don’t want other people to feel the same, not even the people who pick on me.

D) People in society often value money, items, and status, because society pushes the idea that one needs money to be happy and fulfilled. Because of this, modern people often yearn for large ticket items, big house, big car, expensive trips, and I suppose I may fall somewhat into this because of societal standards. People have found that houses keep us safe, and so everyone needs a house. Wealthier people tend to fear or avoid homeless people, because without a basic necessity, people get uncomfortable with the situation the person must be in. As for companionship, people are manufactured to want other people to be with. Almost nobody wants to die “forever alone”, so people fill that with relationships, children, or pets. Spending time with family is important to people, whether that family is biological or discovered. Quality time gives people memories that they won’t forget, and vacations, road trips, or concerts are perfect memories to make.

Utnapishtim’s advice of impermanence gives us the notion that we will all die. Everything will return to as it was, the wave returns to the ocean. The world is ever-changing, ever-evolving. Utnapishtim says himself that “there is no permanence. Do we build a house to stand for ever, do we seal a contract to hold for all time?” (106-7). Everything humans have done, everything they have built, is never permanent. One day the cave paintings will erode away. One day the ruins of ancient civilizations will crumble and be lost. As terrifying as it is to think about, humanity really is a blip in the entirety of the universe. However, we can find comfort (at least, I can). When I start to feel existential, I just shrink my thoughts. Instead of thinking about the universe’s timeline, I think about my own. Every single human on Earth has a different timeline, and although one day we will die and our work will be gone, we can think about the impacts we make as we live. Not everyone is going to be like Gilgamesh- remembered 5000 years later- but that doesn’t mean we should give up. Focus on our loved ones and the people we know. Be kind for no reason. Create art, even if you never plan to put it out there. The meaning of life is to go on a journey of personal discovery- to create, to love, to form bonds, to form a personality. Find your likes and dislikes, have children, go to clubs. Work all week and go on a shopping spree on the weekends. Keep living, because without death, there is nothing to live for. “Everlasting life was not [our] destiny. Because of this do not be sad at heart” (118), instead be thankful that you get to experience life.

Humans create a sense of order and eternal life through religion. For many human beings, faith is a key factor in how life works. Be faithful to your God, follow their rules, and you will be rewarded. Humans love order- they love the feeling that they can control things that are out of their control. Rich people like Mark Zuckerberg or Elon Musk create that order through their companies, as they have enough money to feel like they are in control. Others organize themselves to have some semblance of perfect control over a situation. In the long run, however, we can’t control anything, really. When the Sun blows up, we won’t be able to stop it.

Heroism can be defined many ways, and by many different people with many different cultures. Ranging from Odysseus’ persistence to Luke Skywalker’s bravery to Hercules’ might and wit, characteristics of heroes have generally stayed the same. Typically, a hero in fantasy is someone (typically a man) who is strong, brave, and for “the greater good”. Vigilantes like Batman are heroes that serve the greater good, but not necessarily the people. People think of heroes as having strong moral compasses, but considering the actions of Achilles or Hercules, this trait seems to be less important. This puts into question whether these figures could be considered heroes- as well as the factors of fame or fortune. When placed in a situation where doing something good = getting recognized, many of the “heroes” people think of when asked fit into the category of doing a good action for the recognition. We discussed in class the highest mitzvah, and as I think back to the heroes mentioned in the question, I can’t think of one who did something to help someone without getting something in return. True heroes, as I see them, should aim for that high mitzvah- aim to do good just because. See the look on someone’s face after doing something nice, don’t announce it to the world. Courage and strength are important when dealing with big bads, but what’s the point when you either do it to save yourself, or win the princess of Troy, or gain recognition with the Gods, or be considered “cool” by a crush. For heroines, I feel they’re often given a bad rep. When a series or movie comes out about a female hero (think the Harley Quinn show or She Hulk or She-Ra), there’s always a large portion of viewers who poke fun at the “wokeness” of the media. Shows with strong female or LBGTQ+ protagonists are seen as “pandering” to the feminists, trying to “get their diversity points”. The reason women haven’t portrayed as “heroic” as men is because of sexism and misogyny, unfortunately. However, women *can* be strong and women *can* be brave- it’s just men tend to feel threatened by women (who they want to impress or show up) who are stronger or braver than them. Historically throughout media, heroes have been seen to show up “when the world needs them”- when someone asks “can anybody call a doctor”, a hero responds “I am a doctor!”. When the world is threatened by an alien invasion, the reclusive hero comes out of hiding to save the universe. When someone is in danger, the hero happens to swoop by and save the day. In reality, heroes can be anyone with enough courage to step up. Talking a stranger down from a ledge. Helping a woman you don’t know across the street. Pointing someone in the right direction at a crossroads. Offering to help at a task. Reality doesn’t require a crime-fighting superhero to stop the villain from robbing the bank, just someone who has the ability within them to say “do you need help”. People who truly want to help don’t need to be considered heroes, as heroes need a title to feel secure about the good work they are doing. “Unhappy the land that needs heroes”- why would society need to flaunt good deeds in order to feel fulfilled. Why can’t we just be happy helping others and ourselves, with no extra cost of recognition.

Ok that was the end but imma go informal to rant about MR JIMMY BEAST. That guy pisses me the heck off like as we talk about heroes someone’s gonna talk about those DAMNEDDD youtube philanthropists like Mr. Beast. I DO NOT CAREEE he has done nothing for the world that he hasn’t effed up again, and evebnb when he does good things like cure the blind or build houses hes doing it because a sponsership gave him money to make them look good as he does bullcrap philanthropy. he just wants clicks clicks clicks. I’m sure you’re familiar with the dogpack404 videos where he exposes mr beast team for being terrible. Gambling for children, crappy quality candy bars, mistreating employees and breaking promises. Small children see that guy as a hero, couldn’t be further from the truth. Again this is NOT part of the assignment I just had to get that out there.

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