Drôle Dostoyevsky

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First off, I want to thank Dostoyevsky for the amount of humor that was put into this book. The fact that he uses Cleopatra sticking golden pins into people’s breasts as in an example on how civilization has increased man’s desire for bloodshed is priceless. In this book he brings up really mind boggling societal questions the whole time, but because I was laughing so much I really enjoyed reading and wanted to know more. I don’t think I have ever read something that was more sarcastic than this.  That being said, he is still extremely smart and witty in his writing. The whole chapter on how people do things out of sheer boredom is a very interesting argument to read.  I don’t agree with him that things like religion and loving someone are consequences of the human race being bored (I have to admit I felt a little personally insulted there), but the idea in itself, that most of what we do in life is done out of sheer boredom, was interesting to think over. The ideas Dostoyevsky puts forth in this work on society are, in general, humorous yet also very provoking. Every statement that he has made so far is very bold and requires a lot of thought to properly examine. I have thoroughly enjoyed this book, and I am looking forward to tomorrow’s discussion.  Side Question: Do we educate ourselves out of sheer boredom from the physical world? I know I personally start going crazy in the summer sometimes if I have nothing to do. I know we all need breaks, but I think I need school just to have something that keeps my mind busy.

P.S I commented on Sophia and Trey's post. 

Comments

  1. Will BradyNovember 13, 2017 at 11:22 PM

    I'm going to be totally honest, hearing that you laughed over the breast-pinning is… troubling.

    In modern America his comments about man doing everything out of boredom bear more weight than they did two hundred years ago. Back then almost all of man's energy went into making a living to survive; can you be doing something simultaneously to survive and "just because?" All the leisure time and capitalistic benefits Americans have bring us a lot closer to Dostoyevsky's philosophy, though. I still keep going back to Candide's garden through all this... Work keeps away boredom.

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