I'm not backing down on this one.
They may be experiences, but they aren't important. You're probably
the kind of person who, when he plays chess, tries to capture as many
pieces as possible instead of remembering the Prime Directive: to
checkmate the king.
We don't have to experience EVERYTHING in this life. There's not
enough time, and frankly, not everything is worth experiencing.
That's why you have a brain: to filter out the stuff in life that
is unimportant. And believe me, pursuing lots of relationships,
in the grand scheme of things, is vastly inferior in import and
quality, than pursuing that one, single, meaningful relationship.
I repeat: we do not have to experience everything in life. Period.
I don't have to murder someone to know that killing is wrong.
I don't have to steal someone to know that theft is wrong.
I don't have to betray someone's trust to know that duplicity is wrong.
And I don't have to pursue many relationships to know that all you
end up doing, ultimately, is forfeiting future time you'll spend
with THE ONE.
Think about it.
----
adam@cs.caltech.edu
As for religion, literally, I'm in a corner case between Hinduism (duty,
fate, static world) and 'Americanism' (individual destiny, change the
world). I haven't reconciled determinism and free will. I feel it is my
*duty* to excel individually and change the world in exchange for all
the blessings of my circumstances. I am not lucky to have the power and
gifts I have; I am due to push myself to the edge.
-- Rohit Khare