Finished up my college application essay based I based on The Myth of Sisyphus,and Absurdity. Is it a bit much?

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boywonderlord
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Finished up my college application essay based I based on The Myth of Sisyphus,and Absurdity. Is it a bit much?

Post by boywonderlord »

While some consideration could be made for the journey and experience,and maybe some pittance should be made for the stories that have hazily been thrown together under the guise of having “learnt something”,what drives me back to thought every night is how I handle my aspects.There is not much room when it
comes to truth, just question. “Can one stay with time? Can one truly give up the future?”. These questions are ailments but at times they brings me to pause. For the absurd it is true that there is no future, which gives way to hopelessness, but also to freedom. While the character remains the same, the search, the intention, changes. It is not an ethical guideline, it is an understanding of which no victory is permanent, and death gives way to ultimate defeat. Depth of experience joins the eternal and becomes a fiction, and ultimately the absurd man seeks out excess of experience, realizing it to be of value. But I find something lacking in the inhuman nature of this rebellion against death. To be one with time is to never dream, to hold no regrets,to need no justifications, and to have these suspicious “freedoms”. I simply wonder what one is to do with all these freedoms, as we are not all free to be the seducer, the traveler or the conqueror. Natural impulse and fear control us regardless of our universal understanding, and the resulting freedoms seem to be more imaginative than anything else. To me, it seems false.

Perhaps Camus would respond by calling it a gratuitous revolt, one that, regardless of its meaningless nature, finds purpose in the “awareness of its mad character”. However, this defiance becomes more than just one against death, it becomes a defiance against the human organism, against all of our “ailments”. The contradictions of an attempt against making judgements present in a being that is, dare I say, MEANT, to make judgements becomes so clear that it drives to madness. I begin to see that we are not apart from our systems. As much as the universe is indifferent, we can not be. The universe has no weakness, and we have many. To try to be universal, is this not the folly of man? So then one must not be universal, and certainly Diogenes would agree, but one must ask himself the purpose of understanding in the first place. Not its utility, but its history. Do humans not seek answers on their own? Is it not our nature? Perhaps as babies, lacking in humanity and knowledge, we are content being spoon fed and laughing at wet pillowcases, but as we grow nothing is ever enough. It is the cause for discontentment, for suffering. We are creatures that desire more, and knowledge is susceptible to the same fate. Yet, a trap of our own making is fallen into. One can only swim in one's own swimming pool for so long before having “seen it all”, especially having been the one who dug it. Suddenly, as the limitations of human language and thought are reached, and the reconciliation is met that, yes, this is the end,suddenly we are pushed back into the universal again, almost against our will, looking for more, questioning the limitations we have inadvertently imposed on ourselves. To create pools while an ocean lays in front of us, the comedy!

And so, I lay here, puny, microscopic, my thoughts spiraling into metaphysical aberration,pointless, disconnected, irrelevant, yet all pointing towards one thing. Me,my misunderstanding,my search,my selfishness, and finally, the revelatory questions that Nietzsche's modern man asks as the bell strikes twelve, “Who am I really? Where am I? I’m sorry what was that noise?”.
And perhaps he was right to ask, because I really have no idea whats going on.



Gonna be sending this to a few colleges
Just think it might be uh
A bit too much?
Should I just scrap it and write something about how my mom died or some lame stuff?
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LuckyR
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Re: Finished up my college application essay based I based on The Myth of Sisyphus,and Absurdity. Is it a bit much?

Post by LuckyR »

It is my understanding that colleges are mostly verifying that you can get points across clearly, accurately and with correct grammar. The subject matter probably also counts, but may count less than you suppose.
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Re: Finished up my college application essay based I based on The Myth of Sisyphus,and Absurdity. Is it a bit much?

Post by ktz »

Hmm. Well, if your goal is to get into the colleges you are applying to, I suggest you take a moment to think about the perspective and incentives of the person hired to read your application and essays. Ultimately, a college is trying to select students who will, in the future, contribute money back to the college as an alumna or alumnus. As such, college essay reviewers are looking to see not a demonstration of your aptitude or your sense of humor, but how you will respond to assignments that require extended effort and concentration, how capable you are of independent thinking, and how well you get along with others. They want to see if you can succeed despite challenges -- so you will be able to donate them money when you become successful and famous.

I don't mean this in an offensive way, but I don't feel that your college application is the correct place for you to express your ennui and existential crisis at the recognition of the absurdity of existence. I sincerely doubt your college application reviewer will be amused or impressed when you conclude that you have no idea what you are doing. Ultimately your essay is an opportunity to demonstrate two qualities that college application reviewers are looking for: empathy and passion. Remember what Camus concludes about Sisyphus --
This universe henceforth without a master seems to him neither sterile nor futile. Each atom of that stone, each mineral flake of that night-filled mountain, in itself, forms a world. The struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill a man's heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy.
Why not tell the college about the heights that you would like to reach, instead of your puny, microscopic nature and the pointlessness of your thoughts?
You may have a heart of gold, but so does a hard-boiled egg.
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meaningful_products
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Re: Finished up my college application essay based I based on The Myth of Sisyphus,and Absurdity. Is it a bit much?

Post by meaningful_products »

The Myth of Sisyphus is definitely one of my top five all-time favorite philosophy books. I personally really like the personal statement, essay or whatever that is. Its been 10 years since I applied to college but back then I looked at samples of statements that got into top schools and I tried to mimic those.

I will say it sounds like you don't really have a theory there. I'm not sure if this is what you intended but you sort of summarize what Camus writes without arguing for or against it. I majored in philosophy and usually they have you take a position on something, explain the reasons why you believe that and end with a conclusion. That might make look better to them but its up to you.
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