The corollary of that first statement rings just as true, but probably not as well-known. Examining life is most likely in the Ivory Tower, which, according to AI, is “a metaphorical place or state of privileged seclusion where people are cut off from the practical, everyday realities and problems of the real world.” (Couldn’t say it better!)
Living life is most likely in the School of Hard Knocks, which, according to AI, is “an idiomatic expression for the hard, practical lessons learned through painful experiences, failures, and hardships in daily life rather than from a formal classroom or book.” (See? AI is good for something!)
Without going into the details, I think it is important to get away, if at all possible, from an “unexamined and unlived life.” That would be an impoverished double-whammy. Yet in the same stead, it would also be important to move to an “examined and lived life.” That would be the ideal, wouldn’t it?
Few of us have the luxury of the Ivory Tower. And yet I have met many there who are naturally industrious, who do not take their privileged life for granted, and who know how high the stakes are for those who live outside the academy. They take the examined life seriously, and they are a blessing to society.
Many of us suffer the School of Hard Knocks. But I have met many there who take their lumps without complaint, who are grateful for what they learn, and do not express envy, but rather appreciation, for those living in the Ivory Tower. They take the lived life seriously, and they are a blessing to society.
People will do what they want to do, but for me, I sensed something missing in the academy and in the “real world.” It was not that either was lacking, but rather that I needed both. And once I have learned to “examine and live,” then perhaps I have accomplished something unique. (No AI was used in this last paragraph!)
J.J. Park