If someone dies alone in the forest without anyone knowing, are they dead?
Their is a debate between the existentialism of "I" and the importance of groups. It is impossible to live life without people. Even if someone read this blog and developed a plan to live out in the forest without any group interference; they would have to get the money to live in the forest alone and be able to read this blog.
Another viewpoint on individualism comes from Buddhism. Buddhists are know for realizing they are the center of their world. In fact, each person is the center of the universe. Some mistake this as saying each person is a God; however, it stems from a Taoist belief that the macro to micro formation of everything have similar properties. Each person being the center of the universe explains how we all experience life though the vantage point of ourselves.
At one time China thought the center the entire world, including, the universe is China. The concept drawn as China being at the center with lines going to or from China. Understanding the center of all life stems from an individual's perspective was a profound and ground breaking philosophy.
Buddhists also practice a meditation to accept selfless decisions are the best or at least better than selfish decisions. (I believe it is a subversive message to imply all people are Leaders of each other and dismiss other people's desires to chose how they participate in groups.)
There are understandable premisses around this ideal. Every society that encourages charity or helping each other in times of need are more likely to flourish. An example of how it works is seeing someone who needs shoes and giving them shoes. This was in practice before communism became the national from of government in China. In fact, Buddha ceded to power in the fourteenth century.
It makes sense to understand people will always be in your life. There will always be a necessity to belong to a group and analyze other groups in order to find better methods of maintaining your group. Everyone wants to be in the position of giving shoes not getting shoes, yet it is important to be able to recognize which activity is happening. A person will usually be in multiple stations between trades whether getting a job, going to school, giving to charity or running a business.
Even if wanting to raise money by performing mime on sidewalk so it is possible to live alone in the forest without fire and only the supplies gained from running away from animals and finding stuff on the ground or in bushes; someone with money has to decide the miming was worthwhile enough to pay a couple dollars until there is enough to buy a ticket at the bus station. There is a chance it might be possible to walk several miles to a forest with regular shoes and clothes bought at a store before making this plan.
It is nearly impossible to live complete alone. Whoever did, probably succeeded and when or if they died, no one knew about it. We maintain our individuality and live within a ubiquitous framework of interaction with everyone and sometimes use our individual traits to plot out strategies to validate our methods of life are correct to help or gain protection from other groups.
If someone was never know to be born, dead and they are completely free from having been know to exist, then it is impossible to die. Without anyone to acknowledge and feel loss from death only grieving someone going to live in the forest, the belief of them living also makes them live forever.
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