In the world above, the people "with unnatural smiles" are those who spend their time trying to rectify their errors. Why wouldn't they be the most content instead?
Lightman imagines that Einstein dreams of the end of the world. Einstein wonders how people would act if they knew the exact moment that the world would end. Some would go tell their friends and family that they love them, some would laugh and gallop carefree down the streets, and some would “rectify their errors” (Lightman 44). In Einstein’s dreams those who rectify their errors are the only ones “with unnatural smiles’’ in the moments nearing the end of the world. They are correcting their errors, which is noble but falsely motivated.
Errors are a necessity. Life would not be life without mistakes. Hurting friend’s feelings, deceiving parents, being unfaithful, all are mistakes that hurt those involved. “I am convinced that life is ten percent what happens to me and ninety percent how I react to it” (Unknown). When you realize that you have done wrong you can go one of two ways. Sometimes we want to rectify our errors simply to clear our names, keep our pristine reputations. But hopefully most of the times we sincerely want to mend the broken ties with those whom we hurt with our mistakes and learn from the mistakes we make.
When the people go around “with unnatural smiles,” they are apologizing and making up for their mistakes for the wrong reasons. I imagine that they have a lot on their mind concerning their after life and fate. I personally can understand why you would want to rectify all of your errors before the end of the world because you want to go to heaven, so therefore you must die with a pure heart. I suppose those people thought that by mending the old rifts they caused they would clear their slate and insure a place in heaven. Others might not have had their fate in mind. Some people are genuinely concerned with what others think about them whether they will admit to it or not. Sometimes before people move away or die we make amends with them so they will think of us in a positive way and not focus on how much we hurt or betrayed them.
Life is one big lesson filled with many smaller ones. Rectifying errors for the wrong reasons does absolutely no good. They might have convinced the person they hurt with their “unnatural smile” but under that lays deceit. A fake smile might change someone’s thoughts on you from negative to positive but as a person you fix nothing. As a person, in the end all you do is hurt yourself and your character even more.
Lightman imagines that Einstein dreams of the end of the world. Einstein wonders how people would act if they knew the exact moment that the world would end. Some would go tell their friends and family that they love them, some would laugh and gallop carefree down the streets, and some would “rectify their errors” (Lightman 44). In Einstein’s dreams those who rectify their errors are the only ones “with unnatural smiles’’ in the moments nearing the end of the world. They are correcting their errors, which is noble but falsely motivated.
Errors are a necessity. Life would not be life without mistakes. Hurting friend’s feelings, deceiving parents, being unfaithful, all are mistakes that hurt those involved. “I am convinced that life is ten percent what happens to me and ninety percent how I react to it” (Unknown). When you realize that you have done wrong you can go one of two ways. Sometimes we want to rectify our errors simply to clear our names, keep our pristine reputations. But hopefully most of the times we sincerely want to mend the broken ties with those whom we hurt with our mistakes and learn from the mistakes we make.
When the people go around “with unnatural smiles,” they are apologizing and making up for their mistakes for the wrong reasons. I imagine that they have a lot on their mind concerning their after life and fate. I personally can understand why you would want to rectify all of your errors before the end of the world because you want to go to heaven, so therefore you must die with a pure heart. I suppose those people thought that by mending the old rifts they caused they would clear their slate and insure a place in heaven. Others might not have had their fate in mind. Some people are genuinely concerned with what others think about them whether they will admit to it or not. Sometimes before people move away or die we make amends with them so they will think of us in a positive way and not focus on how much we hurt or betrayed them.
Life is one big lesson filled with many smaller ones. Rectifying errors for the wrong reasons does absolutely no good. They might have convinced the person they hurt with their “unnatural smile” but under that lays deceit. A fake smile might change someone’s thoughts on you from negative to positive but as a person you fix nothing. As a person, in the end all you do is hurt yourself and your character even more.
3 comments:
wow, learn to spell, CE.
mater?
Great comments, Margaret. You did a nice job of moving this dream scenario into reality. Like you said, the dream Lightman imagines for Einstein is a lot like knowing someone is leaving and then trying to endear ourselves to them:"Sometimes before people move away or die we make amends with them so they will think of us in a positive way..." We think of ourselves too much, and of others too little. Knowing the world is about to end shouldn't really change the way we act at all, right? Knowing someone is moving or dying, we shouldn't need to act too differently, because all along we would have been cherishing that person and reminding them of how much they meant to us. If we treat every moment with sincerity, then every moment will be lasting present, always to hold on to, always to remember--no matter what the future brings. Thanks for the post, and thanks for reminding us of that.
PS-the quote on your profile can't be accurate...I wouldn't have said ya'll...
PPS-is that better, Ian?
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