The Terrible Paradox of Self-Awareness | Fernando Pessoa
The Terrible Paradox of Self-Awareness | Fernando Pessoa
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In this video, we explore a mysterious yet beautiful work of literature produced by one of the most interesting writers of the twentieth century: The Book of Disquiet by Fernando Pessoa. The story of the book itself is perhaps as unsettling as its contents.
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Content
0.06 -> this video is sponsored by blinkist
2.52 -> here's the link in the description and
4.2 -> you'll receive one free week and 25 off
6.359 -> an annual premium membership
9.66 -> sometimes the story behind a work of art
11.88 -> is just as fascinating as the work
13.98 -> itself
15.12 -> sometimes its origin is part of its
17.279 -> content
18.72 -> the story of 20th century writer
20.52 -> Fernando passoa and his Masterwork the
23.039 -> book of disquiet is one of those cases
25.26 -> where the story behind it sounds like a
28.08 -> work of fiction itself
31.439 -> pasoa was born in 1888 in Lisbon
34.2 -> Portugal at the early age of just five
36.42 -> years old he was exposed to loss and
38.579 -> impermanence when his father died of
40.44 -> tuberculosis and then the following year
42.36 -> his younger brother died
44.219 -> not long after his mother remarried and
46.739 -> his family moved to South Africa also
48.96 -> taking from Fernando the landscape of
50.94 -> his childhood
52.2 -> while living in South Africa basso
54.42 -> became fluent in English and developed
56.579 -> an appreciation for English literature
58.44 -> when he turned 17 he returned to Lisbon
61.44 -> by himself where he would spend the rest
63.239 -> of his life and dedicate most of his
65.22 -> time to writing
67.32 -> however by the time he died in 1935 at
70.799 -> the age of 47 he had only published a
73.439 -> few books that went mostly unnoticed and
76.32 -> he essentially wrote in complete
77.939 -> obscurity Unknown by anyone
80.939 -> but yet he seemingly died knowing that
83.759 -> he was a great literary figure or at the
86.34 -> very least that he would likely become
88.38 -> one
89.46 -> and in an almost unsettling prophetic
91.68 -> way
92.4 -> he was right
95.18 -> after his death pessoa's work the
98.34 -> manuscript of the book of disquiet along
100.32 -> with tens of thousands of other
101.759 -> manuscript pages that are still to this
103.92 -> day being edited remain tucked away in a
106.979 -> wooden trunk Unknown by anyone
110.28 -> it wasn't until 1982 47 years after
113.64 -> pasoa died eerily the exact same age of
116.64 -> pasoa when he died that the book of
118.86 -> disquiet was found and published
122.159 -> this book would go on to become what is
124.14 -> widely regarded as one of the most
125.82 -> unique and important literary works of
128.16 -> the 20th century
130.2 -> inside the book is a lifetime worth of
132.12 -> basoa's Reflections and musings about
134.52 -> reality and dreaming about tedium and
137.28 -> selfhood about the absurdity of being
139.62 -> and the futility of doing about the
142.02 -> simultaneous complexity and simplicity
143.94 -> of Life about the contradiction and
146.22 -> Paradox at the core of everything
150.9 -> the book is made up of a collection of
152.7 -> fragmented vignettes written in a style
154.68 -> somewhere between diary entries and
156.54 -> poetry
157.56 -> there is no real linear order to the
159.48 -> book and it can arguably be experienced
161.519 -> just as well backwards as forwards even
164.28 -> more interesting but SOA does not claim
166.319 -> to be the author of any of it rather it
169.2 -> is credited to a man named Bernardo
170.94 -> Suarez an assistant bookkeeper from
173.16 -> Lisbon Portugal as well as possibly a
175.5 -> man named Vicente gueres
177.599 -> Juarez and soras however aren't real
181.019 -> they are characters pesoa created to
183.84 -> create the book found throughout the
186.36 -> massive collection of all of pasoa's
188.099 -> manuscript pages are various pseudonyms
190.5 -> fictitious authors that he credits
192.48 -> different pages and collections to these
195.239 -> authors aren't just different pen names
196.68 -> though they are different characters
198.54 -> with different writing styles and
200.819 -> personalities and Views and backstories
204 -> pasoa referred to these author
205.8 -> characters as heteronims and there were
208.2 -> around 80 that he rode under throughout
209.76 -> his lifetime
211.2 -> thus the book of disquiet is not exactly
213.599 -> a non-fiction book from an anonymous
215.34 -> author but nor is it really a novel
217.56 -> about a fictional character or story it
220.319 -> is somewhere in between
222.18 -> because of this it is often described as
224.879 -> the weirdest autobiography ever written
226.92 -> but SOA himself described it as a
229.92 -> factless autobiography or an
232.019 -> autobiography of someone who never
233.94 -> existed
235.819 -> the book's unique structure and style is
238.379 -> in many ways an essential supporting leg
240.54 -> of the book's themes the use of
242.519 -> heteronim seems to reinforce a key
244.44 -> philosophical theme throughout the work
246 -> the fragmented and illusory nature of
248.879 -> the self with Incredible accuracy and
251.76 -> poignancy that feels cathartic to read
253.86 -> throughout the book but SOA frequently
256.079 -> describes the inherent alienation
258.139 -> disorientation and loneliness associated
260.88 -> with being a person he wrote I don't
264.54 -> know how to feel or think or love I'm a
267.479 -> character in a novel as yet Unwritten
269.52 -> hovering in the air and undone before
271.74 -> I've even existed amongst the dreams of
274.139 -> someone who never quite managed to
275.58 -> breathe life into me I'm always thinking
278.1 -> always feeling but my thoughts lack all
280.68 -> reason my emotions all feeling I'm
283.56 -> falling through a trapdoor through
285.18 -> Infinite Space in a directionless empty
288.06 -> fall my soul is a black Maelstrom a
291.24 -> great Madness spinning about a vacuum
292.919 -> the swirling of a vast ocean around a
295.259 -> hole in the void and in the waters more
297.96 -> like whirlwinds than Waters float images
300.24 -> of all I ever saw or heard in the world
302.4 -> houses faces books boxes snatches of
306.6 -> music and fragments of voices all caught
309.24 -> up in a Sinister bottomless whirlpool
311.12 -> and I I myself am the center that exists
315.06 -> only because the geometry of the Abyss
317.46 -> demands it I am the nothing around which
319.86 -> all this spins I exist so that it can
322.56 -> spin I am the center that exists only
325.139 -> because every Circle has one
327.72 -> for pesoa self-understanding or perhaps
331.139 -> the attempt to understand the self is a
333.419 -> free fall down a rabbit hole with the
334.979 -> landing that kills you and the
336.96 -> impossibility of understanding and
338.699 -> communicating one's internal experiences
340.62 -> while on this free fall lends itself to
343.38 -> a lifetime of disquiet and
345 -> disorientation
349.199 -> throughout the book pasoa also often
351.18 -> discusses themes of tedium futility and
353.88 -> meaninglessness for him everything is a
356.759 -> sort of delusion life is a sequence of
359.28 -> Dreams
360.479 -> I've never done anything but dream this
363.24 -> and this alone has been the meaning of
364.919 -> my life my only real concern has been my
367.8 -> inner life but so wrote
370.56 -> verbisoa there is no real point in doing
373.08 -> or achieving anything reality as we
375.78 -> experience it is as deluded and false
378.3 -> and meaningful as the several dreams we
380.34 -> had last night that dissolved upon
382.259 -> awaking never to be known or thought of
384.539 -> again
385.56 -> life is but a dream destined to be coded
387.72 -> over with the fog of Consciousness and
389.819 -> forgotten upon the morning sunrise
392.18 -> pasoa wrote If I write what I feel it's
395.52 -> to reduce the fever of feeling what I
398.039 -> confess is unimportant because
399.96 -> everything is unimportant
403.199 -> the recognition of the futility of doing
405.24 -> anything and the advocation of receding
407.639 -> into a dream world reinforces another
409.979 -> major theme of the book contradiction
412.319 -> and paradox
413.94 -> after all why write about the
415.919 -> pointlessness of doing anything and the
417.96 -> impossibility of ever adequately saying
420.06 -> anything while doing something and
422.28 -> saying things perhaps however this does
425.34 -> not speak to the incoherence of basoa
427.38 -> but rather speaks to what pesoa might
429.84 -> believe is useful in paradox
433.979 -> in medicine certain preventative and
436.38 -> preparation treatments contain forms of
438.539 -> the bacteria or virus that cause the
440.88 -> disease the treatment is used to prevent
443.22 -> likewise arguably both creating and
446.4 -> consuming good literature and good art
448.22 -> expose you to the virus of being so you
451.38 -> can hopefully develop enough immunity to
453.539 -> survive
454.68 -> perhaps paradoxically then the driving
457.08 -> force that compelled pasoa to create and
459.599 -> write and do was the awareness that
461.819 -> creating and writing and doing is
464.22 -> pointless
465.9 -> it is also relevant to note that the
467.759 -> book of disquiet was left unfinished
469.44 -> with this it is almost as if the book
471.539 -> mirrors besoa's philosophical conception
473.639 -> of existence
475.139 -> trapped inside a trunk only truly known
477.599 -> after pasoa's death once it could no
479.759 -> longer be changed by him interpreted
481.86 -> only through a fragmented collection of
483.599 -> vignettes written by someone who never
485.639 -> existed finished by time not by
488.4 -> intention the book itself seems to be an
490.8 -> almost perfect metaphor for a person
494.039 -> it is unsettling to consider all of this
496.199 -> and then realize that the word pesoa his
499.139 -> birth name translates in English into
502.08 -> person
504.12 -> if that's not enough perhaps the most
506.16 -> confounding aspect of the book of
507.599 -> disquiet story is that it contains
509.819 -> passages that prophesize its fate
512.399 -> in it pesoa wrote it sometimes occurs to
515.64 -> me with sad Delight that if one day in a
518.52 -> future I won't be part of the sentences
520.68 -> I write are read and admired then at
523.38 -> last I'll have my own kin people who
525.72 -> understand me my true family and which
528.06 -> to be born and loved but far from being
530.64 -> born into it I'll have already died long
532.98 -> ago I'll be understood only in effigy
535.62 -> when affection can no longer compensate
537.72 -> for the indifference that was the Dead
539.58 -> Man's lot in life perhaps one day
542.1 -> they'll understand that I fulfilled like
544.019 -> no one else my instinctive duty to
546.24 -> interpret a portion of our century and
548.519 -> when they've understood that they'll
550.14 -> write that in my time I was
551.519 -> misunderstood that the people around me
553.68 -> were unfortunately indifferent and
555.48 -> insensitive to my work and that it was a
557.64 -> Pity this happened to me and whoever
559.74 -> writes this will fail to understand my
561.48 -> literary counterpart in that future time
563.64 -> just as my contemporaries don't
565.62 -> understand me
566.94 -> because men learn only what would be of
568.8 -> use to their great grandparents the
571.2 -> right way to live is something we can
572.76 -> teach only the Dead
575.82 -> and of course all of this came true
578.82 -> it's happening right now with these
580.86 -> words
581.64 -> we are currently participating in
583.14 -> pasoa's Fortune told by himself a
585.18 -> century ago
586.5 -> one can only Wonder was this a
588.54 -> masterfully constructed plan by a genius
590.459 -> creative mind was it chance was it both
593.399 -> or was it something else
595.74 -> whatever the case may be the story of
598.019 -> the book of disquiet seems to have
599.399 -> almost become a part of its artistic
600.959 -> creation
601.98 -> it elicits an almost metaphysical
603.899 -> spiritual quality it feels like a
606.24 -> religious book for atheists a manual for
608.7 -> nihilists it can and probably will
611.279 -> devastate most of those who read it
613.5 -> but it will also help comfort and remind
615.42 -> one to not take oneself or life too
618.36 -> seriously
620.04 -> sometimes exposure to the ailment is
623.279 -> part of the treatment
633.779 -> this video was sponsored by blinkist
637.2 -> Samantha was never a great reader it
639.72 -> wasn't that she didn't like reading or
641.1 -> value books she did but she always
643.5 -> struggled with sustaining the habit and
645.06 -> carving the time out of her day to read
646.519 -> on average she read about one to two
648.779 -> books every year maybe three if she was
651.06 -> lucky
651.959 -> one year however suddenly everything
654.779 -> changed Samantha went from learning from
657.24 -> two to three books to learning from 67
659.76 -> books in one year more books than her
662.519 -> entire life prior but yet she didn't
665.22 -> spend any more time than she had any
667.14 -> previous year
668.579 -> Samantha was able to make this dramatic
670.62 -> shift and satisfy her goal to read and
672.72 -> learn more while not interfering with
674.459 -> the regular schedule by discovering and
676.68 -> using the app blinkist when her best
679.38 -> friend Chrissy noticed how much more
680.64 -> well-read Samantha suddenly seemed
682.26 -> Chrissy asked Samantha what was going on
684.2 -> Samantha told Chrissy about blinkist
686.399 -> explaining that it condenses over 5 500
689.1 -> non-fiction books and podcasts across a
691.74 -> ton of different categories into around
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700.079 -> listened to blinkist's insights about
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703.62 -> commutes and while she did errands and
705.36 -> chores on the app she showed Chrissy the
707.82 -> title conscious by Annika Harris a book
710.399 -> that Samantha had been meaning to read
711.72 -> but hadn't had the time to get to
713.3 -> Samantha told her how she learned a ton
715.32 -> of new ideas about the nature of
716.7 -> Consciousness like how conscious
718.32 -> perception is really not the driver of
720 -> most of what happens in the brain and is
721.8 -> likely the last part to know about the
723.36 -> brain's decisions
724.8 -> Samantha also told Chrissy about
726.54 -> Blanca's curated Collections and guides
728.7 -> that she had been using to better
730.079 -> develop her critical thinking and
731.64 -> creativity for work
733.32 -> when Chrissy said she wanted to get
734.82 -> blinkist herself using a feature called
736.8 -> blinkus connect Samantha was able to
738.959 -> share her account with one other person
740.519 -> and the two began to use the app and
742.56 -> share their favorite books together at
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746.1 -> if you're interested in creating the
747.54 -> same strong habit for yourself this new
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750.72 -> description or by scanning the QR code
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756.42 -> well as 25 off an annual premium
758.459 -> membership the free 7-Day trial can be
760.56 -> canceled at any time within the trial
762.18 -> period
763.26 -> and of course as always thank you so
765.959 -> much for watching in general and see you
768.06 -> next video
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qU1sDBU9Cs