Mostafa Malekian: How Do We Discover What We Are Made For and Our True Passion in Life?

Where in the puzzle of existence is my place? How do I discover what my mission in existence is? How do I choose my future path? To find answers to these questions, Mostafa Malekian recommends undertaking these eight thought experiments:

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Eleven Thought Experiments for Recognizing the Future Path

The important point in all these experiments is to truly imagine yourself in the space of these experiments so that they yield answers and you can genuinely uncover your inner desire.

The First and Second Experiments

This experiment has two readings:

1_ Imagine a society in which all jobs are completely equal in three respects: material income, fame, and social status. That is, whether you are a doctor, a university professor, a municipal superintendent, a builder, or the president, you are entirely equal in the three aforementioned respects. In such a society, what job would you pursue?

2_ Is there a job or profession that you would be willing to do without receiving any salary or reward? What job is it that you would be willing to do for free?

The Third Experiment

Suppose you become invisible in a society, and you can see everyone but no one can see you. In such a society, what actions would you engage in? For instance, would you perform moral acts?

The Fourth Experiment

Imagine God is seated before you and asks you to make one wish so that it may be granted. But you must note that you can only make one wish, and after you have made your desired wish, there is no way back. In such a state, what would you ask of God? Would you wish to become president? To become Einstein? To become Aristotle, or...?

The Fifth and Sixth Experiments

Another experiment is dwelling on a remote island, which has two readings:

1_ If you were to live on a remote island, whom would you take with you? With the presupposition that the ideal perfection of that person is also to live on that island, and that their being with you causes them no harm. Who is that person you would take with you? If you do not find that person, then nothing; but if you do, examine what characteristic or characteristics in that individual were so remarkable to you that you chose them as a companion.

2_ If you were to live alone on a remote island, and you were allowed to take three books with you from among the books you have previously read, which books would you choose? Examine what it was in those three books that was so appealing to you that you selected them.

The Seventh Experiment

If you were told that one of the historical figures whom you have experienced yourself or read about in history, existence is willing to exchange your place with theirs, which person would you be willing to be instead of? Note that it is not just about being in that person's place in one aspect, but in all aspects, with all the good and bad of that person.

The Eighth Experiment

This experiment is known as the gravestone inscription and is one of Nietzsche's innovations. On your gravestone, write what you wanted to be, and below it, write what you are now. For example, write: "The one who rests here wanted to become a teacher but became a salesman, wanted to be generous but became miserly," and so on. Then, cross out what you are now and begin a new life based on what you wanted to be.

The Ninth Experiment

I will recount another of Nietzsche's experiments with a preamble. Some of the world's top-tier cinema actors, after acting in a film, before that film undergoes its final edit, ask the director to show them the scenes they have performed in. During the screening of these scenes, the actor inwardly critiques their own acting style: that, for instance, in this scene I should have shown more emotion, or I should have played this role more harshly, or I should have changed the expression in my eyes in this sequence. And an actor might ask the director to re-shoot a scene. With this example, let us turn to Nietzsche's experiment. Nietzsche says: Suppose the event that occurs for people in near-death experiences happens to you, and all the scenes of your life pass before your eyes. Among these scenes, is there a scene where you would say to yourself, if I were to perform that scene again, I would behave in exactly the same way, and that behavior has no flaw and is, so to speak, perfect? Does such a scene exist or not? If such a scene exists in your life, examine what particular merit or special characteristics that scene had that captured your attention and fascinated you. That characteristic, or those characteristics, are what your being longs for and what your inner self deeply desires.

The Tenth Experiment

Suppose someone whose word is truthful tells you that only one year remains until the end of your life, and you believe it; now, what work would you pursue in this one year? Well, then reduce this one year, for example, to six months, and keep reducing it down to 24 hours; see what work you would undertake in this time? The tasks that come to your mind to do in those 24 hours and then depart from the world—those are the cry of your inner self. That is the very thing you should pursue throughout your entire life.

The Eleventh Experiment

It has been said that a ship was sinking due to the heaviness of its load, and the captain asked the passengers to throw some of their belongings into the sea to lighten the ship's load. After everyone had thrown some of their belongings into the sea, the captain again asked the people to throw some more of their belongings into the sea to make the ship's load even lighter. After this affair was repeated several times, a scholar who was there, while throwing his books into the sea, said, "These were dearer to me than my life." Now, in life, we must see what things we have that we are willing to give our lives for but not lose those things. For example, some people are not willing under any circumstances to lose their honesty, compassion, benevolence, etc., in life, even at the cost of their lives.

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How Do I Choose My Future Path?

Compiled from scattered lectures and oral conversations

Source: Mostafa Malekian's Channel .

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