https://www.reddit.com/r/TrueAskReddit/comments/1iqh7jf/the_complicated_maze_of_life/
created by Mindless-Interview41 on 16/02/2025 at 01:40 UTC
6 upvotes, 4 top-level comments (showing 4)
So, this is my first reddit post and I’m a bit nervous ngl lol.
So, recently I’ve been thinking about how life isn’t just one set path for everyone, it's more of a maze, one that’s deeply complex and different for everyone. Everyone has a haze around their eyes, while others have an idea of the maze ahead. Every path has things like a fog that rolls through or fallen trees,or even things that move and shift around them. Even when guides exist, they often don’t account for how each person has traversed this maze in the past, or even the ever shifting nature leading to some guides resonating or helping and others not.
This makes me wonder, is there like a guide that would be the same for everyone? Some people obviously are stubborn and would ignore it or want to go their own way, but that's when you realize that everyone is in the same maze, some people being pushed into obstacles and pit traps. How can someone hear the thud of someone being pushed or running into a wall that they could have been warned about previously.
I do understand that the obvious counter argument is that people have free will and chose to run into the tree or there are enough tools and resources out there. But doesn’t that assume someone knows how to use the tools given to them? Or that they can actually see the rope in front of them that lets them get over the tree? What about those whose maze is shaped by barriers or past experiences that close off paths or limit their ability to even recognize the way forward?
So I guess where I'm left is… How do we balance personal responsibility with collective guidance? Can we create dynamic guides that evolve with people’s changing paths? And how do we get people to acknowledge the haze around their own and each other's eyes, even if they’ve never even seen or experienced the differing paths or the shutting of barriers?
If there are any issues with my thinking please point them out, I really cant wrap my head around it…
Comment by AutoModerator at 16/02/2025 at 01:41 UTC
1 upvotes, 0 direct replies
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Comment by Space_Cadet_Tyler at 16/02/2025 at 05:17 UTC
3 upvotes, 1 direct replies
I think you might get more responses if you condensed this a little. Truth is, most people won’t read past a couple paragraphs, and you went heavy with the metaphors.
To answer your question, there are guides. But they’re simple. And they don’t account for every possible roadblock or occurrence. Religious people might say their holy texts are. Modern psychologists would say have strong social bonds, a purpose, and a set of morals.
Problem is there can’t be one true way that tells everyone how to live, and people like things specific so they don’t follow the advice because it’s not complex enough.
Comment by schleppy123 at 17/02/2025 at 20:55 UTC
2 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Life is a maze. Twisting, shifting, full of bad turns and dead ends. Some people think they��re forging a brand new path, machete in hand, hacking through the unknown. But the truth is, the maze isn’t new. It’s ancient. Worn. Every mistake you think is yours alone has been made a thousand times before.
The smart ones? They don’t waste time pretending they’re the first to walk this road. They look for the markers, the footprints left by those who figured it out before them. Call it tradition, call it wisdom...whatever it is, it exists because people learned, usually the hard way, and passed it down. Ignore it, and you’ll find yourself stumbling into the same damn pitfalls, wondering why life feels like a cruel joke.
Yeah some people start with a tougher maze. Born into a rougher neighborhood, bad parents, bad luck. Life isn’t fair. But fairness isn’t the game. The game is survival. And the best way to survive is to find the ones who mapped out the route, the ones who know where the ground gives way, where the real monsters live.
So, personal responsibility? That’s choosing to follow the map instead of pretending there isn’t one. Collective guidance? That’s making sure the map doesn’t get burned by idiots who think they know better. Some people won’t listen. Let them run headfirst into the walls. Just make sure the ones who *do* want to find their way still have something real to follow.
Comment by 21-characters at 19/02/2025 at 00:40 UTC
1 upvotes, 0 direct replies
What if life isn’t a maze? What if it’s a branched river? Choose one branch and as you go along you see what’s there. Choose the next branch and there are other experiences. How do you guess which branch to choose? Once you choose it’s hard to buck the current to go back without great expense of energy and resources and no guarantee it will ge better or you’ll enjoy it more than the path you were on.