The Advantage

Dostoyevsky has made me think about and reflect upon things that I have never truly considered before. The idea that human beings are the only creatures consciously capable of going directly against their best interests is foreign to me. In all honesty, I have never really thought about why animals, or humans for that matter, do what they do even if it defies what they should be doing. I believe that humans are misguided creatures who believe what they are doing, in that specific moment in time, is what is best for them. Down the road, they will eventually realize that what they decided to do in the past was not in their best interest and they will regret it, or not, but I do believe that without consciously making mistakes, people will never learn from them. That is what life is all about and that, in my opinion, is the advantage that Dostoyevsky speaks about. We have the advantage of learning and growing from our errors and mistakes, and though we cannot change them or alter our pasts, we are capable of bettering ourselves and advancing as a species.