Schopenhauer talks about two different ways of seeing the world in “The World As Will and Representation”. He explains that the first is the way things really are, this is what he calls the “will”. Schopenhauer suggests that past what we can see in the world and what we are able to touch in the world, there’s a force that exists. Schopenhauer goes on to explain that this “Will’” isn’t something that is like our typical decision-making. He says that is a lot more like an automatic and constant urge within us or a desire. This is something that every living thing has even though it is something not all living things are aware of. Then it is the way things seem to be, this is what he calls the “representation”. The representation he describes as being how living things see things through their senses and thoughts. Schopenhauer believed that this way of viewing things is limited and can be twisted. It is actually stopping these living things from understanding what is really going on in the world. These ideas reminded me of the world in which we live currently and the media we consume online. Social media platforms like TikTok are overflowing with influencers that are focused on gaining fame and a larger following that they neglect the reality of the world and live in their own version of what the world is like.
An individual bases what they know about the world from their knowledge. All of their perceptions of the world comes from what they know. It is comprised of what they have been exposed in their lives. “he is himself rooted in that world; he finds himself in it as an individual, that is to say, his knowledge, which is the necessary supporter of the whole world as representation, is yet always given through the medium of a body, whose affections are, as we have shown, the starting-point for the understanding in the perception of that world” (“The world as will and representation” §§18). Schopenhauer is talking about the nature of perception. He discusses our understanding of reality.
An influencer uses their platform to gain a following and based off of this following, many can make a career from what they produce and put out online. When a career is made from this, the creator becomes engulfed by this fame. Many creators with huge followings have been criticized for being tone deaf and posting certain content during times in which the rest of the world is faced with crisis.
During 2020, the world was put on a major pause. People were asked to stay in their homes in the attempt to lessen the spread of the growing virus. Many had to shut down their social lives in order to prevent further spread of this virus. Many celebrities and major TikTok content creators ignored these new regulations and were found to be throwing secret parties and even continuing to frequent public hang out spots as if nothing had changed in the world. These creators were faced with backlash by the audience consuming the content they were putting out on their platforms. These individuals chose to ignore the gravity of the danger they were causing by participating in these actions.
Schopenhauer explains that our knowledge of the world we live in is what forms the basis of our understanding of reality. It is something that, according to Schopenhauer, is mediated through a living being’s body. Our bodies can be seen as the instruments that are used to perceive the world and from this our perceptions come from our sensations and experience.