We find predictable movies boring, yet we seek predictability in our daily life – why?
So these are a few thoughts. We often seek new, enjoyable, and adventurous experiences in movies, yet in real life we prefer things that are plain, predictable, and non-adventurous.
Why is that?
It’s a striking observation—and it highlights the paradox of our existential condition.
We can envision our real (material) life as a kind of middle ground. Below us lies the virtual world, where we experience manufactured excitement. Above us is the spiritual realm, where our deepest longings are truly fulfilled. So why does this middle realm—material life—feel so unsatisfying?
The basic fact is: real life often feels boring. We want it to be exciting, but excitement in real life comes with risk and danger. What we actually desire is a life that is both secure and adventurous—but that combination is nearly impossible at the material level. Our bodies are fragile, our relationships are vulnerable, and our external circumstances—economic, social, and political—are all unstable.
At our core, the soul longs for two things: eternality and ecstasy. Both are available only at the spiritual level. But when that spiritual access is lacking or blocked, these longings remain—and we try to fulfill them in other ways.
We try to eternalize our material lives by making them as secure, predictable, and safe as possible. Yet that doesn’t satisfy us fully—because security is only half the story. We also crave adventure, risk, and unpredictability. So, where do we go for that? We turn to the virtual world—to movies, video games, novels, social media.
In this way, the virtual world becomes a substitute for the spiritual world.
Material life is inherently limited—it is often dull, and when we try to make it more exciting, it quickly becomes dangerous or unsustainable.
Of course, there are exceptions. Some people live on the edge—daredevils who take up dangerous professions or engage in extreme sports. A few do it for the thrill; others, out of necessity. Still, most people don’t want to take those risks in real life. Even war, though often romanticized in stories and movies, is in reality brutal and traumatizing—not just because of death and injury, but also due to the sheer difficulty of surviving in those conditions.
So, this tension between eternality and ecstasy—which is naturally resolved only at the spiritual level—is what drives us to live two lives:
- a real life focused on stability, and
- a virtual life filled with excitement.
But instead of escaping from reality (from material life into virtual fantasy), what we truly need is to escape to reality—to spiritual reality. That means rising from the temporary material world to the eternal spiritual world.
Material life is real, but temporary. Spiritual life is the ultimate reality—both eternal and ecstatic.