The Human Network

While watching one of the most awaited films of the year, The Social Network, I was gripped by it’s frenetic pace and riveting storytelling. The enigma behind the ‘creator of Facebook’ was lapped up by scores of audiences. And though there is a lot to talk about in the film, the thing that stuck with me was the truth of the flawed human being. 

In cinema, books and the like, we’re used to being exposed to things in black and white. And the occasional gray space is usually complicated and hence warrants a ‘this won’t happen to me’ line. But then it does. We can’t all be on a moral high ground at all points in our lives. So we sometimes forget to give someone credit, we get enchanted by the ‘evil’ world, we let things engulf us when we know how much we resented it in the first place. And so when we watch the film, and see the Facebook CFO and best friend being left out of the business deals and important decisions, when we look at him express his anger over his sudden negligible share in the company, something inside us does the ‘tsk-tsk’ for the character of Mark Zuckerberg. But then I think of it again. How many times have I let myself get carried away by what seems ‘right at the moment’? How many people along the way have I hurt to get ahead? 

There’s someone like that in each one of us. And try all that we might, it’s tough not to make mistakes. It’s even tougher to come out in the open and say we’re sorry. So we just let it go – the guilty conscience, the people we hurt and the opportunity to make it right. We plough on right ahead, because we know that’s the only direction we can head in. Everybody has the little selfish streak in them – whether it’s leaning on someone who you know you can’t be there for, whether it’s hiding something we know we should let out or just not trying hard enough to make things right with the people we care about. 

And that’s what brings me to the point of saying the most important thing. It is to give it your best shot to make it okay. To admit your mistakes and be there for the people who you’ve hurt. And if that’s not worth it, be honest that it isn’t. At the end of the day, it is important to find pleasure and success for oneself - the debate is how far you are willing to go to get that and at what cost. The self-projections to the outside world are, ultimately, transient. What you have to go to sleep with every night, are your own doings.