Should we rue past mistakes, make light of the present and be filled with nervous uncertainty about the future. Question: If you are going the wrong way on a roundabout – how do you turn and correct yourself?
This metaphysical analogy is fraught with problems, mechanical, philosophically and psychologically. The basic premise; although insightful, is flawed. It presupposes an impossible question which by its very design creates a level of hopelessness and futility about the situation which offers little room for optimism or a reconcilable solution.
Which way is the wrong way? Moving in any direction has no real moral imperative; what is wrong on a British road, may not apply to the State of New York (also consider that in this premise there are ’roundabouts’ in the United States). However impossible the question, there is always an answer and always a way. Such an answer may not be favourable to our egos and in its defence, limits the possible options by not considering them options at all.
If this analogy is a simplified object from reality, then reconsider the parameters. Is it reasonable to suggest that there is ‘no way off the roundabout’? If there is no way off a roundabout, then it’s not a roundabout.
Lastly, if the real intention in the question is of deeper significance, an oversimplification of a problem creates nothing much moral paradoxes which serve no purpose other than to ‘keep you on the roundabout’.
