Human beings are essentially mad. Madness defined as a goal which contradicts its own existence. Humans are the essence of conflict. Power corrupts them. They desire power. They are imprisoned by shelter, and terrified of freedom.
They are both social AND individual creatures, and as such are essentially opposed to themselves. Since they operate in a societal form, humans pay attention to other humans, and are blinded by the “human experience” of the universe. They cannot gain a sufficient experience of the world as it is, instead of merely as humans expect it to be. Because of this, they are disillusioned, easily misled, and frightened of a world they struggle to understand only through the avenues of social human perspective. They are often the subject of a vague sense of general unease that arises when they forget for a moment their human conceit, and perceive their insignificance in a world that they suddenly feel is infinitely large and threatening. They forget that it is no more threatening than it was when they saw themselves as an integral part of it.
But the objective viewpoint can only be gained through societal interactions; through communications of other ideas and experiences; therein lies the problem. An individual can only see the world truly as it is through an objective viewpoint. So the only way for an individual to find balance and peace within their self; to start resolving the eternal conflict that up till now has been the very essence of humanity, is to find an objective viewpoint through society. This is a very hard thing to do. This is why the majority of humans suffer from poor education and suffering based on subjectivity of their surroundings. It should be the primary objective of any society to bestow on its individuals a widely educated, objective viewpoint. It could be argued that the primary, or dual purpose of society should be to protect its citizens. It is true, however, that if the majority of humanity were bestowed with a truly objective education, there would be far less need to defend yourself from your neighbors. It would be as the Dalai Lama said; that eventually we would see that there is no such thing as enmity, that everyone is part of a cohesive whole. We should not be warring against one another, we should be promoting each other to benefit from one another. Like the cells in the human body. And it is also as Alan Watts said, that to rightly describe an individual, you would also have to describe his surroundings, both past and present. So it would be a misconception to separate the individual from his surroundings. So by this reasoning, we as humans, as individuals and as a society, should treat our surroundings, our world and everything in it, as part of our bodies, to be promoted and benefited from.
Humans, and Their Foibles
Why I Engage in Conversation
Why do you enter into a discussion with another person/people? Do you wish to prove a point, and convince others of your own correctness? Is it to serve your own ego; to make yourself look bigger/better/faster/stronger? Is it an academic exorcise, purely in the pursuit of advancing your understanding of the universe and your place in it?
I suppose for me it is all of these, to one extent or another. I wish to convince others only if I feel that my reasoning is more advanced than theirs; if I have a greater degree of objectivity, if I am more experienced and informed, or if I felt my ability to reason, or “see through the mist,” as it were, was more highly developed than their own. I believe that in helping others I am in essence helping myself, because the sooner more humans are awakened to a higher truth; to a more reasoned and educated, objective awareness, the sooner we will be able to start actively improving life for ourselves as individuals, and as a whole.
I engage in dialogues on controversial topics to serve my vanity; to stroke my ego. Because of the course my life has taken, the experiences that have shaped my consciousness, I am a highly individualistic person. As I have stated in the past, I believe that the natural balance of self-consciousness and individuality, is vanity and pride. I sustain my individuality with pride, but temper it with reason, and thereby with humility. Having been a dependant thinker, and highly conformist; only recently having escaped the “ignorant masses” (with all due respect), I am well equipped to understand the necessity of reasonable pride.
Its always possible too, that my pride-stroking is more basic than all this individuality nonsense. Maybe I am merely engaging in some abstract survival instinct, or even an animalistic reproductive instinct, puffing out my chest for a potential mate. Even if that were the case, though, I still believe that pride is necessary for individuality, or at least a symptom of it. As I grew older and became more self aware, I watched my arrogance and pride grow proportionately, and I witness the same trend in all levels of society and all variety and manner of people that I engage and come to understand. However I also witness that the wiser and more reasonable a person is, the more tempered their pride is by humility.
Humans, as self-conscious individuals, risen above the animal masses and separated from them by the barrier of sentience (even if that in and of itself is just a glorified animal survival instinct,) have been gifted with a sense and awareness of our place in this universe; a degree of understanding of our own importance. I believe that sentience is the thing that separates us from the average animal, and allows us to be motivated by purely academic pursuits. We are motivated by self-consciousness to understand our universe to its fullest extent, and thereby gain an accurate picture of where we stand.
The academic pursuit isn’t only motivated by our static drive for understanding, however. It is also motivated by our dynamic drive for self-advancement. We are moved by our own “will to power” as Nietzsche would say; driven not only by the more obvious animalistic drive for dominance, but also by the need for change. Since life is defined by change, change is necessary for life; and therefore the motivation for survival is in essence the motivation for change. Since change most naturally comes in the form of progression or regression, and regression is opposed to the survival instinct, the natural goal of the motivation for change is progress. I pursue intellectual progress as a result of the survival instinct; but more specifically from the self-awareness that has risen from it, and transcends it. I also recognize that an integral and necessary part of that intellectual progress is in understanding other people, and their perspectives.
Maybe I have been a little far-reaching and presumptuous, but that is essentially why I engage in conversation.
