One thing becomes apparent when you study the human race: in all ages and places, men and women have sought to avoid pain and suffering, increase their level of comfort, leisure, happiness, and/or achieve fulfillment of their perceived potential. In the previous post I was saying that despite our forever expanding efforts to achieve fulfillment and be entertained, the majority is still deeply unsatisfied – to the point where the members of the species commit suicide, mass-murders, bombing, and so forth.
Paradoxically, our current world is providing us with more options then ever as to aid us in finding meaning in life or achieving happiness: from organized religions, psychiatrists and psychologists to self-development gurus and “New-Age” philosophies of all kinds (oh, and let’s not forget all the cars, perfumes, jewelry and any other material thing that guarantees happiness) – so much hype that it’s becoming increasingly hard to even separate the fake from the authentic.
In my first months here, I didn’t even know what to think anymore. I was conditioned through a Christian Orthodox doctrine in a post-communist society, in the middle of nowhere. And now, I’ve suddenly got access to all of the world’s knowledge through a plastic device that fits in my pocket. I’ve seen and heard so many contradictory things throughout my life, and everyone was calling their version true. What really? is truth? Do any of them even resemble it?
What I keep going back to though, the more I interact with and analyze humans, is the fact that irrespective of which doctrines are ‘true’ or ‘false’, we ought to develop a new shared mental framework in order to help us conduct our being in the most efficient and effective manner, and we ought to do it by the end of the century. One that can work both at a global and an individual level – which can allow us to live in peace, acceptance of each other and collaboration towards a shared vision. For it seems like humanity has opened the Pandora Box of evolution and if we’re not ready for what’s coming, it’ll wipe the floor with us leaving nothing but an odourless speck of dust in the grand cosmic orchestra, at which point none of us have ever mattered for a second and all of our collective efforts and struggles over the centuries were for nothing. Unless there is no free will and then whatever must happen, will.
Regardless, I believe that our bodies and minds have the capacity to excel. To live in a state of radiant health and strength. That our societies CAN be abundant, that life CAN thrive – we’ve just been lazy, negligent and utter crap at manifesting it. Our organizational skills have been dreadful. Pretty good for an ape, but we can do better.
Thousands of years and we have no answers to the existential questions of life. However, we can start making it easier by looking after ourselves and each other. We have the power to choose now. For so long we were probably under the strong influence of unconscious stimuli, a slave of our conditioning. Now however, consciousness is at a level where it can be highly self-aware. Can we use that to our advantage?
Gratis Versus Libre 