Good article Joe. I wonder how much violence, as a default or reaction to the striving of cultures/nations towards dominant ideologies, is a solution based on our psychological immaturity? To extrapolate from the origins of our tendencies by referring to chimp behaviour is 'a perspective'.
Have you read/heard abut Jeremy Griffith's book Freedom? It posits another take on the 'Human Condition', an alternate perspective from a Bonobo instead of Chimp behaviour takeoff point.
Based on historical data and current evidence, the chimp factor certainly seems to be the default human operating system.
It would seem that in order for society to progress, whether beneficently or malevolently, depending on your political ideology, someone needs to die. To the victor the spoils, as the saying goes, and the victor we know also gets to write the history. So we justify progress via violence. It's all we've ever known, so it's all that will ever work?
We have certainly advanced as a species to the point where the war aspect of progression has been capable since 1945 of totally destroying that very same civilization, a place where we most assuredly find ourselves at this present time again, and what waits behind that curtain is the world of Cormac McCarthy's The Road, no mistaking.
Would it be that our evolution lies now in our psychology rather than our physiology? What does a psychologically healthy society look like? Would they also posit that violence, war and destruction is a viable option for ensuring the march of progress? Is it what Krishnamurty observed: "It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society..."
We can certainly continue down this path of progress through destruction, and see how many more rolls of the dice we can get out of it. However, I think it is a cop-out. We are still at the level of our soul striving to overcome this interpretation of who we are as humans.
That's why the Old Testament gave us Jesus. The strife of our becoming culminates in our emancipation. There is no negating our differences, our oppositional ideological strivings. The means to get there needs addressing at the level of global psychology, not through physiological and technological domination.
Why is it that the meek shall inherit the earth? Are the meek weaklings, merely passivists? Or are they deeply self and societally aware of what it takes to collaboratively overcome our seemingly impossibly conflicting agendas? What strength and awareness does it take to rise above our current default accepted operating system?
That is why the meek, not the weak, shall inherit the earth. The psychological makeup of the meek is next level human. That goes hand in hand with physiological strength, a planet of Shaolin monks, with Jungian black belts.
That is when Paradise will once again be on earth, nature will be the sacred cradle of life, and humans will be able to reach into the cosmos as self realised explorers of the rest of God's creation with the right kind of psychology to ensure the harmonious participation with all of creation.
A pipe dream? Yes, unless we make it so. Create a new system that makes the old obsolete. Solve the problem from a new level of consciousness. All our greatest minds and spiritual teachers are showing us the way. Our psychology is still immensely immature as a society, hence we are so easy to manipulate into the 'it's just human nature' shpiel.
How can this not be exciting? Who are we 'evermore' waiting for to 'save' us? Do we need to read about this 'saving' in the future history books? And who would have done it? The current batch of 'leaders'? They can't (read; don't really want to) change anything, they are the problem. Potáto / Potâto. If it looks like a chicken and sounds like a chicken, it's probably still a chicken.
I like your writing, you are obviously a thinker and someone who has actual life experience, the deep examination that results from wrestling with the dark night of the soul, the scars to show for the skin in the game of life.
Who are we to dream of a better world? Who are we to imagine a world where the same energy we spend on destruction is applied to collaboration, at every level, leading us to the stars as is our destiny? Octavia Butler had it right in The Parable of the Sower. God is Change. And we need to or we will soon the on McCarthy's 'The Road' to a hell we will take another 10,000 years to recover from.
Imagination meeting deed makes it so. Keep on being awesome mate. Namasté.
I've never read any of Jeremy Griffiths's work but I am always looking for new recs.
You made MANY interesting points and I don't have time to address them all. I specifically thought wanted to touch on your point about our capacity for destruction since the end of WWII
I think many of our current cultural issues come from the fact that we have the sword of Damocles hanging over our heads. Conflict shifting slowly from nation-states towards the type of psychological warfare you mentioned above. A war against the human spirit. Instead of physical strength prevailing those who can influence the populace to the maximum extent with technology prevail; something that I would argue is actually more dystopian than the simple "truth" of power versus weakness
Yes, that is certainly the case. The meaningfulness people need to exist has become the aspect of culture/society they identify with at all costs. There is no inherent spirituality in existence and life itself and the social media dominated zeitgeist is hollow to the core.
“It makes no difference what men think of war, said the judge. War endures. As well ask men what they think of stone. War was always here. Before man was, war waited for him. The ultimate trade awaiting its ultimate practitioner.” -Cormac McCarthy, Blood Meridian
Good article Joe. I wonder how much violence, as a default or reaction to the striving of cultures/nations towards dominant ideologies, is a solution based on our psychological immaturity? To extrapolate from the origins of our tendencies by referring to chimp behaviour is 'a perspective'.
Have you read/heard abut Jeremy Griffith's book Freedom? It posits another take on the 'Human Condition', an alternate perspective from a Bonobo instead of Chimp behaviour takeoff point.
Based on historical data and current evidence, the chimp factor certainly seems to be the default human operating system.
It would seem that in order for society to progress, whether beneficently or malevolently, depending on your political ideology, someone needs to die. To the victor the spoils, as the saying goes, and the victor we know also gets to write the history. So we justify progress via violence. It's all we've ever known, so it's all that will ever work?
We have certainly advanced as a species to the point where the war aspect of progression has been capable since 1945 of totally destroying that very same civilization, a place where we most assuredly find ourselves at this present time again, and what waits behind that curtain is the world of Cormac McCarthy's The Road, no mistaking.
Would it be that our evolution lies now in our psychology rather than our physiology? What does a psychologically healthy society look like? Would they also posit that violence, war and destruction is a viable option for ensuring the march of progress? Is it what Krishnamurty observed: "It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society..."
We can certainly continue down this path of progress through destruction, and see how many more rolls of the dice we can get out of it. However, I think it is a cop-out. We are still at the level of our soul striving to overcome this interpretation of who we are as humans.
That's why the Old Testament gave us Jesus. The strife of our becoming culminates in our emancipation. There is no negating our differences, our oppositional ideological strivings. The means to get there needs addressing at the level of global psychology, not through physiological and technological domination.
Why is it that the meek shall inherit the earth? Are the meek weaklings, merely passivists? Or are they deeply self and societally aware of what it takes to collaboratively overcome our seemingly impossibly conflicting agendas? What strength and awareness does it take to rise above our current default accepted operating system?
That is why the meek, not the weak, shall inherit the earth. The psychological makeup of the meek is next level human. That goes hand in hand with physiological strength, a planet of Shaolin monks, with Jungian black belts.
That is when Paradise will once again be on earth, nature will be the sacred cradle of life, and humans will be able to reach into the cosmos as self realised explorers of the rest of God's creation with the right kind of psychology to ensure the harmonious participation with all of creation.
A pipe dream? Yes, unless we make it so. Create a new system that makes the old obsolete. Solve the problem from a new level of consciousness. All our greatest minds and spiritual teachers are showing us the way. Our psychology is still immensely immature as a society, hence we are so easy to manipulate into the 'it's just human nature' shpiel.
How can this not be exciting? Who are we 'evermore' waiting for to 'save' us? Do we need to read about this 'saving' in the future history books? And who would have done it? The current batch of 'leaders'? They can't (read; don't really want to) change anything, they are the problem. Potáto / Potâto. If it looks like a chicken and sounds like a chicken, it's probably still a chicken.
I like your writing, you are obviously a thinker and someone who has actual life experience, the deep examination that results from wrestling with the dark night of the soul, the scars to show for the skin in the game of life.
Who are we to dream of a better world? Who are we to imagine a world where the same energy we spend on destruction is applied to collaboration, at every level, leading us to the stars as is our destiny? Octavia Butler had it right in The Parable of the Sower. God is Change. And we need to or we will soon the on McCarthy's 'The Road' to a hell we will take another 10,000 years to recover from.
Imagination meeting deed makes it so. Keep on being awesome mate. Namasté.
Thanks for the kind words Erlank.
I've never read any of Jeremy Griffiths's work but I am always looking for new recs.
You made MANY interesting points and I don't have time to address them all. I specifically thought wanted to touch on your point about our capacity for destruction since the end of WWII
I think many of our current cultural issues come from the fact that we have the sword of Damocles hanging over our heads. Conflict shifting slowly from nation-states towards the type of psychological warfare you mentioned above. A war against the human spirit. Instead of physical strength prevailing those who can influence the populace to the maximum extent with technology prevail; something that I would argue is actually more dystopian than the simple "truth" of power versus weakness
Yes, that is certainly the case. The meaningfulness people need to exist has become the aspect of culture/society they identify with at all costs. There is no inherent spirituality in existence and life itself and the social media dominated zeitgeist is hollow to the core.
“It makes no difference what men think of war, said the judge. War endures. As well ask men what they think of stone. War was always here. Before man was, war waited for him. The ultimate trade awaiting its ultimate practitioner.” -Cormac McCarthy, Blood Meridian
Beautiful and terrifying quote from one of my favorite books. Thanks for reading Johnny