What a Wonderful World

 Quietly. Calmly. No need for an epiphany. 

So many memories. Moments lived. Mostly accidentally. Who knew where the road would go? 

Looking back over my shoulder I still feel every memory when I let it drop into the pool and bring back the time to me in waves of remembrance. Even less self consciously now than ever. No need to impress as the wind that ruffles feathers in flight is either remembered, or it is not. But either way enough is remembered ..... 

I am here. Now. And in the next heartbeat, I won't be. And then again, and again and again. Every beat a beckoning and reckoning all at once and it is gone. The eternal promise of timeless eternity. 

Time for bed

I should be in bed. The day was long, like tapdancing on a tin can, but I cannot shut down. There is something that wants to get out. It's stuck halfway between my sternum and my navel. This uncomfortable feeling of existential indigestion.

I miss the person that I was when I was younger. I miss how I could get overwhelmed with passion about something utterly insignificant. How I could get excited about a new idea. This may be why I am listening to Bryan Adams on Youtube. Harking back to days of young love. Confused and ecstatic all at once. Life was a mystery. I need to reclaim that innocence.

But Life happens. And I am grateful for it. But once in a while, in the still of night, with Robin Hood in my ears, and still life scenes flashing in front of my inner eye, I wonder.

Oh, I wonder. Wonder about the ever elusive Now. About yesterday and if there is a theme that I am missing. How much intent it would take, to create the life I want, and leave enough space for someone else.

Wow. Watching soccer in a bar in England with a boy that couldn't move. Meeting people that you didn't even know could exist. Wondering about life and how some things seems so very wrong. The sweet innocence gone.

I have my vision now. My drive is geared and ready to excute. Not knowing what is around the corner, is still cool. I have found the power in me, and I'm not afraid to use it. I am afraid that I might hurt some, but fear has little to do with me. We are strangers these days.

What IS the point?

I was talking to a friend recently and we were discussing Capitalism and Consumerism. We were trying to imagine what life would be like without either of the above being a part of our reality.

This question then suddenly struck me: What would be the point?

I don't mean this in a negative "Woe is me!" kind of way, but more literally "What would be the point of life without always striving for 'More' and 'Better'." I am not trying to say here that capitalism or consumerism is necessarily the cause for this 'More and better' attitude. It may just be that these two 'philosophies' are driven by that attitude.

The question remains though: What would be our goal in life if it wasn't the striving for 'more' and 'better'?

This train of thought naturally took me back to tribal communities of yore. What was their goal? And the answer seems rather obvious: survival. All these people needed to do, was make sure that they had food, and that their young didn't accidentally die. Or maybe that is a little simplistic?

As part of this conversation with my friend, was also the realization that ever since the time of the Greeks, human consciousness haven't changed much, so Homer would most probably be able to relate in some way with your modern Average Joe. I found this a little disconcerting, since we usually see ourselves as having Progressed, along with all our technological advancements. How is it possible that we haven't really 'grown' much as a species since the times of the Greeks?

The day after I had this conversation, I went to the library looking for books for my daughter. While there I thought I may as well get books for me and the missus, since we both enjoy reading but haven't done so in a while. I picked up a little book called 'Freakonomics', which I had read before, but thought I'd brush up on, since it was pretty interesting. On the way to the check-out counter, I changed my mind, and while putting 'Freakonomics' back my eye caught a book by Thich Nhat Hahn simply called 'Anger'. Since I have been reading, and participating in, a conversation on Emotions on the Philosophy forum on Facebook, I thought I'd see what this chap with the unpronounceable name has to say about it.

It turns out it is a Buddhist monk's thoughts on how to manage and overcome anger. An interesting read, and I would recommend it, but the point is that it made me wonder what the point of a Buddhist life is, since neither Capitalism, nor Consumerism, features very heavily in this doctrine.

I did a quick search and it turns out that the point of the Buddhist life, is to reach Nirvana. Nirvana is the state of being free from suffering. "The word literally means "blowing out" — referring, in the Buddhist context, to the blowing out of the fires of greed, hatred, and delusion." (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

I don't know about hatred, but I don't think Capitalism or Consumerism could function without greed and delusion. Another definition claims that "Nirvana is the supreme state free from suffering and individual existence." (Thinkquest.org) Individualism is also something that neither Capitalism nor Consumerism can do without.

Please don't misunderstand my motivation for bringing Buddhism into this discussion. I am not promoting it as a cure for Capitalism, even though it may very well be. I am still simply wondering what would be the point of life without the constant striving for 'More' and 'Better'.

Finding an end to suffering seems to be a good starting point though. Humans have been suffering for as long as humanity has existed. The very striving for this 'More' and 'Better' could arguably be an attempt to find a solution for suffering as well. Suffering is not fun, and I can't think of anyone, save a few masochists, who would disagree.

Now, you may rightly argue, if Capitalism has the same end as Buddhism, in that its aim is to alleviate suffering, how could it possible be wrong?

Well, one of the biggest differences between Capitalism and Buddhism (in my mind) is it's main focus. Meaning HOW it is trying to alleviate suffering. Capitalism seems to be focused on THINGS while Buddhism is focused on a STATE OF BEING.

The underlying philosophy of Capitalism seems to be that money will set you free from suffering, while Buddhism claims that a State of Mind will set you free. Both focus on freedom from suffering, reached by different means. The scope of Capitalism is also limited to physical suffering, while Buddhism seems to focus on ALL kinds of suffering, including physical, mental and spiritual.

What is my conclusion then? Simply that both Capitalism and Buddhism strives for the same end, namely the end of suffering, but that Capitalism is found lacking in its focus, while Buddhism includes more of the complete human in its quest.

It would appear then that the point of a life without the constant search for the 'More' and 'Better' would be the same: finding an end to suffering, but that the means would differ considerably. I am not saying that Buddhism is the way to achieve this, since I am very skeptical of reaching a state where the individual disappears, but it seems that Buddhism has much more to offer than Capitalism when one considers the complete human experience. It seems that I may have found my Beginning .....

No Individual without Society

I have been talking on a Philosophy board recently and the discussion led my thinking to the Individual vs Society debate. I started wondering what came first, the Individual or Society?

This may seem like a silly question, because the point was made that no society can exist without the individuals that comprise it, and I would have to admit that it is a valid point indeed ..... Except there is a little voice nagging at the back of my head that the issue is not as simple as I may think it is.

When we define an individual, we invariable define him/her in terms of other people (society?). To talk of a human individual, we need to talk about the traits that is distinctive about the individual and that separates it from the norm, or society. We will need to talk about personality.

If we take the Big Five personality model as a base, and look at the five traits that define a person (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personality_psychology), it is easy to see that these qualities are comparative. For example, a person may fit somewhere on a sliding scale of being either More or Less open to new experiences, compared to either the Norm, or someone else. With these Big Five personality model traits, you would be able to define an individual, but what you are doing in actual fact, is comparing that individual to others. Without his/her society, there could be no comparison, and therefor there could be no individual.

How could one say then, that you have the individual first and then society, if it is impossible to define an individual without society?

Individuality is defined as "the particular character, or aggregate of qualities, that distinguishes one person or thing from others; sole and personal nature" by the On-Line Dictionary (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/individuality) while one of the definitions of 'society' is "a highly structured system of human organization for large-scale community living that normally furnishes protection, continuity, security, and a national identity for its members" (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/society).

If you look closely at the above, you will notice that the one cannot really do without the other, and you therefore have a true 'chicken-and-egg' dilemma.

Another question that begs to be answered then, is what are we actually talking about when we pit the Individual against Society? From the above defintion, a society seems completely benevolent. It provides 'protection, continuity, security and a national identity' for its members. Why does one so often hear then that the individual has to struggle for his/her freedom from society?

I will endeavor to answer the above question in the next post.

Until then, fare thee well fellow adventurers.