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Just a fresh down to earth non academic view that I thinks is worth thinking about.
As you all know we are living in very exciting times. A time in history where we can achieve anything. So you would think. A quote from a renown Psychiatrist Stanislav Grof :
Quote; In the last few decades, it has become increasingly clear that humanity is facing a crisis of unprecedented proportions. Modern science has developed effective means that could solve most of the urgent problems in today’s world , combat the majority of diseases, eliminate hunger and poverty, reduce the amount of industrial waste, and replace destructive fossil fuels by renewable sources of clean energy. The problems that stand in the way are not of economical or technological nature. The deepest sources of the global crisis lie inside the human personality and reflect the level of conscious evolution of our species.
Given the history of the human race and it’s propensity for oppression and war and the cycle of the oppressed eventually overcoming the oppressors who become future oppressors themselves. This has been the idiosyncratic behavior of the human race and it has not changed today.
In this post I would like to pursue some simple but reasonable arguments, that attempts to
One contributing factor is our inability to experience objectively reality.
The preponderance of evidence is that the human mind is incapable of absolute objectivity. I will now elucidate. In order to understand this concept,I need to start with, a fundamental idea. We are all unique. This in of itself is no great revelation. But with further analysis I would like to shed some light, why I think this is important.
. The brain is a biological computer and is unlike our silicon computers which are manufactured with a protocol that will effectively make an operating system work identically despite differences in hardware design. What we call the operating system and the many programs that are installed on it to make the computer a useful tool is referred to as soft ware. The brain like a computer also has software which is our mind. But here is where the analogy ends. In the brain the hardware and software are more intimately interconnected. Unlike a silicon computer whose hardware is not effected by the software this is not the case with the brain. The “operating “ system is ingrained in the biological “ hardware”. When a child is born and begins to see, hear and feel physically and emotionally The brain starts to process all that information. Unlike our silicone computer which constantly needs to be upgraded when processing power needs to be increased or we run out of memory and that has to be increased, the brain biologically continues to grow memories as they are needed. More important is that every memory becomes permanently wired. In computer terms that would be write once read only memory. There is
Another advantage to the silicon computer is that now thanks to networking and the Internet every computer communicates with virtual perfection The human brain on the other hand is more complex and no two brains are exactly alike, we do not have “networking “for our brains yet ( loosely refereed to some as ESP) . As humans we have developed a less complex form of communication , that being language, both verbal and bodily . We can only communicate on a very fundamental level. This lack of adequate communication combined with our mental uniqueness is one reason objectivity is virtually impossible.
Our view of reality is created by our senses which are processed by our brain in various ways to create many illusions and interpretations of the real world. Not withstanding the fast growing movement among the science community, that argue that the mind should not be viewed as an entity independent of ones biology .I still see the mind like the software that is independent of a PC computer . The day we are born, we are born, with an “operating” system that then starts processing the moment we are exposed to our new environment. We all process things a little differently and every journey that starts at birth will be unique. The mind is formed , as we experience life.
We have an ability that is so misunderstood , and maligned. That is our emotions. While it is true that if we do not master them and allow them to control us they become very troublesome and add a lot of grief not only to ourselves but to others.
I mention them here because unrestrained emotions are a powerful force against objectivity. Here in lies the fallacy of the “REASON“ group. The greatest proponents of the idealistic “reason” movement have in fact an alternative agenda fueled by strong emotional and sometimes aggressive views. Hence their actions betray their claim to “reason”.
Returning to the subject at hand , having elucidated on some of the problems regarding the human mind with regards to subjectivity , you might find it rather surprising that I in fact celebrate my subjectivity. How so ? Because some of the most enjoyable aspects of being human are completely subjective , like love , and appreciation for completely mundane things. Like the intense pleasure we get out of things like music and art. In fact the real point of this essay is to help people appreciate their subjectivity and embrace it. The real problem are those negative subjective feelings which has lead us down that dark road of loneliness resulting in low self esteem.
Living within our subjective reality and recognizing that there is nothing wrong with it, it being perfectly natural , is imperative to our growth as humans and the eventual cohesiveness of our race as a whole.Understanding this subjective nature allows us to comprehend that no two people think alike and that is OK. We can learn to use that fact in building better relationships.
It is this that makes us all equal in the sight of one another , the unique interpretation of the illusory nature of reality. Knowing this ,understanding this, embracing this should allow us to suspend judgement of others as well as ourselves.
A good reason to accept our differences lies in the true “magic” of the corporate human intelligence where every one contributs to the whole making the whole very powerful.
A further analysis of attitudes towards the general subject of emotions has elicited a plethora of theories and therapies and psychotherapies and self help books. All adding to the general confusion of what emotions really are. As for me I see them in their purest simplicity as a virtual other dimension. An illusory dimension much as time is an illusory fourth dimension. Emotions are the most subjective part of our experiences as they are not a reflection of reality at all. They are in the strictest sense delusions. When one experiences feelings, these feelings are not verifiable. For instance in the sentence “I love my dog” there is only one reality and that is the dog. The dog is real the feeling is in your mind. Feelings allow us to enjoy life. With out feelings we would be a mere robot. Nothing would motivate us.
Some where along the way we need to use our powers of reason and free will to keep our feelings in check. The subconscious stores things that we do and feel frequently so that we often act with out thinking first. This is not beneficial , to us or to others .
Those attachments can be strong or weak . They can be as a result of trauma or ecstasy We have less control over our environment but always some control of our feelings on this my point really is that with the use of our free will and some discipline and reason ( if that is difficult then I do recommend professional help) I have found for myself personally That I have developed the ability to sort of “talk” to my emotions and reason with them. I was real surprised how cooperative they can be. It’s a neat trick and takes a little practice but it does work. Yes you can train your feelings to be reasonable. Emotions find ways to attach themselves to experiences rather arbitrarily. We can get fooled by those feelings that attach themselves to those experiences. We may think we like something when in reality that feeling has attached itself to the object that we think we desire . A good example would be if some one we love betrays us , resulting in pain and anger. The objective reality is that person either was or is now different . As time goes by we forget or better put the emotion detaches.
This also ties into the whole subjective reality issue. Until now I have been referring to subjective and objective reality in a very literal sense. In practice , once we know what we are working with and embrace it we can in a very real sense be more objective and reasonable and be in a better position to know what REASON really means.
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