Danger, continued

A continuation on a theme from an earlier post:

If this world goes to hell in a handbasket, corruption will surely be behind the fall.  Without the courage to do what's right, to stand up for a set of principles, we become pawns in the hands of those who can pay us off or intimidate us.  Healthy societies need brave souls who are ready and willing to challenge corruption and injustice the moment these evils rear their ugly heads.

Civilization is also at risk of decline due to revenge codes.  The idea that justice is only achieved by doing to others the same harm they have done to you is terribly unwise.  We all know the phrase, "an eye for a an eye leaves the whole world blind."  Not only is revenge-as-justice unwise because it simply causes more harm instead of prevents it, but it fuels hatred and violence that can last generations instead of nourishing understanding and caring.  Plus, emotionally fueled reactions to personal harm are much more likely to hurt the wrong person than, say, a methodical investigation, arrest, and prosecution.

Danger exists for us all so long as people are willing to ally themselves to a group/leader/belief system/idea/etc without adequate evidence/reason that what they commit themselves to is in fact true and wise.  The kind of allegiance that follows from simple reactions to emotional appeals is easily and commonly secured by any power-hungry person or nebulous mythology (or the combination of the two).

Related to this is the belief that truth is best found by "listening to your heart" rather than trusting in science, reason, and logic.  Yes, personal, emotional truth is discovered by a keen awareness of one's emotions (it is true that I feel this way...), but matters of external fact are not realized by emotional divining.

Addiction to the overstimulating is another obvious force for societal decay.  One can not live a healthy, fulfilling life if one is slave to intense desire-the kind of desire that prevents a natural range of emotion and monopolizes a person's thoughts and time.

Nationalism has bonded people together in the pursuit of common goals.  Too bad the goal has often been the killing of others in battle/war.  Group identity that is well informed is one thing, but group identity based on nothing but simple pride and circumstance is both ignorant and dangerous.  Group identity=group think, which we all know can get out of hand.  Tyrants love it though.

On a related note, the belief that one is "special" or "chosen" can lead one to justify the mistreatment of others.  It may be impossible to abolish the feeling of being better than someone else; after all, its a fact that superiority exists in all kinds of ways.  Its when the feeling of being better than others, or "chosen", is not checked by a respect for individual rights and an intelligent humility that harm may be incurred.

Politics and power struggles also keep society from progressing.  In my mind, government exists to fix problems, provide security, and guarantee our rights.  I know, in practice things aren't so simple.  But power struggles-and this applies to all power struggles, not just political-undermine real efforts to get things done.  Maybe not as big of a deal as addiction or corruption, but still a corrosive force in society.

For this post about "Danger",  you might think I'd list things like The Seven Deadly Sins (wrath, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy, and gluttony) or the offenses listed in the Ten Commandments.  Not a bad idea, if I agreed that they were all legitimate concerns.  Wrath?  Yeah, that's bad (it implies violence), but is wrath a thing anymore outside of the realm of gang-leaders and tyrants.  Just seems weird.  What about greed? Yes, unchecked greed is a problem, but only like out of control drinking is a problem.  Unto itself, its a fairly natural impulse.  Pride?  Don't be silly-everyone has pride from time to time.  Sure, it does no one any good to be an arrogant asshole, but still doesn't seem like a big deal.  Certainly doesn't mean that some kind of great crime or harm will come from it.  Lust. Nothing wrong there. Envy. Nope. Gluttony?  For obvious reasons, not good, but not a global problem. Unchecked, unplanned consumption of the planets natural resources is a major problem, but I don't call that gluttony.  As for the Ten Commandments, I'll refer you to George Carlin's stand-up bit.

Anyway, I wanted to write this post and elaborate on the claim I made a few posts ago about "Danger!"  These are the kinds of things that we should be trying to eradicate.  No, not homosexuality or abortion or lust or contraceptions or working on Sunday or not praying on Friday or eating pork or paying our tithing or doing baptisms for the dead or teaching the Bible or any number of things.  No, these concerns are a waste of valuable time and huge distractions to larger issues that genuinely pose a threat to society.

Metaphors, Analogies, Whatever

Howdy.  Partner.  Yeah, that's right, John Wayne here.  Not fooling you?  Ok, ok, its just me, Josh, starting the wagon wheels rolling on another blog post.  Last time (earlier today, actually), I began a post by saying I was going to, and I quote, "keep things loosey goosey."  Well, I apologize.  Besides being a ridiculous phrase-loosey goosey, who says that??-I didn't actually stay true to my promise.  The post quickly became heavy chevy or serious, er, sirius?...wait.  Whatever.  Let me try to get back to the goose.

Here's another stupid idea for a blog that I scribble in a notebook:

I thought of an analogy for our human condition.  I thought it was kind of good, i.e., correct-ish, if not highly unoriginal.  It goes a little something like this.

There's this farm, see?  And on the farm there are all these animals, see?  The old farmer-let's call him, um, McDonald-looks after the animals.  Old McDonald talks to them as well.  He tells them that they are much better off being confined to the farm.  He explains that he takes care of them and keeps them out of harm.  He says that evil exists out beyond the tall wood farm fence.  Sometimes the animals get restless in their small world and feel the "call of the wild".  Other times the animals are overwhelmed  by the instinctual urges of their ancestors.  They begin to wonder what is on the other side of the fence.  When these things happen, Old McDonald reminds the animals of their higher purpose:  To serve the farm and feed his family.  He reminds them that there is nothing but danger out beyond the fence.  He declares that there is nothing worth knowing outside the farm.  He assures the animals that life on the farm is the most comfortable, fulfilling life there is.

See, now wasn't that Fun!  I know this is an incredibly complex analogy, so let me interpret it for you.

We are the farm animals.  Yes, you and I and everyone else on this planet.  We have been domesticated by various belief systems, religious or otherwise.  (hint: the farm represents the belief systems)  Its been many generations since we lived in a more natural, free existence; its been hundreds/thousands of years since we were corralled by religion (or what have you) and told that we would be better off if we suppressed our natural instincts and do what we were told.  Religion gave us treats to keep us satisfied. You could say it even made us addicts of its unnatural, high-fructose emotional drug.  And we were made to believe that there was a higher purpose which we were selected for.  That purpose had little to do with what was good for us, and more to do with the good of something out of touch and abstract-something we never really saw. We were told that we exist to serve God. We didn't need to know anything else. We were encouraged to not only ignore our natural instincts and self interest, but to demonize them.  Nothing outside the church or holy text was worth knowing.  Everything else was dangerous.

We should not just return to the wild; we should take over the farm and open the gate.  Those who wish to live a comfortable, predictable life may choose to do so (for themselves); and those who'd rather live on the wild side, exploring new territory are free to.

The end.

Wait, the loose goose just ran off.  Here's another direction my mid went today, while thinking about freedom/free will:

What is freedom if we are controlled by natural urges/instinct?  Wouldn't it be the freedom to obey urges, and wouldn't that be a paradox?  If we were able to rid ourselves of our natural desires, where then would freedom come from?

What sounds more correct?

Freedom to do what genes are compelling me to do?
Freedom to do what my meager intellect thinks is most wise-or best-based on limited information from biased sources?
Freedom to choose to obey other people/dogmas?
Freedom to disconnect, emotionally, and choose what is best for our health/happiness based on the best information we have (similar to #2).

Ok, the end.

Finding Freedom

Hey there. How about some FRESH reading material? Usually I'd try really hard to impress you with well written, completely formulated lines of thought, but, eH!  Instead, I'm going to keep things loosey goosey and just take a few ideas and run with them.  Enjoy.

Dear Friend.  Dear Family Member.  Dear, um, Fellow Human Being;

You and I are products of the environments we were born into.  The places we've been, the people and things that have surrounded us, are all a part of who we are today.  If we could somehow be someone else, we would still be the product of the environment that that someone else was born into.  We'd most likely consider ourselves muslims if we were born to muslim parents and raised in Islamic communities.  Likewise, there's a better than average chance that we'd be poor farmers in a third world country if we were born and raised in, er, Nicaragua...

I'm a big fan of some of the top post-punk, new age bands from the 80s and 90s... not because I decided one day, after giving every artist from every musical genre an equal listen, that the Cure was objectively the best band EVER, or that ONLY Morrissey wrote songs that spoke to me as an individual.  No, I didn't carefully decide my musical preferences much like I didn't decide to be raised Mormon.  It just so happened (conditions were set) that I was born in the mid 70s, and that in my formative years (aren't they all formative?) bands like The Cure and The Smiths were big and appealed to young white kids who were exposed to their music in places like Salt Lake City where "Alternative Music" radio stations like KJQ kept new tunes transmitting on the radio...new tunes that young white kids like my older brothers would listen to, then buy the albums, and play them at home where their younger siblings (me) would be playing legos or G.I. Joes or something and think to themselves "awesome!"....  Pshew.

See?  Lots of conditions were in place.  I was not born to like The Cure-it was not divinely predetermined.  The Cure-the fact the band existed-along with dozens of big factors and a million tiny factors all came together to make me a big big fan.  I'm the product of my environment and my genes, just like you and you and you.

The acceptance of this simple idea promotes understanding, empathy, and some kind of solidarity towards people who are not like us.  It suppresses feelings of superiority and exceptionalism.  But the acceptance of this idea accomplishes more than that:  It erodes the cult of personality promoted by Christianity.  It cuts short the narcissistic celebration of religion's fundamental concept of a soul garbed in a cloak of absolute free will.  We are not unique, singular works of art conceived by a loving God whose sole intention is to give us free will so that we can choose to be cradled in his arms for all of eternity.  Sorry to disappoint.

Let's move on.

Dear friend, family member, and/or fellow human;

We are also the blossoming of our genes.  We did not choose our complexion, our height, our proportions, our skin or breast cancer risk, our brain chemistry, our overall hormonal balance, etc...

(Isn't its funny how much responsibility/pressure we place on ourselves for characteristics we did not consciously choose for ourselves?)

We are reigned in by behavioral norms and taboos which are a part a culture which is, in turn, a part of the society we happen to live in.

A special blend of natural and nurturing conditions have compelled us to behave in ways that are social-behavior which has helped us find security and comfort among friends, family members, coworkers, and peers.

Again, free choice is not absolute.

We cannot, of our own power, fly into the air, or swim freely into the depths of the ocean.  We cannot leave Earth's atmosphere and roam among the planets.

We can only see as far and as much as our eyes (and the objects in front of them), optics nerves, and brain allow.  Similarly, all of our senses fall short of what is possible within the animal kingdom.  We should be embarrassed by how common house flies, minnows, worms, and countless other creatures out perform us in myriad ways.

Most significantly, our intelligence (we could call it our sixth sense) is severely limited.  We can only think about one thing at a time.  We cannot command our brain to recall any/all details that it has absorbed.  Our intelligence is limited to the knowledge our brain can store, analyze, and recall.  We simply do not have access to all the information we need at all the times we need it.  Apart from cursory validations from the internet and other second-hand sources, we have very few tools at our disposal for determining whether or not something is true or false, objective or biased.

If we are the products of our genetic makeup and our environments, if cultural and social forces bind our hands and hold our tongues, and if our choices are so constrained by the reality of our conditions, how can we possibly talk about individuality and free will with any seriousness?  Are we deluded when we think (or feel) that we have freedom, or when we value our "uniqueness" and character?

Friends, family, everyone else....

This awareness of our own condition is our ticket out of it.  Free will may (or may not) be a man-made construct, a delusion on par with religion's soul; but awareness of the barriers to freedom shall, at the very least, allow us to escape from fate, from the will of others, from the shackles that bind.

Something happens when a person says "I am a muslim because my parents were muslims" or "I am a Mormon because my parents were Mormon" or "I yell at my kids because my parents yelled at me" or "I like country music because my dad listened to country music".  The realization is made that a personal choice was never made.  New questions arise: "How do I make a personal choice? What should I consider? Are the things that others say are true, really true? What can I really know to be true? How do I feel? What do I want?"

Freedom and free will comes from questioning, which brings us closer to the truth, which allows us to discover all that we don't know, and allows us to ponder all of our choices.

Freedom and free will comes from knowledge.  Simply knowing more widens our understanding, maximizes our choices, and ensures that the choices we make will be the best for ourselves.

When we realize that so much of what people commit themselves to is based on unsupported, unscientific claims, and when we become aware of the specific ways we are compelled to believe things that are not true, we become able to free ourselves from such commitments, view the universe through a wider lens, and act on behalf of all people (as opposed to one narrow sighted cause).

Let's take a break from the sermon...

I've talked about free will several times before.  I'm motivated to find a positive spin on our severely limited freedom.  I guess to me its a very positive thing to shake off the ties that bind (if I can use some popular cliches).  A slave who escaped his chains still had the same universal limits on absolute freedom that you or I have (as discussed above), but the relative freedom he gained was enough to cause him to cry or sing for joy. The freedom the slave gained and the freedom we gain in small parts when we are empowered to make our own educated choices are cause for jubilation.

So let's not get ahead of ourselves and think that we can save the classical religious/philosophical notion of free will from other philosophers who have attacked it.  Everyone should be able to concede the basic point that free will is, in the least, severely limited/retarded.  In essence, in my mind, those philosophers have won the argument.

Instead, let's continue to fight the physical and intellectual enemies of freedom.  Simply put, this is the liberal cause:  To maximize individual freedom whenever, wherever possible.  And to oppose forces that seek to impose unscientific, anti-rational, and anti-humanistic ideologies on the freedoms and rights of the individual.

While we're at it, let's continue to look for creative ways to win back free will from the intellectuals who have so little regard for it.