It's Personal

It is only a very fortunate few who have the leisure to contemplate and write, or create any other art or science. Doing so is not only a privilege, but a great responsibility. It's a fact that literary and artistic works outlast almost everything else we've done, not excepting the Egyptian Pyramids. It's a rare individual whose image or bones are still with us after one or two millennia. Almost everyone, probably including me, turns into mud, then dust, then nothing shortly after death. All but the few most famous names disappear entirely within a century. Most of the structures people design and build disappear within a few centuries. Even the most durable societies disappear after a few millennia. Some languages last longer, but eventually they, too, are transformed or lost.

In this world of degradation and decay, of descent into the chaos of our birth, one fact is always before us: ideas persist. Ideas are not material; they are indestructable so long as anyone thinks them. They transcend time and space, as they can take hold anywhere in our Universe and maybe other Universes as well. Thus, thoughts are as close as we come to immortality. Artistic creations last so far as they express ideas, because they seem to compel us to preserve them. Artists, scientists and other intellectual workers are privileged, because they are nearer than others to eternity. They are also responsible, at least to themselves, to do that which will withstand the test of time.

In creating works which attempt permanence, one must perceive and embody something close to "the truth."  Mother Nature is a cruel mistress who rigs her clocks near aspiring works to set off an alarm when they detect falsehood. Then she forgets about them. For a short time, she (and we) are waked up when something goes wrong. But what's right is in the background, taken for granted. We notice whatever sticks out from the background; the rest is an undistinguished blur. Because we cannot distinguish what is everywhere before us, we learn by elimination, moving from falsehood to falsehood. There is never any truth; only what is proven false.

This is frustrating for most people, so they adopt myths - falsehoods - to comfort themselves. People believe they can detect error, because it sticks out from the murky background. It is easy to get it backward, mistaking the easily visible for what is. How clear it is that we will live forever! It is easy to imagine ourselves the Chosen People, protected by a young god, Superman, who loves us. None of us wish to harm our friends and neighbors: we are kindly and loving people. If there is crime or war, it is them, not us, that bring it about.
 

Each one of us thinks himself the exception to rules. If the world is overpopulated, what difference does my extra child make? If the atmosphere is polluted, would abandoning my Hummer change that much? How dare you challenge what I want to do! I am normal, you are a freak!

It should be obvious to everyone, including sinners, what is wrong with everyday thinking. It is the addition of millions of mouths that makes the difference.

What do I believe?

I am quite sure it is criminal to have that extra child, or run that Hummer. Those things are a form of robbery, a taking from those who have not. In a world that cannot support all of its residents, giving preference to this one is simply to deny that one. I am also quite sure that the ultimate justification that will be given for this behavior is, 'I and mine are worth it. We are better than those others.'  Are criminals angry and resentful when they are caught, or do they submit humbly? I think we see the answer on TV all the time. People rationalize whatever they do, good or bad.

A friend asked whether I wasn't contradictory, perhaps hypocritical, because I have said the world can support all its people comfortably. I said that, and I still think it is true, but I must qualify it. The world can support all of its people comfortably, provided we are willing to adjust ourselves to what this world can support. In other words, at lower population levels living suitably adjusted lifestyles, this planet, Gaia, can support all of us in comfort. I do not qualify this last word, "comfort," because I think people will feel at home, comfortable, in a rearranged world. Most of our present day pleasures can be retained in a future of reduced population and environmental demands. Some of our present day demands will be foregone of necessity, but I doubt people will be unhappy on that account. It is not only possible to lead a fulfilling life while exacting less from the planet, but millions of people already do it.

If, however, we accustom ourselves to societies of selfish and greedy people, not only will this planet be forever insufficient, but most people will be unhappy as well.

Being happy or comfortable is a matter of knowing how to be happy or comfortable. That knowledge and practice is an individual matter. It does not come about by following the designs of a Philosopher King, nor by indulging oneself with every pleasure that comes along. It is not the result of socialist society, either, although a proper social background enhances individual fulfillment. Where it all starts is with individuals, what I call "strong individuals." Strong individuals understand the relationships between themselves and others, so they don't make unreasonable demands; i.e., they are socialized. Strong individuals have purposes beyond the merely biological; i.e., they are not driven by biological demands.

I think most people can become strong individuals, but it takes practice.