I used to wonder how this world became such an interlocked place of extreme dependency. Today, I thought about it again, when I looked at this picture.
If we just have to live alone in a jungle, we would almost not need to depend on anyone. But in an attempt to protect ourselves, we might try to cling. In the process, we might enjoy the feeling of being together. However, when we start thinking about what remains after we're gone, we probably would think of leaving something after us. That is when we would try to bring in more things and people around, including our own children. From here on it doesn't take long to transform our thoughts into creating what we call a society.
But we never realize the intensity of what we just created until we get overwhelmed by it. We slowly start to depend on the various elements that constitute a society. One fine day when we realize "Ah, did we just create a chicken-and-egg problem?", we start questioning ourselves. We try our first line of defense. Without realizing that it was we who created the system, we start listing down its absurdities.
First, we require people to give us things that we wouldn't have otherwise needed in a simpler system. Absurd! Second, we cannot always give back to people whom we take it from. More absurd! Third, from a cooperative mode that we thought our society would behave, we get into an ambitious mode where cooperation is a nice-to-have. Even more absurd! You can continue to grow this list of absurdities and it can get quite complicated.
Surely, the society is a good and a bad creation of mankind that comprises of many dimensions that are built upon some of the weirdest chicken-and-egg problems, of which dependency is just one dimension. As you keep thinking along these lines, you traverse through thoughts about selfishness and about usefulness. And then you go back many years and try to dig out the purpose of your birth. Now you get stumped.
You don't know how to begin because the start is the universe. You attempt to reverse-engineer and try to find out how it could end. Even that doesn't help because the end is also the universe. Does the sum of all our lives add up to zero or to eternity? Now you're confused whether the system is absurd or you're absurd. That's when you most probably try to give up, because your eyes are already closing, asking for sleep. You need to address more dependency concerns of either yours or of others, the next day.
If we just have to live alone in a jungle, we would almost not need to depend on anyone. But in an attempt to protect ourselves, we might try to cling. In the process, we might enjoy the feeling of being together. However, when we start thinking about what remains after we're gone, we probably would think of leaving something after us. That is when we would try to bring in more things and people around, including our own children. From here on it doesn't take long to transform our thoughts into creating what we call a society.But we never realize the intensity of what we just created until we get overwhelmed by it. We slowly start to depend on the various elements that constitute a society. One fine day when we realize "Ah, did we just create a chicken-and-egg problem?", we start questioning ourselves. We try our first line of defense. Without realizing that it was we who created the system, we start listing down its absurdities.
First, we require people to give us things that we wouldn't have otherwise needed in a simpler system. Absurd! Second, we cannot always give back to people whom we take it from. More absurd! Third, from a cooperative mode that we thought our society would behave, we get into an ambitious mode where cooperation is a nice-to-have. Even more absurd! You can continue to grow this list of absurdities and it can get quite complicated.
Surely, the society is a good and a bad creation of mankind that comprises of many dimensions that are built upon some of the weirdest chicken-and-egg problems, of which dependency is just one dimension. As you keep thinking along these lines, you traverse through thoughts about selfishness and about usefulness. And then you go back many years and try to dig out the purpose of your birth. Now you get stumped.
You don't know how to begin because the start is the universe. You attempt to reverse-engineer and try to find out how it could end. Even that doesn't help because the end is also the universe. Does the sum of all our lives add up to zero or to eternity? Now you're confused whether the system is absurd or you're absurd. That's when you most probably try to give up, because your eyes are already closing, asking for sleep. You need to address more dependency concerns of either yours or of others, the next day.
>> However, when we start thinking about what remains after we're gone, we probably would think of leaving something after us. That is when we would try to bring in more people around, including our own children.
ReplyDeleteI dont agree 100% with the reason you have stated above for "bringing in more people around". I think the main reason is that all human beings are always desperately looking for a "purpose" in life, we have to keep assuring ourselves that what we are doing is for some good reason. The obvious way to add a purpose to life would be to "bring in more people" :-) and then tell ourselves that "look, these people are my responsibility and hence all my actions are with a purpose of ensuring the well being of those people". There will be other reasons of course like your own view points, but I think this is the primary reason!
Gopa.
Hmm ... you brought up purpose as the "created" purpose while I let it stay as the "original" purpose of our birth itself. I don't know what the difference is, but right now I'm forced to think that the latter is much bigger than the former.
ReplyDeleteWhat you said is true, but isn't my "leaving something after us" equivalent to your "adding a purpose"? My "after" just meant anything "beyond" us. Let me think.
We'll sync up offline ;) you tell me why I'm wrong then. But thanks for making me rethink.
>> ... while I let it stay as the "original" purpose of our birth itself.
ReplyDeleteYou mean the purpose of our birth itself is to procreate and multiply in numbers :)) ? While thats indeed an "achievable by all" ;) purpose/motive, I am not sure if that is really the "purpose" of our life though 99.999% of all of us end up doing the same to get the self-satisfaction that he/she achieved a "purposeful" life.
The "purpose" of human birth is a topic which as all of us Indians will know has continued to be explored from the time of the vedas and beyond ! The Hindu philosophy (might be misinterpreted by me) takes the stand that the "purpose" of human life is to lead the happiest possible life and be done with it (attain mukti) - and according to them the happiest possible life comes from leading an "unattached" life.
I was reading one of Dalai Lamas book recently and in it it was written that Buddhism never explores/worries about the "purpose" of life. IT seems according to budhism, since we are born, there is no point trying to think of "why" we are born and instead just try to lead a happy life - again with the principles of un-attachment etc.. So most of the philosophies seems to concur on the end goal.
At any rate, the answer to your musings on why the world became so complex/interdependent etc.. seems to lie in the fact that we are all constantly in search of a "purpose" and not happy with eating/sleeping/procreation cycle which other animals seem to be happy with.
Gopa.
I think I'll have to work on my English. I didn't say our purpose is to create more ppl. In fact, I told something polar, that I feel our purpose is probably something bigger.
ReplyDeleteBut I agree Gopa, instead of worrying about one hundred things that we have no control over, we should just live happily. In our death bed, we shouldn't feel "Oops, I forgot to live".
>> I didn't say our purpose is to create more ppl. In fact, I told something polar, that I feel our purpose is probably something bigger.
ReplyDeleteI agree .. I dont think either that creating more ppl was intended to be our purpose on this earth, it has to be something bigger, but what is the unanswered qn :-)
Gopa.
the last sentence above I meant to say " but what is that is the unanswered qn .."
ReplyDeleteYa, there's no unanswered qn if you think why bother ... there're many if you think otherwise.
ReplyDeleteOk, let us be happy without bothering, for now :)
According to my science professors our only purpose is to reproduce.
ReplyDelete