Life originated on our earth around 4 billion years ago.We are all aware of its evolution since that time to the current modern ages.Having primates as our ancestors,we humans come under the category of animals.
But by the genius of our brains,we have come a long way ..So much so that being called animals is supposed to be derogatory in today’s times..
But if one looks at the entire course of human history,all those millions of years of evolution seem to be inadequate to have killed our animal instincts..The flow of events is marked by violence,civilizations engaged in establishing supremacy over territory at the cost of degradation of human life itself,tendency toward irrational thought and behaviour and when it comes to survival,throwing away the very principles that have brought us to the luxury and comforts of the 21st century life..
When we are young and growing up,we are taught the qualities of peace,love,harmony,rational thinking,tolerance,selflessness,helpfulness,forgiveness.
How is one suppoed to feel then,when one one watches the ‘developed and developing’countries,considered successful because their citizens lead happier lives on account of practicing the likes of value sets mentioned above, deciding to wage wars on one another,trying to claim region,religion and wealth,pursuing their own selfish agendas and reverting them conveniently when the benefits of doing so no longer serve their purpose?
How does it happen that as individuals we embed our lives with the traits of modernity but as a society,we are always inclined toward following our impulses and desires,which are so often wrong,because they stem from a past that was wild and cannibalistic and when survival of the fittest was the order of the day(it still is..but only in a metaphorical sense..)..
How does it happen that the same human race which invented fire,agriculture,wheel,the art of writing,painting,sculpting,the same humans who brough about the industrial revolution and miraculous technological breakthroughs,the same people who have been in the continuous process of creating a world with a fair share for every element of the biological world,can fail to act sensibly as a collective mind ?
Terrorism,poverty,corruption,religios and regional bigotry…
Just how on earth have we reached a stage where the major issues confronting our society are based on such ridiculous assumptions,that its hard to believe that we actually have to face them..
How does it happen that ,when we look at the bigger picture of the world,we humans always seem to have followed the animal instincts we were born with..not the ones that we aquired though our own efforts..
Such instances of ironies are evident in almost every sphere of life.
When one is a kid,one is taught not to blow one’s own trumpet.One is taught not to boast around because good things get noticed even if they are unannounced..
How is it then,that today,we see successful media outlets or major industrial corporations,loudly hailing their contributions,always trying to claim their credit and engaging in irresponsible acts to garner more publicity?
As individuals,we hate diplomacy by friends or loved ones because it represents insincere feelings..how is it then,that expert diplomats and a shrewd diplomacy policy remain so vital for all the major countries of the world?
The term ‘show-off’ doesn’t really arouse a pleasant feeling..we are taught not to engage in it..Why then do we feel so charged up and happy,when on national days,nations make a huge and spectacular display of their military prowess?isn’t this flexing of muscles, a showoff?
The author is not trying to claim that all these things are wrong..there might be a certain logic behind it after all,coz nothing in life is absolute.. one is aware that a perfect world is impossible to exist… that good and bad should co-exist,is probably the law of the universe..but its difficult to understand why and how does the meanings of ideologies change when they are appiled on a bigger scale…the confusing thing is that nobody seems to be puzzled by this change in the perception when it comes to global contexts.. isn’t this something like having double standards?i look out for that possible logical reasoning...who decides which meaning is correct in a particular context?
I can only infer that we humans,even though much advanced now,than we were in the stone age,are still propelled by those ancient natural instincts which tell us to win at ALL costs..
That might explain the human dilemma for good and bad and the frequent lapses of humanity in the world..
Is there any other explanation for the presence of ‘Grey-the most real color of life,’ which so effectively blurs the line between Black and White?If there is,I haven't found it yet..
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ReplyDeleteThe grey exists because there are no absolutes in life. There is no white and there is no black.
ReplyDeleteRegarding the other things that you seem to be annoyed about, such as diplomacy and self praise, remember that by its very nature, straight talk and modesty are heavily dependent on trust. I (say) would not brag (as in seriously brag, not the jocular stuff that I indulge in all the time :P) to you, falconer, james and the like... I might be more than a little tempted to brag about myself to random strangers. In fact, I'd really really want to brag about myself during an interview for a job/college. You wouldn't expect anyone to share their shortcomings and fears with strangers, would you? Now expand that to a bigger level, and observe how our nation brags to other nations, but to us, it is more modest. Observe how a company internally admits its problems, but to the external world, it's going perfectly well.
To say that the aggressive marketing is profit driven is being very simple. To scale it down, lets get back to the issue of trust. When I say to Abba, KG or Enthu that I'm not exceptionally talented, I say so because I trust them, and because I inherently lose nothing by saying the truth. To say the same words to a good boss (ala my folks at JCB) would not be particularly detrimental either. To say it however, during an interview would be suicidal. In essence, man has learnt the art of deceit.
Animals are incapable of deceit. The man of today is not an animal... surely not. He's a lot more, and in many ways, a lot less.
(PS: Way to go on filling in for Anu with the long post :P)
explains a lot..thanks!
ReplyDelete@ PS,
ReplyDelete:|
@Encke,
ReplyDeleteAdditionally, the first couple of lines are metaphorical, literal and also a self reference (:P).
@Anu,
I still do not believe that 'tis you :D
Interesting discussion this is, comment I must
ReplyDeleteHumanity is a system made of nearly 8 billion units, each fundamentally similar but each one with a distinct behaviour...what we call the personality.
Despite this variety, any person will have certain similar behavioural traits,
what we call instinct.
The urge for self defence, the dynamics of anger and attraction, all these are common to all humans.
These base instincts drive society.
Mathematically speaking,only the average quantities of this system, predictable by virtue of their generality, are visible when the system as a whole is studied...the base of statistical mechanics.
Thus, culture and civilization apart, humanity is still driven by base instinct, we really are animal.
So humankind as a whole, follows the law of the jungle, in the manner Ibex has so well elaborated.
In fact, this very fact makes it somewhat predictable. If one has the finger on the pulse of the collective instinct, one can know which course humanity will take and shrewd men have taken advantage of this fact.
Personally,I'm waiting for the Seldon Plan!
@ Ibex: Some thought you have put there,nice writing !
@ Sith: I thought that a Sith deals absolutes, I happen to be more absolute than you !
@ Anu : Competition grows
man has certainly learnt the art of deceit..what grey sith says explains very well, some of the ironies i have talked about.Man has acheived a lot more than that too..but the discussion is about whether or not we have lost all traits of primitivity..the answer to that still seems to be 'no'..are we driven by instincts,even when those instincts fail to make a logical sense with respect to our aquired traits?yes,much more than we like to admit..
ReplyDeletethis thread has become interesting..
@falconer:Deshpande mam seems to have had an influence on you:)..nice use of statistics,you have made..
I beg to differ with the theme of this blog... we have the problems like terrorism, deceit etc etc only because we are humans. If we would have remained animals none of this wouldn't have happened... but alas!!
ReplyDeleteIn conventional sense we humans are better than animals because we have a better brain. But human brain is a complex and fickle thing. Only a human is able to experience emotions of jeolously, pride, need for recognition by others, selfishness or selflessness, humility and sacrifice. These higher congnitive processes are not seen in animals*. Its is these higher level of more complex emotions that will make a human comit murder, deciet, revenge etc. On the other hand it is only because of these higher cognitive processes that a soldier will sacrifice his life for the country or a philanthrophist work selflessly for less previledged people. Even though wild animals may be agressive they will never murder any other animals because of greed.
Its is our oh so wonderful brain which is responsible for our unbelieveable progess as a species. It is the same brain which will make us do things worse than any animal can do.
*Once my opinion was very black and white i.e. humans are intelligent and animals are unintelligent. But after watching natgeo and discovery I realised that great amount of intelligence is displayed by some other species...but not just as great as humans
PS : I could comment a lot more on this blog with a lot more varied examples to support my point....but I am just too lazy
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ReplyDelete@Falconer,
ReplyDeleteI am a grey sith- I've already dropped away the more extreme views of a sith by adopting the grey stance.
I resent the negative tone you seem give to instinct. Yes, admittedly, it is instinct that drives us. It is only when you add the remarkable thinking power of the human the brain to instinct, you have a sentient being - the human. An animal lacks sentient thought.
To take away instinct, however, would simply turn a human into a machine. After all, what is a robot (of sci-fi, not the soddy stuff we have now) if not a human without instinct?
*sigh* I wish I could get a discussion like this going on my blog :(
after reading trupti's comment,i realize that i have mixed up different ideas under the same heading..i was wrongly ascribing the emotions of revenge,hatred,envy etc to us being animals..Trupti is absolutely right in saying that we face these problems only because we are not animals..i have never seen my dog getting mad at me for not patting him lovingly when i should have..this,combined with the need for the art of deception,pretty much clears my confusions..thanks people..i feel more sorted now :)
ReplyDelete