What Use, the Past?

What lesson can we learn from our past, apply to the present, and make the prospects bright? I think there is a simple answer. Locate the contradictions that are there, and remove them.

(In fact, this is how we repair a machine, a device, or a system. Where any of its physical or operating or whatever parameters do not correspond to one another in the desired manner, we identify a nonconformity. We investigate it further to locate the culprit, and act as necessary to bring back the correspondence.)

I have been writing about the contradictions that are always in existence in everything related to human, and by now I am sure, there is nothing without it. Many of these are described in my book, The Hubs that Provoke, and some of these, in all my books. And I have also noted, in one book, The Unsure Male, how humans are benefiting from these errors. And of course, the benefit is the one that is making sure that such errors or contradictions, continue, unobserved by all.

Outcome of all this is the lifestyle, many of the elements of which show no direct relationship with the needs of life, we have come to follow. And, contradictions are hiding in each such element. Also, this lifestyle has more or less become a permanent one, with the future generations having few options but to continue with the same, with all the contradictions happily managing a joyride. Hence, what is needed is a thorough scrutiny of our lifestyle. (In addition, the lifestyle is causing severe stress on the environment, a burden, much more than all the other forms of life combined. A scrutiny here, potentially is a promise of multiple benefits for the future. I know, at present the whole mankind is seized of this situation.)

I feel, our lifestyle originate in our heads. And we thought, this way of living befits us the best. So, we need to revisit thinking, the one which led us to choose such a self-destructive lifestyle.

I think we are not entirely right (nor wrong!), when we hold thinking, as something solely different from action. In fact we can see thinking, perhaps as another form itself of action. Just as action essentially is body locomotion, thinking can become locomotion of the mind. Each of which may be governed by its own rules, rather, the qualitative and quantitative aspects of the relationship between the different entities that take part in this. Where, such a relationship may be natural or unnatural, conceptual or real, or permanent or fleeting. But, in reality, we take these to be far different from each other.

Imagine of our children growing up unguided. They would have had to learn to walk, run, and all other things, on their own, mostly by sheer experimenting. In that process, they would have encountered many instances of danger, and also the style or way of doing all this would not have been the optimum, though suited best, to each one. As they grow up, a society would have been evolved, with conflicting movements and maneuvers that effectively make the society, a burden to the race as a whole. I think this is what is happening now, as far as thinking go. On top of this, we continue to celebrate all the random thoughts, proclaiming with gusto that human society is defined thus. And, one cannot come across a different view, however hard is the try.

Actually, we are already making this into a formal way of life. Each of us brandish one’s own unique reactions to events and occurrences, where such reactions define, or does not oppose much, one’s approach to life. Otherwise, we tend to go with the flow. The approach being one greatly influenced by the education, one happens to go through, it is natural that such a way of life will continue to flourish, if education follows a predictable pattern. And at present it is so, making it rather impossible to think of a deviation to it.

Well, what should we do now?

We need to reinvent the wheel. Rather, reinvent reinventing itself, by redefining the activities that goes behind it. I now take up those very ones, which are nothing but action and thought.

We can begin by viewing thinking as another form of action. As mentioned, action essentially is body locomotion, and thinking can be thought of as locomotion of the mind. We need to frame rules, rather the pattern of relationship between the natural and unnatural entities that can be of influence here, perhaps more or less the same for both.

How?

In fact one’s approach to life, which has the single greatest part to play in one’s ups and downs, is largely decided by the type of education, one happens to have gone through. This is also easily recognizable, both in our actions, and in our efforts to contain its repercussions that needs to follow every action. That is so, since most of us are taught in a similar manner, where we learn only the abstract idea of things in our younger days, when we act most, and understand the significance of its constituent parts much later in life, when we hardly act. As a result of which, when we are in our relatively unstable youth, we deal with the active whole that could be incendiary, and when we turn stable in our life, we look at the inactive part that make up the whole. Result: the whole gets mishandled, and the parts lie idle. Naturally this has led to an unbalanced society, one with an unstable root. A society that is in perpetual commotion, however worthy are the fruits.

What can End Commotion

Obviously, the answer would be to go for the roots of the commotion. Where, we would in all probabilities be noting that the curiosity of the young is constantly grappling with things that call for greater maturity and understanding. Whereas the old, constantly engaging with anything and everything in its component parts, where there always is a possibility of rearrangement, silently causes an ambience of commotion. Thus, one can say, the roots of the restless nature of human society lies here, in this incompatibility. Which might tell us to let the young ones worry about things, only in its nuts and bolts. And to let the old revel in their ability to gamble with the whole.

In fact what the young will now be busy with, and what engages the old, can be thought of as ‘thinking fast’, and ‘thinking slow’, respectively, as described by Daniel Kanheman in the bestseller, Thinking Fast and Slow. If utilized appropriately, this can bring in changes to all the elements of every society.

Firstly, nothing will get overlooked, nor things will get huddled, leading to instances of commotion. See, the young, thinking fast, can react instantly to each and every event, the bubbling energy of the youth being put to good use. And the elders can take their time and respond, whether in agreement, or otherwise, their knowledge and experience getting duly recognized. When we continue to live thus, we also stand to acquire a new lifestyle for ourselves.

And that will start the end of all contradictions, and also act as a recipe for a good future; for human race, for Earth, and all that is beyond.