Well... I've been sitting here for an hour trying to figure out how to avoid the inevitable cliché in this matter.
Hmmm.
Well, are you There? Where you want to be, that is. I would probably have to say that most of us are not where we want to be. Socially. Mentally. Economically.
I suppose There is really what you think it is, or should be. I really should stop being so utilitarian, in a sense, but it is almost unavoidable; thinking pragmatically, that is. The only thing that really matters is what you care about. Everything else is totally irrelevant. I love the view of God in this sense; if a person has faith in God, and whatever their view of God is helps that person to do better in life than without that presence, God is divine and useful to them. Whether God is "real" or not, in the manner of a corporal or phantasmal being, is certainly not for me to say.
I could ramble on about how... "I was walking down the street the other day and saw racial and social unrest peppered around me in all forms". That would just be plunking myself right down into the politically trite pit that is "There". "There" being the hap-hap-happy place were violence, crime, corruption, prejudice and hatred do not exist. "There" has no gangs or guns or even shifty used-car salesmen. Again, I'll stumble back to the place from whence I came and hinted at first; I don't care. Yes, the obnoxious teenage jock with nothing more on mind than girls, booze, and a good time, or something to that effect. He just doesn't care! But why? No one is going to find what this world needs in one answer. There are far too many different people in this world to care about each other, or anyone but themselves, for that matter.
Who cares?
For those that still have faith in the "establishment", (no, this is not the blatant entrance to tumultuous anarchical propaganda) let's take a look at human nature for a second. There is a part of the brain that deals with motivation. You know, the same one that withers away after drug use; it balances ambition and apathy. Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs is a pyramid of wants and needs; the absolute necessities, of course, being at the base of the pyramid while the more comfortable wants move up the figure. There are necessities such as food, sleep, sex, shelter. And wants such as power, wealth, fancy cars, good sex. Overall, people are basically out there for one reason: THEMSELVES. Why does Sally Struthers whine to you about bettering your careers and knowledge? Money. Why does the leader of some worldwide charity organization plead with you about the starving children of Badabingdainea and how you are obligated to feed them? Only God knows. Why is Bill the President? Who's to say? But I will tell you this: it has very little to do with the fact that he solely wants to make world peace, unless that's what he genuinely feels will make him happy. All of these people could have totally righteous intentions, but somewhere in the mix, each and every one of them is fulfilling something in their lives; not yours or mine. How are we going to get anywhere with that kind of an attitude? If that's human nature, I assume we are all doomed to an existence in the game of The Whirly Wheel of Greed. Total annihilation without further progress. We've come as far as we can come. Growth of archetypal character cannot be changed... blah blah blah.
Okay, so some of that is a little far fetched. A little bit kooky, at best. Unless, that is, you do believe that to the tee (I didn't just make all of it up; there are people out there...). So we're faced with a bit of a dilemma. If people are just living for themselves, how are we all going to get along and thrive in worldwide harmony? That's where we get thievery and drug use and an array of different social ailments. Well, I don't have the answer.
However, I was reading a book the other day. A book by the good Dr. Wayne Dyer. The title: Your Erroneous Zones. Yes, yours; and mine. Everyone's erroneous zones, regardless if they live in the bush of Zimbabwe, a tree in China, or a high-rise in New York. Without going into too much unruly depth, seemingly the only way to get along with one another is for everyone to be happy with themselves. Dr. Dyer doesn't even try to bend society's brain-burning ideals of greed and power. He just says, basically, that if you're happy with yourself, you need not be concerned with others. This is smack in the middle of the problem of the selfishness of the world, as human nature, of course. Instead of trying, inevitably unsuccessfully, to break the greedy little spirits of you and I, just work with it. If you are too busy reveling in yourself and your own mental greed, there is really not reason to light up a pipe of crack bought with the earrings off some old lady you just mugged. Living without guilt, anxiety, self-doubt, self-contempt, dwelling on the past, and all sorts of other personal mental ailments could probably do wonders for the world as a whole.
Hey, by the way, if you do know the secret of life, drop it by my mailbox; I'd love to see it.
* * *
You are now leaving the world of the practical and entering that which is what I call religious. Brrrr!
Looked at from another perspective, one might simply say that the concept of There is unattainable, even to comprehension. In this particular sense, where we should go is not determinable because There can only be what we attain before we ascend to something higher. God-like? Perhaps. If God created us, he also created everything else in the boundlessness that is the universe. Failing at an attempt to steer somewhat clear of Deism, we are but minuscule particles in a vast ocean. However, we can only observe a certain portion of this ocean. Our place, so to speak, amongst being. No, not necessarily the Chain of Being, but just our place in the world and universe. Here; our world. Now, because only a certain percentage of this vastness that is "everything" can be viewed and comprehended, there is an awful lot out there that we cannot fathom; simply because we have not witnessed it. How, then, are we to find out where There is if we don't even know what the rest of the universe holds.
Assuming There is something greater, why should we even be trying to question our place? If here is where we were put and this is where we should be, why even think about going anywhere else? Instead of asking what we could be, lets just give thanks that we are what we are. Alexander Pope wrote in An Essay on Man:
II. Presumptuous Man! the reason wouldst thou find,
Why formed so weak, so little, and so blind?
First, if thou canst, the harder reason guess,
Why formed no weaker, blinder, and no less?
Ask of mother earth, why oaks are made
Taller or stronger than the weeds they shade?
Or ask of yonder argent fields above,
Why Jove's satellites are less than Jove!
Hey, we might not be almighty and all-knowing, but at least we aren't snails, or something.
So we come back to the conclusion that man is stuck in a pit filled with the tar called Deistic theology.
"Don't overstep your bounds; be thankful for what you have!"
The beginning rambling comes from the books of psychology and the above directly from the mouth of a Neoclassical author and his Deist views of mankind. At this point, There doesn't even exist to us inferior humans. But what is superior to us? Ah hah! Hence the ignorance of our entire species. Perhaps if the answer cannot be found in the science of the mind or religion (the science of the soul), we should move on to something a little less radical, in my eyes, at least.
* * *
There once was a man named Darwin. Oooh... I could feel all of the simultaneous raised eyebrows and sighs. To set the record straight I do not, at any time, plan on sticking a little backwards fish on the back of my car with the word "Darwin" in it and little feet on the fish's stomach. Don't worry, I won't beat this to death. So this guy comes up with some theory, right out of the pits of religious ignorance (scoff... scoff). Humans did not just appear on Earth one day in a beautiful garden with a tree harboring mighty tasty fruit. Rather, they evolved from something of a lower form of being. Monkeys of some sort, perhaps. Since the introduction of the living cell billions of years ago, organisms slowly came into being from one another. The best way to explain this would be by example, of course. So let's say you have a bunch of German moths (true story... sort of). These moths, white moths, live exclusively in a forest near an enormous industrial zone which produces huge amounts of thick, black pollution that covers all of the trees in the forest. These moths hang around on the leaves of these unfortunate trees. Birds see white moths on black leaves; birds eat them. There is nothing camouflaging the moths from the perceptive little birdie eyes. One day, a baby moth is born; a freak baby moth. This one, as opposed to the rest of the depleting supply of normal moths, is gray. This moth is not eaten and it reproduces more gray baby moths. All of the white ones are eaten up as the gray moths blend in perfectly with the environment. Hence the idea of survival of the fittest. The "more advanced" organism remained as the less advanced died off.
How does this relate to mankind's search for something better? Sure we aren't in danger of being eaten because we aren't the right shade of yuck. However, there will come a time when we, as a species will almost totally perish. Whether the culprit be nuclear holocaust or some bizarre inquisition imposed by the emperor of the world. Sooner or later, something bad is going to happen, and only the truly smart and strong people will survive (and of course the cockroaches, too). Today, there is not a whole lot in this world, especially in the United States, that will threaten to wipe out the weak and stupid. In other words, further evolution has been slowed in our case. There are certain factors in the world threatening to weed out basically everyone. A perfect example of this is AIDS. At its current rate, AIDS could infest the world and possibly even mutate to be even more dangerous or easier to contract; at worst, airborne. Billions of people will die until finally, some kid somewhere (chances are incredibly good that a human with this trait does exist even now) is born with a genetic mutation that rejects the virus. Hence the weak (weak to infection; which is basically everyone) are eliminated and the new stronger civilization begins. As a side note, regardless of what kills off most of the population, civilization can just about always be rebuilt with the information left behind in books and in certain cases, on electronic media. Soooo... write a book for the good of all the survivors!!!
I'll admit, this whole evolutionary way to get There isn't too optimistic, but that's progress!
* * *
I guess we all have our own personal Theres. What we want to accomplish in life. Not necessarily obtaining the rank of demigod before we toss in the towel, but at least something. This view would probably change throughout life as goals are reached and therefore made loftier. There's really no reason to argue the philosophy of the world around us. We're only here for a short time and chances are slim that someone is going to unlock the secrets of the universe in eighty or a hundred years. Take the fact that human nature is greed in stride and work with it to motivate. Use this selfish ambition to further yourself, regardless of what it's all about in the grand scheme of things. While we are here to ourselves, basically, we might as well do a good job.
* * *
Quotes of Random and Questionable Relevance
"There is nothing so strange or so unbelievable that
it has not been said by one philosopher or another."
- -Rene' Descartes
"It is the final proof of God's omnipotence that he
need not exist in order to save us."
- -Peter De Vries, The Mackerel Plaza
"Come walk with me through endless time.
See what has been and what the future sees.
Share the wisdom of the old world that has past,
Step in a life that's yet to be born."
- -Jeff Hanneman (Slayer)
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