My observations on humanity are numerous. I like to think. It gets me in big trouble sometimes. I’ll spend days, weeks, and even months pondering concepts in my brain and defining relationships to other ideas. It can be quite a distraction, but sometimes it leads to observations like the following.
Children
We are kids with toys. Many humans spend their entire life fighting to acquire or keep their toys. Some win the hunter-gatherer game, some get dealt a horrible hand, while others don’t play or give up at the first level.
If you think about it, most humans wholeheartedly believe that playing King of the Hill is a lifelong endeavor. We simply graduate from King of the Hill to King of the Mountain. We defend our countries with honor and dignity so we can keep the so-called barbarians at the gates. We steal each other’s technologies and ideas, and we turn them against each other. The playground never went away; the field grew as we grew, and the games became more complex.
So Serious
Many humans take life very seriously. Friends will dismiss each other because one did not receive the other seriously. We bomb countries to show how deadly serious we are about winning. Our teachers very seriously teach us to take things seriously. Our governments make tax evasion profoundly serious, and we’ll go to jail if we do not comply with many laws.
While it’s essential to have laws, teachers, and even bombs for defense, we don’t need to take everything so seriously. In most cases, the seriousness we apply to a situation is extreme overkill.
Our hang-up with being serious is a hindrance to peace. I mostly abide by a live and let live philosophy, which runs counter to profoundly serious philosophies. But, like all things, it helps to remember that all paths are infinite, and getting hung up on serious things can stop us in our tracks.
The Struggle
Humans struggle from the moment they can move. We, humans, admire the unborn child that fiercely kicks inside the womb. We exclaim things like, “She’s going to be a real fighter!” then resume a struggle to pay our bills.
We litter our memories with fights that were either won or lost in the past and the future. Feelings of defeat creep in when something doesn’t go our way. We believe we’ll lose a struggle, so we struggle to keep ourselves from getting involved. The struggle to find balance is eternal in both the physical and the spiritual realms.
We admire the struggling artist, and we admire paintings of the struggle. It’s a badge of honor if we struggle through our exams, days, family gatherings, and anything else we can push our way through.
It is a beautiful thing; it’s like watching a fish swim upstream and a butterfly’s successful metamorphosis.
Life is a struggle, and the struggle is real.
Ergo Ego
Many humans believe they are the center of the universe. The hubris of humanity is limitless. Some of us think we have what it takes to lead millions of people to a better place. Our world is the best, and our words are the best. Our ideas should be your ideas, and if they aren’t, you are the enemy.
While it is possible to have a healthy ego, we often allow the dark side to rule. When humans nurture their self-awareness, we can unlock the best of ourselves. However, if we peer too far into ourselves, we risk falling into a trap. Our ego will take over and rule us unless we recognize we have gone too far.
Faith & Loathing
Many humans have faith and overtly loath those that do not. Our religion is the religion to end all religions until the meta religion comes along and nullifies them.
Faith is a good thing and builds character when balanced correctly. Faith can lift us but is often used to tear others down. Our minds play tricks on us, so we believe until people get hurt and millions die. We lose our balance when faith is more important than what we believe.
Opposite Day
Humans have made self-contradiction into an art form. We’ll state a belief in one sentence, and in the next sentence, we’ll counter our own belief. I know I’m guilty of this, and I believe anyone honest with themselves has done the same.
Developing critical thinking skills can help us counter our tendency to be contrarians, yet we will still find it is impossible to find perfect symmetry in our belief systems. We’re a puzzle wrapped in an enigma.
Conclusion
Humans are stunningly radiant and shockingly vile and everything in between. We’re a swirling blend of contradictions and convictions.
Humans reflect the infinite universe. Our eyes are a universe awaiting life to visit our galaxy. We are light years away from each other, yet we are neighbors, and we are humans.
