Some say homo sapiens (that’s you and me) evolved from the apes, others believe there is an all powerful god who created Man in his own image, but I think we can all agree that wthether man evolved or appeared through divine creation, that we can agree that whoever ia=s right, humans (that’s you and me) haven’t turned out that well!
Sure, we may have invented some pretty amazing stuff, and thanks to our inventiveness and creativiy, we are living longer, are more healthy, and more peaceful over all.
Well, that depends on which country you live in, who your leaders are, what their economic policies are, what your religious beliefs are, what you choose to eat, whether you drink, smoke or take drugs, whether you have plenty of money, whether you re depressed, angry, vengeful, jealous, cruel, happy or sad…
Most people are just conforming to the system that has been put in place for them by their leaders… study, work, marry, procreate, buy a house, pay your taxes, work more, retire, die..
Others choose a different path, or have an upbringing that leads them to a life of crime, violence, greed, or extremism…
and others suffer with emotional and psychological problems their whole life , or do not adjust to adult life well, and are constantly playing the victim card…
Others have severe mental illness, and embark on a life of hurting other people, murdering, torturing and sexually abusing victims, for their own twisted ‘pleasure’.
Which category do you fall into?
Chances are, like all humans living on this planet, you are a mixture of all of these categories.Sometimes kind, sometimes conforming, sometimes aggressive, sometimes hurtful, sometimes craving power and success, sometimes playing the victim…
You see, the human mind is capable of anything! It can be loving one minute, cruel and violent the next…
One minute you could be kissing your wife,telling her she’s the only one for you, the next, kissing and having sex with someone else.
You coud be a ‘decent’ family man one minute, and a violent criminal the next.
You could be a schoolteacher emparting knowledge to young minds, the next taking one of the children in your charge and sexually abusing them.
You could be an honest businessman one minute, and a corrupt one the next…
Are you starting to get the idea?
A personal story
I lik to think of myself as a kind, warm, funny, compassionate person, but is that who I really am?
I like to help people, think about ways I can improve the world, eat vegan to save the other species from being murdered, but I have been a cheat, a liar, a thief, a cruel man, a hateful man, a drunk, a smoking addict, greedy, jealous, wasteful, thoughtless, angry, scheming, deceptive, promiscuous…
The thing we must understand is that you and I can be all of these people at once…delicately shifting ‘who we are’ depending on the situation we are in.
Does a murderer not love?
Does a criminal not be kind to his children?
Does a child molester not contribute to society?
Does a dictator not have empathy and compassion for someone in his life?
Does an assassin not care about animals?
Silly questions you may say, but it is vitally important that we understand that thanks to the complexity of the human walnut, and it’s ability to make billions of calculations per second, and a distinct lack of a fully tested operating system…
The way I see the human brain, is comparable to Microsoft windows, testing is done in the field! And we try and fix flaws as we go along.
Unfortunately, the brain is nothing like a computer operating system, where one ‘bug’ can be fixed, and distributed in a new release. This is more like eight billion different versions of windows where bug fixes are relased individually, and sometimes not at all, meaning we have billions of faulty operating systems walking around the planet!
You see, the brain, (yours and mine) thinks that anything is possible, any combination of thoughts and actions are permissible, as long as reward outweighs risk, or is that the other way round?
I’m no scientist, but I do know people, and I know that people can changeto be ‘someone else’ in an instant!
One minute I can be the happy , laughing joker that everyone likes, the next, an extremist, whose views counter everyone else’s.
I can go with laughing with friends, to being incredibly angry with them about their choices in life, which I believe to be detrimental to the positive evolution of the species.
Am I what I do, or what I think?
In case you didn’t know here’s a list of things I can do
Traditional Thai Massage Therapist
IT consultant
Industrial troubleshooter
Supply chain analyst
ethics consultant
Vegan commercial chef
Commercially endorsed offshore sailor
Carer
Author
Long distance walker
Psychological analyst
Philosopher
I can do lots of stuff! But is that who I am?
If you had a camera rolling on my train of thought would it fit into any of those things I can do?
Do you know how I think, or why I think the way I do? Do you know what drives me, or why I say the things I do, or act the way I do?
Do you know why I am happy one minute and sad the next?
No, of course you don’t and despite you telling me that you are a baner, cleaner, criminal , or soldier, does it help me get any closer to me understanding how you think?
No. It doesn’t.
Like Isaid previously, the human mind is tricky! It doesn´t actually know right from wrong, as that is for other people to tell you!
What is right in one group, may be wrong in another.
´Let’s kill the unbelievers!´
If you belong to a group that believes that all people who do not follow your thinking should be killed, is that right or wrong?
Well, killing in my mind is not acceptable at any level, but if you are a beef farmer and you kill a million cows a year, you are a successful businessman , not a killer. But if you come from a belief system that says it is wrong to kill cows, you may think of killing the businessman!
Again, we cannot see into the human mind to see what people are thinking, although that would be nice!
Imagine if you could see a summary of current thoughts of everyone you met! That would be nice wouldn’t it? It would save a lit of misunderstandings and may save some people from embarking on relationships that may be detrimental to their health!
If I could see this summary above everyone’s head I would know who to trust wouldn’t I!?
And that’s the key isn’t it? Trust!
We can’t trust anybody!
Or can you?
‘You can trust family members, friends, partners, people from your community, or tribe, people from the same religion, group, or company’ you say. But can you , really?
If you can’t see inside their mind how can you trust them ? You have no idea what they’re thinking – i mean really thinking!
They may be saying one thing and thinking another !
The same goes for governments and media. They seem trustworthy on the outside, but as you can’t see on the inside you have no idea,
It really disturbs me, that the key to the whole human expeience is this word called trust
Trust is defined in the dictionary as
A.assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something
B. One in which confidence is placed
Are you trustworthy?
It’s doubtful! The human brain has the ability to think differently millions of times per second, resulting in you being a ‘different’ person, at all times depending on whether it (your brain) is acheiving its goal of getting what ‘it’ wants.
SO whether we evoved from apes or came to earth merci a dieu, in our current form means nothing, do you see?
The fact that I can’t trust you and you can’t trust me means we are stuck in a very precarious situation!
The way forward?
Frankly, I can’t see a way forward with our current state of being! If tell you there is a way of thinking that will make you trustworthy, am I telling the truth, or merely manipulating you, to achieve my own untrustworthy goals?
I know one thing though, and that is I shall try to alighn my thinking processes more each day to make myself more authentic, to align my thoughts that allow me to be the most authentic person I can be!
There again I could be lying to you!
Think on this…
Who are you when you’re at work?
Who are you when youre with your friends?
Who are you when you’re having sex?
Who are you when you’re with your parents?
Who are you when you are alone?
Who are you when you’re in a group?
Who are you when you’re in public vs in private?
The answer is, you are different people in every situation!
In order to be the authentic self that breaks through trust barriers , we must (including me) learn to be authentic in every situation!
Possible? Not in my lifetime.
And that saddens me…
Or does it?
