A Deep Thought...

[AscendingIndigo]

I hate watching the world keep falling apart. Things seem to get worse and worse because people can't seem to get around things in life. Things like racism, discrimination, ignorance, politics, money everything seems to be dragging us down. The thing is that I still have such a strong faith in humanity.

I mean when you really think about it, the whole reason we do all that is because we can and because we have always done it. Discrimination was one of our first habits we created as human beings when we started being able to tell the difference between a rock and a plant with two different words. Again, that is because we could, we earned that and it didn't just happen to us magically. It doesn't mean that we where right to look at everything as separate but it helped us expand our minds almost to the point where we could see how it's all connected as one big thing called "existence".

That's why I can see each person in the world as their own God; not for any reason other than for the mere fact that anything they can strive for can be earned or accomplished in time. No person is any greater or less of a person in potential. They can earn or create just as well as anyone else and perhaps even better than anyone ever has before. It's just that no one has realized this and never tried to push past the personal perfection they define as their "limits".

Everyone has the potential to do some great and amazing things, heh, no one really realizes how much this economic world limits us in that. Limit's how much of a God they really are. I really have some trouble about seeing how people could possibly realize the peek potential of their existence with the way they are being so limited and unchallenged in life. Free to create whatever random and destructive habits that they like without consequence. I do have faith that they might see it one day but that day seems so distant and clouded.

I just hope that it comes sooner than later when people realize that everything they can earn in this lifetime influences the kind of person their children will become, it influences the kind of future the world will have and it influences the heights humanity can soar to.

[mrcrusty]

Define "limits".



OP sounds a little existentialist though.

[AscendingIndigo]

Limit's meaning wherever you stoped last in however much you have strived to push yourself in anything you have done. Limit's are ment to be exceeded just like perfection is the illusion of a limit when there are none.

"existentialist" that's a new one.

[Wolfshead]

And while you're at it, define "great and amazing things" and this "potential". These are difficult terms, because what you may find great and amazing, someone else might not.

[Jubal_Barca]

I agree with the OP. Everyone, whoever they are, has something they can give to humanity, be it the care of a mother, the hard work of an artisan, the necessary task of the bin removal man, or the genius of the physicist. Rep'd.

[Aldgarkalaughskel]

The thing is that I still have such a strong faith in humanity.

Baw, how vague. Read Heidegger's Letter On Humanism.

[basics]

" Again, that is because we could, we earned that and it didn't just happen to us magically."

AscendingIndigo,

And yet the rich get richer whilst the poor get poorer. All that humanity has proved in my opinion is that as the population expands so does our ability to create more of the same. In other words rather than lift humanity up to the standard you wish to see, humanity is in fact descending away from that into deeper crime, corruption and disparity.

What you see is a Utopia that cannot happen. Oh it might have some time in the dark distant past when mankind was but a small proportion of this planet, but not as our offspring that increasingly comes is brought up into a world where greed, corruption and crime, big or small has become a way of life. Morally we are barely hanging on to the first rung of the ladder.

Funnily enough it has no class barrier for all are just as capable of being on a high one moment and in the deepest despair the next, where in that despair we are capable of the most horrific acts. And the larger the population gets the larger the amount can be expected to fall into something like the explained. We like to think otherwise but I think that's a bit like burying one's head in the sand.

[Phier]

And yet the rich get richer whilst the poor get poorer.

False, very very false.

The rich do keep getting richer and so do the poor, at least in the West. At no time in human history has 'poor' been defined to such a lifestyle, diet and services.

The problem is you compare 'rich' to the 'other' guy, not some absolute. If you make 200k a year and everyone else you know is making a million, you feel poor, you are dissatisfied, etc. If you are making 200k a year and everyone else is making 30k, you feel quite good about yourself, even though your life style doesn't change.

They have even done experiments which show people are more concerned about others having more than them then what they have themselves, and I'd argue its the key behavior which keeps some political parties viable.

Hey jealousy.....

[persianfan247]

I think the world has been falling apart for all of Humanity's existance, though it did get heated up in the last century or so. But I hate it how people seem to assume that the past was somehow better. I don't think the world is necessarily worse then in the past, though we are more capable then in the past at destroying stuff.

[The Count(er)]

I think the world has been falling apart for all of Humanity's existance, though it did get heated up in the last century or so. But I hate it how people seem to assume that the past was somehow better. I don't think the world is necessarily worse then in the past, though we are more capable then in the past at destroying stuff.

I think I would still go as far as to say that we have it better than our often diseased, short-lived, unenlightened ancestors, we're not just more capable of destroying stuff as you said, we also have a lot more to destroy, and since it's not destroyed I'd say things are pretty good compared to the distant past, even if obviously very far from perfect.

[Baron Thunder-ten-tronckh]

Why do you have faith in humanity? We have had this potential to do all this great for so long, but potential is not a great basis for faith. Sure, there is the potential of a God existing (the question of what started it all), but is that a necessary, or even relevant thought to a justification for there being faith? It is the possibility yes, but it remains just that, and is not a precursor for a faith in it.

I lost that faith in humanity several years ago. Well, now that you've gotten me thinking, perhaps I haven't. We are driving ourselves into a ditch and although so many people know this fact they do nothing (may I direct your attention to the very interesting, and relevant website regarding monkeys in a cage) because they are just so accustomed to their way of life. However, I still regard that there is a chance that humans can better themselves, but that they must be forced to better themselves, or else be provided with some great emphasis to change (read: Recession/Climate change).
Eck, my thoughts are too out of hand here.

[AscendingIndigo]

Why do you have faith in humanity? We have had this potential to do all this great for so long, but potential is not a great basis for faith. Sure, there is the potential of a God existing (the question of what started it all), but is that a necessary, or even relevant thought to a justification for there being faith? It is the possibility yes, but it remains just that, and is not a precursor for a faith in it.

I lost that faith in humanity several years ago. Well, now that you've gotten me thinking, perhaps I haven't. We are driving ourselves into a ditch and although so many people know this fact they do nothing (may I direct your attention to the very interesting, and relevant website regarding monkeys in a cage) because they are just so accustomed to their way of life. However, I still regard that there is a chance that humans can better themselves, but that they must be forced to better themselves, or else be provided with some great emphasis to change (read: Recession/Climate change).
Eck, my thoughts are too out of hand here.

Actually I think you are making a great point. It's a point I have thought about a lot and, heh, well in the next 50 years or so we are going be seeing alot of it. I'm talking about how the government will crumble to a degree that no one has ever seen before, what we have seen so far is only a fraction of how bad it's gonna get. Take for example how a 4th of the worlds population already doesn't have fresh drinking water, they drink the same water they bath in basically. Anarchy and chaos seem to be unavoidable at this point... but I think it's going to be nessisary in order for people to finally get the push they need to work past all this nonsence we currently have going on. Economics are a great success for living a life without challenges, but that doesn't benifit humanity because the statis humanity has was earned and now no one has the need to keep striving for more than they are. Psychologically we have grown; that much you can be sure of by simply watching an old movie, but our true potential has been repressed and I agree that the only way to get us moving again is by forcing that old survival instinct to kick in again.

Looking at how people have grown over the last century, it's so obvious to me how it works, same thing with the monkys, I kinda wish they had worked on that study for a long term period and seen how their offspring reacted in the same kind of situations. I'm sure that if they watched for at least 3 generations then they would see the true form of evolution present itself to them. I guarentee that a habit made into instinct would pass on as a genetic trait to better enable the next generation to survive in the conditions the parent was exposed to. The goal is survival, every animal has it hard wired into them... but I believe that this can be controled also. If the habits the parent creates become an instinctive part of their being which is passed onto their offspring and influences the personality of it then any instinct they earned would influence the characteristics and potential of their young. Meaning that the kids would be able to be better at doing things their parents did habitually. This includes anything that was gained physically or psycologically. It's the reason people gain immunities, get mental disorders, are more athletic than others, all because their parents paved the way to make it easier for them to gain the same or a similar habit.

It's an issue of people getting up off their lazy asses and earning more than the one habit they have from doing the same repeticious task at the same dead end job they are working at every day. Like I said, it's about pushing their limit's to find out what the peek of their potential is in this life time so that their offspring can push even further past them. It's about striving for God as a goal and mutually respecting everyone else for being in control of themselves and their own personal evolution.

[Jubal_Barca]

I have faith in humanity. Doesn't imply faith in people.

[Lancy]

I have faith in humanity. Doesn't imply faith in people.

I'm confused. Aren't people human?

[Aldgarkalaughskel]

I have faith in humanity. Doesn't imply faith in people.

Please elaborate.

[Hun Birodalom]

I hate watching the world keep falling apart. Things seem to get worse and worse because people can't seem to get around things in life. Things like racism, discrimination, ignorance, politics, money everything seems to be dragging us down. The thing is that I still have such a strong faith in humanity.

I mean when you really think about it, the whole reason we do all that is because we can and because we have always done it. Discrimination was one of our first habits we created as human beings when we started being able to tell the difference between a rock and a plant with two different words. Again, that is because we could, we earned that and it didn't just happen to us magically. It doesn't mean that we where right to look at everything as separate but it helped us expand our minds almost to the point where we could see how it's all connected as one big thing called "existence".

That's why I can see each person in the world as their own God; not for any reason other than for the mere fact that anything they can strive for can be earned or accomplished in time. No person is any greater or less of a person in potential. They can earn or create just as well as anyone else and perhaps even better than anyone ever has before. It's just that no one has realized this and never tried to push past the personal perfection they define as their "limits".

Everyone has the potential to do some great and amazing things, heh, no one really realizes how much this economic world limits us in that. Limit's how much of a God they really are. I really have some trouble about seeing how people could possibly realize the peek potential of their existence with the way they are being so limited and unchallenged in life. Free to create whatever random and destructive habits that they like without consequence. I do have faith that they might see it one day but that day seems so distant and clouded.

I just hope that it comes sooner than later when people realize that everything they can earn in this lifetime influences the kind of person their children will become, it influences the kind of future the world will have and it influences the heights humanity can soar to.

I think you should first consider how you've come to the conclusion that the world keeps falling apart. Unless somehow you are aware of every action taken by individuals around the world you cannot determine whether your conclusion is actually true. Secondly, you should be aware that if your conclusion is based on the events showcased by the media, than the subsequent arbitrary sense if awareness is quite useless in respect to this topic. Never mind the question as to what one would measure the world up to. I don't think such a measurement is even possible to derive from an objective standard. Thus you've dug yourself into the inescapable ditch that is known as the subjective realm. A realm where no conclusion to the satisfaction of all interested parties may ever be obtained.

However, a quick look at history may be of some use in determining whether humanity's current state is of a better nature than before. In fact, we can identify certain objective measurements : literacy rate, uneployment, wealth distribution, population .... etc. If indeed the world is doomed to fall apart at some point in the future, I think its safe to say it has either yet to begin or may just be doing so. But that is unlikely since the events of our time are not so different from the ones that have occurred throughout human history. "History repeats itself."

The recession is by no means an anomaly. In fact it was quite predictable. Lets look at the first event of this nature. The 1929 stock market crash. We learned our lesson from it but only in terms of how to fight the recession, not to prevent it. The same system is in place as the one that created the stock market crash. Every 40 years or so a recession is likely to hit as a result of the 1929 stock market crash. The first was in the 70's with the stock market crashing again. And now 40 years later it is back. The question is, will the stock market crash again or maybe another time. The work of the free market and capitalism is like clock work.

That was just one example, perhaps the most relevant. Crime rate and corruption is nowhere near where it was just a 100 years ago. Just imagine what it was like 500 years ago. The king was in control of everything, crime was barely controlled, corruption was a respectable way of life, literacy rates were not even 10% of what they are now ... etc.

The world will undoubtedly change as it has in the past, perhaps even more rapidly. There are many ways of predicting the future. Of course only on a large scale. Certain trends appear in certain time intervals. Interpreting the past is the key to understanding the present and the future. This is all common knowledge but its a simple way of looking at the problem. That is, whether the world or society or humanity or whatever else terminology you wish to use, is in decline or not. At the moment its possible that it is. But in the long run, its more likely to improve. "Out of despair, the light of hope is born."

The potential that every individual has doesn't make them a God in any respect. Honestly, I cannot identify the logic behind your concept. Maybe if you clarified this idea, we could discuss it.

You say the world keeps falling apart, I say that humanity keeps struggling on a perhaps endless path to better itself. Don't be discouraged by our failures, instead rejoice for our successes because they are plenty and more often than not, ignored.

I have faith in humanity. Doesn't imply faith in people.

This is something I can identify with to a certain degree. I have faith in humanity as a whole but often I am disappointed by people (individuals), as the faults in humanity become more apparent when being confronted by it face to face. The drunk on the street, the druggie standing by the corner or the politician on TV who violated the very laws he had taken part in creating. Some people could care less about tomorrow and waste their life living for the moment. We have choices to make, some make bad decisions and all we can do is advise them otherwise. However, one cannot know what is best for someone else and in many cases even for one's self.

[wilpuri]

May be you should worry about realizing your own potential first?

[Chaigidel]

Jack Handy?

[Chaigidel]

not really, the peak of your potential is death and we all reach it; take joy in the decay child.

[mrcrusty]

not really, the peak of your potential is death and we all reach it; take joy in the decay child.

How depressing.

AscendingIndigo - Well.. I think I'm going to stew over your long post for a while, and then post something along the lines of man needs self imposed chains and structure to have self worth, as opposed to your we need to break the chains of mediocrity message.
Not saying that your posts are a bad thing, it is nice to have fresh optimism in the development of mankind, but you look like you're saying we need to tear down the foundations of modern society or some such, I don't think that will happen.

So... yeah.... I'll edit this sometime in the future.