free to be better
As conscious beings, we are a remarkable complement to the rich diversity of life on Earth, much like this planet is to the universe. However, we cannot take credit for this position, as we played no part in our own evolution. What we should take responsibility for is how we use this privilege. So far, our legacy is one of shameful cruelty and destruction. While we may point to our technological achievements as proof of our brilliance, in reality, these advancements have only accelerated the damage we’ve caused, suggesting that we are far from brilliant. True brilliance would be using our evolved intelligence to further nature’s journey, rather than exploiting the planet and each other to the brink of self-annihilation.
The planet’s ecosystem – and all life that depends on it – is in crisis. Its life-sustaining properties are on the verge of being irreversibly altered, leading to mass extinction, which includes humans. This catastrophe is entirely the result of our actions, driven by how we’ve been taught to think and what we believe.
We are at this critical point because we have been conditioned to be selfish, egotistical, and indulgent. Although our highly evolved brains have the capacity for compassion, long-term thinking, empathy, generosity, reason, and altruism, these ‘higher’ attributes must be learnt. In contrast, greed, violence, and selfishness are instinctual behaviours, easily triggered if we fail to nurture our higher potentials. The evolution of our neocortex and frontal lobe was meant to give us an advantage over the primitive limbic system, yet in a world that prioritises competition and greed, those more nuanced qualities remain suppressed. When conflict is the preferred method for solving disputes, and greed is celebrated, the parts of our brain responsible for higher reasoning become dominated by primitive impulses. This is why religions, and other systems of control, focus on hijacking young minds, because those formative years are the most influential. As Aristotle said, “Give me a child until he is seven, and I will show you the man.” Hitler echoed this in a more sinister way, “He alone who owns the youth, gains the future.” Both quotes demonstrate the power of early programming (education).
Everything that happens in the universe, including our actions and decisions, are the result of causes and conditions that came before. This means that, while we may feel like we’re making choices, those choices are determined by factors beyond our control. If things weren’t determined by these pre-existing conditions, our decisions would be purely random. There are always reasons behind what we do, and we don’t actually have the freedom to choose otherwise. That’s why it’s imperative for us to reconfigure our motivations, education, and influences to reflect a broader perspective, with the long-term survival of humanity as the objective – lest we will die.
We lack the autonomy (free-will), to simply decide to be better; we are products of what we have been shaped into. We cannot choose to be different, even when it is absolutely necessary, as it is now.
To change, we must recognise this reality and begin reprogramming ourselves away from the destructive agendas of corporate interests, and instead let the very experience of life be the inspiration of our thoughts and actions. It’s about developing our higher brain functions, allowing us to explore the full potential of reason, compassion, language, empathy, altruism, and imagination. Parenting and formative education are crucial, but society’s values must also align with this aspiration.
No more religious dogma and suppression, no more celebration of violence and competition, no more manipulation into seeing indulgence and over-consumption as the meaning of life. These crude forms of control keep us primitive in both thought and behaviour. We can, and must, strive to be better.
Jan 2023