Something happened, something very natural, in the wilderness, a battle of survival. Unfortunately none survived. There was nothing like the bigger fish eating the smaller. The bigger had the strength here and the smaller had the strategy. So both perished.
And I was an observer, not a neural one though. Quite unknown to both of them I had a liking for one. See I could not prevent in, it was all going in my dream. All through the battle I wanted my loved one to win. So as the things went, both perished. I was in grief. I lamented the loss of my loved one, I was in mourning.
But then as it happened, I woke up. Dream still lingered in my mind and so did that feeling of loss and sadness. But then something happened, a realization. I realized that in that battle of survival, both had perished, my loved one and his opponent and the battle was in no way an unjust one. The life of his opponent was as important as his, and so were their deaths. So why was I feeling bad just for my loved one?
Attachment. I felt attached with one and the loss made me sad.
Had I been truly an impartial observer, it means I would not have felt anything. But would that not be cruel and insensitive on my part?
I guess not. Because that battle was a fair one and I could not help in any way ( come on I was dreaming!), my feeling indifferent won’t account to any insensitivity in any way.
There is one more thing in it. Things are impermanent, and so are beings. They will come and go, as will you and me. Their coming may make us happy and their going may make us sad. Isn’t that just being human? That in fact is. But at the cost of understanding of reality.
Why would I like to understand reality? Anyways it is not the reality that works, it is the agreed on reality that works. And as is agreed on widely, we should lament separation from our loved ones.
I would like to move beyond the agreed on reality for I am not satisfied. Moreover that defies sense of justice.
If I am to move beyond this agreed-on reality, the norm, then would it not lend everything in chaos. The norms are to facilitate things and your unilaterally moving away from them would lead to chaos. Is that right?
I do not propose that, instead I propose to move to an agreement closer to reasonability, a contract based on justice, impersonal justice.
Would that be feasible? Is that practical? I see one benefit with this new norm at least, lesser contradictions and lesser pains. Utility will provide for feasibility in time. But that is a significant move, a radical move. So lets not take it en-masse, rather take it one by one, according to our capabilities. As and when we feel the need of that reasonability, we shall go for it. In no way will we impose it. Why? Because that would be against the justice that we are aspiring for. Our justice in humanistic and we will have to realize that if one is happy with lesser reasonable norms, as long as that doesn’t defy justice, we will have to respect that.
That would account to moving towards lessening emotions, is that right? This new impersonal-justice is entirely need based. If questions have started sprouting in your mind about the present agreed-on reality, only then should you go for this. You are lessening emotions here because that makes you satisfied as a human being. Satisfaction as a human being brings in enough subjectivity that qualifies you as human. Emotions are just a way in which subjectivity as a human being finds expression, and now if it is something else than emotions that satisfy you, it in no way makes you lesser human.
The gray area here is this notion of justice. That is largely how you would respond under the present norms when you are truly impartial in relation to a situation. Like had I been impartial in my dream, the way I would have responded. I place my trust in our present norms for that. As to what we call humanism right now would to much extent be this notion of justice. We are almost there. Though I would like to deal with Justice in forthcoming posts, I think this is quite sufficient here.
This atricle went ahead and made my day.