Excerpts from a SMS conversation. The topic came about while I was talking about a book, also made into a movie, called Into The Wild based on the life of this one guy who went off into the Alaska heeding the call of the wild believing that was where he would find true peace and connect with the primitive and wild side of life.
Person: I never like the way the book or the movie felt… makes me think, and not very positively either.
Me: To live and exist w/o thinking and question is boring. You have to experience it-how you do it of course is up to you.
Person: I guess… ironic we question the conventions we made. Sometimes I feel it’s about control.
Me: Rules, conventions are for the greater good of mankind not individuals. I think it’s more about breaking out of being controlled, rather than controlling oneself.
Person: And I don’t know if there can be anything such as living primitive anymore. The advancing generations have lost tolerance both physically and mentally and have lost wisdom.
Me: I agree. We strove and sought comfort too much to be able to give it up now. That won’t stop some radicals from trying though. Man is inherently pig-headed :)
Person: I think the meaning of purity of life has changed and that all is was can now only be studied by literature.
Me: What do you mean purity of life?
Person: Life in its natural form. No or minimal manipulations.
Me: Hmmm. Won’t ever know what that will be like. What it means, what it feels. Just the ideal will stick around in thoughts.
Person: I know a lot has been explored in prose and verse. But then again I could credit it to creativity…
Me: Last two big occasions of creativity were different positions to have sex in and different types of weapons…extremes…create, and then destroy.
Person: :) Vital to the world now!! But there is also Byron, Dickenson, Tolstoy.
Me: No more different than any one of us. Just that they could articulate their thoughts clearly.
Person: Not the point of contention really. It’s just that there has been expression towards a natural form of life…and so forth.
Me: That’s true. They tried their best to show us alternatives.
Person: And also think. But you can award that to creativity which draws from the natural…sometimes it’s a clear case of mistaken identity…the truth is as plain as now we try to add some colour.
Don't ... Just Don't
When was the last time that you were admonished for misbehavior? If you rack your brain hard enough (or not, depending on your Calvin proficiency), chances are that most likely you were told “DO NOT …” It is always “DONT DO THIS” or “DONT DO THAT.” The point being that good and positive behavior is taught in a negative vein or what not to do instead of what to do.
From the days that you were a kid, you mom, or a similar representative authority, would scold and in some cases bash the living daylights out of you for your mischief. Chances are the verbal thrashings would likely include a list of what you should have not done.
Over the years most teachings about leading a good moral life has been imparted by telling you what is taboo rather than what isn’t. Take one of the most famous set of religious code of ethics – The 10 Commandments. 8 of then begin with the dire warning - “Thou Shalt Not ...”
Take the basic Gandhian principle – ahimsa. What is ahimsa? NON-Violence! It is never described as peace or passive resistance or anything of that sort. It tells you what it is not.
Go out on the road and a million signs will stare you in the face - Do Not Blow Horn, Do Not Spit, Do Not Pass Urine, Do Not Stick Bills, No Parking, No U-Turn, Do Not Throw Garbage, ... ... ... do not breath till your very life depends on it …
In the end, all these negative instructions begs the question – are all human beings born with vices which need to be cured in the one lifetime that they have?
From the days that you were a kid, you mom, or a similar representative authority, would scold and in some cases bash the living daylights out of you for your mischief. Chances are the verbal thrashings would likely include a list of what you should have not done.
Over the years most teachings about leading a good moral life has been imparted by telling you what is taboo rather than what isn’t. Take one of the most famous set of religious code of ethics – The 10 Commandments. 8 of then begin with the dire warning - “Thou Shalt Not ...”
Take the basic Gandhian principle – ahimsa. What is ahimsa? NON-Violence! It is never described as peace or passive resistance or anything of that sort. It tells you what it is not.
Go out on the road and a million signs will stare you in the face - Do Not Blow Horn, Do Not Spit, Do Not Pass Urine, Do Not Stick Bills, No Parking, No U-Turn, Do Not Throw Garbage, ... ... ... do not breath till your very life depends on it …
In the end, all these negative instructions begs the question – are all human beings born with vices which need to be cured in the one lifetime that they have?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
