Quote:
Originally Posted by recluse
I believe humanity was meant to reach for something greater, a higher level of understanding. To evolve away from the beast within. I wanted to know if there is any thought given to the sociopathic thinking that is spreading today. Contemporary ethics. I am sorry for the misunderstanding.
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I don't believe humanity is meant for anything, and I also don't believe in the beast within, as opposed to a higher state of humanity. We are animals. Social animals with a sense of ethics and a yearning for the spiritual. It is how we have evolved. I don't know if we will keep evolving biologically, I don't think it is very likely in the present circumstances. But we keep evolving culturally. The difference about cultural evolution is that it creates its own environment, instead of only adapting to it. I think that some of the mechanics of biological evolution also apply to cultural evolution, but the general dynamic seems more complex to me.
Sociopathic thinking? This seems a bit harsh. I do think we have gone too far in individualistic thinking, and in the frantic search for happiness. This creates a lot of tensions because it comes in conflict with two basic facts.
We are a social animal, everything we have and a lot of what we are is based on this. And sometimes the needs, real or perceived, of the individual conflict with the needs of society, or simply of other individuals. We cannot (and we don't, really, although there is a tendency toward this) put the individual before the collective at all costs and at all times, because if you follow this logic to its end, it is the end of humanity.
The second tension brings us back to desire, and the Hollywood school of thought, which would have us believe that we have a right to be happy, all the time. And maybe even a duty to be happy. Not being happy is not being normal. Obviously, this clashes very harshly with reality and creates terrible tensions. And this is where I believe a practice like meditation can help immensely.
Unfortunately I don't really feel qualified to say much more about this, but I would encourage you to try it for yourself. As I mentioned, I read a book called Meditation for dummies, which is not perfect but a very good start I believe.