I used to believe we are, by nature, flawed. One look at my body will tell you that alone, in the sense that as an example of the male of our species, it's got more flaws in it than one of Donald Trump's gaudy, chintzy hotels.
Whilst attempting another half-baked manscaping exercise the other day in preparations for Birmingham Comic Con (... damn you, Christopher Eccleston, why did your Ninth Doctor's outfit have to consist of V-neck t-shirts ...) I decided that to believe that thinking we aren't is the ultimate narcissism. It would mean that out of all creation, we, and only we, are inherently broken.
Instead, I have come to believe that western culture, beginning ten thousand years ago with communal agriculture, is the thing that is flawed. When humankind abandoned hunting and gathering, and began to work the land is when it fell from grace. It is when we were expelled from Eden and began our endless search for meaning.
You can laugh at the human predicament. You can laugh at yourself. You can laugh because the alternative is crying. You can laugh because a truism has been exposed. You can laugh at the weakness, stupidity and failures of others. You can laugh because you identify. You can laugh to be polite. You can laugh from surprise. You can laugh from nervousness. You can laugh at the futility of it all. You can laugh at the antics of animals. You can laugh because it hurts. You can laugh because others are laughing. You can laugh at tragedy if enough time has passed. You can laugh at the statement, "This is no laughing matter".
When tribes became villages, became towns, became cities, became nations, is when we descended into insanity. Which probably expalins how we ended up with the EU. The destruction that followed required us to invent laws and dogma to curb the madness. But we are not by nature mad. Unless you're Donald Trump of course. We were driven to behave madly by a culture we created and then forgot we were in.
Which raises the question, what now? A return to foraging doesn't seem like much of an option. The wisdom needed to support that lifestyle took thousands of years to accumulate and is now long forgotten. Perhaps a constructive first step might be to simply acknowledge that the fabric of our existence is badly torn. And that the tear began long ago, when we lost faith in the world. When we decided this miraculous garden would not, or could not, provide.
Step two would be embracing the fact that there's nothing inherently wrong with us, that we are masterpieces of biological engineering. And step three ... well, that would be a new way of thinking. One that is not sickened by a zero-sum culture. Sadly, if you're reading this, you will not be the one thinking those new thoughts. You probably won't even recognize them when they come. If anything, they will appear as a threat to you.
And just to be clear, I include myself in this group. We are all hopelessly shackled to the old way of thinking. Perhaps a child is being born right now who will make the breakthrough. Or perhaps it will emerge from some form of artificial intelligence.
Our salvation lies within ourselves. Within our own ingenuity and determined effort. "Make America Great Again" and "Take Back Control" are bumper stickers for victimhood. But we are not victims. We are the creators of opportunity. Sure the system's rigged. It always has been. So what?! We as a species have always consistently ignored the rigging. You won't let us join your club, we'll start our own club. You won't let us go to your school, we'll start our own school. You won't let us earn money your way, we'll earn it our way. You won't give us a chance here, we will go elsewhere.
I have long believed that if there is a purpose to our existence, it is to bear witness to the mystery and beauty of creation. My thinking, as always, was simple -- a universe unobserved is just a wasted effort. What's a play without an audience? Going forward from that understanding, I further believe that the key ingredient for conscious living is curiosity.
What will happen next? Why is this happening now? How does that work? Where did it come from? Where is it going? To be curious is to be in the moment. To be in the moment is to be in a state of grace. And yet, the older I become, the more I'm inclined to look away from what is and seek refuge in my staid ideas of what should be. As a result, my daily challenge is to resist the siren song of nostalgia. I was created to stand in awe and wonderment amidst the spectacle of eternity.
In the meantime … gee, I don't know, I guess we sit and watch reality television instead of good stuff like Doctor Who which might actually make us think. Actually, best to not contemplate that too much, given the path that this disposable razor sitting in front of me is about to take …
See you all at Comic-Con !!