RE: If Something is Done Voluntarily, is it Automatically "No Harm, No Foul"?
We create the world that we deserve, in that our actions cause consequences that come back to affect us. That's how karma works. Karma, from my perspective, does not indicate some higher power with a finger on the scales bringing eventual justice to everyone. Rather, I think it just acknowledges that our world is ruled by causality.
If we cheat others, then we foster and support a world of cheaters, in which case we ourselves will eventually be on the receiving end of that cheating. If we cheat others, it separates us from others, in which case even if we end up with a lot of money we do so alone, and in the end would trade all of that money for some human connections.
The worst thing the gods did to us was allow us freedom, because in so doing they also gave us responsibility. The process of becoming an adult, of maturing, is the process of accepting the inseparable link between the two. That's how we fully become children of the gods.
Yes, "karma" is only demonstrable in causal feedback from effects our actions produce in the short-term and long-term as an individual and even a society or as a species. Those before, those now, and those in the future, will create what gets created. Our long term future doesn't look so good considering our greed, domination and expansion to consume and reform the material on this planet without restriction, all in the name of "Growth" which is unsustainable.
But causality will bring us back in line. We can't destroy the planet, and honestly, we won't even destroy ourselves. All over the world there are abandoned giant monuments. The technology and societal sophistication necessary to build these things boggles the mind. But they are abandoned why? Because the system ran its course, the tragedy of the commons ran its course, the collected societal wealth was squandered on nonsense, and the society disbanded. Natives continue to live around it, but the empire ceased to be a going concern.
As I see it, our job at this point in history is to collect the wisdom, distill it, and store it for the future.
Wisdom is like gold. Gold is completely useless during a collapse. Gold is only useful in the sense that it is only one of a few ways to get wealth though a collapse and to the other side. Same thing for wisdom.
I didn't literally mean destroy it, although we could with nukes ;) Destroying the planet as in rendering the state in less than favorable condition to support us or other life, whereby a reduction in populations occurs due to lack of water, food, etc. We could ravage the planet and turn it barren like Mars. The Sahara dessert is said to once have been filled with green but overgrazing of human imposed activities resulted in it vanishing.
Wisdom is not like gold if you want to say that gold is useless unless during a collapse. Wisdom is about acting wisely, rightly, not foolishly or wrongly. Wisdom is not useless, it's always useful. Thanks for the feedback.
When I said wisdom was useless during a collapse, I mean wisdom about how to handle riches. Essentially, that's what we have not been able to handle well.
Gold during a collapse goes into hiding because it is either outlawed, or plundered whenever someone tries to use it. Ask the Chinese. During the time of Mao, anyone with any wealth whatsoever was in great danger. The worst thing you could possible have done was to let anyone know that you had any gold by trying to buy something with it. That would either get you a visit from the police, who would make up an infraction and confiscate it for their own use, or robbed, or both. So gold during a collapse cannot be used. It hides, but that is how it safely carries wealth through the time of chaos until stability re-emerges.
For different reasons but along the same lines, wisdom about how to handle riches cannot be used during times of no riches, during times of collapse and re-growth. Unlike gold, which is dangerous to use, wisdom about more complex systems is just not useful when the system is collapsing back to less complexity.
Each civilization apparently has to learn anew the dangers of thinking themselves smarter than causality, smarter than equilibrium, smarter than nature. Rather than understanding that we are an outgrowth of nature, we think that we have beat nature, and turn around and try to tell nature what to do. It is this wisdom that needs to be saved and remembered, to make it through the time of collapse and rebuilding until society once again has resources burning a hole in its pockets.
Not each civilization, but each generation. Hubris is the enemy of wisdom, and humility it's parent.
You clearly were raised right, because much of what you've said is wise.
Hah! Sadly, I think "good decisions come from experience, and experience comes from bad decisions" would be closer to the truth ;-)
That isn't a reflection on my parents though. I just came out of the womb knowing it all and had to get a few concussions to learn the wisdom of humility.
We contribute. We don't create the world.
I have experienced things I have preferred to avoid. It is only after long introspection that I have become able to value those experiences, as harrowing as they were, as they have enabled me to see everything in ways I could never have, had I not suffered.
I do not promote suffering as something one should seek, but when events bring it upon us, I do recommend finding the way it is benefiting you. Neither do I condemn pleasure, but it is wise to always consider how it is degrading you.
While karma seems to be a principle that operates, chaos is it's boss. When you are lucky, it is easy to credit all your hard work and wisdom for your success, and to regard others not so lucky as lazy or stupid. This is facile, and born of hubris.
We perceive cause and effect. According to the Copenhagen school of Quantum Physics, causality is a hit and miss affair. Schrodinger's cat may or may not be alive, maybe because of whether we look in to see it.
Causality might just be an artifact of gods that play fair, and follow the rules they set for us.