You Are Neither Good Or Evil When You Are Alone
What laws do we have to follow when we are completely alone? Can we harm anyone? Or can we help anyone? Yup, I don't think so as well.
It means that society makes us good or evil but in reality, we are complete nothing. It is the society that labels you lazy or successful, sexy or ugly, funny or boring. However, you, as a person, are neither of these things. You don't have any characteristics. Imagine, if you lived alone forever, how could you tell if you are lazy or not? How would you even know what laziness is? There would be no measure and no way to judge.
I always laughed at a guy who kept telling me that he is nothing and that he is everything at the same time. To be honest, I would still laugh if I heard him say this stuff because he was both hilarious and kind of out of space. However, he might have been right.
Our society is based on norms and ways to judge others because we couldn't survive as a group of people otherwise. Sadly, those norms are odd and make a lot of people feel insecure and fragile. Only if those people knew that it all does not matter because, in the end, we die alone. And while we are alone, we don't have any characteristics or attributes. We are what we are.
And this idea brings me even further. I kind of feel that human-beings are only some sort of empty package, which gets filled with random stuff throughout the life. I mean, if you take a newborn and put them in a white room without any people, would he even be able to think? I mean, we kind of need words for thinking, but without others to teach how to talk, what would this newborn think? What would this newborn be after 20 years spent alone in a white room? Yup, I also think that nothing good would happen.
Can it mean that we are born without many thoughts and we collect it all from the society? If yes, it means that we also don't have any thoughts of our own, meaning that we are nothing but what society wants us to be. So, if you choose to be alone, you are nothing and that is the best thing to be.
Can we be evil or good when we are all alone? Yes.
Self destruction is just as bad as other destruction.
There are many things that we call good and bad, that have no real basis, except that they are the excepted norm of that society. Eating pork, working on Sunday, etc.
However, there are things that, for lack of a better word, increase the amount of love in the universe. These are good.
And there are things that destroy, that diminish the universe. Those are evil.
We can actually measure the effect on the universe by such things. Its just that science doesn't want to believe in the metaphysical. And the science-ism wants to do away with any and all constraints on what they do, so they make arguments such that good and evil are only societal constructs.
Well, that is only your perspective that things that bring love to the universe are good. They might as well be bad in a long run, I think. Also, a devil who manages to destroy entire communities is a good devil, right? I mean, it is his job to destroy after all. What I am saying is that good and bad is just something we created to define things but in reality, everything is balanced and neither good nor bad.
Nope, I am trying to tell you in a way that might translate, that there is good and evil, and that (with future technology) you can see the difference. That there are absolutes truths.
But, you are correct in questioning what we consider good and bad, as most of the ones in the bible were written down by kings to make good little sheep of the people.
Further, moral relativism leads to personal destruction. If you destroy your compass, then you do not know where you are going, and your boat will be dashed against many rocks that could have been avoided.
Maybe you are right, but I still think that when we are alone, we are nothing. However, we are hardly ever alone. As for the technology, I doubt that there will be any way to say what is good or bad. That technology will just become a new bible to make good little sheep of the people, don't you think?
Yesterday I split up with my girlfriend, I chosen to be alone - let's see how it goes from now.
Good article.
difuel, sorry to hear that. But I am sure it will eventually be a good thing.
I found out what good and evil mean to me only when I became completely alone. I realized that from the society's perspective, a lot of what I did could be seen as bad, even though I did my best.
I realized that dualistic thinking eventually drives every person into a corner and they can either choose to hold onto their thinking, or free themselves of it. This world is good. Existence is good, even suffering.
Have you heard of the dark night of the soul?
I have never heard of the dark night of the soul, what is that? In my opinion, existence is neither good or bad. It is just what it is.
The dark night of the soul is, simply put, a state of mind where things you took for granted in your life suddenly disappear or become meaningless, you lose all certainty and the path forward becomes invisible.
It is one of the most scary, terrible, difficult experiences one can have in their lifetime. The only way "out" (I don't believe that you ever get out of the dark night, because the realization doesn't go away) is for the ego to die and to learn to live with a completely changed view of self.
I like this guy's take on it:
That is a little nihilistic :) But yeah, I can understand the concept. Gladly, without too much of ego you don't take anything for granted and you cannot be destroyed. That's how I think about it. But if someone is in that state, I too think that it is impossible to get out of it, at least not without some help.
But how would you help someone to get out of it? Or why would you want to? It might seem as the easier option to be immersed in the ego conditioning (the Dark Side is quicker, easier, more seductive).
You cannot go back from the Dark night, only forward. And I believe that only a person who has gone through it can help you find a new meaning behind daily activities and new motivation to do them.
Well, we all have some kind of reason. I don't know why would anyone want to help you, but remember that everyone has their own reasons.
I have my goal in life and I am doing it. If I'll see that there is no point in that, I'll just think of something else or just quit and enjoy life. I don't see the point in being sad or in the Dark night :D
You might have misunderstood me. One does not choose to be in the Dark Night. You arrive there after experiencing a major disillusion about yourself and the world. If you don't understand it and would not want to experience it, good for you! Just keep going...
I'm sorry, I must sound very confusing. It is not an easy topic to talk about. I just hope that if it happens to you one day, you will remember to type "dark night of the soul" in google and let someone more articulate explain it : )
Great post! I don't believe that good and evil as an example of two extremes, exists other than in our minds to help us categorize and stick together in groups. A kind of primitive way of thinking that has been necessary, but might not be anymore. I also agree with the guy who said that he is everything and nothing at once. I find that many things come down to a paradox that is greater than one of the perspectives being true and the other false.. Everybody could be anything, depending on what opportunities they get in life and which ones they take. At the same time these are all just labels that don't make sense from any other perspective than ours. And of course the nature vs nurture question, what would define us humans without all our collective knowledge and culture? Very interesting thoughts :-)
Thanks cyoung! I would love to see what humans would be without any collective knowledge and culture. Because that would be real us, right?
It would be a different version of us, like from a parallel reality where we never did any of the things that has happened so far in our evolution :-) That would be an interesting meeting indeed, but kind of frightening to think of also! Somebody in our reality who was never exposed to any cultural influence or collective knowledge would be deprived of what defines a human being according to the rest of the sivilication. That would just be sad I think.
Yeah, it would probably be sad, but yet super interesting! I mean, we could understand what are we and which ideas are fake in our heads.
Great article my friend..
Keep it up.
I think I chose nothing a long time ago.
And nothing is what attracts everything.
Thanks for sharing your perspective! Keep on doin' the love, that is - writing!
Thanks man! I am glad to hear that you made a right decision. At least it sounds like a right one
Simple and beautiful mate. Outstanding.!! Loved it! :)
Thanks, tonyr!
That is a notion which many Buddhists teach. I think it has something.
Of course one cannot manage daily business by that, but it would be worth to keep in mind. Death can happen every second, nobody knows.
In the past those thoughts made me sad or I got irritated deeply and walked away. Now I am getting fascinated. Notbody thinks that way. Or almost nobody. Which also is just another evidence that one group defines the other.
We are having too much time to think. Could be a problem for many ;-)
I really enjoy Buddhist teaching, to be honest. That religion fits me.
I totally agree with the fact that many people have too much time to think and that destroy them. Good thing, they just stop thinking when they realize that it is too hard to think lol
totally so. Some even say it is not a religion in the common sense, as Buddhism has no God or creator in its notion. It has highly interesting and profound philosophical and psychological teachings. I like how many referred to it and investigated the scripts in the original languages. Coming to us and giving us interpretations and insights. One can study Buddhism for decades.
This connection the Christians never made to me or vice versa. Though I am definitely do not having anything against Jesus, actually I like him very much as a role model, he would have been an excellent buddy to Siddhartha Gautama, I guess. They only lived about 500 years apart, if I remember correctly. :-)