Amidst the chaotic world we live in is an inner peace that few of us find these days. The world isn't chaotic only in the sense of living in a metropolitan city versus living on a farm. I'm talking the about the kind of chaos that distorts your view of the world, and distorts your view of the things that you love, want, and need.
Our problem is social conformity. After thousands of years of civilization, we have arrived at a set of (global) socially acceptible standards that guide our lives on a day-to-day basis, from the moment we wake up till we fall asleep, and most probably in our dreams as well. But social conformity is a double-edged sword.
I don't want to take away from thousands of years of experience and trial and error on what works for society and what doesn't, but I can't help but stop and think that maybe we are living a life that is guided by too many "rules" to the point that we now willingly submit our right to free thought and just go with the flow. I'm not saying that all principles and values stressed in our society are bad; killing is certainly bad. Stealing is bad. Willingly hurting people is definitely bad. And beyond the obvious bad things, there are many standards and values that are specific to a culture. Even with the westernization of the Arab world, many Arabs still tend to be less open to the idea of sex before marriage (not necessarily because they don't want to, I feel it's just a matter of compliance with what the Arab world considers as "right"). A Westerner might consider this a laughable idea. But the Arab may also look down on the Westerner as being shallow and sex-driven. In such instances, clearly there's no right and wrong. All we have is what simply "is". The Middle East is more conservative when it comes to sex than the West. And there is nothing wrong with differing views and cultures.
The hidden problem that so many people experience (and very few see) is how they live their lives. On all topics, big and small, our opinions and values and standards tend to be a function of how our parents raised us, how our friends influenced us, the experiences we went through, and what society believes is generally "right" or "wrong". Some people may feel that that is how things SHOULD be. We SHOULD be thinking and processing and analyzing within those rules, otherwise we may come up with opinions that break the norm, and we would be considered as weird, or worse, outcasts. Does that seem logical though?
My problem with the world is that I look around and see people consume all sorts of information from all possible sources. Among this information we find many opinions and views. And what tends to happen again and again is that people would take the opinion of others and run with it like it's what they believe. But what happened to your own opinions? What happened to thinking? Why are so many people so mentally sedated to the point that they are very much like a herd of sheep: told what to eat, how much to eat, where to eat, where to stand, when to sleep, and where to sleep? The area that the herd stands in represents the boundaries that we should stay within at all times. The dog represents the forces (social norms? religion?) that put (or is it scare?) us back into place whenever we try to break out of our boundaries. And then of course, there is the shepherd, the ultimate force (puppetmaster?) that guides (controls?) the herd's lives. But there is a key question here: who is this shepherd? Is he real? Is it God? Is it just an idea?
Depending on how that question is answered, the mind is instantly bombarded with a million more questions. And the better portion of those questions will remain unanswered. However, there's no harm in pondering. The point though, is to ponder using your own mental power, not someone else's. Things shouldn't be taken as is just because society has been doing it that way for ages. Even after thousands of years, society can still be wrong. If society was so right, then why do we have so much chaos in the world today?
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Though at first i was intimidated to read a lengthy piece in a span of 5 minutes (given i have to rush to a meeting) once I began reading i couldn't look up until it was over. It is well written, heartfelt and in most parts i agree!
ReplyDeleteHere is what I think:
If we are the shape-shifters of the future, then is it up to us to keep the status quo the same or should we be revolutionary and break the norms and create new rules and new norms? - it could very well be that the new state of affairs is not conformity but constant revolution of thought, mind and action.
Ever realize how technology only advances and succeeds when it is revolutionary, otherwise we would be stuck with those 5 ton computers with hard drives that boom louder than a 747 jet engine. R&D is huge in most companies, actually they reinvest their retained earnings and channel it into the R&D department, and shareholders are more than willing to forgo their dividend payment for the sake of R&D. Funny enough when it comes to US as SOCIAL beings we often don't develop we often stay the same, stuck in our old ways, we only want to improve ourselves, like going on to pursue a masters or marrying into a wealthy family (whatever the personal motive and prerogative is) rather than trying to break the external social norms, and really trying to develop our larger society. The power of society is more than what we can comprehend, and so we get stuck, or we become sheep just as you put it. If you go against it, especially as an Arab you are labeled a pariah; there is no place for revolutionary behavior, unless it’s joining some fundamentalist political and religious party. As sad as it is, it’s true there are expectations and checklists and “do’s” and “don’ts” that govern (subjugate?) us- and either you spend the rest of your life trying to breakaway & reinvent (improve?) – and this I promise will be a tiresome and restless endeavor but so worth it if you succeed, or spend the rest of your life conforming (grazing grass?) and living in peaceful coexistence- and this I promise you will by no means stop you from having revolutionary predispositions.
I guess for now we can keep warm in our wool and hope that the farmers don’t come to skin us!
Freud wrote a book called "Civilization and its Discontents". One of the points he made is that even though our natural human instinct leans towards an individualistic life, belonging to a society means choosing to conform rather than be individualistic. That in itself is a dilemma, on one side you have conforming to things you may not believe in to seek the benefits of belonging to a society, and on the other side you have ultimate freedom but, to put it in a favorite phrase of yours, you have to bear the "opportunity cost". So this basically talks about a similar situation: do we maintain the status quo or do we break the norm and revolutionize? There are pros and cons to both, but ultimately, we are taught to believe that conformity benefits all collectively. But what if this is something that certain people or groups want us to believe? I don't want to turn this into a conspiracy theory blog, especially that I don't have any evidence to back anything up, but just imagine for a second that we have been misguided (either by our own actions or the actions of others) into believing in society so much that we're willing to give things up for it (our freedom, taxes, etc...). Is that right though? I mean, I'm not saying we should tear down all governments and live like savages. But is a middle ground so hard to attain? Is it so impossible for us to live in a world with order and organization yet have not just the freedom but the will and desire to express what we REALLY think and feel?
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that revolutionary ideas spawn major changes. We went from telegraphs to telephones out of an idea. We went from candles and lanterns to electricity-based lights out of an idea. However, I think applying the same sort of logic to this case would tear the world apart, because you are talking about completely changing the way the world thinks, which will leave people divided because you can't convince nearly 7 billion people to think the same way, let alone 7 people.
What I'm saying is that maybe we can't change the system that the shepherd has put in place, but being aware of it is certainly a step in the right direction, wherever that direction may lead to.