Uncertainty: The gift of creation

“The quest for certainty blocks the search for meaning. Uncertainty is the very condition to impel man to unfold his powers.”
Erich Fromm

Uncertainty is a key characteristic of complex systems, the world in which we live being just such a system. The existence of such uncertainty must not only guide our future actions but might also be a source of true enrichment of our lives. As the above quotation suggests I believe our current prevalent desire for control as a source of certainty is actually preventing us from living truly meaningful lives. Life itself grew out of uncertainty and chaos and is to some extent sustained by it, if you stop to wonder at the world it is the unexpected which is truly captivating. It is the unexpected that gives us the most pleasure; it encourages us to develop as people. If we could only let go of our desire for certainty, be that in what will happen or what we believe, we might find a wonderful array of new possibilities.

The world is pregnant with possibility, as are we, when was the last time there was a paradigm shift in the way human beings choose to behave or see things. If we are to radically change, then the systems and structures which govern almost everything we do must change too, with that will come massive uncertainty and unless we are able to positively embrace it we will be driven back with fear, and like the proverbial ostrich bury our collective heads in the sand and say the threat really isn’t there. We’ve been doing that for the last 20 years and we are now firmly on the tonight’s menu.

Today's most powerful people benfit from things being as they are and use our innate fear of the unknown to support our 'devil we know' attitude, rest assured if they continue to prevail and we do not move a way from a consumer driven economic model the degree of uncertainty that will be visited upon us all will be beyond imagination. The extremely wealthy may be able to protect themselves but not their offspring. Death does not discriminate....

The Earth: An unconcerned observer

“I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority.”

Elwyn Brooks White

I feel a deep resonance with James Lovelock’s notion of Gaia, whilst on one level it is metaphorical in that it suggests the Earth’s biota is a sentient being, I believe it is helpful conceptually for us to consider it as such since it offers us the opportunity to identify with it and develop a better way of relating to it. However, I believe we also need to recognise the hard truth of the matter, the Earth does not care about us, we have evolved out of the complex history of life on Earth but we are not essential to it, in fact nothing much is, certainly nothing that is alive. Species have come and gone throughout the ages based on their ability to adapt to or survive in the every changing environment on Earth. We seem to believe that we are somehow special, more important than other creatures, perhaps we are but only in so much as we have developed the ability to cause so much harm. The point we must remember is that life on Earth will continue well after our extinction, yes it may look very different and there may be time needed to recover from the impact of humankind but it will indeed happen.

The real concern therefore is not for the good of the Earth, it is for the good of ourselves because we are the only ones who really have a vested interest. I believe we need to start to see this as an issue for Mankind’s survival and not about saving the planet, an irritant we may be but a long term threat we are not. If people truly believed that their children and grand children were going to suffer terribly they may actually be willing to re-examine what really matters to them and forgo their desire for more and settle for being more. I truly believe that we are living at a pivotal point in human history, they say that the night is darkest just before the dawn and looking at our world today with all it’s crisis’s including global terrorism, social unrest, corporate exploitation, political nepotism, environmental devastation and climate change to name but a few, things certainly look extremely dark to me. So what might the dawn bring? Perhaps a time where we meet in our sameness and not in our difference, a realisation that we all need to collaborate to avert the impending disaster and in so doing, we might actually learn that there is a different, more meaningful, morally richer way of relating to each other and the world around us. If, like Martin Luther King, I had a dream, this would be it.

The role of religion and spirituality

“The more I study religions the more I am convinced that man never worshipped anything but himself.”
Richard Francis Burton

“Love the animals, love the plants, love everything. If you love everything, you will perceive the divine mystery in things. Once you perceive it, you will begin to comprehend it better every day. And you will come at last to love the whole world with an all-embracing love.”
Fyodor Dostoyevsky

I am not concerned here with the veracity of any of the assertions made by particular religions or spiritual philosophies but with the influence religion and spirituality has and can wield. The major religions of this world directly impact the beliefs and behaviours of billions of people, I wonder what their original founders might have to say about the way we are behaving relative to the world at large today. I am also fascinated by the apparent growth in alternative spiritual practices which seem to me to be symptomatic of a sense of dissatisfaction with the experience of everyday living. I wonder if we don’t have an innate need to connect with a higher sense of purpose and meaning, as a context in which to set the experience of our individual lives. If this is true then perhaps much of that context could be provided through our relationship with the planet we call home..

It seems to me that all the different religions and spiritual paths extol the virtues of respect for all living things and the divine creation. For various reasons surrounding power and influence these seem to be subservient to the proliferation of each particular doctrine and the mandate it offers their leaders.

I choose to think of 'creation' instead of God thereby removing the tendency to anthropromorphise, I am then better able to treat everything that occurs in the universe as part of an emergent process. As I am part of this 'creation' my role is to participate in a way that is respectful of and sympathetic with, everything else.

When I consider the way that different human societies and cultures have behaved to date, I am left in no doubt that we are far from being contributory to the 'whole'. I am changing my perspective and am beginning to experience a little of the immense beauty that is undoubtedly enfolded in the gift of creation.

The more one cares for, the more one is cared for...... Enjoy!

The crisis of identity

“I've grown certain that the root of all fear is that we've been forced to deny who we are.”

Frances Moore Lappe

I agree with Lappe in so much as I believe that today we tend to over identify ourselves with what we have rather than who we actually are. The consequence of this is both a fear of losing our material wealth and a sense of increased isolation from others who have more or less than us. This in turn seems to lead to an insatiable desire to have more for fear of being overtaken. This is the marketer dream and the very thing they play upon, as they seek to convince us to want what ever it is they have to sell. This is entirely self perpetuating since you buy more to assuage your fear and then fear losing the status it has given you, so in turn need to buy more and so on and so on.

Are you simply the sum of what you have? Are the richest people in the world really the best human beings? Are fear and competition the ingredients for a happy life?

One’s sense of self is greatly influenced by societal norms which are in turn influenced by much of what has gone before in this blog. I believe that we, as individuals, must become aware of our own personal identity and to honestly reflect on what has informed it. We can change what we choose to identify with and thereby change ourselves. When we do this we will become more personally empowered to challenge those who seek to defend the systems and structures which they believe serve them preferentially today.

Learning to live

“That is what learning is. You suddenly understand something you've understood all your life, but in a new way.”
Doris Lessing

I love this quotation because it suggests that learning is a process of moving beyond one’s own current understanding not about something new but about something you were already aware of. So often we see learning as the ability to accumulate knowledge and information and therein lies the problem. We spend too much of our formative years being educated and not enough being encouraged to learn about how to live a learning life. I believe it was Socrates who agreed that he was possibly the wisest man alive because he knew that he knew nothing, I wonder how much quarter that would get in our universities and hallowed halls of today.

It is time for us all to begin to learn how to live a meaningful and fulfilling life and how to put aside our intoxication by and addiction to, consumerism, economic growth and technological advancement. We need to understand that who we are is so much more than such things and to begin to use our incredible creativity to find solutions to the real problems of the day, all of which are consequences of our current misunderstanding. The troubles we face ahead are all absolutely of our own making, we are able to change, all that is required is the understanding that we have little of any true value to lose and everything to gain.

Learning is a life long process and it is incumbent upon everyone, in particular those in positions of power, to begin to re-evaluate their understanding of the world around us. This will not be easy and I anticipate much resistance even to the notion that it is necessary but the rewards will be great. The attachment of politicians and corporations to economic growth is an example of entrenched institutionalised learning; I haven’t yet heard anyone suggest a managed global recession as a potential solution to rising carbon dioxide emissions, surely since it is the source of the increase the logical thing would be to turn it down. We must learn to start addressing these issues at their root cause now, as well as finding less damaging solutions to meeting our interim needs.

It is interesting to note that since first writing about this in November 2007 we are now in the midst of a global recession, unfortunately my worst fears have been realised since all the G8 world leaders have opted for packages of economic stimulation measure including quantitative easing and capital infrastructure projects all designed to re-invigorate consumption rather that taking the opportunity to improve the global ecology. I am left wondering why we haven't deployed all the human potential released by redundancies, short time working and higher unemployment towards environmental projects, the development of more sustainable technologies and social improvement.

The gifts of consciousness and conscience

“A human being is part of a whole, called by us the Universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separated from the rest a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circles of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.”

Albert Einstein

“The paradoxical and tragic situation of man is that his conscience is weakest when he needs it most”
Erich Fromm

Whilst both these quotations suggest that we have not made best use of these gifts they clearly allude to the importance both these great thinkers give them. I believe that both consciousness and conscience are unique to mankind; it is their presence in our make up that gives me hope that we will one day accept that we must radically change our ways. If it weren’t for both I believe that slavery would still be considered an acceptable commercial enterprise.

Consciousness gives us our sense of self-awareness and an awareness of how we relate to our wider environment; it also gives us a deeper sense of knowing above and beyond the merely rational. It encourages us to move beyond our basic animal instincts and is the source of our sense of morality. I like Einstein believe that our consciousness has become extremely limited and that it is imperative for us to expand it beyond the boundaries of self, family, nation, generation and species. With this greater awareness will develop a deeper compassion and empathy for all things and I hope that we will begin to feel more secure in and concerned for, the living creation of which we are but a part.

Our conscience is the arbiter of our integrity; it lets us know when we are violating our values and morals. Conscience alone however is not enough; one next has to have the will to act in accordance with it, often in competition with the temptation to ignore it in the pursuit of personal gratification. It seems to me that we are guilty of both valuing the wrong things and of defining morals which are far too anthropocentric. As for acting in accordance with our conscience this seems to me to be something that most people are all too frequently prepared to sacrifice in exchange for personal gain.

Climate change is finally entering into our consciousness following decades of warnings from environmental scientists but this is just the tip of the iceberg, the real threat is mankind’s excessive growth and unsustainable consumption of natural resources and habitats. Until this becomes part of our consciousness and we have the fortitude to act in accordance with our collective conscience about our responsibility to address this, we will make little or no effective progress in limiting the incalculable and devastating consequences that will ensue.

Beliefs: The architects of experience

“Some beliefs are like walled gardens. They encourage exclusiveness, and the feeling of being especially privileged. Other beliefs are expansive and lead the way into wider and deeper sympathies.”

Sophia Lyon Fahs

What we believe determines what we perceive and what we perceive defines what we believe to be real. We are therefore governed less by reality but more what we believe. Our beliefs can be compared to computer subroutines which interpret data by reference to a predefined set of criteria, the problem being that if the criteria are not met, the data is rejected as invalid rather than possible evidence that the subroutine or comparative data set might be flawed. A few of these subroutines are genetically encoded; typically those around survival but the vast majority are installed by our parents, society and our experience. Beliefs are not immutable and can be changed but this requires us first to be aware that they are present and secondly to accept how much they govern what we notice. It is only by asking ourselves what else we are not seeing that the grip of a particular belief can be broken.

So often when people come into conflict it is actually caused by a clash of beliefs rather than the lack of an available solution, if only both parties could see the whole. If we are to change the way people see the world and behave towards it, we will need to work at the level of beliefs. We will need to be open to exploring our deeply held beliefs and those of others. We will need to value people who are able to suspend their beliefs, empathise with others and take a synergistic approach compared to the advocating, combative leaders of today.

Values are beliefs which define what we as individuals and societies deem to be most important and as such, to make any lasting change in the way we behave, we must re-address the fundamental values which are driving us on our current path to social and ecological disintegration.

What are the critical beliefs which are limiting our willingness or ability to make the necessary changes to address the challenges facing us all?