It has been well-established that man is a social animal. As a monkey dependent on the troop for his continued survival and flourishing, man must compete not just with his environment to get his needs met but also with the troop itself. Resources are in short supply, and what is acquired by the troop is not necessarily shared equally within the troop. Life in the troop, therefore, is a constant struggle for power and authority. It is a game of social positioning, of status and influence, of alliances and politics. In the most straightforward sense possible, man wants to be the biggest monkey so that he can get his hands on the biggest share of the resources. Man wants to be in charge – this is a fundamental dynamic in all human social organization.
Imagine climbing a mountain towards and ideal- making progress
You look back and see the difference between you and others. On your transcendent journey, everyone is far from you.
From that, you infer power and superiority, rather than bringing down power and superiority. You naturally conclude you are farther along the universal path that you have authority or positional superiority, implied by nature.
You decide you want to help others that are lost on the ground, so you guide them up the path.
Some people are misguided in thinking that their progress gives them license to act on behalf of others by stealing bits of their free will....the road to hell is paved with good intentions
You are an authoritarian...trying to negate free will.
Only the exercise of free will leads to transcendence, which is why people must be free. Any device to remove free will reduces potential for developing, transcending, etc...
This is how otherwise good people get to where they use the biggest monkey in service and become the bad guy-
Random thoughts from reading your essay- thanks for the interesting read
You give some good thoughts, I can definitely see this happening in some instances. Regarding that exercise of free will is necessary for transcendence, this made me think of the common idea that "you cannot legislate morality". For while it is true that we can pass all manner of laws to force certain behaviors out of people, being good is not first and foremost a question of following a prescribed pattern of behavior. You cannot legislate morality, because you cannot force morality through law. If a man is not good by his own volition, he is not good. He is merely acting, and there can be no pretension before the Absolute.
Good piece, and I agree
Imagine climbing a mountain towards and ideal- making progress
You look back and see the difference between you and others. On your transcendent journey, everyone is far from you.
From that, you infer power and superiority, rather than bringing down power and superiority. You naturally conclude you are farther along the universal path that you have authority or positional superiority, implied by nature.
You decide you want to help others that are lost on the ground, so you guide them up the path.
Some people are misguided in thinking that their progress gives them license to act on behalf of others by stealing bits of their free will....the road to hell is paved with good intentions
You are an authoritarian...trying to negate free will.
Only the exercise of free will leads to transcendence, which is why people must be free. Any device to remove free will reduces potential for developing, transcending, etc...
This is how otherwise good people get to where they use the biggest monkey in service and become the bad guy-
Random thoughts from reading your essay- thanks for the interesting read
You give some good thoughts, I can definitely see this happening in some instances. Regarding that exercise of free will is necessary for transcendence, this made me think of the common idea that "you cannot legislate morality". For while it is true that we can pass all manner of laws to force certain behaviors out of people, being good is not first and foremost a question of following a prescribed pattern of behavior. You cannot legislate morality, because you cannot force morality through law. If a man is not good by his own volition, he is not good. He is merely acting, and there can be no pretension before the Absolute.
Freely choosing seems necessary for judgement. Ultimately, laws are suggestions for the benefit of harmony between all.
That last statement about acting is interesting.
An act in reality presumes power over that which created