Friday, September 05, 2008

The eternal conflict

On the other hand, there is an obvious rebuttal to the idea that one is failing if one isn't having casual sex as often as the simple-minded souls I referred to in my last post. And I should probably explain what I mean by "simple-minded" in this context, or at least explain why I use the term. In my mind, physical gratification, whether it be sexual, adrenal, masochistic, etc, is a dumb form of gratification. When I say dumb, I use it in the context of a dumb terminal, meaning that it is biochemical and physical response to input. A dumb terminal does not process or manipulate data, it is only capable of relaying information that is input from external sources, hence "dumb". Our physical selves, particularly our bodies, are dumb. Our bodies do not process information, they merely react and respond to input. The body is a collection of tissues and fluids, but it is not sentient and without a mind to guide it, it is nothing but a lump of carbon-based matter and water.

Left to its own devices, the physical self would eat, screw, and sleep all the time. If it did not feel good or give pleasure, the physical self would not bother with it. The physical self is animal, and while I respect animals more than a lot of people, their drives are primarily survival oriented, and therefore limited to the basic needs of physical reality. These base drives often lead to self-defeating or self-limiting behaviors. As sentient beings, should we never transcend our physical selves, we are essentially nothing more than destructive, selfish animals with a very limited shelf life. The one thing that gives us any worth as humans, and perhaps our lone saving grace, is that we have the potential for more.

Giving into base physicality is a waste of potential and possibilities. A dog can be taught to sit, speak, find dead bodies by scent, or lead blind humans through a crowded world, but it is still a physical being willing to roll in the rotten carcass of other animals or eat its own shit. Bonobos and similar primates are considered to be our species' closest genetic neighbors, but five minutes of searching on YouTube will yield videos of chimps drinking their own urine and Bonobos flinging feces at one another. The scary part is, ten more minutes on the web and you'll very likely find video of humans doing all those things and worse. These are people living dumb lives.

The physical world is one of blood and guts and dirt and the temporary. There is no physical construct that lasts forever, so all things in the physical realm are transient and ultimately trivial. So then it stands to reason that the idea physical gratification is the end-all, be-all of one's existence is a very uninspiring and primitive worldview. Gentility, sophistication, nuance, reason, all of these things exhibit themselves in humans because of our potential for higher understanding. Nature is a beautiful mechanism and it works marvelously to build and maintain balance amongst its more naturalized citizens, but humans stepped outside that balance long ago, and for better or worse, we developed an intellect and self-awareness that obligates us to explore the nature of existence on a level deeper than "this feels good".

For some, that might be enough, and for these people, embracing a life of pleasure seeking is the most obvious choice, but such a life is dumb, plain and simple. Their chosen reality will have been a waste of time and energy, which is the real crux of the matter. We have a choice. Our lives can be wastes of time and energy, or they can be something more. Eventually the energy that forms our molecules, cells, organs, and collective selves will change states and return to the world. What we do in the meantime defines who and what we, the temporary personae that carry names like "Erik", really are. Are you a simple-minded machine whose only purpose is physical, or are you something more? Questions like that are the root most of my internal conflicts. Finding a way to ease up on "something more", while not being overrun by the overwhelming temptation to be "dumb" is a complicated matter...

Labels:

Posted by Erik @ 9/05/2008 01:07:00 PM