Violence Breeds Violence
More and more through science we are confirming the Buddha’s teachings on karma. In an article last month at Wired.com, kindness was shown to breed further acts of kindness.
Experimenters created a game where “selfishness made more sense than cooperation,” however, “acts of giving were tripled over the course of the experiment by other subjects who were directly or indirectly influenced to contribute more.” Here is a visual representation of those effects:
Understanding karma, I believe this multiplying effect should also hold true for acts of violence, coercion, or threat. If we treat people poorly, they are likely to treat us poorly in return. Therefore, evidence seems to show that we should follow the good ol’ golden rule: Treat others as you would like to be treated.
The Non-Aggression Principle
As I understand it, the Buddhist moral notion of karma is congruent with libertarian-anarchist ethic of the non-aggression principle – which states that all initiation of physical force, the threat of such, or fraud upon persons is inherently illegitimate.
Although Buddha obviously cannot comment on the political theories past his time, I think if he understood our current understanding of government he would see that it is in strict violation of this principle.
Libertarian anarchists consider non-voluntary taxes (a process used to fund almost any government that has ever existed) to be a form of initiated aggression. Therefore, no matter the well-intentioned goals of politicians, the very means of government is seen as immoral. In Ayn Rands words, “Force and mind are opposite; morality ends where a gun begins.”
I think Buddha too would agree that you cannot create a moral society through the immorality of government coercion. Only free choice builds moral fiber. Even when people are forced to pay for others health care, housing, or food, they are in the process of becoming slaves, not saints. Not only is this a morally illegitimate way of building the society we want, it is impossible. In Buddhism the means don’t justify the ends: the means determine the ends.
Lead By Example, Not By Force
Karma teaches reciprocity. Only by being the change we wish to see in the world can we make a positive difference. We don’t create society by stepping into a voting booth once a year, we create society through our day-to-day actions and how we treat others. We lead by example; and when we do this, we inspire people’s hearts and minds to do the same.
An individual’s freedom is a prerequisite for all moral behavior. You cannot force or threat others to be good, you can only guide them through example and reason. People too can be guided the wrong way through example and reason. Morality is always and everywhere a battle of ideas. It starts in our minds and it spreads through our actions.
Government: Old Idea, Bad Idea, or Both?
The need to govern others is an ancient idea: master and servant, leader and follower, boss and worker are all distinctions buried in our unconscious. It is not just an old idea, but an idea we often take for granted. Modern America condemns it’s history with slavery but doesn’t yet see the the shapes and forms it takes through the veil of democratic government; in which, even Thomas Jefferson considered “mob rule, where fifty-one percent of the people may take away the rights of the other forty-nine.” Today this is sometimes referred to as tyranny of the majority. To learn more I recommend Hans Hermann Hoppe’s great book, “Democracy: The God That Failed: The Economics and Politics of Monarchy, Democracy, and Natural Order.”
Schools somewhat condition us to accept government; democracy being the glorified system of “fairness.” Many people I know find it hard to even imagine a peaceful society without any form of government. Instead they hear “anarchy” and imagine Molotov cocktails being thrown through windows – complete chaos and rebellion. But the truth is humans self-organize all of the time without the help of government bureaucracy. Even children can put together community baseball games without authoritarian oversight. The Austrian economist Friedrich A. Hayek would probably draw a parallel between this kind of social behavior and the “spontaneous order” of a laissez-faire economy.
My point is that the absence of government is not equal to a state of disorder. Humans organize voluntarily (out of their own free will) all of the time; of all people, Buddhists should recognize this inherent interconnectedness between individuals. So we shouldn’t need government to command our actions like some sort of ant colony – our ability to get along with others is a built into our humanity.
Am I suggesting that anarchy is a utopia? It may sound like it, but I assure you that I am not. How can you expect a perfect society from imperfect individuals? You can’t. It’s not realistic. But it is realistic to believe that humans can coexist peacefully without big brother government. Sure, there will still be crime and evils in the world and we will have to deal with those accordingly. But government may not be the answer to poverty, drug abuse, or even murder. Perhaps before looking to our paternal state for all the solutions to society we should take a deep gaze into ourselves; and see how we as individuals are personally responsible for the world around us.
I found an article today at BBC News. It described how chimps exhibit similar patterns of behavior as humans when dealing with a dying loved one.
The article was rather short (and not too informative), but one excerpt suggests a compelling parallel:
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“Staff at Blair Drummond Safari and Adventure Park in Stirlingshire used video cameras to document the death of a terminally ill female named Pansy, believed to be more than 50 years old.
When she became lethargic in the days leading up to her death, other members of the group became quieter than usual and stayed with her at nights, grooming her more than they did normally.
After her death, her daughter stayed near the body for an entire night, even though she had never slept on that platform before.
All of the group were subdued for several days afterwards, and avoided the place where she had died, spending long hours grooming each other.”
Visit here to see two excerpts of some of this footage: the first video reveals a moment of death in a chimps life with surrounding family, and the bottom video shows a young chimp playing with a dead one until the mother takes it away.
Primal Empathy: Your Suffering Is My Suffering
When a chimp notices a family member is dying they become more attuned to that member’s needs (in the same way a mother becomes attuned to the needs of her baby). Like chimps, our brains “sync up” (as Daniel Goleman puts it in his book “Social Intelligence,”) and we feel what another being is experiencing. In social neuroscience this is referred to as primal empathy or “the ability to sense the non-verbal emotional signals of others and to feel what they are feeling.” Evolutionary psychology tell us that we are biologically driven to respond to those needs; in other words: they are instinctual.
We all experience primal empathy in one form or another. Narcissists and sociopaths show weak empathy for others while those who are charitable and compassionate are seen as more empathetic.
Whenever I think about empathy I am reminded of the teachings by Buddha. He emphasized the wisdom of interconnectedness and described loving-kindness and compassion as a logical moral consequence of this insight.
Science is bringing us one step closer to this knowledge. Through neuroscience we are seeing the biochemical effects of brains and minds feeling connected. In evolutionary psychology we are witnessing high-order thinking mammals exhibit empathy and compassion for one another.
Animal Consciousness
Who knows what it’s like to be a bat, or a whale, or even a tyrannosaurus? Each has a completely different sensory system and a completely different way to interact with its environment. If we were to zoom into the consciousness of any animal it would probably be akin to a psychedelic experience. Yet at the same time we are all united by the fact that we live, we breath, and we are all fighting to stay alive and satisfy our desires.
We often like to see animal consciousness as inherently distinct from human consciousness. Some claim animals aren’t even conscious at all (even to the extent that they don’t experience pleasure and pain). But this assumption seems to ignore even a basic commonsense understanding of other living things.
When viewing these videos of these chimps, when looking at animals at the zoo, or even when just observing our own pets, we are peering into the minds of these living creatures. For humans, empathy is inter-species.
Where Is Evolution Heading?
I don’t think anyone is truly qualified to say where nature is heading. Nature is always changing and adapting in unpredictable ways. If empathy proves to be a dominant force in our evolution, then perhaps we can conclude – to some extent – that nature is a scientific, moral, and practical argument to act good? Perhaps, nature is heading toward a direction of less suffering and a greater sanctity for life?
Maybe sometime in the far away future the golden rule can even beat out natural selection and “survival of the fittest.” Maybe nature does have the potential to be divine? Maybe I am also just dreaming, but one can have their suspicions…either way it won’t be in any of our lifetimes.
In light of my recent posts on self-reliance and individualism (1, 2) I came across a very interesting editorial in Newsweek that asks the question, “Why Are Teenagers Growing Up So Slowly Today?”
The article mentions author Dr. Joe Allen, who says today’s children aren’t growing up because adults simply don’t let them. In his troubling book Escaping the Endless Adolescence, he shows how modern culture has shun children away from real life.
Long ago we as a society decided that children should be in school for at least 13 years before they can display any sense of competency in the world. Allen writes:
“We place kids in schools together with hundreds, sometimes thousands, of other kids typically from similar economic and cultural backgrounds. We group them all within a year or so of one another in age. We equip them with similar gadgets, expose them to the same TV shows, lessons, and sports. We ask them all to take almost the exact same courses and do the exact same work and be graded relative to one another. We give them only a handful of ways in which they can meaningfully demonstrate their competencies. And then we’re surprised they have some difficulty establishing a sense of their own individuality.”
I think Allen would agree with me that modern society has reinforced a culture of dependency. Nowadays we look around and see child-minded young adults in their early 20s, early 30s; in fact, some don’t ever seem to grow up.
Some of the most common excuses we hear are that “teenager’s brains aren’t developed enough,” or “our world is more complex now, so we need more education.” While it may be true that teenager’s brains aren’t fully developed or that our world is more complex, what better way to learn than to step outside of the classroom and embrace this complex world head first (especially while our brains are most ready to learn).
As I mentioned before, many of my posts on this blog already address these issues and draw upon my own personal battles with formal education. In many ways this blog is a reaction to that whole culture. However, I want to hear your guys opinions:
- What are your experiences with the current education system?
- Can you name any particular instances where you felt your individuality was being suppressed?
- If you could, how would you reform education in today’s society?
I also encourage discussion of this post over at Evolver.net.
How does our pursuit of knowledge reflect our individualism, and why is this so important? What makes this path towards self-actualization so difficult and lonesome?
Education Doesn’t End After School
One assumption I often see people implicitly make is that school is the only form of education. Friends and family constantly say to me ad nauseam, “Steven, you are so smart – are you sure you don’t want to go to graduate school and continue your education?”
This annoys me so much because I consider myself a person who absolutely loves knowledge and never sees an endpoint to my studies. I go to the library twice a week, constantly flipping through new books or reading cover-to-cover the ones I find most interesting. My interests range from psychology to economics to politics to philosophy, so how can anyone possibly tell me that I need to continue my education?
I feel I am an autodidactic at heart. The time I spend studying on my own I find infinitely more valuable than the time I spend in a classroom. When you study on your own you get to choose the curriculum, focus on subjects that most interest you, and go at your own pace.
Yet at the same time this method of learning is seen by our culture as inherently bizarre and even wasteful: Where is your degree? How do you expect to find a job? What are you doing with your life?
To Love To Know And To Do What You Love
I didn’t get a degree in Psychology because I thought it was where the money was at; no, I took it with the intent to learn about the subject. But people don’t understand this. They don’t trust themselves enough to do what they love. Instead, they would rather follow a predetermined path, as long as it provides security. The individual spirit thus begins to break down.
I am now unemployed, and part of that is simply my apathy towards looking for a job, but I feel just as competent as anyone else coming out of college (if not more). Why? Because I trust my passions, I trust my self-determination, and embrace that individual spirit. Besides, I am only 21, the world is in my hands, and now is not the time to forfeit to the chains of modern society. I have bigger ideas in mind, perhaps larger than most, and that is what makes this path lonely but rewarding. I love to know and I owe it to myself to do what I love:
“The question isn’t who is going to let me; it’s who is going to stop me.”
- Ayn Rand
All Knowledge Is Self-Knowledge
When we learn more about our world – whether its astrophysics or behavioral economics – we build a greater understanding of ourselves. Our pursuits reflect our values and interests, so I don’t deny that when I do what I love, I am also separating myself from the whims that others would like to impose on me. In this sense, following our dreams is a lonely path. No one can do this for you, you must be the hero of your world.
United By This Loneliness
I wanted to share these quick thoughts with you in case you were feeling the same way. Doing what others tell you is easy, pursuing what you love is the hardest. There will be doubt. There will be loneliness. There will be signs of weakness and temptations to quit. But knowing that others share that struggle and knowing that it can be overcome is a power that connects us all. The world depends on our self-actualization.
P.S. – Great conversations on this article going on at Evolver. Feel free to join in!
Evil Requires The Sanction Of The Victim
The evils we believe to be in our life only exist in so far as we allow them to. What we can’t stand about our world, we owe it to ourselves to change. What we love about word, we must nurture and protect. This is my basic philosophy for achieving a noble and dignified life.
Lately I have been feeling distressed and helpless. It has been several months now since I have graduated college and I am still unemployed, without a clear path or direction. I am also experiencing trouble at home with family and friends, and a lack of fulfilling relationships. I miss romance, success, and happiness. I am disappointed in society and government and where I see it heading. In all aspects, my life is at a standstill. I feel trapped.
Yet I am strangely optimistic. I rarely lose sight of that empowering sense of heroic individualism that I believed in ever since I was a child. I never let go of those dreams. For better or worse, I am here to stay, even when I feel compelled to quit. I can’t just let these injustices be, not when I have been blessed with the abilities to reason, innovate, and change.
All I Can Count On Is My Mind
In thick and thin, all I can count on is my mind. This blog is an extension of that consciousness, a creative product under no jurisdiction but my own. I may update it once a day or only once a year, but it is always here for me to add or subtract to, like a sculptor working on his or her masterpiece. Thinking and writing are tools no one can take away from me, the only resource needed being the breath of life itself.
Where my mind takes me is up to me and me alone. How I choose to see and change the world is my choice, and it is my moral duty to not let that decision be made by anyone else. This is the only responsibility I am indebted to, nothing and no one else.
High Esteem
For most who have met me or read my writings they know I hold myself at a high esteem. It may be mistakened for arrogance, but it’s not; I have no choice but to be confident in my abilities, anything less and I risk selling myself short – an injustice to not only me but the entire world. I ask everyone to do the same.
Clear Visions
Our abilities to mold our world depend on our abilities to see what is not yet so. The clearer we see, the greater chance we have to follow through on these visions. What determines the clarity of our seeing is our consciousness of the world around us and our ability to infer and imagine. To do this we must step outside the narrow visions of the present moment, discover truth that is timeless, and through that wisdom pursue change that can last.
Infinite Karma
Through our actions and speech we change how others think, feel, and see. They respond in kind, and thus we set forward an untraceable string of cause-and-effect. This is our karma. We may never see the fruits of the seeds we sow, but we can have confidence that if we nurture them they will grow. Thus through our own heroic actions, we inspire the heroes of tomorrow and so on; the change we create is infinite. If that isn’t a super power, then I don’t know what is. The legacy you choose to leave is up to you.