Reality or Illusion
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It is difficult to determine as to what extent collective mentality is the result of environmental influences or of inherited physiological characteristics. Does culture make the man, or does man make the culture? Is collective mentality culturally based, or does it emanate from a definable group of people with similar biological makeup? Collective mentality is always in a flux, affected by new stimuli as it develops. However, there are two major factors that can have a continuously pervasive influence on its manifestation at any point in time: the degree of its rationality or irrationality. How much is its character influenced by the effects of instincts or by abstract mysticism based factors, and how much by rationality? ---------------------- The most fundamental difference between the effects of mysticism based behavior and rationality based motivation of human behavior is that mysticism is prone to lead to diffusion, while rationality generates cohesion. In mysticism, the possibility of variance in beliefs and subsequent behavior is practically endless. We can be exposed to innumerable theories, concepts, teachings, and practices of sects, organized religious groups, ideological movements, etc., each with its own particular effect on human behavior. Such variance has a negative effect on our homeostasis and subsequently on the harmonious existence within and between communities and societies. It generates turmoil rather than stability. History provides ample proof of this. It is full of examples of religious persecution of individuals and groups, religious wars of extreme viciousness, violence within and between societies with or without national boundaries, etc. The rallying cry of religion based movements, "if God is with us, who can be against us", reverberates in our past and present history. The question is whose God? Which God is the real God? Which religion supports the right God? The answers to these questions can be given only by the true believers of the strongest, most successful, the winner of the religious battle: it is "their" God. Similarly, ideology based political movements also left indelibly their terrible mark on human history. In the name of a political ideology millions of humans were sacrificed, enormous material wealth was wasted, indescribable misery was meted out on humanity and our environment was mindlessly destroyed. And what was gained? Only a temporary sense of well being for the victors, a precarious social equilibrium until the effects wore off and a newly developed ideology started the repetition of the whole process all over again. ---------------------- It took hundreds of thousands of years for humanity to become what it is at the present. It was a slow but successful evolutionary process until it reached its present stage. In the interest of continued successful human existence on planet earth, the recent direction of the evolutionary process must be changed. The change must start with the thorough analysis of what we are, from our present physiological makeup, our existing societal behavior, our culture, and from the current condition of the earth’s environment. The only method at our disposal to initiate and pursue this change is through education. Through education we can affect behavior modification, the essential requirement to the altering of the course of the human evolutionary process. Only those who have acquired knowledge can transfer knowledge. Humanity has acquired a wealth of knowledge during its "sapiens" stage of evolution. Unfortunately, a great amount of this knowledge did not transgress the dividing line between the sapient and the rational mode of thinking. The result is our present day hodge-podge of ideologies, economic systems, structures of societies and religions, each of them with its particular disparate effect on human behavior. Rationality promotes homogeneity in human behavior. The homogeneity which we have gradually lost when we entered the sapient stage in our mental development and which we must regain to be able to function as a cohesively behaving species. Because of the diversity in human behavior, full rationality will never be achieved by any of us individually, or by all of us collectively. However, the promotion of reasoned thinking and the resultant behavior would greatly improve the cohesiveness of human behavior. It would become the common denominator in our behavior control. The results would be beneficial to the achievement and maintenance of individual homeostasis, societal tranquility, and to humanity’s future survival and quality of life in its earth environment. ------------------------------------- It can be concluded that today’s democratic societies are the best suited to the intellectual stage of evolution reached by humanity: the stage of Homo sapiens. Being sapient, we may be conscious of our behavior and its consequences individually and collectively, but are neither able to voluntarily control it, nor have the collective drive and evolved ability that would be necessary to spontaneously alter its course. Our tendency is to simply let things happen as they may, let our life flow with the stream of our behavior motivators and live our lives from day to day as it happens to develop and as if there were no real need to be too concerned about tomorrow. This type of behavior is different from animal behavior only in that animals are not conscious of this process and that their behavior cannot exceed the parameters imposed on them by the laws of nature. If humanity’s "tomorrow" and general quality of life is of no importance to us, then such a life mode suits us just fine. However, the assumption is made here that the future long-term existence of the human species on earth under conditions of a life of quality is desirable. Therefore, the current democratic system and its participants’ collective behavior must be reoriented to function under the influence of more advanced rationality. One of the weaknesses of a reactive democratic political process is that it can be decisively influenced by a variety of groups with special interests: political, economic, ideological, etc. The effects of such influences distort the process with unpredictable results. Some may turn out to be beneficial to society, some detrimental. Regardless of the desirability of their effects, the strongest, most effectively carried out influence will be the most successful in the capturing of political control. These influences are usually the ones that address, and appeal to, the most primitive need satisfaction in most individuals and in societies: self-preservation (feeding and physical security), procreation (sex), greed, envy, etc. These are easily exploitable human traits by certain groups in the promotion and successful achievement of their narrow interest. As a consequence, all democratic political systems currently in practice are flawed. They are not now, and have never been in the past, operating under a truly representative form of government. There always were, and are in the present, groups or individuals who received disproportionately more representation and benefit than others. Equal representation could be achieved only if the citizens’ will was represented and implemented unadulterated through the voting process and its results. That is, if the voters’ decision making was based on facts and was developed in a rational, logical manner, and
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About the Book
A contemporary view and analysis of the "creation" of our universe, of life on our planet, and the relationship between life and the earth environment: --life is the product of nature, the consequence of the cosmic order - there is no "right" to life --the human brain is able to generate an "artificial" behavior that is variant from the spontaneous logic of the natural order --Homo sapiens is currently in a transitional phase between the animal state and the state of Homo rationalis -a new stage in our evolution where our brain would have the capability of overriding our instincts and the illogical motivators of our behavior Discussion of contrasting points of views of our existence -how much of it is based on reality and how much on our illusory perceptions: --in the context of the natural order, spontaneous animal behavior is normal, human behavior is not --humans' conscious destruction of their life-sustaining environment is an act of stupendous irrationality --we should become what we already should be -rational animals, and not what we think we are -God's gift to the world Proposals aimed to contribute to the enhancement of humanity's improved quality of life, future survival on planet earth, and its progression into its next stage of evolution -the rational man: --the course of our future behavior must be directed back to nature, toward conformity with the logic of natural laws --any behavior that is controlled by mysticism/ideology is leading to societal diffusion and turmoil, while rationality generates cohesion and equilibrium --our innate ability to behave rationally is the only common denominator available in most of us that could lead humanity toward a consciously symbiotic relationship between all its members and with its environment The subject is presented in an unrestrained fashion, and it contains thoughts on the various controversial topics related to problems that are affecting today's societies -all for the purpose of stimulating the reader's mind to engage in the discussion, to agree or disagree, but not remain unaffected.
About the Author
The writer of the book was born in an East-Central European country where he grew up and received his basic and mid-level education during and after the Second World War. His maturing mind was dramatically influenced by the effects of the cruel irrationality of war, the experience of the occupation of his country by foreign armies, and by his observation of human behavior in its most intimate exposure. A communist-controlled government that imposed its mindless dictatorial rule on the country’s population persecuted his family. When he found his personal security threatened and his life untenable, he escaped to Western Europe where he joined the US Army and later served in the Korean War as an infantryman. He progressed through the ranks and became a career officer in the aviation field, participated in the war in Vietnam, finished college with a degree in business management, and retired from the military after twenty years of service. His second career was in manufacturing, in a management position of an international corporation. The establishment and operation of his own private business followed that. He has been married to his present wife for over forty years. During the course of and in connection with his career, as well as for pleasure, he traveled over much of the world, observing and studying the various countries, their peoples, customs, cultures, and economic and political structures. This he has done with intense inquisitiveness, an open mind, and a genuine interest in the current and future state of humanity’s affairs. He read the works of many of the classic as well as modern day authors of prose, philosophy, psychology, economy, politics, and religion. Eventually, he was compelled to share in his book his accumulated knowledge, ideas, and impressions derived from his academic and practical personal experiences regarding humanity’s role on the world scene and its relationship with the environment.