Feeling is believing
I’ve had a quiet few weeks since we moved house, from a rural to an even more rural village and whilst the peace and quiet have been wonderful, it has also given me more time to think about how my world view actually operates. I should probably explain a little further before I digress.
I am one of the many people who enjoy questioning the way the world works from my own perspective and experiences, I often quote that “the world is experiential” and not theoretical as many of our scientist would have us believe - for me feeling is believing. We all have those moments where our perception of information we‘re being given is sceptical at best and deliberately misleading at worst. There is no scale for this, it is a “gut” feeling, we simply feel that what we are seeing and hearing doesn’t match. This is experienced and not measured and can be applied to a great many areas of our lives from how positive we feel on any day to the difference between being medically healthy and actually feeling good about life.
All of this is built on years of experience and the starting point for our ideas on how the world works: if you are studious and hard working you will do well in exams; if you practice a lot you will improve at sports; cheaters never prosper; if you get a good education you will do well in your career - the list of assumptions goes on and on, built up by what we are taught as children and the systems we live under as adults. What if this advice is only part of the full picture?
If you break it down, modern society has become a construct or process through which people are expected to live their lives for the betterment of large communal societies of a certain structure. Take a look at the similarities across modern world - a ruling elite who govern and make decisions for everyone (elected with little real alternative); a system of managing individuals who do not conform to the rules of the system; a reward process for those who follow the societal rules and a punitive system for those who do not; some form of government sponsored healthcare system for the masses; a form of censorship to prevent the spread of problematic thinking/thinkers; a sense of group identity along with global allies and enemies; the majority of the population working/paid to different levels based on approved or valued skill sets, e.g. carpenters, plumbers, emergency services, bankers, accountants, lawyers etc.. An entire system which only works if everyone complies with the guidelines and values the end products - different levels of a comfortable life.
As we have developed as a culture, the levels at which these persuaders and dissuaders are applied has changed: some people are persuaded by wealth, others by fear; some prefer the concept of spiritual redemption; many young people are looking for societal acceptance from their peers, others for adoration; the drive to be recognized as a good person rather than judged as being bad one; whether we admit it or not, these are all ways in which societies can regulate themselves along the lines of the culture system they have been reared under. I have always thought of our leaders and governments as trying to find ways to ensure everyone plays by the rules of whatever system we are governed by - which is completely the wrong way round for how they operate, what you need is a population who believe in the system, after which they will govern themselves along those lines. We are behaviourally selected for those traits that follow systems and rules closely, these individuals will prosper and most likely raise children with similar strong adherence to societal rules. As an example, if you teach children a new game with clear rules of what you can and cannot do, they will automatically call out individuals who do not comply with rules - along with suitable ridicule as punishment. A small self policing population.
So, back to my world view. . . . It has been driven throughout my life by an understanding that everyone who plays by the rules is “doing the right thing” and not by actually looking at our societal rules or where they have taken us as being questionable. A great deal of what I was taught in my youth I now understand as being deeply flawed and taught by individuals who were simply following the rules they had as teachers. We were never taught to question and genuinely think for ourselves - why would you in a system that requires compliance to function? Hippies, druids, spiritualists, UFOlogists, swami’s, yogis, meditation, acupuncture, reiki - these concepts were never truly covered by my education and I am fairly sure no one else’s who would end up reading this blog.
So how has humanity survived for hundreds of thousands of years (don’t believe your history books) using approaches modern systems will no longer contemplate or discuss, never mind about attempting to understand to improve the human condition? We have been raised since childhood to support the societal system we operate under today, with harsh treatment for those who do not comply, not because they are wrong but because they are not following societal rules. It is a far larger distinction than you might imagine.
Assuming that anything we do not fully understand or can explain is “whacko” or the domain of lunatics perpetuates a system that doesn’t want to understand the world outside of the rules it has made. We live in a perfectly patient universe, all of us will encounter things that do not fall under the remit of our societies rules or explanations, whether we are awake enough to realise it at the time is a different matter - feeling is believing. Be brave whilst it is still an option, don’t be the person whose life and well being are on the line before they look beyond what our society offers for cures or fixes. There’s so much more out there, being “medically healthy” is no guarantee that you are making the most of life!
