Category: Philosophy, Science & Religion

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A Species in Search of its Soul

The title of this post is based on Swiss psychologists Carl Jung’s “Modern Man in Search of a Soul” , first published in English in 1933.

The book explores the psychological development of individuals and humanity as a whole, delving into the concept of the soul and its search for meaning.  My take on this is that, in the current context, the search for a “soul” can be translated as the search for a reason d’ê·tre  ( a reason for being), and the answer to the question as to what are we about?, or, for that matter: why are we here?

In this context I want to define a human being as a stage in the evolution of the world and the instantiation of an idea or concept that began to materialize when the world came into being.

This would appear to be a progressive process in the sense that it resulted in ever higher levels of material organization and complexity to the point that the human brain can be seen as the most complex functional entity in the known universe due to its intricate structure of billions of neurons connected by trillions of connections.

Some might want to think that this astonishing level of organizational complexity is merely the result of an accidental or random process, but I would hold that it is more reasonable to believe that there is a plan or intention – somewhere, in the heart of matter – that shapes the course of evolution in the direction that we find ourselves at the receiving end off.

But as much as we embody that plan or intention with every atom in our being, we are as yet unable to express and articulate the meaning or purpose of it beyond recognizing our unique status as creatures with an advanced level of consciousness such that, while knowing that we know, we don’t t necessarily know what we know given that knowledge isn’t necessarily understanding.

While knowledge provides the raw material, understanding is the ability of making sense of and appropriately using that information, and therein lies the rub. Sadly, we are just are not getting it, and as a result we continue to stumble around in the dark, feeling our way around,  and in the process hurting each other and the environment that nurtures us to the point of self-destruction.

Here, ignorance is definitely not bliss, as we are damaging the very environment that sustains us physically simply because we do not grasp our role in this world as an evolved entity that is clearly capable of so much more. I’ve suggested earlier that we will likely be superseded by a superior version of ourselves. Superior in the sense that we will be smart enough to avoid actions that are clearly against our own interest as opposed to being mutually beneficial to ourselves and our planet: i.e., by recognizing that our relationship with the earth is one of interdependence, that in essence we are one entity, and that the distinction between it and ourselves is one of functionally in the continuing evolution of the world.

And when we accept that and live our lives accordingly we have found our soul. …

Until that moment we will likely continue to act against our own interest and our well-being.

I believe that deep down we know that, but we appear to not have sufficiently evolved yet to understand that to the point that we are able to live our lives accordingly and I can’t help but think that any other route will lead to our self-extinction.

Another way to look at this: The world – we! – have been given to ourselves as a challenge, but to date we seemed to have failed this miserably to act in the interest of ourselves as an evolving species, capable of living in the harmony of having a united vision of what it is that we are and are trying to accomplish individually and collectively as a species. To that end we must overcome our current selves …

Until we reach that united vision the world and everything that it represents and stands for it shall remain a mystery, seemingly beyond out comprehension.

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The Open Sea

 

The history of the human race to date contains a lengthy and dreary record of the ongoing and absolutely non-nonsensical disputes between religious beliefs, a pervasive and debilitating process – often pursued to the point of self-destruction – that continues to thrive into the present, and the surest indication that the human race is truly lost unless it finds some way to get back to its senses. But how will we ever save ourselves from this neurosis: an obsessive-compulsive disease of the mind around the need to hold beliefs about unseen and powerful supernatural beings in charge of the world, and – in the most extreme case – being compelled to kill or be killed for them.

The sad thing is that it only takes a modicum of common sense to realize that there is no god or deity or any other entity of the metaphysical kind out there. We can no longer believe in such things because we have left the age of innocence as a species a long time ago, when we climbed to the top of Mount Olympus, but Zeus was nowhere to be found.

And since coming of age, we now know why: no god was ever there, or anywhere else for that matter. No longer are we able to blindly accept the existence of such entities without a shred of evidence, by simply being told about this or having read a book. A figment of our imagination is all he ever was, and the truth is that we made him up – Humans created God – when they first opened their eyes  as  sentient beings with the innate need to know how they and the world came about and why they were there.

These questions are intrinsic to our being, and life is about pursuing the answers to them – nothing more and nothing less. And as opposed to seeking the answers outside or beyond ourselves, e.g., by postulating supernatural beings within the realm of metaphysics – or by peering into the furthest corners of time and space with evermore sophisticated technology – we need to look only within ourselves to find the answers since the essence of the cosmos lies within each and every particle of our being – you cannot be separated from them – and that would include all its rhyme and reason.

And so the meaning and purpose of the world are there for us to be found if we have the courage to discover what we are from ourselves. This as opposed to what the powers of religion want us be for them: the subservient underlings of their paternalistic institutions that forbid you to think for yourself, ostensibly for your own protection and spiritual well being, but in reality a means to keep their theocratic hierarchies in power.

But once we remove the blindfold of religious dogma our species can focus ahead once again towards a much different future – as without religion (as Sartre pointed out) we will actually have a future! And not only will this new future created by ourselves not be dominated by superstition and its associated murder or mayhem, but also be without the relentless and mindless greed and exploitation of the few over the many; instead – we might be able to celebrate such enlightened qualities as empathy, consideration, compassion, sharing, conservation and the arts.

If that is a supremely naive objective in light of what we know about human nature – so be it! But it is nevertheless the only one that would allow us to flourish as a species in the long run – as all other paths will lead to our eventual self-destruction and demise! That the road ahead will be difficult goes without saying, but there is hope! As Nietzsche put it at the occasion of his famous “God is Dead” statement, and that I have  already quoted once before in an earlier post:

At long last the horizon appears free to us again, even if it should not be bright; at long last our ships may venture out again, venture out to face any danger; all the daring of the lover of knowledge is permitted again; the sea, our sea, lies open again; perhaps there has never yet been such an “open sea”