Evolving past the confines of power

The nature of existence and reality can only be described relative to personal concepts such as ego or self. Accordingly it can be very difficult to relate the subjective experiences of others to your own identity and sense of reality.

Often a common language consisting of defined terms must be developed to allow individuals to clearly appreciate each others points of view. As the number of participants increases, the language develops a quality of power due to the rare capacity to bind and address many individuals over varied cultural landscapes.

The most obvious examples are all religious and political philosophies in existence today. Both religion and politics are present to varying degrees in all cultures. Their basis of power is directly related to ideals and philosophies which describe or reinforce a particular view of existence which can be exploited.

Popularity of various belief systems is initially limited by various factors including:
• Local population
• Competing systems
• Isolation
• Existing power bases
• Social capital

Proliferation of an established system occurs in an environment where the local population is increasing and there are few competing systems. As long as isolation cannot physically prevent the spread of news and pre-existing power holders cannot contain the language or all of its users, it can flourish. Hardship generally has the effect of accelerating proliferation.

A critical mass of believers has been established when the Founders of that system develop enough power to control a significant proportion of the population and they actually exercise that control in a public way that directly affects the lives of non-believers. Once the system takes root its spread is virtually assured by human nature which accepts that there is legitimacy in common belief.

Eventually the rate of proliferation will decrease and will even stop and reverse due to the same factors listed above and their altered force in the expanded community. World population will always be the upper limit of participation however it will always be the other factors that have an earlier effect of limitation. The degree of overall success the system prior to its limitation will usually determine its longevity and potential.

PROBLEMS
Unfortunately the ultimate value of any belief system to Humanity is undermined due to the fallibility of human beings. Particular traits which cause system failure include ignorance (of all other systems and the current overall world status) and greed which leads to the implosion of the system after it is exploited from within.

Accurate reproduction of the system language can only flourish when numerous individuals are trained to proliferate it. However, while the success of proliferation is directly proportional to the number of proponents; the risk of system corruption is magnified by the same factor.

The end result of this equation is that the most powerful belief systems will always be the most corrupt and therefore those most prone to collapse at the end of their expansion. After collapse there will always be a resurgence of modified and fanatical reinterpretations of the original system. These imitations usually succeed to varying degrees based on the perceived legitimacy of the previously successful original, in spite of its collapse. And so the cycle continues.

The important thing to remember is that all popular belief systems are flawed due to their reliance on subjective perception to communicate them in the first place. The nature of existence and reality can only be relevant to the individual who holds the perception.

It then follows that all popular belief systems in existence are not only flawed but are being used by humans to exploit humanity at large. Such is the nature of power and it is easy to see why it is said that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Like the belief systems on which it relies, power is simply a human invention. It only exists due to its complementary bond with human greed and ignorance. Accordingly, wherever a human wields power intentionally over others there will be an overall net result of destruction.

The human invention of power over others is the single most significant retarding factor of human evolution. Unfortunately there is abundant evidence that human ‘progress’ (the product of wielding power) is contributing to the inevitable demise of all life on Earth. Two classic examples are rapid global climate change and irreversible pollution.

If human life manages to somehow survive in spite of its critical failings it will have evolved to its detriment due to harsher conditions in which it must survive. Essentially the only hope for humanity is that evolutionary regression is minimised so that there is a chance to try again with the benefit of hindsight. Even that would not assure evolutionary success unless a totally different approach is taken to prevent the rise of power over other individuals of the species.

Ignorance and greed will first have to be eradicated from the human psyche to allow further evolution to take place. Humans have always had the power to intentionally and consciously make that initial evolutionary step. It would be unfortunate to miss the opportunity to evolve now that you are so close, particularly if this isn’t the first time it has happened.

Ignorance and greed are traits of all animal life to varying degrees. Successful species are always characterised by mutually beneficial social evolution which counters those negative traits. Accordingly the largest, most intelligent and secure species are social mammals such as primates and cetaceans. Sadly, humanity has assured the end of their evolution, probably along with its own.

In the absence of a mode of interstellar travel and any viable destination there is only one hope for the continued evolution of the human species. It currently rests with a group devoted to defeating ignorance and greed. This group have developed methods of actively furthering the evolution of human consciousness for the ultimate benefit of all sentient beings.

They are mostly regarded as Buddhists as that particular philosophy is a rare one which promotes the defeat of ignorance, greed and other perceived traits which negatively impact on evolution. Some are physicists, philosophers and physicians without group affiliation. Importantly ALL have their own personal perceptions of existence and reality based purely on individual revelation.

There is no single, easily identifiable formula for attaining those revelations and each individual must travel their own personal path to such evolutionary enlightenment. Significant evolution is potentially available to all humans who actively pursue it. You are only hampered by your innate propensity for ignorance and greed.

Power is an illusion created by humans. It will eventually consume the entire species. The only escape is evolution.

Time is running out this time around but the information which can assist you has never been more easily available to you.

You can either choose to try to evolve or just die of ignorance like every other species of animal on Earth.

This life is your best chance yet. Don’t waste it.

Just how important are people anyway?

It seems to me that the greatest problems facing most people today are feelings of impending doom caused by insecurity and confusion about their life's cosmic puspose.

As we humans are nothing more than a species of animal, like many others on this planet, its intriguing that we generally consider ourselves so superior to the rest. Mankind has often drawn conclusions about mans importance to some divine being but rarely seems to extend that same logical value to other species of animal.

The fact remains that although we are mentally superior to any other known living creature there is no actual proof of higher divinity. Accordingly our perception of the importance of humanity based on religious or moral grounds lacks support. Just because we are the best killers on Earth it does not logically follow that some mythical divine being favours us.

Being successful killers of all other forms of life doesn't make us the greatest survivors either. We can still be vanquished by all manner of 'lesser' beings. If we were visited by alien life with vastly superior intellect to ours would we suddenly alter how much we value human life? Would it suddenly be as worthless as that of domestic animals, to be quashed at a whim?

So how important is humanity in the grand cosmic scheme of things? Probably not very! Humanity is just the most colourful fungus growing on this big rock. The moment we look more than a couple of kilometers from the surface of the Earth there is virtually no evidence of humanity other than the pollution we surround ourselves with.

I think that it logically follows that if human life is incapable of affecting virtually anything not on the surface of the Earth, then our level of evolution is still primitive. To my mind this means that there is no specific cosmic purpose to anyones life other than to try and evolve to a higher level of existence. Humans only affect life on this planet and can leave no lasting or important effect on anything else.

This is great news! It means that you cannot do anything wrong (or right!) and that no matter what happens in life, fault is irrelevant. The success of our species does not depend on any single individuals actions.

So, confused about life's cosmic purpose? - There isn't one. You have as much cosmic purpose as an amoeba. Have feelings of impending doom caused by insecurity? - Firstly, doom is inevitable and won't be staved off by insecurity. Secondly, it is only our mortal cravings and the competition we face from others to satisfy those cravings which lead to insecurity.

You are responsible for your own actions. Everything changes constantly. Nothing will matter to you the day after you die.

Don't let insecurity and confusion detract from your life.