Coherent.

February 19, 2022

“There is a coherent story to which we are all bound, and which we are all writing.

Eventually, we are going to need to choose whether or not to rewrite one specific detail of this tale:

“this so-called ‘human nature.’”

Consider the following story.

You’re born into a culture with at least five distinct differences from the one we live in today.

1st: By being a member of this fictional community, you always have *enough* food and water, and space to call your own.

2nd: This is possible because the first priority for the community is the *quality of the connection* to the earth.

3rd: The concept of *a resource*, or a commodity, is considered “odd”; utilitarian value is determined in the context of the whole community, not just a part of it.

4th: *Creativity* is the highest virtue, and it is encouraged above all else.

And 5th: Children are considered to be bearers of something *new*; they are taught to both respect the values of the community and they are encouraged to add to them.

Let’s pull out a few key details and questions here:

What is “enough”?

How could everyone possible “always” have enough?

What does “the quality of the connection” mean?

Why is a “resource/commodity” considered odd?

What is the “creativity” damages the capacity for everyone to have their basic needs, so to speak, met? Is it still encouraged?

Why are children seen as bearers of something “new”?

We can’t answer all of these questions at once, but we can wonder something else: Why is this NOT the norm?

Never mind whether or not it seems possible, or even attractive.

Why is it clearly NOT the reality for our culture?

Thus far, this seems like the answer: Our beliefs about human nature are implicitly self-defeating.

Assuming certain aspects of that fictional culture do attract you, what’s really in the way? Doubt? Fear? Sure, but deeper than that is an idea about what it means to be human which is inherently limiting.

No matter how you slice it, there are so many presuppositions and biases and prejudices and assumptions which are holding us back, and the main one is, in every situation, this so-called human nature.