The human being.
A walking contradiction.
What is a human being?
We walk and talk.
But so do animals.
We kill each other and fight and love and hate and kiss and write poetry and play football.
But all that stuff, animals do too. Mostly, Kinda.
What makes a person a person?
We think. Lots of thoughts.
We are thinking creatures.
We exist in the mind.
Descartes said it himself.
I think therefore I am.
Well he said something like that, that has then been plasticized and morphed into that.
But it means, that because you think, you can be sure that you exist.
That you are real.
If you didn't exist, then who is the one thinking about whether you exist?
It's a self justifying argument.
Philosophers like these. Mostly because they are pretty hard to argue against.
I think we can all see. That by simply doubting it we prove it’s correct. Well if I doubt it, I ask, Who is doing the doubting? Oh I am. Oh well I must exist if doubting is occurring.
Everyone knows this stuff.
It’s pretty simple. But it’s like the best and most important argument for starting us off as humans.
All of you out there can think. And therefore you can exist. You are sure at least that you exist.
Well that’s a pretty good thing to be sure about.
But what does it mean for humans? To know that we exist, because we can think?
This is what makes us walking contradictions!
Hmm?
I shall explain.
What is thinking?
Ha ha!
Seriously though what is it?
It is creating imaginary things. Thoughts!
Thoughts don't exist! Only in your mind!
Thinking is just creating things that don't exist!
So we can do some math if you want (later this will seem silly!)
*thinking* = creating things that don't exist
And we have our old argument
*I exist* because *I think*
I exist --> I think
Now we substitute *I think* with *I create things that don’t exist*
And we get
*I exist* because *I create things that don't exist*
*I exist* --> *I create things that don't exist*
Human beings exist because we create things that don't exist!
What is going on?
That’s why we exist? Because we create things that don't?
I won't go so far as to offend religious types by saying something like.
We exist because we can make things that don’t exist the same way that something that doesn’t exist (GOD) made something that does exist (us).
I guess I sort of did. But don't get offended. I still love ya!
So what does this mean for us human beings?
We are walking contradictions!
We walk around and with every thought we contradict our very existence!
What does this do to us? To our brains? To know that we are contradictions?
See it’s easier to live your life, thinking or "knowing" that you have a purpose. Maybe God has a plan for you, or Fate is pushing you around.
But is it very different to live thinking or "knowing" that your very existence is a contradiction.
In the universe, your existence is a contradiction.
It’s a strange concept.
So what does this do to human beings?
We feel like we need to make up for being contradictions.
We have to make up for it by creating things, and pretending that they really do exist!
We have become pretenders! We pretend lots of things. We pretend that the things we think really do exist!
We believe there is significance in things, we believe in luck, in mathematics, we believe in things!
We are believers! Human beings are believers! Because we found out something very powerful about belief!
Believing in something is the same as saying. I think that that thing exists!
I "believe" in Bigfoot means I think that Bigfoot exists.
So we take belief which is "thinking that something exists". But thinking is "creating things that don't exist".
So somehow, as humans we have taken our ability to create things that don’t exist and use it to sort of make it seem as if the things we thought of really do exist.
Belief is a trick on the mind!
You can believe you are smart. Or believe you are right. You can believe in the Easter bunny. You can believe that abortion is immoral. You can believe in morality!
All these things don't exist, but by believing in them, you pretend that they do!
It’s so strange!!!
This is why it is weird to be a human. We are contradictions!
So what do we believe in?
And does it really exist? Or do we only believe it exists?
And remember just because you believe in it, does not mean it exists.
Here is a list of some things people believe exist.
Themselves
Morality (right and wrong)
Trees
Laws
Math
Butterflies
Umbrellas
Love
California
God
Value(concept of good vs. not as good)
So let’s look at the list.
Themselves- well they think therefore they exist. check mark!
Morality- Morality is whether or not something is right or wrong. Well in order for something to be right or wrong. You have to think about it. It’s not just "right" you have to think about it. I would say we can't really be sure that morality exists at all.
Trees- You don't have to think about a tree for it to exist. (Or do you?) (Once the old riddle, If a tree falls in the woods and no one is around to hear, does it make a sound? Once this riddle is solved, then we will know if trees exist)
Laws- Hmm We thought up a bunch of laws. About what’s right and wrong. Do they really exist? I think it’s the same as morality. Certainly paper might exist with words on them. But does the concept of evaluated hypothetical actions exist? I would say probably not!
Math- Math doesn't exist! You have to think about it! Math is only in your head! There are no such things as straight lines or negative numbers in the universe. In the real world you can't have negative apples, only in your head. Math doesn't really exist! (Jimi, you understood but you still thought I was silly for being so concerned about it! But I really do believe that math doesn't exist) (Now that’s a joke)
Butterflies- Like trees, probably, a safer bet than math.
Umbrellas- Safe bet that they do.
Love- Now this is dangerous. Because love is something everyone wants and "needs" and it makes us all crazy. But does love exist without you thinking about it? Maybe? It doesn't matter because love is pretty good. And it should exist.
California- Never been there, still a safer bet that California exists over Math.
God- Yikes! People kill people over what they believe about god. All I know is if I never thought about god, it'd be hard for him to exist.
Value- Why is one thing good and another bad? Only because you think about it, and assign good and bad. Value does not really exist.
So we still have lots of the things that don't exist.
We still have love, and value, and morality, and laws, and sometimes god and math. But they don't really exist. They only exist because we think about them. Because we imagine them being real.
I don't think we have to stop believing in them. But I think we should understand what belief is. It’s just thinking that something exists. And it’s kind of silly.
I think we need to keep in mind. That because we are contradictions, we as human beings have a desire to create things to believe in. To believe in the things we create. To try and make them real. Or to pretend they are real.
Human beings make up systems.
We are system makers. We invent mathematical systems with long lists of "If this then this" rules in it. All the rules are made up. But if the rules are pretty good the system works out ok.
This is how math works.
This is how physics works.
Sometimes we see that the rules are only just ok. That physics isn't doing a great job of describing the universe.
Or that math is sort of broken. (Negative numbers don't exist, 1=0, etcetera.
But we create these systems and inside the system things are not contradictions. Things work out.
But only inside the system do they work. Only inside the imagination of the system do they work.
Same with morality and ethics.
We make up what is right and what is wrong. We make up rules, killing = bad,
sharing = good.
And the rules make sense within the system.
But sometimes we see the system is flawed.
We execute prisoners for example. But we can justify it within the system.
We are contradictions. Human beings are unjustified in existing. So we create systems that justify other things that don't exist. And it makes us feel better.
Believing in math and physics and morality makes us feel better.
But we have to remember they are only systems we imagined. They don't exist. Humans invented them. They are only ideas. They are systems of ideas with rules. And they are all imaginary.
There might not be any objective truths within the systems we create. Their are probably no objective moral laws. Their can't be. We created the system. We can't create objective truths!
There is no math in the real world.
No morality.
They don't exist but we believe they do. And enough people believe in them, that they agree together, and together they pretend that it’s true.
But you don't have to agree with them. You don't have to pretend. You can know that math doesn't exist.
But human beings generally like the systems we invent. We like our morality and our god and our math and our physics. So that we see justification in our actions. So that they are reasonable. So that we feel we are entitled to do them.
But we really aren't. Human beings are unjustified creatures. We are contradictions.
We create systems to make us feel justified.
But we are not in the systems. Not really.
But, you don't have to do anything different because you know this now.
You shouldn't stop following laws. Or doing "good" and "right" things. You shouldn't quit your job or kill yourself.
Just because you believe in something that doesn’t exist doesn't mean it can't still be fun believing in it.
The Easter bunnies not real, but it's still fun believing in it.
Love might not exist, but it’s still good to believe in it.
But not everything we believe in is good to believe in.
Maybe it’s not good to believe in laws, or believe in god, or believe we are "right" when we blow up men and women.
Maybe we shouldn't believe this is the "best country" in the world.
Maybe we should not believe so much, and do more wondering.
Do more figuring out!
Become an investigator!
Join the Institute of Higher Learning and Lower Living.
Investigate the world instead of believing in it.
I will tell you a secret.
I don't know if I even believe in anything that I say.
But I still write it.
I still think about it.
I don't know if love exists. But I still Love. I still feel love.
I don't know if my life is significant, but I still feel important. Still feel good.
But I have no reason to believe in it.
But I still do those things.
The secret to that.
Is the power of being human.
The Hypothetical Intelligence of human beings!
Read Hypothetical Intelligence to find out more!
Hypothetical intelligence coming soon!
So here is a little “theory” of how to figure out if stuff really exists.
If you don’t have to ever have thought about it, and it would still exist. Then it is a safe bet that it probably really does exist. If it exists in your mind, then it probably does not exist anywhere else.
In the mean time, remember that you believe in stuff to help you feel better about being a contradiction.
But being a contradiction ain't that bad.
Contradictions can still give hugs.
Give me a hug some time.
Theres something strange about a contradiction.
Its being two things simultaneously that cancel each other out, yet after the canceling, something yet remains.
It is you.
It is I.
Copyright Ohdeven.com
Deven Pitcher
2007