human paradox

human paradox

The Human Condition can be understood as a state of Confusion. As living under the paradoxical need to fulfill two mutually supporting and mutually opposing evolutionary psychological imperatives. 

There are two foundational imperatives that are hard-wired into our psyche. Only two. They are both born of the primary need to survive.  All of our motivations, ambitions, and drives can be traced back to the ultimate need to survive, but survival requires fulfilling two opposing mandates: promotion of ourselves as individuals and unification with the group.

To further the paradox, success in each of these imperatives requires the accomplishment of BOTH pursuits. 

To survive as an individual we must make sure we are fed, warm, and protected from predators. In the immediate, this might mean securing the last morsel of food for ourselves in a starvation situation. In the long term, we have a far better chance of surviving the winter or an attack as a group than on our own!

On the one hand, the primacy of the individual gets us the last piece of bread. On the other, integration with a group gets us food all winter.

In turn, the survival of the group relies on its individuals. Individuals offering unique skills which, in concert, promote the greater group organism. 

Long-term survival of the group also demands that we procreate. To do so, we must, necessarily, be a part of a group. To even be in the game we must engage harmoniously within the group.  However, in order to be chosen we must stand out as an individual and be valued, ie. we must have prettier feathers than the next bird.

Therein lies the irony of humanity. In order to survive, we must walk a line: we must fit harmoniously within and prioritize a group structure and dynamic AND we must demonstrate and prioritize ourselves as individuals. 

How we do this, how we achieve these dual and opposing goals, is subjective. It is merely content. However established and universal and “right” it may seem, our social structure, the rules of our community, are a choice.

Generations upon generations of agreement, tradition, and group identification make these choices into irrefutable reality.  Driven by our, and everyone else’s need to survive, our worldview is perpetually reinforced by our culture. Reinforced so strongly that everything we perceive is dictated by this community worldview. As the worldview filters what we see of the world, it simultaneously and reciprocally cements itself. The communal Choice of worldview becomes our working reality.

This communal agreement also sets the parameters for our individuation. All life, by its own definition, is self promoting. As such, all life is expansive into the environment. Ie., all life has an Ego. All individuals need to state their own name. 

How loudly and to what music is set forth by the group. To be seen as an individual implies that there is a group to do the seeing.

Inherent in the act and concept of separation is the act and concept of communication. The fact that we must distinguish or separate ourselves to fulfill both of our psychological imperatives sets up the need to communicate. If we did not “separate” we would not have to “communicate”. And yet, to survive, both must be true. This is Life.

In the same instant we perceive ourselves as separate, come the dual needs of announcing our individuality and returning to the group.

As loudly as we scream our own name, we name our surroundings and are so named.