Life in the 21st Century: In chains of the Self

Yesterday, I signed off with the question: "Does this make me happy?". After great contemplation I hope you would have come up with your own answers, let me share mine.

We all want to feel safe and every basic action is based around that premise. Now by basic, I mean primal. I mean the knowledge that if you put your hand into a fire, you will get burned. This knowledge is good, it means you are safe from the fire. This mode of thought has been applied throughout our evolutionary chain and it has allowed us to not only exist, but to thrive, in an otherwise hostile enviroment.

At some point in our existence a question has formed. If touched, the fire burns, the question is: who does it burn? The answer is obviously: me.

This question and answer has went on to shape every thought we have had or will ever have. It has created a central point from which we base our whole expreience of life. This central view is vital to an animal living in a hostile enviroment where all of life is a struggle for survival. It is what has allowed us to get to where we are today but is it necessary for us to continue to apply it today?

Of course it is on that basic, primal level. Whether it be 100,000 BC, 20 BC or 2009 AD fire will still burn, ice will still freeze and water will still drown but somewhere in time we have begun to apply this central point to everything we do.

This central point, or ego, demands to be safe and it's demands are heeded by every thought we have. We in the western world no longer need worry about a lack of food or a lack of shelter as even the most poor have them. Now, in 2009, our drive for security is directed towards the need to have more than anyone else, be it wealth, possessions or power. A far more complex beast is living inside us than before and we are captive to it. The ironic things is, this bestial jailer only exists because we choose to let it.

Peace and Love to all who read.