Perhaps,
Can't change anything.
Yes, everything changes. However we seem destined to keep fighting for maintaining why we know, which includes the status quo of the way we live our lives. This is what my wife and I were talking about this morning as we drove and me in my depressive way of looking at life was talking about how the majority of what we do as humans is unnecessary. She mentioned as an example of necessary being the work of doctors, but my retort is that the majority of what doctors do these days is treating unnecessary illness and disorder. If we lived in a healthier environment, much of what ails us as a species, disappears.
No one should be overweight, depressed, lonely, and many of the cancers and diseases are also lifestyle related.
Not just personal lifestyle, but lifestyle of society as a whole.
If we were to trace the entire economic journey of what we do, we would discover that a lot of what we believe to be necessary, is not necessary at all. For instance, a lot of people will cite "defence" as a necessary industry (war) because of dictators and hostile governments. Yet, if dictators are unable to accumulate wealth and power as they do, the dictator industry, or the superpower countries, are impossible to create, and the war industry becomes another pointless endeavour. It is us who give meaning to things and a lot of what we give meaning to, is useless and unnecessary - like the imaginary borders we create on a map to divide ourselves from others to create unnecessary conflict. Same for religion, and skin colour, and gender. We emphasise meaning in things that we should be minimising in society, while ignoring the things that actually matter.
But my wife said, "Can't change everything" as if this is actually true. It is not true, because everything changes. Granted, we as individuals don't have the power to make large changes to anything much at all, but everything we do, does have an impact and when we all do something consistently, it has a significant impact. At the moment, the majority of what we collectively do, is fight to maintain the system we currently have, which is the only one that most of us have ever known. And we know it through experience, without ever really exploring how what we know operates, let alone consider alternatives to the way things are done.
For example, while pretty much everyone one earth doesn't like the tax systems in their country (regardless of the country), relatively very few people know much about how it works, why it is the way it is, or alternative approaches that might be more equitable for the majority of people. As a result, other than complaining to people who can't do anything, we keep supporting a system we don't like under an assumption that it is the only system we can have.
It is like punching ourselves in the face, as if that is all we can do with our hands.
We have all these many options and tools available to us, but instead of working out what we can do with them, we do what we are told we can do with them by a system only interested in maximising resources into as few hands as possible. This means that while we can pretend that we are innovative, our innovation is constrained by incentive, and the incentive is designed so we are only going to innovate in that direction. And that direction isn't what is best for humanity, it is what is best for system maintenance.
But the system is broken.
But if the system is broken, why do we keep maintaining it? We know that it is not taking us where we want or need to go and we have known for decades that it is ultimately going to lead to our own destruction, because the system consumes itself, as it consumes everything. It is the snake that eats its own tail, and soon there will just be a head left.
But it is far easy to be complacent, far easier to choose convenience, and far easier to believe that nothing can be changed, so that we can stay comfortable doing what we have always done, which leads us to where we expect it to go. Down. The future with this mentality is no longer the bright, shiny, "new" we thought we were heading in seventy years ago, it is now about survival and "making it through" this life as well as possible, given the conditions. But there seems to be more a sense of resignation now, where people assume the end is just around the corner, so why bother.
And this gives us a self-fulfilling prophecy. Because once people resign to maintaining a destructive status quo, that is where we are going to end up. The only way out is to build and support a system that generates continuous healthy improvement that keeps getting better day, year and generation after generation. We are evolutionary, not stationary. Like all living things, we are meant to evolve and as we have quite evolved hardware, we are able to heavily influence the direction we take.
Originally, revolution comes from talking about celestial bodies, like a rotation of the earth or as a planet travels around the solar system. It is a "full circle" situation. However now it is also used to describe large political or social changes, often violent overthrows of government. However in this context, it is about fundamental change to the current system, and that is what needs to happen to what we are currently supporting. The revolution we are currently on is more the full circle and a return to the starting point. A bit like a Ferris wheel trip where for the first half we are climbing into the air, but the back half we are returning to earth.
But being evolutionary, not revolutionary, so we needn't come back to the starting point, as we can almost without exception, keep climbing into the sky. It is more like an endless rollercoaster with ups and down, but more up than down, meaning that it can never return to where we were. We can keep improving, but only if we are willing to perform the actions that take us up, rather than the ones that drop us down.
The system we currently have can only take us up so far.
Before it starts taking us down again.
And I think that this is where we are in our cycle as a species. We have advanced a long way and very quickly in the last few centuries, but the direction and way we have done so only does so for so long before it starts to collapse under its own weight. If we don't grow in another direction, we will be consumed by the system itself.
We can't change everything.
But we have to change something.
Taraz
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It's definitely a fine line between knowing what kind of change you can effect and what needs to be done on a larger scale. If I had kids, I wouldn't want them to get the idea that it isn't worth it to stand up for what's right because it won't make a difference. I'd also hope they are smart enough to know battles they can and can't win.
Stand for something, right? I think it is important to have meaning, but also important to understand what is meaningful and worth our attention. It is not that clear now.
I wonder if it is a better life fighting a losing battle for something important, than winning at something that is not?
I think you need to be able to live to fight another day. Strategic retreat isn't always a bad thing.
Definitely not. We also only have so much energy to give at any one time. It is why I don't compete for random crap I don't want to win. I know some very competitive people who win a lot, but rarely anything of consequence.
Definitely not. We also only have so much energy to give at any one time. It is why I don't compete for random crap I don't want to win. I know some very competitive people who win a lot, but rarely anything of consequence.
I think we don't know (or think we don't know) how else to do things. Because we realize we are finite, and understand this may be a lengthier undertaking than our lives will permit, and at the end of the day, we all want to get along. Meaning, if I only have fifty years left on this Earth, will I live them against my peers, causing ruckus, being unliked and perhaps ostracized (as many revolutionaries in some field or another are)? Most decide they can't afford that, so they keep propping up the system, feeding their own bitterness and contempt.
How could I change it if I am just one person? And how many individual "persons" does change require?
I don't know (either). Often, we say we can't change everything, but if we take a closer look at the things we are changing, though, we find there aren't many, at all. It's the mindset. If I think I can't change everything, I will change nothing.
So while I resonate with the statement, I think a better approach to life would be, "I can change everything, but must know to pick my battles". Don't know if the difference of nuance transmits. As ever, fascinating read. :)
Kick the can to other generations. Eventually though, we run out of generations to kick to.
Totally understandable, right? It is the same thing that most Germans did back in the day. Same as what most people do in all kinds of situations where society shifts to something they don't support, but want to get along.
At scale, I don't know either. But for the value of my own life, do I want to live the same as others, when I do not value it?
Picking battles is vital. We need to be discerning with where we spend our attention, but I reckon most of us (including myself) waste our attention on the unimportant.
This is what I am here for - I think :)
In theory you are right, but practically who is going to be doing things that need to be done? Who even understands what needs to be done? I think over half of the population in any country has never known how things really work or understands the basics. Who is going to be doing the changes and how? Majority of the population of this planet are clueless masses and those who have some understanding are a tiny minority.
The only hope for thing to change would be a takeover by AI that would make people do things that need to be done, and what is the likelihood of that scenario? I think it is close to zero.
Yet, most believe everyone should have the same voting rights, and we accept decisions based on majority.
Perhaps once the AI overlord is born, it will become a reality. We can all be herded into a cluster, the idiots and those who are too smart exterminated, and the upper middle can do the work they are told to do.
I must say that I agree with many things we see as “normal” in society are not actually necessary, yet we hold on to them because they feel familiar. There are a lot of things we categorize as normal, but in the real sense of it, that is not normal. Most times, humans attitude their mistake and failure as if it is the destiny at work. There is this saying that change is constant, and destiny can also be shaped to the way we want it to be. It does not necessarily mean that if we try to change our situation, our destiny can't be altered.
I also agree with what you said about how our environment and collective lifestyle create many of the problems we later try to fix. It’s almost like we spend our time repairing damage we could have avoided in the first place.
I don’t think we can change everything at once, but I believe small shifts in thinking and action can add up over time. If more people start questioning the systems we follow blindly, maybe we can begin to build something healthier and more human.
People asked abused women in long term relationships, why don't you leave? Familiarity plays a big part. Conditioned to stay.
Take a hammer to the car, so there is something for the mechanic to repair. Circular economy.
Just like robots, we've been programmed to believe what ever we're fed in. And most people don't even question the so called facts, because we're all trying to survive in a system meant to tame and control us.
We can't change everything like you said, we'll have to start by changing ourselves first, changing the little things in our environment. Eating natural and healthy foods instead of quickly made junks, engaging in personal fitness and exercise instead of sitting down and scrolling the internet all day, seeking interpersonal and international peace through constructive dialogue rather than bullying and military invasions covered up in unwelcome military aids and arms deals.
As simple as these things may sound, they go a long way in determining the future direction of progress of mankind.
Today I had a discussion about advertising influence with my daughter and how what they advertise we don't normally need, otherwise they wouldn't need to advertise it. Surround yourself with adverts, consume more. Surround yourself with lopsided opinion, believe more of it.
Finally, someone's talking about the system and it's detriment to us as human beings and as a society. I feel like we've given attention to the wrong things. Letting a small group of people, or company dictate what the whole world should do and live their lives. No one wants to reason out things and do things for themselves anymore.
We eat all sorts of junks and canned foods just because of how convenient it is. An hypertensive patient would rather visit a doctor for antihypertensive medications while still consuming a lot of canned foods loaded with unhealthy amount of sodium- the principal cause of idiopathic hypertension. That's sad.
Food companies under the guise of modernization and industrialization are sending people to their early graves. Perhaps they wouldn't be a high need for doctor's if we weren't so lazy and naive. I have a lot to say on this topic and tbh, I don't think I can exhaust them here at once.
Talking about social media as a tool?? That would be a topic for another day. It's all about conforming to the system these days.
We want the easy pill for everything. All these people who "loved themselves as fat people" suddenly on ozempic.
Of course certain necessary things we do would not be needed at all if not for the mistakes we make and continue to make. Like the healthcare sector you talked about, most of the diseases we treat can be avoided in the first place by maintaining a healthy lifestyle, eating healthy, living in good environments, etc.
The same with the defense sector. It means some human endeavors are thriving because of human mistakes.
It's sheer hypocrisy for the government to do everything to encourage the healthcare sector but do nothing to limit the activities of producers of unhealthy foods. It's like we are trying to solve our problems as a species but we are solving it from the wrong angle and even doing things that compound the same problems. It's a long road and there's no hope in sight.
This is where our tax money should be going, right?
Happy brain chemicals.. in particular, serotonin. those imaginary lines on a map showing the territory we 'own', and was is to often serve to get MORE.. our brain rewards us with serotonin when we are up / increase ourselves compared to the next guy.. at least, i think thats how it works.. :P
Yep. We want to feel part of something exclusive, even if it is an imaginary club.
😁
Although doctors are battling the same old diseases, they are also creating new knowledge, new ways to attack those same diseases with new treatments. Just look at the recent pandemic.
I think many people see nothing changing in their monotonous lives, hence the phrase "nothing changes, everything is the same." But perhaps it's because they don't notice the details of life. If you wake up today and look at your room, you'll say nothing has changed. Tomorrow will be the same, but if there were just one insect or a bit of dust, it would make all the difference. It's the same with every little detail of our lives that we ignore because we're not interested, we don't want to see it, or because we spend so much time looking at things, thinking big, that we overlook the small events that accompany our lives day by day.
New treatments, but not cures, nor ways to stop the disease from happening at all. The pandemic itself was most likely manmade.
Things are always changing, all of them small. Even the big things are just part of a series of small things. But the problem is, the majority of the small things we are doing isn't making us better, it is making us worse. That gives people like doctors new problems to treat, but no one is upstreaming to stop the disease at the source.
The topic is complicated because it encompasses macro issues. Many diseases not only have treatments but have been eradicated, like smallpox. The technology that exists now has prevented people from dying earlier because, without tests to detect tumors or harmful agents, people were dying. It's known that medicine is a business; it's more profitable to have sick people buying medicine every year than to cure a disease. Diseases aren't addressed in terms of eradication because they don't affect everyone; they aren't contagious or are extremely difficult to transmit. Since they don't affect everyone, I think they aren't a lethal danger...
Do people harm themselves because they seek it out? Or because the world gives them the tools to do so? A person isn't born obese, but there are hundreds of stores outside selling sweets, candies, and millions of other sugary products. These things don't directly harm you, but if a person consumes them without limit, they will have health problems and will need medical treatment they didn't previously require. Although it sounds bad, there's another side to it: all these companies provide jobs for thousands of people, creating direct and indirect employment opportunities. When someone gets sick, a nurse, a doctor, or a clinic is ready to receive them, and their families will have food to feed, thus continuing the cycle.
I have often believed that as humans we've made a lot of progress over the years, but true to what you said, these progress can only take us as far as we have it now. The system is already destroying itself. It is evident in our government system, international systems and even our health systems.
The current technology is only evolving to fight several of the demons we created few years back. A system that eats up itself.
Improvements in health is only aimed at treating the disease that are caused by several kinds of environmental pollution, effects of genetically modified foods, and different carcinogenic stuffs and mutagens we created.
I think we need this understanding first, so we as a society can have a shift in mindset.
There is a law of diminishing returns involved I think. At some point, no matter how much investment is made, the returns are not worth it.
It is absolutely true that most of the things we do are unnecessary. You have cited doctors as one of the examples. Here, doctors perform some tests that are unnecessary and their purpose is only to make patients spend extra money and make money from them. Whereas if we could live in a clean environment and live socially without loneliness and could eliminate weight and depression, then we would have a new life where we would not get sick so easily.
We should be improving our ability to improve, rather than fighting diseases we have given ourselves.
I think we could potentially disrupt the pattern of being too comfortable, if we are open to pushing our limits and looking for improved options in how we live, both on our own and as a group.
I feel that because our attention is so drawn to entertainment and ease, we are losing the ability to push ourselves and when we do, it is at a lower limit.
Speaking of the unnecessary, we all do a whole lot of it and there's no sensitisation of our minds to these tools propagated by the society to us. I mean, everyone's doing it why should I be different? That's the mindset of everyone. After all, the system is the system why fight it. I have lots of friends with this mentality. A lot of illnesses that are rampant today weren't there centuries ago. Perhaps revolution and technological advancements are part of the bigger problem we're yet to see. We no longer know what's real, fake, good or bad. We just do what everyone does encouraging the fucked up system.
It goes back to every mother saying, "If your friends jumped off a cliff, would you jump too?"
Safety in numbers, even if being "safe" kills us all.
True, We've abandoned reality for fantasies. Nothing's normal anymore and it breaks my heart. The lifestyle, norms, societal values, government policies. Everything's changing. It's true that change is inevitable and what we see today, isn't the same thing we'll see In 50 years from now. Will things get better?? No. But it's not about how we perceive the future or present. It's about the subtle differences we can collectively make as individuals to triggers a positive change thatll restore a state of normalcy. Something most of us aren't willing to do.
Even if we don't do it collectively, what kind of individuals do we want to be? The one that did the thing that we knew we shouldn't, or the one who did the thing we knew we should?
I think we actually can change everything. But there are a thousand variables to consider. Like how much time and energy it would take us, which then has to be balanced against our priorities. We could become president and so on. It's just not worth it.
There are so many things that we can change and have a better coefficient of energy put in and change initiated. Our children, for starters. HUGE change that we can invoke through raising them right, according to our values. Multipliers of change in a way. And for most of us, the energy capacity and time on earth limits us to either becoming president or raising children right.
We have all these many options and tools available to us, but instead of working out what we can do with them, we do what we are told we can do with them by a system only interested in maximising resources into as few hands as possiblItalic
I ponder on this words and it stroke me. Because we are blessed maximum brain work for high result ad productivity but instead many of us prefer a one pattern instructions maybe from an individual dictating what system we should take. If truly as you said we have all these options and tool what is now stopping us to maximize these resource for the public and general use and not for few political hands.
If I may ask, being a revolutionary or seeking for evolution which is preferable? @tarazkp