Towards Understanding One's Ambient

One of the gifts bestowed to man is the ability to read the signs of the time and to understand its demands. We must be aware of what time dictates. We must study our surroundings and be conscientious of the things that we should adhere to in order grasp that which is good and right for humanity. It is not enough to know for one to act rightly as the great Greek philosopher Socrates held. In the history of humanity, many have known the right thing to do but unfortunately decided to do that which is wrong and against the rights of humanity.
How many people did Hitler kill in the name of protecting Germany as a country? Did he know that life is a gift and should to be protected and respected? He knew but he chose the opposite. The question that comes to my mind is, what blinds man?

When I study my environment in which I take refuge, quit number of things come to my mind. I realize that we must understand that man is not a programmed machine or animal that only responts to environmental stimuli but a rational being capable to choose, think and formulate ideas. And that's why the great Rene' Descartes, a philosopher of the age of enlightenment said, Cogito Ergo Sum; I think therefore I am. And the question that I ask myself is, what defines man? What sets man apart from the rest of animals? What is special in Man? The moment we answer these questions correctly, then we will build a paradise here on earth, where the unborn infants, children and the entire family of humanity is respected. 

The greatest test that the world presents to men today is constituted into three related dimensions; Immediacy, Crowd and Self-Close Up. Am devastated to say that now and if not now, then soon, the impressions will enslave the thinking part of man. David Hume would say; Reason is indeed and ought only to be the slave of Passions. When I analyze my ambient today, I see the fulfillment of this prophecy that Passions reign over the Reason. By all means I don't downgrade passions rather I question its superiority over the Reason. I question their exaltation over the thinking part of man. Impressions are good in themselves and indeed they complete us as human beings. We cannot choose and make decision without Emotions and Impressions. But the moment, we allow them to surpass the reason, we become worse than animals themselves. I get worried when I see politician ready to get rid of each other because of power, I get worried when I see young men and women incapable of embracing commitment simply because they want to enjoy whatever comes on the way. This is the test that we must learn how to handle it.

Existential thinker Soren Kierkegaard wrote a book on: The Crowd Is Untruth. He addresses how crowd misleads. He says that where crowd is, there dwells untruth. Today, the world holds the opposite that where crowd is, there dwells the truth. The tragedy is that people choose to be identified not as an individual but as "the they." "The crowd defines me" they say. I think one should define himself as an individual who exists among "the they". Authenticity is not found in the crowd but rather in the individual who understands his/her environment. The moment one discovers that s/he exists as an individual among the many, s/he embraces the purpose of life. The crowd offers inauthenticity.    

The last dimension is Self-Close Up. It is a contagious and killer disease. "That I exist, the other does not." It is a self blindness where one decides not to recognize the presence and value of the OTHER. And if he does, the other exists as "IT" not as a Subject. Today billions of infants are aborted and the poor die in the streets simply because they exist as IT. We don't feel their presence and it we feel, we perceive them as objects. 

In my conclusion, I get to know that each individual ought to form a personality or character that embraces self reflection if we were to live authentically. Socrates whom I quote mostly, holds that "unexamined life is not worthy living." Self evaluation is the art of authenticity.