Friday, November 24, 2006
Feeding the Monster
(3)
You do!
You feed The Monster with your prayers. You feed The Monster with your fears. You feed The Monster with your credulity. You feed The Monster with your existential lack of courage. And The Monster feasts on your being. Your being! Some things can't be ignored, and The Monster is one of those things. You need to confront The Monster. How to do that?
Begin by looking around you. See the stark reality. Suppress those emotions which have always buttressed your stupid old beliefs. Recognize that sometimes emotions do not belong inside of logical considerations. Emotions are essentially quick primitive ways of avoiding sudden death. Logic takes longer. Logic needs dispassion. There is no emotional logic. There is no reasoning from emotion. Reasoning is extra-emotional. Remember: emotion avoids enemies and reveals friends immediately. Immediately! But reason later corrects emotion on the condition that you have been so fortunate as to survive your initial emotion.
Reason constructs Science. Science is a long-term idea which leads to technology, another long term idea. Over centuries Science constructs Technology while emotion - a short term idea - leads to spats which draw the attentions of frivolous folks who eventually die (and not a moment too soon). You see this all the time on tv.
Meanwhile the long-term aspect of human brain function - reason - buttresses Science and casts doubt on the religions which are our most dubious cultural heritage.
You do!
You feed The Monster with your prayers. You feed The Monster with your fears. You feed The Monster with your credulity. You feed The Monster with your existential lack of courage. And The Monster feasts on your being. Your being! Some things can't be ignored, and The Monster is one of those things. You need to confront The Monster. How to do that?
Begin by looking around you. See the stark reality. Suppress those emotions which have always buttressed your stupid old beliefs. Recognize that sometimes emotions do not belong inside of logical considerations. Emotions are essentially quick primitive ways of avoiding sudden death. Logic takes longer. Logic needs dispassion. There is no emotional logic. There is no reasoning from emotion. Reasoning is extra-emotional. Remember: emotion avoids enemies and reveals friends immediately. Immediately! But reason later corrects emotion on the condition that you have been so fortunate as to survive your initial emotion.
Reason constructs Science. Science is a long-term idea which leads to technology, another long term idea. Over centuries Science constructs Technology while emotion - a short term idea - leads to spats which draw the attentions of frivolous folks who eventually die (and not a moment too soon). You see this all the time on tv.
Meanwhile the long-term aspect of human brain function - reason - buttresses Science and casts doubt on the religions which are our most dubious cultural heritage.
