Serialised book (with a progressively updated >>dashboard/ToC<< page). Part II: Philosophy of the Life Instinct.

Book: Philosophy of Life Instinct: Chapter 8: The Study of Humanity

Prologue for Part II — Scope, dimensions, and approach.

Part II is the raison d’etre of this book and our preparation in Part I. Before we start our philosophical study of humanity, let us gather our thoughts in this chapter on how we shall go about it. We will set the scope, view the dimensions, outline an approach, and note the limitations.

Scope

We are creatures of evolution. And we continue to evolve, even if it is not apparent. At every stage, the laws of Life Instinct are at work that we listed in the previous chapter. The fifth law sets the enabling context for Part II.

The Law of Free Will — The Force of Life Instinct induces a self-aware life form to observe itself and make choices that support the First and Second Laws.

As we have developed into what we call ourselves as a species — Homo sapiens — no doubt, several capabilities have continued to evolve in us on the physiological continuum. We have become taller, heavier, resistant to more pathogens, developed a larger brain, enhanced our communication, gained in intelligence, improved our tools, increased social cooperation, adapted to more environments, and so on.

We will consider about twenty-five human traits, a mix of the dimensions below.

Dimensions

Humans are complex creatures, at least relative to themselves, living in complex social and physical ecosystems. Our behaviour and interaction with the world we inhabit has many aspects.

Many human actions may be combinations of the spontaneous and conscious. We will study ourselves at both levels for practical purposes and consider their interaction as we examine a feature.

• Automatic — Basic, intuitive, immediate and autonomous actions.
• Conscious — Advanced, reflective, slower and consciously chosen immediate actions. And the long-term capabilities we have deliberately created, for example, marriage, systematic education, etc.

There are two further dimensions we will traverse.

• Individual— The ability humans have to observe themselves as single solitary entities, interacting with the rest of the living and inert world.
• Collective — The ability humans have as a network of minds to communicate, share ideas, argue, agree, disagree, convince and influence each other, and make choices together. It is the species melded together into one organism. Our collective intelligence is far from wisdom, but we need to respect its existence.

Approach

Evolution has produced a powerful instinctive ability in our improving brain — to study ourselves objectively and try choices that could increase our survival and reproduction. As individuals and groups, we may do this with more or less conscious intent, better or worse outcomes. But the instinct and ability for it are there, and we all exercise them.

The chapters that follow are our inherent observe-explain-choose ability in action. I act as an exponent and mouthpiece, working in the light of the Life Instinct. In each chapter, we will — observe the human feature and its origins, explain its benefits and limitations and choose the best way to manage it.

In each chapter of Part II, we take stock of a critical aspect of human life, understand its motivation, and reflect on making the best of it individually and together.

Here is an outline of one of the chapters, on ego and pride, as an illustration:

• We first note the standard definition of ego. (One person’s ego is another’s pride, but we do not flounder in semantics. We take the usually accepted meaning and concentrate instead on making something positive out of this human feature. Part II is the practical core of the philosophy of Life Instinct, abjuring the academic and pedantic in favour of practical utility.)
• Next, we explore why we have an ego, the purpose it serves. Here, our tool, the laws of Life Instinct, acts like a surgeon’s scalpel, opening us up to reveal what’s going on inside, good and bad.
• Then we look into what may be a healthy level of ego. The learning and rational part of the Life Instinct kick in for this.
• Lastly, we consider ways to manage our ego and maximise our well-being. The most detached and wise part of our philosophy takes up this challenge.

Limitations

There can still be puzzling aspects of life not explained by the Life Instinct. But, they are few, and further investigation and development of this philosophy may reveal their origins in the Life Instinct. Or they could be exceptional natural aberrations that will get weeded out by evolution and the Life Instinct itself over time.

Unfortunately, we don’t have any comparably intelligent species on our planet through which we can check out the validity of our philosophy. Apes are our closest relatives, especially chimps and gorillas. They may be aware of their separate individual selves and possess critical humanlike characteristics, such as self-awareness, freedom of choice, empathy, and curiosity. But they are still far behind us in the power of their intelligence and cannot communicate even their basic mental concepts to us.

We also don’t know alien life forms yet, as a source of validation. They could share many of our characteristics, even if they are more advanced technologically. If we encounter them (rather, when we encounter them, for extraterrestrial life is highly probable), it will be most interesting to see how much of this philosophy of Life Instinct applies to them.

It leaves us with the situation that our philosophical, metaphysical and scientific belief systems have no one to challenge them, verify them or use them other than ourselves.

At present, we can only debate within ourselves as individuals and as a species. We will end up with conclusions that are, at best, variations on the same accessible themes. We will make incremental advances, but no great leaps forward.

Forward

The limitations will not stop us. The merit lies in the paradigm of human analysis I propose, not only the immediate outcomes. The results will improve with practice, for I believe the Life Instinct premise is sound. So we will forge ahead, challenging ourselves as best we can. That is what we are driven to do anyhow.

The list of topics I cover in part II is not exhaustive, for there are just too many dimensions to humans. It would be tedious and make this a tome. I treat the prominent behaviours and circumstances and leave the rest as exercises in applying the Philosophy of Life Instinct in daily life for those who take to it.

© 2020 Shashidhar Sastry. All rights reserved.

(As each chapter of the book is published its link is updated in the ToC below.)

Table of Contents

Part I Metaphysics of The Life Instinct

Part II Philosophy of The Life Instinct

Part III The Life Instinct and The Future

Published By Shashidhar Sastry

Join my email list? — it’s easy to unsubscribe if you change your mind.

There’s more for you at quality-thinking.com.