Politics and Government

Lets stop killing our saints. A lesson about self evaluation

How many time in your life did you took the time to doubt what is really important? Did you ever stopped to understand why you are doing things from the first place? In our current society this way of thinking is categories as rebellious or chaotic. When coming to think about it, it is extremely strange as our capacity to think is what make us humans. nevertheless, using this capacity to benefit our own growth is preached as a negative thing, while not using it at all is seen as a sign of healthy collaboration and virtue.

I grow up in a society where I’ve been explained from a very early age what I can and cannot do, what is right and wrong and what is important and not important. Without any doubt, is leaves a little space for imagination and self development. For a very long period of my life, it looked to me like what is important or not was very clear. After all, it has been explained to me very clearly and repeatedly. retrospectively I came to realize that this concept have a strong mechanism or reinforcement, which do not require and actual explanation for its logic.

You are explained by the authorities (parent or any other) that some things are very important while other not. Since the majority of the people in your community are explained the same thing at a certain point, the accept same values without really understanding why (don’t doubt the authority explanation). At this point, everybody explains each other that this is how things are, which creates a vicious cycle of  norms based on social obedience. After all, we are a social creature that search to be part of a group. It is natural that we will accept on ourselves social norm. But to what extents?

blind consensus

Amusingly enough, after a blind consensus is achieved, any person that will try to doubts the general assumption will be seen as a threat to the current equilibrium regardless of the argument. History is full of good examples. I’m sure that any culture have at least one local example. Retrospectively, after the consensus has been changed we look on some of this people and call them saints, martyr or the father of philosophy. An interesting question arise from this model. Why we do not understand it in time? Why we need to scarify all the people that show a free consciousness thinking? How come the consensus does change at a point and not another?

