Active
You are not the same person you were yesterday, neither will you be the same person you are now tomorrow, for just as the same water never stays put in one spot on a flowing river, even so man, gliding through space in time, never remains the same at any two points of time in his journey through space.
To evolve then is a constant, a given, so that we need not consider if we will evolve, rather how and in what direction our evolution will take.
Self-Conscious
All living things are conscious, possessing a will, they are actively making decisions about what to or not to do, influenced or pressured by external factors or not, the living being makes a decision of the will, to do or not to do certain actions.Man is a living being, but stands out from amongst them all, for man cannot only make decisions of the will, he knows he is making those decisions and he knows that he can make alternative decisions. He does x, knows he chose to do x, knows he could choose to do the opposite of x, knows that he knows that he can do x or x’, knows that he knows that he knows … ad infinitum. He is not only conscious, he is self-conscious. Self-consciousness then is a potentially infinite loop of self-knowing or self-awareness.
The author of Genesis missed a beat, he cried out of man’s “new found” knowledge of good and evil, no mate, you should have cried out of man’s “new found” ability to know that he knows good and evil – self-conscious.
Killer App
Sales of hardware devices like mobile phones and laptops are only as attractive as the application software that can be used on them. Certain applications are called killer apps because they are a significant draw or reason for people to own hardware devices. No one buys an hardware because they want to admire it, some do, but most do because it will help them get x, y, z done.If the key differentiator or killer App of man is his self-consciousness, what then does this killer App enable man to do that all other beings cannot?
It is this, the self-conscious being, can determine the direction his consciousness should go.
Dogs, not being self-conscious but conscious, are bound to act in specific and predictable ways, over the lifetime of all dogs, you can be rest assured that they are all doing very similar activities irrespective of the part of the world each resides in (excepting those man chose to train in specific acts) they do not possess the killer App that enables them to determine the direction of their consciousness, most if not all of their acts are biologically driven, the same can be said of all other conscious species, except man.
For by virtue of self-consciousness, man knowing that he is conscious can also set the direction or set of activities his consciousness will be directed towards. Man is not bound by his biological impulse, he has the ability to transcend and channel it in the direction he wishes. It is a super-power, more powerful than nuclear bombs, for without it, there would be no nuclear bomb.
Hamming’s Sailor
In the art of doing science and engineering, Hamming writes:“The drunken sailor who staggers to the left or right with n independent random steps will, on average, end up about √n steps from the origin. But if there is a pretty girl in one direction, then his steps will tend to go in that direction and he will go a distance proportional to n”
Passive
The drunken sailor with no pretty girl in sight has given himself up to his “bottle” to lead the way, to control him on his journey. Though a self-conscious being, he acts not so self-conscious, for he is, at this point, no different than animals without self-consciousness.Many have a mindset of God being in charge of all, they believe all beings are in the hands of God and he will take care of them all, hence I just need to keep moving along and somehow somewhere God will come along and make all things alright.
These folks are the drunken sailor with no pretty girl in sight, everything appeals to them, every opportunity is their opportunity and every open door is for entering, why not, you never know how God will bring you breakthrough, for the Lord works in mysterious ways.
They are passive in setting the directions of their lives and destinies, though self-conscious, they predominantly act consciously, hardly ever putting their killer App to use, for if God is in charge why bother, why stress, I cannot come and kill myself.
Active
A drunken sailor with a pretty girl in his direction, will cover as many steps (n) in distance he takes on his journey. He is actively involved in where he is headed, though spurred on by the pretty girl.Some persons do believe that they are in charge of their very own destiny, that if they do not set the direction of their lives, of their destinies, no one else will do it for them. That if there is a God or whatever the source of creation is, he has imbued them with the ability to set the directions of their lives and destinies, hence they set to work building in a certain direction, working in a certain direction.
Of such men do we have those we celebrate, not because we are lesser, rather because they have put to work and shown us all that which is possible by reason of putting to use that which we all possess – self-consciousness.
No man gets to the top of Everest wandering around.
Effects
The predominant trait of people who commit suicide (with the exception of the mentally ill) is a sense of despair, a sense of lack of control over their life, a sense of lack of power to make things right, to improve their lot in life, a sense of helplessness. Some who get to this point and do not resort to suicide resort to varying forms of destructive addictive behaviors.Who is more likely to get to this point?
That one does not put his self-conscious powers to use does not mean one loses it, you still have it and though you do not actively put it to work it still knows and understands the state of life you are at. This is the reason there is a quiet gnawing sense of dissatisfaction mostly found in persons who take the passive approach, they know something is wrong, but having not been actively involved all their lives, can hardly place a hand on what is wrong, yet they know something is wrong. This is how despair and a sense of helplessness sets in.
Are those who take the active approach exempted?
To a large extent, yes, for the one who takes the active approach might end up failing to achieve his aim, he might fall short of his goals, yet, he has gone farther than the one who set out to nowhere, and in the worst case, even when facing failure, he still realizes that it is within his very own power to still channel his energies and try again for success.
Difficult
The active approach to life puts the spotlight on you, it places the responsibility of and for your life squarely on your shoulders, that is terrifying, such responsibility is terrifying. For how can a being that defecates navigate himself in this vast world, yet it is also empowering, for we possess treasure in this earthen vessels.Many depart from the active approach because of its difficulty, and in no way do I intend to make it seem any less, the passive path though much easier is the path of good intentions that lead to hell. Being actively involved in shaping the direction of your destiny is tough, but you, by bearing the strain of that responsibility, by carrying your own cross become the savior you have been waiting for all along. You save yourself by carrying your cross daily and you get stronger and better from it.
For just as the weight lifter goes through pain to attain bigger and denser muscles, even so must you go through pain, the pain of actively channeling your life, to attain the glory you seek, for the messiah you seek is within you.
What then?
Set out in active pursuit, do not leave your destiny to chance or an invisible power that will never show up, set out pursuing something specific for even if you fail, the power to change your course is still within you.In the final analysis, you might not attain to that which you exactly desire, but you get something more, something better – you become another man - a god, for you have borne the responsibility of channeling the direction of the life of the being closest to God, as it is written, ye are gods children of the most high.
The journey, not the destination is the goal.
Thank you for reading.