فَرضيّة اختلاف البشرية

الصورة

     كانت تجول في خاطري فرضية عنّا ، نحن البشر و ما يميزنا عن الآخرين .. هل نحن نسخ مستنسخة من أسلافنا أم كل شخص منّا مختلف عن الآخر ؟ ما أسس اختلافنا أو تشابهنا ؟ مالذي أثّر على تطور البشرية و كيف يتغير الآخرون ؟
قد تكون فرضيتي خطرت على بالك لكن لم تعِرها الإهتمام و تركتها تختفي بين خبايا الأفكار لتندثر حتى لا تكون مدخل لمتاهاتك الفكرية و بالتالي تؤثر على اعتقاداتك و تصرفاتك لاحقاً .. سأحاول أن أبسط الفرضية حتى تصل لك الفكرة بطريقة سلسلة عن طريق طرح بعض التساؤلات و استخدام بعض الأمثلة .

    بدايتنا كانت عبارة عن بويضة لُقحت و نضجت حتى تكون الجنين.. بغض النظر عن التفاصيل التي تلت هذه المرحلة ، ما الذي يحدد اختلافاتنا وثقافتنا بين دائرة الدين ، الأهل ، البيئة التعليمية ، الأصدقاء ،المال ، الطموح وغيرها ؟  .. مثلا ما هي مالفروقات ما بين تربية الأم بوجود الأب أو بغيابه ، أو إذا كان جميعهما مشغولان بالحياة أو إذا كانت حياتهما انقضت قبل أن يربيا الطفل و يتكفل أحد الأقارب أو الجهات المعنية بتربيته ؟ هل لبيئة الشخص تأثير على مستقبله ؟ هل لنا القدرة على تغيير البيئة لتتلائم مع حاجاتنا أو البيئة هي التي تحدد لنا ماهية احتياجاتنا !  البعض يولد فقيراً و يشقى طول عمره لإيجاد لقمة العيش و بعد ذلك يأتي أجله و تنتقل أملاكه لورثته ، الآخر يولد و ينطبق عليه المثل ( فيه فمه ملعقة ذهب ) و قد يكون ابن الفقير الذي أصبح ثرياً بفضل الله ثم بفضل جهد والده ، سؤالي هنا : هل سيقوم الشخص هذا بتقدير الحياة كتقدير والده لها؟  هل سيقوم بإهدار الثروة على حياته بحكم عدم تعبه في جمعها ؟  أم سيقوم بجمع المزيد لأبنائه حتى ينعموا بحياة أفضل ؟


    مضحك  لدرجة البكاء ما نشاهده حولنا ، فهناك ابن العقيد صاحب السمعة الطيبة  المسجون بقضية سرقة ، و هذه ابنة إمام المسجد التي تقضي آواخر لياليها بنشر فضائح صديقاتها أو مكالمة أحدهم  مقابل مبلغ مالي، وإستشاري أنف و أذن و حنجرة الذي يقضي فترات استراحة القهوة مع سيجارته العزيزة ، فما صحة مقولة " باب النجّار مخلوع " ! النقطة هنا هي أن ما نتصوره عن الآخرين يختلف عن حقيقة واقعهم .. البعض يجب أن يمر بظروف لتغيره للأفضل و البعض الآخر يقرأ عن ظروف الآخرين ليتغير! منّا من يتأثر بالكلمة الطيبة، و الآخرلا ينفع معه إلّا القسوة ! نختلف في تعاملنا مع أنفسنا و مع الآخرين لكن مالذي يجبرنا على الإختلاف!


     ختاماً ... جربوا متعة مشاهدة السيارات في إحدى الطرق السريعة بينما تكونون واقفين على أحد جسور المشاة التي تقطع الشارع , كلنا بشر خلقنا من نفس واحدة لكن ما الذي يجعلنا مختلفين ؟  

The Human Vessel

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     It has always seemed odd to me how much we marvel about science. We as humans love to brag about our achievements, development, and futures. Yet rarely do we really appreciate the subtle marvels of our everyday surroundings. Like what?


     I won’t go into scripture about the human body, but it’s important to at least mention that almost all major beliefs (Islam, Christianity, Judaism, or even the much older Hinduism, Buddhism...etc) all marveled and respected the human vessel -body-. As ancient as it is, for it’s the only body we have ever known, we still do not fully understand it. Moreover, we still do not see the subtle, yet highly effective lessons it can teach us.


     The most obvious lesson to me, is how many dissimilar things come together to create one harmonious form -the body-. Bound by mutual needs such as blood, water, nutrition....etc, each of these unique dissimilar parts plays a role. One thinks, the other breaths, the other walks...etc. All of these parts are not equal, but they are all important for the body to function harmoniously. Now why don’t we tale this lesson and apply it to life.

"Democracy is the worst form of government except for all those others that have been tried." Winston Churchill

     In politics we can apply this lesson by realizing that not all parts of a community should vote. If we all listened to our hearts and minds rather than other organs we would all be much happier and harmonious.

“Do not train a child to learn by force or harshness; but direct them to it by what amuses their minds, so that you may be better able to discover with accuracy the peculiar bent of the genius of each.” Plato

     In education we focus too much on the mind and not enough on the heart; We don’t educate people to understand that like the human body every family, town, city, and nation needs more than just a mind. By this I mean that we must learn to accept and appreciate all parts of society no matter how little. Unequal they may be, but they are as critical as any.



     I could go on and on, however, if this blog post gets any longer I will suffer the wrath of a very angry co-author. Therefore, I'll leave it as it is. I believe that God created us and gave us all the tools to be great. All we need to do is stop trying to reinvent everything he gave us and really look carefully at all He has provided. Nature has survived and thrived far longer than mankind, maybe we can learn a bit from that fact.

Between Here and There

          Life like all things is simple yet complex, Lovely yet ugly, Fun yet dull, worth living yet not. This is the sad reality that escapes us in our dreams. In our dreams everything is clear; no matter how complex the dream you still enjoy it. A hundred million ideas all come together all to insight a simple emotion, Happiness. Yet in reality it’s not so simple. Happiness is relative, but everyone wants to tell you how to be happy.

     In life we live between two opposites; Reality and Dreams. Both are equally as important. life without reality will get you nowhere, on the other hand, Reality without the dare to dream is mute and dull. I believe they are like colors; Black and White can create an amazing image, however, without color it will never be alive. At the same time without Darkness and light (Black and White) we would never be able to see these colors. This is the relationship between dreams and reality. 

     In life we all want simple things. The same things - in essence -.However, our means to achieve these simple things come at a great cost. To think! Thinking is our mortal coil. The more you think the more you see and in return the more "realistic" you become. This is one side of the equation. The flip side is to achieve these simple things with another sort of great cost, To NOT think. Relax! Take it easy! It’s all good! You can’t change it, so don’t bother. Both these theories are utter nonsense.

     Extreme is the enemy of progress. Both examples above are too extreme. Life has taught me this the hard way. Now, before I give my own theory about "How to save a life" I would like to state that this is MY way of seeing things (my perspective). By this I mean that you should never do as I did. Contemplate, get advice, and listen to your heart and the hearts of those you trust, and then and only then make a decision. If it happens to be the same as mine then so be it. But, never allow someone else to think for you. I digress...

     I believe that for each situation in life you must do the math. Every time you buy something you do math; you calculate how much you have, how much the item costs, and if you can afford it. Then you calculate the change due to you if you didn't have the exact amount. All this is done sometimes without you even knowing. The same should be applied in life; however, you must be aware! Because unlike money that comes and goes this is a decision that can never be undone. I’ll explain.

     Dreams are useful to escape reality when faced with adversity. Reality is best used when facing adversity of another sort. In dreams the adversity may be something totally out of your control; that is when you must dream to survive, so that you may strike when it comes into your control. Reality is your first line of defense start off with it. Fight as hard as you can and then some! Push until you almost break then and only then go to dreams. 

     Remember that the world is not 2D it’s not even 3D its actually 4D; The fourth dimension being time and space. So always look at things from all angles, you will be surprised how easily you will find reasons hidden just a side step away. Thinking is a double edged swords use it wisely. Random example incoming be aware. Thinking is like chewing gum! Too little isn’t enough, too much hurts, and just enough is perfect.

If you don’t stand for something then you are falling for everything!

The Adam's Effect

     Abraham Adams is a fictional character from the novel (Joseph Andrews, written in 1742). Despite being extremely educated and kind hearted,he still remains a fool. The Adam's effect is my modern day version of this character. In our day and age we have all the information we need at the click of a button. The Internet has made us all scholars, but do we have the wisdom to cultivate this knowledge into action? The quest for knowledge has been drastically changed. There is no longer a lack of knowledge, but an abundance of it! 

     Sadly we have not dealt with this change adequately. We still teach the same way we have always taught and think the same way we have always thought. It is my belief that we are squandering a lot of time and effort on a system long out of date. This opinion is not mine alone. Many prominent scholars like Sir Ken Robinson and Edward De Bono have written amazing books and given enlightening talks on this issue. I highly recommend looking them both up if you have not heard or read about them. The current system of education and thinking is a  self-fulfilling prophecy. It is too big to change and too important to "mess with". So what can we do?

     The good thing about thinking is that it never stops. We never stop thinking. Yes, we do have lapses of judgment and can make one bad decision after another. But that is not lack of thinking its simply bad thinking. Thinking is something that can be evolved, regardless of age, gender, race, social status. Unlike the traditional notion of intelligence and the silly notion of IQ. Great thinking can be achieved. All it takes is a will and a little soul searching. All it takes is the ability to challenge the unchallenged. By this I do not mean to simply blindly argue and second guess everything. I simply mean consider other options and circumstances. let me give an example taken from Edward De Bono's "Think Before its Too Late". Lying is always bad, a person should never lie. However, lying can be a very moral choice in a very narrow and extreme circumstance; A boy is being chased by a murderer. The boy runs into an ally, the ally forks and the boy goes right. The murderer comes in the ally seconds after the boy has taken the turn. He asks you "Which way did the boy go?". Now in this very extreme example what do you do? tell the truth? lie? say nothing? 

     We have become so obsessed with science, math, technology and other "modern" forms of intelligence, to the point where we have forgotten the importance of simplicity and everyday things. Language is by far superior to any science. Without it all communication breaks down. Even in your own head. When confused and unable to explain your feelings (to yourself) one becomes frustrated. I may write a separate article about this later. Back to the main topic. Thinking is an art. The more you consciously work on it the better you become at it. Schools and colleges are not enough. They are focused on judgment and evaluation. They have set categories and people must fit into one or the other (A+, A, B+, B ...and so on). However, these categories are not accurate when it comes to how well people can think. It has been proven that sometimes the brightest of students fail at multi-choice questions, because they are able to think of situations where more than one of the choices may be applicable (like the example above about lying). 

     In the end I believe that if we just take a little more time out of our day to really think and improve our thinking we can achieve so much more. Knowledge is power, however, power is useless without the wisdom to wield it.