The Highest Stage of Human Awareness

By Daniel Miessler on July 2nd, 2009: Tagged as Philosophy

maslow_heirarchy

The highest form of human awareness comes through a number of realizations and stages of acceptance regarding the nature of human existence.

  1. There is no free will, as the seemingly complex goings-on of our lives are little more than pseudo-deterministic patterns being woven into time.
  2. There is, therefore, no objective good and evil. Heroes deserve no praise, and criminals deserve no punishment.
  3. Any meaning we create in life is just that–created. Meaning is not native to our material world; it must be conjured and subscribed to in order for it to take shape.
  4. The subsequent embrace of our manifested meaning is a willful engagement in delusion, and this engagement is necessary only due to the frailty of our human psyche.

1000 years from now (and hopefully much sooner) this will be as widely accepted as germ theory is today. The currently popular set of beliefs, i.e. that we attain true meaning from God (or from anything else) will be just as absurd to the thinkers of the distant future as is the once-held belief that sickness was caused by demon possession.

Remarkably, the latter may be a less severe mischaracterization of reality than our current interpretations of morality and meaning. ::

  • http://Originofspecious.blogspot.com/ Aarti

    Nice article. Pyramid implies that all lower stages be present to maintain a state of self actualization when only the physiological is an absolute and logical necessity. I have some thoughts on the free will aspect but suffice it to say that it is a simple term but needs a deeper definition beyond the colloquial.

  • cooperati

    “There is, therefore, no objective good and evil. Heroes deserve no praise, and criminals deserve no punishment.”

    Even robots need programming.

    -=T=-

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Jack-David-Baucum/1447609630 Jack David Baucum

    Can you prove any of this?
    Heroes do indeed deserve praise and criminals dealt with. We have been “programmed” to desire survival. Denying this inherent need doesn't do us any good. Accepting it and then using rational thinking to apply it to every day situations is healthy. Praising heroism encourages courageous acts, which is good for society. Ostracizing criminal behavior helps to discourage such acts. This is good for our society.
    We are creatures of emotion. Denying that facts doesn't bring us towards any higher understanding.

  • CarlM

    1: “There is no free will, as the seemingly complex goings-on of our lives are little more than pseudo-deterministic patterns being woven into time.”

    This isn't QUITE what the research into free will states at the moment. The research seems to show that free will isn't what we once thought it was, but it doesn't QUITE (yet?) show that it doesn't exist in any form. (I agree with Aarti on this.)

    2. “There is, therefore, no objective good and evil. Heroes deserve no praise, and criminals deserve no punishment.”

    That doesn't follow.

    I do not excuse myself for poor choices I have made in the past (like all the empty-but-delicious calories I have chosen to ingest), nor do I think society should excuse those who make poor choices. I say this EVEN in the hypothetical (and possible) case of this universe containing NO free will of any sort. As cooperati has said: “Even robots need programming.” It may be that I am not free (or not entirely free) to choose my actions … I eat fewer calories in an attempt to lose weight (or maintain my new lighter weight) because being at a healthier weight decreases the chances that I will later suffer from certain medical conditions (high blood pressure, diabetes, etc.) .. I don't want those conditions because they will decrease my quality of life (and my bank balance) .. so I “choose” to consume fewer calories. Maybe this isn't a choice. Maybe it's determined by the totality of facts in the universe. But, MAYBE consequences to actions are a necessary cog in the machinery.

    The beauty of this is that from your point of view, there's no reason to try to correct any of us. :-D

    3.4. If you mean by “meaning” the answer to the question “Why are we here” then I more or less agree. If instead you mean that there is no objective reality, then I think that you're wrong. 2+2=4 may be a human construct, but [when the terms are defined appropriately, and when this is applied in an appropriate context] it is an objective truth.


    Carl

  • Olivier Bruchez

    “There is, therefore, no objective good and evil. Heroes deserve no praise, and criminals deserve no punishment.”

    I don’t believe in free will, but I don’t agree with the fact that heroes deserve no praise. Society can benefit from examples of good behavior. I agree that criminals deserve no punishment, though.


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