Monday, August 1, 2011

It was a six legged, pink polka dotted, scaly creature

We are a fickle species.  Some of the most unthinkable things set us apart from other species and perhaps the keyword here is the base word, think.

Believing that the way something looks is such an integral part of what it is, must surely come from some biological basis.

I suppose that the need to reproduce our own species started out by looking for healthy individuals and if that was only based on looks, it meant balanced features, clear skin, bright eyes, perhaps cleanliness.  And taking this a step farther, is the desire to be with someone familiar to me, so therefore, I prefer another human being who looks as much like me and what I am familiar with as it is possible to be.

After that, other things begin to loom into the picture: fear of the unknown, fear of the outsider, and even a need to prove I am better than you, therefore I am more deserving than you are.

All of these things require some form of thinking, some kind of judgment and there is no law that says all thinking, or all judging is going to rational, reasonable and logical.  In fact, my experience is just the opposite.  Most judgmental decisions seem to be made on the fly and come straight from the emotions.

A strange take on, I think you are this therefore you are it.

The sad and terrible truth is that this kind of system is self-perpetuating.  Very young children are almost perfect mimics.  They learn to see and do and even eventually feel what the people around them do.

Knowing this, world peace, perhaps even the eventual existence of a world as we know it, depends on us learning to make better calls.

A six-legged pink polka dotted gap toothed scaly creature with feathers on its head who is open minded and desiring of truly connecting with another for the good of all, is better company than the best dressed, bipedal human being interested in only making money or being at the top of his game.

The game is about the quality of life, not surface details and when one of us loses, we all lose something.

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