Vanity\Morality\Desire\Influence\Knowledge\Imagination\Conciousness+Sense Organs+Present Environment
“Vanity of vanities; all is vanity.” - Solomon.
“Morality is the basis of things, and truth is the substance of all morality.” - Gandhi.
If morality serves as the basis of vanity, then I think the basis of morality is desire; the basis of desire is influence; the basis of influence is knowledge; the basis of knowledge is imagination; the basis of imagination is our sense organs reacting to our present environment, and the extent of how concious we are of this happening.
“The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination.” - Albert Einstein
The more open ones mind is to foreign influences, the more bigger and detailed its imagination can potentially become. It’s loves influence on our ability to reason that governs the extent of our compassion and empathy, because it’s love that leads a concious mind most willing to consider anything new (your parents divorcing and upon dating someone new your dad goes from cowboy boots only to flip flops for example). Thus the extent of its ability—even willingness to imagine the most amount of potential variables, when imagining themselves as someone else; and of how detailed it is. This is what not only makes knowledge in general so important, but especially the knowledge of selflessness and virtue. Because our imagination needs to be exercised by let’s say reading books or imagining yourself in someones shoes as a couple examples.
When one strikes us accross the cheek, and we stike back in retaliation, we appeal to the more instinctive, barbaric mammal within all of us. But when we lower our hand, and offer our other cheek in return, we appeal to the logical, reasonable thinking being within all of us instead.
I think the only evidence needed to prove my claim made in the title is to use the “skin” that holds the wine of the knowledge of everything we’ve ever presently known as a species: observation. If we look at our world around us, we can plainly see a collection of capable, concious beings on a planet, presently holding the most capacity to not only imagine selflessness to the extent we can, but act upon this imagining, and the extent we can apply it to our environment, in contrast to anything—as far as we know—that’s ever existed; God or not.
What would happen if the wine of our knowledge of morality was no longer kept separate from the skin we use to hold the knowledge of everything else: observation, and poured purely from the perspective of this skin? Opposed to poured into the one that its always been poured into, and thats kept it seperate at all in the first place: a religion. There’s so much logic within religion, that’s not being seen as such because of the appearance it’s given when it’s taught and advocated, being an entire concept on what exactly life is, and what the influences of a God or afterlife consist of, our failure to make them credible enough only potentially drawing people away from the value of the extremes of our sense of selflessness—even the relevance of the idea of a God or creator of some kind; becoming stigmatized as a result.
There’s a long-standing potential within any consciously capable being—on any planet, a potential for the most possible good, considering its unique ability of perceiving anything good or evil in the first place. It may take centuries upon centuries of even the most wretched of evils and collective selfishness, but the potential for the greatest good and of collective selflessness will have always have been there. Like how men of previous centuries would only dream of humans flying in the air like the birds do, or the idea of democracy.
“We can’t beat out all the hate in the world, with more hate; only love has that ability.” - Martin Luthing King Jr.
“Morality is the basis of things, and truth is the substance of all morality.” - Gandhi
“Respect was invented, to cover the empty place, where love should be.” - Leo Tolstoy
"Never take an oath at all. Not to heaven (God and an afterlife), or Earth (humans)…Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ (regarding these influences); anything more than this comes from evil (a worry, a need, a fear for oneself; a selfishness, i.e., a religion). - Jesus, Matt 5:33
“The hardest to love, are the ones that need it the most.” - Socrates
Okay!
To add a little more context to something I glossed over…
I’m an amoralist/“psychological egoist” (in quotes because it’s a problematic term). I do everything in my own self interest, but helping others and being a person who does ‘good’ things makes me feel good, so I’m a therapist, anarchist activist, and vegan.
I believe that everyone, like me, is internally ‘selfish’, acting exclusively in their own self-interest (though they may not realize it) and may externally appear selfless.
I also don’t believe in “free-will”
So this is purely a theoretical discussion for me, as we’re talking about something I don’t believe in
Hey again, sorry if I scared you away, I know the extremes of it are delicate and unattractive. Just wanted to clear the air a little more regarding the morality being a spook thing; would things like morality being a consequence of consciousness a good way of describing what you mean? Like our sense of time? That it’s our ability to be concious to the extent we are that gives birth to these things in the first place? If so, my refute—still humbly ignorant to what you meant exactly—would be that just because there’s no one around to be concious of the tree falling in the woods doesn’t mean it’s not happening, and that it didn’t exist. We’ve came up with ways to understand that xyz object(s) are this or that years old and etc. It doesn’t mean things like morality and time aren’t real in my opinion, I think it means that there’s something that actually exists able to comprehend them and to organize something like time the way we do/did, and to imagine morality in our minds to the extent we do in contrast to anything; that yes, the fact that we’re concious of such things does give life them, indeed. I think it points more in the direction of the significance of my point of view on it ironically. That it’s more of an obligation therefore even, or a responsibility to be as selfless as possible.
No, you’re okay! Sorry I haven’t responded yet; I think about you every time I post and comment lol. This kind of discussion just takes more cognitive effort than shitposting. I will respond eventually 😅
Haha no I totally hear you! That’s why it took me so long to reply as well because I wanted to make sure I wasn’t feeling rushed through it and had plenty of time to really take my time with it.