People...

...and why they suck.


People. Don't you just, sometimes, wanna just...[handwaving]. Anyways.

People, for the most part, are horrible creatures. But they are trying. What I mean to say is, we have so many faults and shortcomings. We are petty, violent, vain, insecure, illogical, self-centered and a host of other adjectives. To make things worse, we have good intentions. Yes, our "good intentions" is a quality that is perhaps the worst thing about us. How?

When a person makes a choice to punch his wife, or eat a slice of pizza or jump off a bridge, they are doing what they know is right. The proof to this is the fact that they are doing what they're doing. Don't give me crap about not being in control, being forced or not having a choice. You do what you do, consciously, because you know that action to be the correct one at that moment. You know that it's right, otherwise you wouldn't do it and would do something that is right. Equivalently, people do always think they are right. If they knew they weren't, they'd change their ideas so that they were right.

People know that the choice they made is right, and they know that what they are doing is the right action. And there lies the problem. These imperfect beings use their imperfect minds and consider information that is imperfect and mostly incorrect. A person who thinks they are right all the time has to be wrong pretty often. What comes out of this curious mix? People who are flawed in every way believe that they are right about eveything they do. You're better off giving a chainsaw to a blind guy.

Look around. Look at anything that is wrong with this world, and at the center you will find a person with a very curious outlook on the world. The war in the Middle East? Two people know they are right about something a third person has done. He was also sure he was doing the right thing. Global warming? People, all along the way, who poluted the air have done so not for fame, sometimes for profit, but always because they felt it was the right thing to do.

Is this a blanket? Can I stick anything under this explanation? Short answer: yes. Longer answer: anything with a person, or persons, as the cause can be explained simply as people being themselves. I can't say that the dinosaurs dying out was caused by a single person doing what they thought was right. That's ridiculous and that's not the way causality works. But, and this is sorta important, in order to understand the actions of others, think back to this. A monk set himself on fire not because he was cold, but because he knew that was the right thing to do. Some people got together and destroyed the World Trade Center. Because that was the right thing to do. If you want to understand why a person does something that makes absolutely no sense, put yourselves in their shoes and try to understand: they are doing what they know is right; just like you.

A while back I was wrapping my head around the Spanish Inquisition. Why would a person, subjected to torture and death, simply not admit to a belief in some different (or slightly different, even) deity and belief system? Why not tell them what they want to hear but keep your own religion? If you're confused, try to think of something you cherish immensely. I would use my example of books. If someone told me that I would die unless I stopped reading books forever, and told others to follow my lead, would I do it? Would you give up something so touching and important?

What's the solution? Well, it would be nice if people considered the effect their actions are going to have on others, but when's that going to happen?