Until now, humanity has not written its own history but fit into it instead. However today, in our new stage of development, we will be the ones completing our history. This opportunity is being given to us for the first time after thousands of years of infancy.
Over the entire course of history, man developed under the rule of egoism, the constant growth of which automatically obligated us to search for the means and ways to satisfy our desires. In this way, nature directed our movement by basically stripping us of the freedom of will. Man did not change himself consciously; rather, nature changed him according to its program.
From our point of view, it appeared as though we changed the environment according to our requests whenever needed, but now the time has come for man to change and correspond to nature. Scientists are beginning to agree with this.
In general, what is “nature” which we have tried to conquer in vain for so long?
When a mother leaves the nursery, leaving her baby to play with his toys, does the baby feel free? Yes. He really enjoys his time alone and doesn’t understand that she is watching him with her attentive and loving eyes. He senses that he is free.
This is how “nature,” the system of governance where we exist, is concealed from us as well. It begets our sensation of freedom, although in reality freedom simply does not exist. This illusion was specifically planned by evolution so that we would develop freely in our egoism, using and following our desires as much as our nature, qualities, and possibilities would allow us.
And we thought this was good, that we could and should develop this way. Social relationships and technologies changed; we constantly changed things, hurried somewhere following the command of our essence, our growing egoistic desires. At the same time, we wanted even greater power over nature. Man did not think about what he was doing; he simply acted on his desires.
When nature gives us certain desires, we can only work within their boundaries. We cannot go beyond them. Food, sex, family, knowledge, fame, money, and power, every person has his own combination of these desires and realizes them accordingly. Nature moves us gradually from the inside, “from behind.” The impulses it awakens in us in combination with the surrounding environment determine everything.
Essentially, I represent an administrative mechanism. Desires awaken within me, certain circumstances happen, but I am limited by my morals, my physical and mental abilities, as well as the norms of my environment, and the common laws of a global nature. In the end, I merely try to realize my desires as much as possible under conditions that were not set up by me. Thus, it turns out that I am no more than an administrative mechanism. The desires and conditions are predetermined, and all this pushes me towards self-realization.
This was our path: Man’s mistakes, his good and bad actions, all of these were necessary and unavoidable in the previous stages of development until the current time. Against his will, man received innate properties and found himself in a particular environment without a choice.
And still, he did not think that all this was predetermined. Like a child, he was simply playing and feeling free due to his mother’s absence, while she simply slipped away from his field of vision.
[50176]
From the Talk about a New Book 7/18/2011
Related Material:
In Nature’s Clutches
Humanity In Transition
A Squirrel In A Cage Or A Human Being?
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