Our conscious minds are always busy with controlling future events. Given the magnitude of these attempts we need tools, like agendas, notes, reminders, and also (personal financial) planning (eg, insurance, mortgage, pension). Suppose we would be in control of our lives, what would then happen and how would we feel?
I think, feel and believe that the unpredictability of Life makes our life bearable. Nevertheless, we strive for the exact opposite: control, predictability and – probably – (utter) boredom. A predictable life might even be unbearable: good things always come “late” and bad things cannot be avoided. I am sure that most of you will understand this reasoning. So, why is control that important to us?
Some might argue that we are “just” trying to create some order in a world full of chaos. Given the level of fulfilment of our basic needs (ie, clothing, food, shelter, water) that argument seems farfetched nowadays. People do want control over their lives. However, you cannot buy and use it as control is not a tangible matter. Some people do sell the notion of control. Hence, control must be a human belief. This is the essence of my Needs Wants & Beliefs concept.
The absence of total chaos in this world – or the Universe – suggests some kind of control. This very human – conscious – thought and philosophical belief, may explain why we look for individual control. The Belief systems Religion and Science offer 2 different explanations for this lack of chaos and/or “universal” control, like intelligent design vs (perfect) randomness. The Belief systems Money, Politics and the Truth, all share a long (and selfish) history with the belief of control, as rooted in Philosophy.
My recent blog Change: cause or effect?? dealt with a similar dilemma. Sometimes, we get confused about cause and effect. Control is similar to Change – in this context. My audit profession still teaches that (being in) control is an effect. You need to apply (input) certain organisational principles (eg, segregation of duties) in order to get a certain level of internal control as an effect (output). At times, company management may confuse exercising control with input rather than output.
In part 1 of the burden of consciousness, I wondered whether human consciousness is really a higher level in Life and Nature or whether it’s an anomaly in the Universe. Clearly, human consciousness is not always a blessing. Hence, the saying: ignorance is bliss, which is short for the phrase “where ignorance is bliss, ’tis folly to be wise.” (Thomas Gray, 1742).
The burden of human consciousness lies in the 6 selfish human Belief systems because: (i) the Power domain of the 7 Belief systems (ie, Money, Politics, Religion) is limited in Time, and (2) the Knowledge domain (Philosophy, Science, the Truth) seems infinite, like the Universe (Space). The burden of consciousness does not seem to apply to Love, the 7th and selfless Belief system.
This SpaceTime dimension in the human burden of consciousness, is hidden in sayings like “so many things to do, yet so little time”.
So Many Men, So Little Time (1983) by Miquel Brown
artist, FB, IMDb, lyrics, video, Wiki-1, Wiki-2
Note: Clearly, Miquel Brown was talking about lust rather than Love.
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