The Philosophy Book

Why Men Share - An Allegory

2005-06-02T10:54:00.000-04:00

In a group of 10 men, there is a man who is the strongest. On any bright and sunny day, if these men go out into a wide-open flat field, that man would be able to beat up the other 9. He could beat them to a bloody pulp, taking all they have and making himself the god of his world.

But for whatever reason, when it rains, that man loses his edge. He becomes clumsy in the rain. Thus, on that same flat field in the rain, a second man becomes the strongest.

Yet, on a slanted field in the rain, another of the men is most adept at winning fights. On a slanted field in the sun, yet another man is most adept. In the woods, yet another man. In the woods and in the snow, yet another man.

At any one specific moment in time and at a specific place, there is one man of the ten who could dominate the rest. Yet, time and space are constantly changing. The man who at one moment is the dominator becomes the dominated the next.

These men eventually realize this situation. They have no control over time. The men have no control over the weather, which affects their effectiveness. They have no control over the wildlife that migrates in and out of certain spaces, causing the men to move from place to place.

The world around these men, as for all men, is constantly changing. The world is in flux.

The man who is the strongest at any given moment could try and dominate the rest. But by the time he’s about to dominate, the world as changed, and he has lost his edge. Instead of these 10 men attempting to dominate, failing, and repeating the cycle throughout all time, they decide to share. They decide to live in harmony. They decide to share laws. Live as equals.

They do this, not because its god’s way, or because it’s the inherently right way, but because it’s the smartest way, the easiest way, the most beneficial way for all 10 men.
They decide to be equal in domination, not over each other, but over the physical world around them. They create laws and rules. They create different roles for themselves. One focuses on hunting, another becomes a doctor, another is the carpenter. Together, they are a unit.

Chapter Four - Sharing

2005-05-26T10:51:00.000-04:00

Others Exist.

Just like I exist, and you exist. Others exist. Deal with it.

Others want to be free, to follow their own will, to create, to enjoy, to live.

There are finite things in the world. You’ll need to deal with that too. Finite space. Finite food. Finite lovers. Finite resources. Finite things.

If I was a supreme being, a god, who was stronger and smarter and everything-er, than perhaps I’d be able to live my life with complete and utter disregard for others. I’d just do with the world and others as I saw fit. I’d take everything for myself, and only share to a select few who I saw fit.

As you may know though, I am not a god. No one is a god. The whole idea of godliness is a human invention. In reality, we are imperfect beings. We have capabilities and many incapacities. For every tall man there is the reciprocal. Same for the fat, fast, strong, smart, and healthy man. You get the point.

Thus, even if I wanted the entire world to be mine, I couldn’t have it all. I’m telling you now, I am selfish, and want to the whole world as my own, but I cannot have it. Not because of my compassion for others, but simply because I am in imperfect being. I cannot do everything I can conceive of.

Instead of failing miserably in my attempt to hoard the world’s finite things, I decide to share. I divide. I let others have theirs, so long as I get mine. I discuss with others the best way to split things. I debate the best ways to do so. I make sure I get a fair deal, but recognize that you want your way. We eventually come to decisions. We create solutions.

There are other options than being able to have everything and sharing evenly. We could have fought it out, perhaps to the death. But for me at least, this is impractical. Most likely I’d have lost, been injured, killed.

The decision to consult with others and share the world is a choice. It is neither a deed nor a duty.

There are no duties. Life is duty-free.

Everything that we do and believe in, we do so because it is our choice.

We believe in god or gods because we want to believe in god, just as we believe in gravity because we want to.

Mainly we believe in things because these beliefs are useful to us. Useful for our individual and collective needs.

This is why I believe in sharing. Not because sharing is a duty, or some eternal truth, or a gift from god, but because sharing is useful to me and people as a whole.

Chapter Three - Selfishness

2005-05-25T11:02:00.000-04:00

I’m selfish.

I want to live my own life, by my own will, desiring what I want to desire, and living for as long as I see fit.

I disagree with any morality or system of laws or constitution that does not comply with my selfish needs. I don’t want to be restricted. I do not want to be held in shackles. I don’t want to be critiqued or judged or spied upon or prevented from doing or injured.

I want to run like a naked soul through the world. The world should be my playground.

Chapter Two - Conflict

2005-05-24T13:03:00.000-04:00

Sure, at times our living creates competition and conflict.

We desire sex. We compete for mates. We desire food. We compete for food.

Isn’t that life in a nutshell? We want to live and keep on living. Whatever we’ve come to as a species has descended from our simple desire to keep on living. And ‘desire’ is really the wrong word, because historically we haven’t consciously desired to live. We simply managed to continue existing, and that is why we are all still here. That is why there has been and there will be.
Let yourself live. Let your contemporaries live. Let your descendants live.

Chapter One - What Are We Doing Here?

2005-05-23T22:51:00.000-04:00

There’s so much to say. We know so little.

Be honest now, you know very little. Each of is an expert on something: astronomy, pop culture, sports, whatever. We each store millions of facts, know so much about the specific, but know so little about the general.

The most general question being, ‘What are we doing here?’

Maybe finding God. Trying to become wealthy. Getting to heaven. How bout getting a good job and being successful. But these all seem to cover up our lack of real purpose.

The thing is, we have no purpose. No raison d’etre.

We simply are. Deal with it. No need for lies, and universal truths about life and other eternal bull shit.

We are simply alive.

So live it up, and let others live it up.

That’s basically it, all I have to say. Live and let live. Do and let others do.
Let me be. Let him be. Let your neighbors be. Let our neighbors be.

Introduction

2005-05-23T10:54:00.000-04:00

I’m not a very good writer. But there’s only so many ways I can disseminate my thoughts. Thus you’re stuck with my inadequate authorship.

The Philosophy Book

2005-05-20T17:42:00.000-04:00

The most insightful place on the web. If you don't read The Philosophy Book, you cannot call yourself an intelligent person. It's that simple.