When I thought of writing about this topic, the idea of even thinking about it seemed quite different to me. It seemed so different in the same sense indifferent too. Because, talking about life is definitely not one of the brand new topics. Everyone in this world interprets life in various ways, according to the time and place. Yet, this is a sort of different view to the age-old topic.
To know about anything we should go in depth to the micro level. So, speaking of the interpretations of life by different sects of human beings in this world we have to probe into a common and important aspect of all those interpretations. Deep down all these interpretations are based on one common thing. An endless thirst for perfection, a perfection which is built upon imaginary thoughts. When these thoughts were positive it resulted in a positive outcome, when negative in a disaster.
One of the most popular and ancient interpretation of life is the belief on afterlife or eternal life. People, since the ancient times viewed the world as a judging ground for a grand game and expected a bonus play after the game was over. And this interpretation is itself a result of a sort of insecure and unsatisfied feeling. They have watered these thoughts in various forms such as religions, cults, myths, etc., The feeling that one is being judged can lead the person to feel guilty, and prison that person with guilt till the end. The thought that one should be poor and ill-treated throughout a real life without reacting against it and wait for a distant, eternal but, unsure life is an extremely blunt one. These type of interpretations are based on discontent towards life. This discontent have been kept alive throughout all the way from ancient times till now by different kinds of oppression.
We have to dig deep to find what kind of oppressions have captivated us. In the ancient times, human beings, were tree-dwellers and feared of the animals that were threatening their lives. And, they overcame this fear with the discovery of fire. Friedrich Engels have written about the discovery of fire in his work,"Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State" based on the study by Morgan, as the middle stage of Savagery. This may have sparked the first thought in the human mind for devotion.The same fire, which saved him from the animals once, became a threat, when it widespread around the forest. Thus, the fear plunge into devotion. This was probably the start, which unfortunately, never had an ending. Gradually, the human history rolled in tandem with these changing range of fears and devotions.
Incourse of time, the polygamy, polyandry which existed once were forgotten. Engels from his work of same name as mentioned above explains, "The study of primitive history, however, reveals conditions where the men live in polygamy and their wives in polyandry at the same time, and their common children are therefore considered common to them all – and these conditions in their turn undergo a long series of changes before they finally end in monogamy." and he further says, 'Reconstructing thus the past history of the family, Morgan, in agreement with most of his
colleagues, arrives at a primitive stage when unrestricted sexual freedom prevailed within the tribe, every woman belonging equally to every man and every man to every woman. Since the eighteenth century there had been talk of such a primitive state, but only in general phrases. Bachofen – and this is one of his great merits – was the first to take the existence of such a state seriously and to search for its traces in historical and religious survivals. Today we know that the traces he found do not lead back to a social stage of promiscuous sexual intercourse, but to a much later form – namely, group marriage. The primitive social stage of promiscuity, if it ever existed, belongs to such a remote epoch that we can hardly expect to prove its existence directly by discovering its social fossils among backward savages. Bachofen's merit consists in having brought this question to the forefront for examination. Lately it has become fashionable to deny the existence of this initial stage in human sexual life. Humanity must be spared this “shame.”At a certain point of time in human history, a more organised, secured culture of living begun. "The Civilisation". The objects of fear and devotion changed too. Humans' needs became different, they sought compassion, dignity, love and other sought of things from the world. And they consecrated the persons who had such qualities and injected their long held traditions, to form a religion and rules.
Doubts may arise as if where did the oppression came in. These oppressions are not external, indeed they are intimate. What they basically suppress is the curiosity in human mind. They suppress the nascent questions asked, the problems which should be risen long before amid the masses. They make us believe without evidence. As Bertrand Russell wonderfully puts it in a paradox ,"Many orthodox people speak as though it were the business of sceptics to disprove received dogmas rather than of dogmatists to prove them. This is, of course, a mistake. If I were to suggest that between the Earth and Mars there is a china teapot revolving about the sun in an elliptical orbit, nobody would be able to disprove my assertion provided if I were careful to add that the teapot is too small to be revealed even by our most powerful telescopes. But if I were to go on to say that, since my assertion cannot be disproved, it is intolerable presumption on the part of human reason to doubt it, I should rightly be thought to be talking nonsense. If, however, the existence of such a teapot were affirmed in ancient books, taught as the sacred truth every Sunday, and instilled into the minds of children at school, hesitation to believe in its existence would become a mark of eccentricity and entitle the doubter to the attentions of the psychiatrist in an enlightened age or of the Inquisitor in an earlier time" People often ask to disprove the existence of a supreme being and I would like to adapt his words for this question too,"Some people speak as if we were not justified in rejecting a theological doctrine unless we can prove it false. But the burden of proof does not lie upon the rejecter.... If you were told that in a certain planet revolving around Sirius there is a race of donkeys who speak the English language and spend their time in discussing eugenics, you could not disprove the statement, but would it, on that account, have any claim to be believed? Some minds would be prepared to accept it, if it were reiterated often enough, through the potent force of suggestion"
Credit the person who is in front of you, appreciate the person next to you, love the people around you. I personally don't have time to do all these and I won't allocate my time to a non existing one. Life is for living, live it to the fullest!
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