Friday, November 03, 2006
The Individual and the Collective
by Mike Van Dam
In the individual we find the reference point of all experience. Any event in history far or near involving one or many people is experienced directly by ourselves or reported to us by another individual. Any group, tribe, collective, race, or nation is composed of individuals. The qualities and characteristics of any group will be displayed in the behavior and makeup of the individuals in the group. Therefore it is in the individual that the code or patterns that characterize any group are carried. Weather it be DNA, language, attitudes, values, traditions, collective memory, all the manifold, mental even spiritual traits of a culture are carried and passed on from individual to individual.
Lets consider for a moment group mind. People will instinctively adopt as normal, behaviors and attitudes that are an average of the group that they identify with. In this context the group seems to have much more influence on the individual than the individual has on the group. Also consider often times we see a general evolution in the thought, awareness, and attitudes of a group of people. At some point one or a few individuals will articulate, inspire and challenge the people to embrace an emerging more enlightened set of values or to the adherence to fundamental values in light of growing decay.
In the latter case it can be seen that the trend in thought and feeling is already taking place in society at large and it is the role of the leader to focus that awareness of the group mind on its higher values. It is the role of the false leader to focus awareness on fears and selfish instincts. Selfishness in this case will be the well fair of the perceived group to the exclusion of others. In the former case where the group mind is of omnipotence it will be seen that this group thought is qualified and validated in the individual only. Also individuals accept or reject the general trend to widely varying degrees, with some people taking the group thought almost wholly, unconsciously and consciously as their framework of reality. While others consciously reject vast aspects of cultural attitudes and assumptions.
In either case it is the individual that looks to varying degrees either wholly or in part to the people around him or herself for a sense of identity and validation, as well as for an understanding of the world in which one lives. This is the process of learning or learned behavior, including attitudes, beliefs, traditions, and assumptions. Much of it is unconscious and non-verbal. In this process the individual takes, as one's own the language, attitudes, assumptions, beliefs, and traditions of the family and varying degrees of community. Again while it is the group thought that has overwhelming influence on the education of the individual, it is the individual in which these conventions are imbued, there only connection point with the objective world. In as much as individuals within a group are dependant on group identity the matter of indoctrination of the young takes on greater importance to sustain and reinforce the group identity, and therefore the identity of the dependent individuals.
It can be seen from the foregoing discussion that it is the individual's desire for identity and the thought and feeling about oneself and others that give life to any form of group identity. Therefore it can be seen that the driving force behind individual as well as any kind of group identity is "Individual Desire".
Therefore if individual desire is the driving force in society and as we have demonstrated society has an overwhelming influence on the individual. Then for the benefit of the individual and the society would be the acknowledgement of individual desire as well as it protection and nourishment. Desire by its very definition to be exercised and fulfilled requires freedom of choice. In this sense freedom of choice can be seen to be the greatest gift a family or society can give to the individual and in fact is much more. This gift represents the respect and appreciation for the very life of the individual and the society in which she lives. A healthy society requires a healthy individual and a healthy individual requires the utmost freedom of choice.
This is what the framers of the American Constitution meant with the words "We hold certain rights inalienable, that all men are created equal and have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. In addition to this core understanding we have the teachings of wisdom. These include ethics, morals, values, and spiritual teachings that show the benefit and folly of different paths of desire. We also have a body of Law, which is meant to protect and define basic rights and protect against the disrespect of those rights. A person who disrespects the rights of another has often learned this by having their own rights disrespected. Disrespect breeds disrespect and as well Respect breeds Respect.
Since it is desire and the freedom of choice that is life itself, disrespect for this will breed destruction and disintegration, to the individuals and the society in which they live. Therefore a great society requires great freedom and great freedom will be in need of great wisdom. The universal experience of desire is at its core the universal experience of Love, which can only express itself in Freedom.
In the individual we find the reference point of all experience. Any event in history far or near involving one or many people is experienced directly by ourselves or reported to us by another individual. Any group, tribe, collective, race, or nation is composed of individuals. The qualities and characteristics of any group will be displayed in the behavior and makeup of the individuals in the group. Therefore it is in the individual that the code or patterns that characterize any group are carried. Weather it be DNA, language, attitudes, values, traditions, collective memory, all the manifold, mental even spiritual traits of a culture are carried and passed on from individual to individual.
Lets consider for a moment group mind. People will instinctively adopt as normal, behaviors and attitudes that are an average of the group that they identify with. In this context the group seems to have much more influence on the individual than the individual has on the group. Also consider often times we see a general evolution in the thought, awareness, and attitudes of a group of people. At some point one or a few individuals will articulate, inspire and challenge the people to embrace an emerging more enlightened set of values or to the adherence to fundamental values in light of growing decay.
In the latter case it can be seen that the trend in thought and feeling is already taking place in society at large and it is the role of the leader to focus that awareness of the group mind on its higher values. It is the role of the false leader to focus awareness on fears and selfish instincts. Selfishness in this case will be the well fair of the perceived group to the exclusion of others. In the former case where the group mind is of omnipotence it will be seen that this group thought is qualified and validated in the individual only. Also individuals accept or reject the general trend to widely varying degrees, with some people taking the group thought almost wholly, unconsciously and consciously as their framework of reality. While others consciously reject vast aspects of cultural attitudes and assumptions.
In either case it is the individual that looks to varying degrees either wholly or in part to the people around him or herself for a sense of identity and validation, as well as for an understanding of the world in which one lives. This is the process of learning or learned behavior, including attitudes, beliefs, traditions, and assumptions. Much of it is unconscious and non-verbal. In this process the individual takes, as one's own the language, attitudes, assumptions, beliefs, and traditions of the family and varying degrees of community. Again while it is the group thought that has overwhelming influence on the education of the individual, it is the individual in which these conventions are imbued, there only connection point with the objective world. In as much as individuals within a group are dependant on group identity the matter of indoctrination of the young takes on greater importance to sustain and reinforce the group identity, and therefore the identity of the dependent individuals.
It can be seen from the foregoing discussion that it is the individual's desire for identity and the thought and feeling about oneself and others that give life to any form of group identity. Therefore it can be seen that the driving force behind individual as well as any kind of group identity is "Individual Desire".
Therefore if individual desire is the driving force in society and as we have demonstrated society has an overwhelming influence on the individual. Then for the benefit of the individual and the society would be the acknowledgement of individual desire as well as it protection and nourishment. Desire by its very definition to be exercised and fulfilled requires freedom of choice. In this sense freedom of choice can be seen to be the greatest gift a family or society can give to the individual and in fact is much more. This gift represents the respect and appreciation for the very life of the individual and the society in which she lives. A healthy society requires a healthy individual and a healthy individual requires the utmost freedom of choice.
This is what the framers of the American Constitution meant with the words "We hold certain rights inalienable, that all men are created equal and have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. In addition to this core understanding we have the teachings of wisdom. These include ethics, morals, values, and spiritual teachings that show the benefit and folly of different paths of desire. We also have a body of Law, which is meant to protect and define basic rights and protect against the disrespect of those rights. A person who disrespects the rights of another has often learned this by having their own rights disrespected. Disrespect breeds disrespect and as well Respect breeds Respect.
Since it is desire and the freedom of choice that is life itself, disrespect for this will breed destruction and disintegration, to the individuals and the society in which they live. Therefore a great society requires great freedom and great freedom will be in need of great wisdom. The universal experience of desire is at its core the universal experience of Love, which can only express itself in Freedom.
