About the Nature of the World

Introduction

These past couple of months I've had in my mind alot of thoughts relating to the nature of the world. Some of the thoughts I have below are hap hazardly thrown together. I'm just pitching in for what I think about the state of the world and seeing where it comes from relating back to the individual. Religion is such an important focus of people and community that I thought about organizing my thoughts around it based on what I've been exposed to and have spoken about with friends.

On Religion

Religion is a part of our everyday lives, even if we don't realize it. We see symbols and representations in things like banners, flags, and statues that help explain deeper meanings beyond the materials themselves. In traditional forms, religion provides guidance outside of our personal experiences within our own governance.

In modern times, technology and religion can seem like opposing forces. However, both play important roles in shaping culture. The tools we use become a part of our routines, which are tied to our identities. We spend hours each day using these tools, whether they're related to our jobs or not.

Sometimes, concepts and terms arise that aren't necessarily connected to the practical aspects of work. These ideas gain importance because they provide reasons for the struggles people face. Their trauma becomes a part of tradition, which is often referred to as "true" because it offers explanations for their experiences.

Intertwining complexities

In my head, this means the chaos of the world stems from a "current" justification that echoes past history. Part of it lies in our naivety to shape the world while avoiding patterns of failure we've witnessed. Just as a parent doesn't repeat the same mistakes their own parents made, they make new ones.

However, the type of exploration that once drove the mediator or shaman became a source of manipulation within the power structures of those societies. It turned into another form of control because we, as the only creatures intimately aware of our own life and death, yearn to be remembered as a substitute for immortality.

As a result, various ways to influence ourselves and others to adopt a worldview that inclines them to join it was made. For most people, the easiest path to this is through their children, this is also why we are not afraid of death - at least, not meaningless death. It's why, when we hear of a senseless death, our initial reaction is sorrow if we don't close ourselves off after a few seconds.

Sovereignty and Death

In response, we've developed rituals to help us forget death and raise ourselves above it within some communities. It's why every culture within it's own right is sovereign itself because it lifts people up to be more than skin and bone. Our own flesh denies working that way. Just as if I were to put my hand near the heat of the stove, I would instinctively move it.

Our body's natural inclination is to move it, regardless of the pain threshold, which may vary from person to person. Those who keep their hands near the stove have unwittingly deprived themselves of their body's true biological opinion. So, in today's world, whether it's mentally or physically, we construct frameworks to control nature rather than shaping our ideas of it based on what we believe we cannot control.

Pre-modern humans created mental frameworks to explain why the sun rose and how it fertilized the soil, categorically assigning each function seen and attributing it to some god. Using magical charms and symbols that had meaning between the two worlds. These charms granted special privileges to those who wielded them, providing the ability to secure a better after life. Today, and after the wake of the Renaissance, our function no longer solely depends on nature but has shifted toward reliance on technology and our inventions, which has been labeled as "scientific." However, who's to say that their bone charms and magical symbols were not "scientific" in their own way?

The Paradox

The paradox in this parallel is that these choices and decisions, unfortunately (as we really haven't found a better system in thousands of years), must often come from a few individuals because most people are functionally illiterate. They struggle to ascribe meaning to what they see or hear from within themselves. I've experienced burnout before, and teaching someone to have "will" isn't possible. You can't teach someone to care; you can only redirect their finite attention and sympathy toward something else they might care about. We've moved away from studying things through innate comparisons of our everyday lives, similar to the people who relied on charms in the past. Ironically, the greatest threat to religion today is often another form of religion. I believe this has been a challenge since the beginning of time.