The Promise of "More"

What good is proof? Why bother with research? Why waste time finding rational answers to specific questions when, ultimately, they must then be altered to fit to a metaphysical, miracle-oriented framework? It’s like telling an engineer to build a skyscraper without using mathematics - just “eyeball” it and guess at the specifications. Do people actually think that believing in something strongly is all that’s necessary to make it work? If they do, where is their relationship with reality?

When you have no foundation, nothing solid under you, where is your concept of limits? When you have no floor how high is the ceiling? Having these enigmas in our life have led us to embrace the concept of “more”. We are never told “more” of what, but over time we learn to accept that there is this mystical thing that entitles us to “more”. I guess it makes us hopeful.

Politicians see it and use it to get elected, then opposition candidates realize if they want to replace the present leaders they must offer us even “more” of “more” during the next election. In the process our understanding of life becomes so warped by inflated expectations we no longer comprehend what’s real.

When did we begin expecting the positives to outweigh the negatives, or begin believing sorrow is anything that isn’t joyful? Up until a few generations ago joy was a momentary thing. It was encountered spontaneously in the day-to-day blur of working to feed, house, clothe, and protect ourselves - and our loved ones. Satisfaction and success were seeing your children go on to achieve the same life or, if they were lucky, a little better one than yours. There was nothing ambiguous about it.

We’ve been poisoned by hype. We have been convinced there is “more” and we are a failure at living if we don’t achieve it. Reality has become ugly. It’s boring, plain, and dull. It’s a daily grind of must do’s and should do’s, with all the fun options somewhere down the road. We have been led to believe that life must have a deeper meaning. It must be constructed to satisfy and reward us – but constructed by whom?

Is there truly a grand designer who adds meaning to our lives? Is this God’s responsibility? Has He agreed to it? Who, in fact, is pushing this upbeat tale and what is their proof? Oh, I forgot, proof is no longer a thing. We are just supposed to blindly accept our leaders pronouncements about this extra dimension in our lives, and we must agree, otherwise we have no reason to exist. What if they lie and our lives truly have no substance? Are we living fake lives to avoid looking like losers?

For every other living creature on this planet life just is. It happens, it’s lived, and then it’s over, and what they get is what they put into it. Yet, we grow up being told we are different, above the rest, entitled. Is this a deception created by people who feed our egos to gain money and power for themselves? Are we being suckered by twisted, ambitious minds that need our support to realize their selfish dreams?

Whatever the cause it has to change. In the past these beliefs may have been acceptable. Indeed they obviously were, as the entire world was able to survive in a land of make-believe with few truly Earth shattering worries. Angels, demons, ghosts, monsters, demi-gods, witches, soothsayers, and all manner of supernatural creatures and superstitions governed our actions – and still do to some extent. Every casino in the world is full of people who think the laws of chance don’t apply to them. But the world has become more complex and dangerous as cold, hard, reality is now being frowned on.

The tremendous potential in our technologies provides too many opportunities for warped individuals to gain power and initiate disasters. Nuclear conflicts, altered climates, pandemics, poisoned land, water, and air - we keep edging humanity closer to the brink - and much of it happens in our search for “more”. Control over our lives gets placed in fewer and fewer hands because we allow these frightening people to convince us “more” exists and we deserve it. One day all of this must end, perhaps badly.

Just a Picture