Post by Elliot Kane on Nov 4, 2009 13:12:26 GMT
Driving Force: Inadequacy
The universe is vast, and we humans are small, weak, insignificant and powerless. Stuck in a remote arm of a spiral galaxy far from the centre of the universe, we are confined to a tiny ball of mud we cannot even work out how to leave. Our brief mayfly lives are the merest flicker in the eye of eternity: pointless, meaningless and utterly without value. Even on the tiny mud ball, we are one species amongst many; just another type of monkey. And with the number of other monkeys already on the mud ball, is it not fair to say that you and I and everyone we know are about as important as a single speck of space dust? If that?
Are you rebelling yet? If so, you are not alone. It is one of our particular traits as a species that we see all this and we answer, "No. We are not 'nothing'. I am not 'nothing'! I will show you all!"
If humanity can be said to have a driving force that underlies our desire to understand the universe, to control its forces and to find our true place in it, it is surely this: we are driven by a collective and personal sense of inadequacy. We wish to prove our true worth to others and thus to the universe itself.
In its more shallow manifestations, this manifests as the 'cult of celebrity' - people who will do anything at all for a taste of fame. To try to gain acclaim. To be seen by others as having worth. Celebrity is thus an end in itself, rather than a result of achievement or accomplishment. And the root cause for such utter desperation is the worst type of inadequacy: the feeling that worth may only be gained through the acclaim of others.
For the majority of us, fortunately, acclaim is nice but the driving force is accomplishment. We may each define that in our own way, but we derive our sense of worth from excellence in our chosen field. A singer may never achieve worldwide fame, but if her audiences love her performances she can feel good about herself. A geneticist may discover a new strand of DNA as part of a team and though his name may never be known, he will know his accomplishments. He will feel worthy. They will both have proved the universe wrong: showed that in some small way, they matter.
And that's what 'life' is to most of us, really. It's certainly what underlies most of human achievement throughout the ages. All the power fantasies in literature - the stories of high adventure with impossible heroes and heroines who accompllish marvels undreamed of - are inspirational tracts that help us to dream of being more than we are. And make us aspire to become so.
More dangerously, of course, it also underlies all those politicians on power trips. Wondering why some idiot just started a mad foreign adventure in the face of all sense that got so many people butchered? That's why. He's trying to prove he matters.
The same thing motivates the teen trying to sleep with everything that moves (What is he trying to prove? And to whom?), the junkie (Who is trying to forget her own inadequacy)... You get the idea.
As with all other aspects of humanity, we both lose and gain from our sense of inadequacy; from our powerlessness. It can lead us to utterly destructive behaviour, but it is also our glory: we could not reach so high, did we not feel like we began so low.
The next time you feel small, or inadequate, or overwhelmed by the world, think of this: human inadequacy is the greatest power for change our world has ever known. It gives you more power, more ability, than you will likely ever know. How will you use yours to change the world?
The universe is vast, and we humans are small, weak, insignificant and powerless. Stuck in a remote arm of a spiral galaxy far from the centre of the universe, we are confined to a tiny ball of mud we cannot even work out how to leave. Our brief mayfly lives are the merest flicker in the eye of eternity: pointless, meaningless and utterly without value. Even on the tiny mud ball, we are one species amongst many; just another type of monkey. And with the number of other monkeys already on the mud ball, is it not fair to say that you and I and everyone we know are about as important as a single speck of space dust? If that?
Are you rebelling yet? If so, you are not alone. It is one of our particular traits as a species that we see all this and we answer, "No. We are not 'nothing'. I am not 'nothing'! I will show you all!"
If humanity can be said to have a driving force that underlies our desire to understand the universe, to control its forces and to find our true place in it, it is surely this: we are driven by a collective and personal sense of inadequacy. We wish to prove our true worth to others and thus to the universe itself.
In its more shallow manifestations, this manifests as the 'cult of celebrity' - people who will do anything at all for a taste of fame. To try to gain acclaim. To be seen by others as having worth. Celebrity is thus an end in itself, rather than a result of achievement or accomplishment. And the root cause for such utter desperation is the worst type of inadequacy: the feeling that worth may only be gained through the acclaim of others.
For the majority of us, fortunately, acclaim is nice but the driving force is accomplishment. We may each define that in our own way, but we derive our sense of worth from excellence in our chosen field. A singer may never achieve worldwide fame, but if her audiences love her performances she can feel good about herself. A geneticist may discover a new strand of DNA as part of a team and though his name may never be known, he will know his accomplishments. He will feel worthy. They will both have proved the universe wrong: showed that in some small way, they matter.
And that's what 'life' is to most of us, really. It's certainly what underlies most of human achievement throughout the ages. All the power fantasies in literature - the stories of high adventure with impossible heroes and heroines who accompllish marvels undreamed of - are inspirational tracts that help us to dream of being more than we are. And make us aspire to become so.
More dangerously, of course, it also underlies all those politicians on power trips. Wondering why some idiot just started a mad foreign adventure in the face of all sense that got so many people butchered? That's why. He's trying to prove he matters.
The same thing motivates the teen trying to sleep with everything that moves (What is he trying to prove? And to whom?), the junkie (Who is trying to forget her own inadequacy)... You get the idea.
As with all other aspects of humanity, we both lose and gain from our sense of inadequacy; from our powerlessness. It can lead us to utterly destructive behaviour, but it is also our glory: we could not reach so high, did we not feel like we began so low.
The next time you feel small, or inadequate, or overwhelmed by the world, think of this: human inadequacy is the greatest power for change our world has ever known. It gives you more power, more ability, than you will likely ever know. How will you use yours to change the world?