The Delusion of Necessity -- What Truly Makes Something Necessary (PIN)
Updated: 4 days ago
The one thing that prevents humanity from destroying itself is the initially-forced belief that there are things we must do, and things we must not do. Without this societal delusion, civilizations would fall into anarchy, all because people have the potential to realize that nothing actually stands in their way to oppose the norms, oppose the law, oppose religion, and even oppose the will to remain alive. It is the nature of ideologies to restrain you, logically or otherwise. Morally or otherwise. Even if this opposition fails, the mere attempt to restrain you, is something that cannot be completely annihilated.
It matters not if the ideology in mind is reasonable. It matters if it appears reasonable to those indoctrinated to it. Because when you are an army general who reviews your troops in front of you, what makes them not execute you is the notion that there are things they must and mustn't do, regardless of whether or not that reasoning is true.
It all begins, for many, in formal education, where we are required to attend kindergarten and later, school. In there, we learn the most important insight that keeps us in line for the rest of our lives: that the will of society and/or religion is more important than our own, even in fields that do not concern them, such as sexuality and our decision to resume living. Once we begin to believe that we as individuals do not matter as much as the will of others, then begins the lifelong delusion of necessity. In fact, we do not need to do anything, not even live, not even care, and not even love.
It is a very brutal and harsh truth, but it is correct. You can technically drop out of school, for example, by not attending it too long, be expelled from military service, be unemployed, disappoint your parents and family, get fired from your job, and again, kill or try to kill yourself. These choices are yours to make. Be loyal to the delusion of necessity like a dog, like I was, and you will better survive in these frameworks... Even at the cost of your mental health.
Beyond the delusion that there are things you must and mustn't do, your sphere of actions is far wider than you might think. The said delusion is, logically, one of the few things that actually stand in your way — the mental blockade, imprinted in your consciousness by society.
In reality, what's only necessary depends on prerequisites and nothing more. Things don't matter because someone said they are. Negative. Things matter only by their logical value as a means to an end. "A" is necessary not because it is highly valued or even worshipped by others. "A" is necessary only if it is a perequisite to "B". If "A" is not a perequisite then it has no reason to be necessary, no matter how much it will be loved, adored, respected and saluted.
And what determines "B" is your desire or need for "B" to happen. Therefore, "A" is necessary only if you are interested in "B" to happen. "A" is a means to an end. I "must live" because I want to work on Philosocom as far as I can. I can't work on Philosocom if I'm dead. Thus, I must live for Philosocom to be worked on by me. It is that simple. No emotion or subjective value is necessary for this cold, pure logic. Subjectivity may be important at times. It's important when you need to regard other people's emotions or your emotions as perequisites for "B" to occur. In this logic, it does not. For I became dead inside.
Many of our worries are but social constructs. The fear of "what people would think of me", "what would happen if my partner would dump me", "what happens if I'll die alone and childless" — all of these are examples of beliefs that we learn to be anxious about by the demand of our social environment, whether or not the objects of these worries would happen. There is no such thing as an "inhumane" human, for anything we do is human, for they occur and can occur by humans. It's just that we learn that there are things that are "human-like" and things that are not. Likewise, mass murder and even cannibalism — all are human acts, done by humans, capable, by humans, illegal or legal, punished or unpunished. There is no one way to be human. For one is already a human. Whether an empath or a psychopath.
Hitler himself was human, was he not? He wasn't an alien, a demon or a beast — some of us have his own type of blood, even. It all goes to show, how evil, insane, anti-social or "inhumane" we humans can be, and by "we" I also include myself, as much as I include any other human that has lived, that is living and that will ever live. It is morality that restraints us, as with the example of Gandhi.
The biggest obstacle that lies in our path, is the belief that we shouldn't, that we are prohibited; a belief forged by those who wish to keep us in line, to be nice, and to keep our thoughts to ourselves.
Even when it comes to religion and to the notion of heaven and hell, nothing actually requires us to be religious, for paradise is a reward, and hell, a punishment. We do not have to be in heaven as much as we don't have to be in hell, for we have the freedom to choose, just as we have the ability to choose to be normal or abnormal, successful or unsuccessful, and so on.
Once we realize that we don't owe anything to anyone (regardless of the consequences of our smart or stupid actions), the sphere of our potential shall be revealed to be far bigger than initially believed to be. The only exception are the responsibilities we purposefully take upon ourselves. And even then, it is our choice to be loyal to our own word, like gentlemen.
What, however, makes us afraid? To be disapproved or condemned by others, and to be thought poorly by them. This is why many who abide to the norms, just for that, are technically, cowards. Even if some of them live in liberal democracies, where the law gives you greater freedoms. Freedom has a darker side, but it does not mean that you need to be governed by your fears. Especially if they stand in your way for the mentioned "B" to occur. If I were you, I'd murder much of it.
Honesty requires a lot of courage, and thus, many people would choose to remain silent. Such fear is a great obstacle for the philosopher, and thus, even if condemned by others, their job is to not only find the truth, but to confess it to the world.
Of course, I do not support nor intend to incite any of the immoral, "inhumane", dark, or otherwise-stupid things I mentioned that you can do. Just because you can do them, doesn't mean you should. Why make choices that will be against your interests? Intentional counter-productivity is stupidity. I'm only showing what you're capable of. Ultimately, it is a choice, rather than a recommendation or a complete inability.
What I do want to encourage you to do, however, is to realize that you can do more, beyond what you are told you should and shouldn't do.
This realization has made me, at least, who I am today. A better, stronger and wiser verison of myself. A mastermind. I studied Heisenberg from "Breaking Bad" and I figured out how I can surpass him. I now have what I need, for "B" to succeed. What is truly necessary. Anything else is far less important by comparison, only because of the cold logic that says it is not as necessary as the insights I aquired.
All I am left to do is to prove more and more why Chen was wrong.
