I ran across this some time back--totally cheered and hip-hip-hurrahed for the fact of this man's humility. And try to keep it mind, when my own ego
starts to show signs of wanting to get back up...
(down, boy, down!--just play dead until we
are dead--that's a good boy)
This story is a prime example of what this thread title summarizes--basically the way we are conditioned/driven/steered/bred in modern society makes
the ego something that people seem to want to hold on to--fake humility is always available, though--in bushels. Of course, that kind always comes at
the expense of another's reputation or even self-esteem.
But it is still far too rare of an instance when someone is willing to bluntly just declare their imperfections/shortcomings/poor
judgment/selfishness. Their SINS. We sin against each other because we feel there is something about ourselves that we must somehow hold up or
sustain.
We all do it--but for the most part, I truly believe it is not malicious, but rather simple blindness--ignorance in the purest
definition of the word.
What makes us boo-boo and blunder? Stupidity. Hardly! I mess up a lot but I am by no means stupid. Hee hee. Ego. Self-preservation was my
personal biggest handicap--still is, but at least these days I am aware of it instead of oblivious (but *ouch* that hurts worse than ignorant bliss).
I am not one to blame another party solely for disaster in which I was a willing partner, such as the media's influence on our collective human
psyche. What I mean is, we created the media, we control it even if it be in a dysfunctional inverted fashion--so its effects upon our mind boil down
to the mind games we play on ourselves...
But that's the idea behind a statement such as 'a conspiracy of the spirit,' isn't it?
Anyway, I have come to the perception that many TV shows these days-- like Survivor and those live-together reality shows--are really detrimental to
both the individual and common human objective in this age. They encourage a person to operate on a 'me-first' (or in the case of Survivor,
'me-last') mentality--and I don't see how such thinking can move us toward unity as a race (human) or help us on our individual ego-extermination
duty.
And,
Yes, that is why we are all here--all of us for the same reason--if you don't agree now then when it suddenly clarifies you'll remember
that I told you so...
We are born into this world on the strength of our newborn ego--so that we can nourish and develop our sense of self as full as possible (fatten it
up) in order to send it to the spiritual slaughter house of our choice (or 'stab it with our steely knives'--we must all kill our beast!).
Once we know we should definitely tell others what we've found out--maybe this is one conspiracy we can truly eradicate in a lifetime!