Should you give people exactly what they want? If we ask for something should we get it? Is getting what we want always the best outcome? I think the answer is, sometimes.
I was watching a program on the telly, they tested the effects of some anti-bacterial hand gel. Half the participants used soap and water to clean their hands, the other half used the gel. The gel people ended up with more harmful bacteria on their hands because the gel killed both the good bacteria and the bad. The good bacteria, in moderation, was having a positive effect. So is bacteria bad? Sometimes.
The tree of life, utilised by Charles Darwin, was a convenient way of organising and explaining the complexity of animal and plant life. Evolution by means of natural selection. Is this exactly how life came to be the complex array we see before us? Well yeah, mostly. Actually genes can move sideways via viral infections. So it’s only sort of like that.
The definition of a species is two types of animal who can’t bread together? But yet sometimes they can. It’s a definition much like the one that says men and women are attracted to each other. It’s mostly true, and as a means of understanding sexual reproduction it has a place but it’s not always true. The same can be said for race or nations. You could try to apply a definition but the definition, although useful, will ultimately be flawed.
And as individuals we are all flawed are we not? It’s inevitable, and with acceptance of our failings comes humility, humour and peace. I am what I am. Certainty is problematic because a sense of entitlement embedded in societies social ethical rule book takes a dim view of anyone who fails, and is therefore flawed. Confidence in one’s certainty, a clear eyed vision that skillfully edits out all that does not apply and is blind to contradiction is built on fragile foundations. If undermined by criticism certainty is cat like in it’s defence. Tearing down anything it does not like.
A shared lack of absolute certainty is the glue that holds us all together. I think this, you think that, but we both like each other anyway. Liberalism has its place but it’s over application is also problematic. Liberalism is a notion not a set of rules. Like the over application of cleanliness we edit out the rough edges but it is these sharp naggy pieces that make us whole. They never go away nor should we seek to file them off. They are the means by which we learn to overcome. Bacteria is our friend and so are our political rivals.
Once we were unaware of the virtues of cleanliness, disease spread through whole continents killing huge chunks of the population. Then we got organised, built proper drainage systems suitable for human waste, we washed our hands before eating, and avoided food that was rotten or spoiled. Disease spread less and this was a positive outcome. But are we now over applying this narrative? Are we embedded in a capitalist system that has growth at its core, so we seek to amplify further any meaningful message until everything is gone? Is it simply human nature that we always want improvement? Perhaps improving requires a different narrative?
We can’t save ourselves from everything because everything will come back and eat us whole. Don’t piss off the bacteria for they shall inherit the earth.
