ON THE HUMAN CONDITION (text inspired by the filmTree of Life by Terrence Malick)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRa4OBpChZo

The human child cannot survive, for a number of years, without much affection and caring from others. Therefore, the human race has not only a built-in genetic capacity but also an uncontrollable urge for acts of care and compassion towards their offspring. Another consequence of this is that, starting with the day we are born, us humans are captivated by love and care we receive from others. This strong disposition towards love is also likely the case with other mammals which need to nurture and raise their young, as opposed to fish or some lizards for example, which simply lay eggs in large numbers and then abandon them to whatever fate may come. There are obvious benefits in expanding our caring and compassionate behavior to other human beings, outside of our inner-most circle of immediate family. My reasoning here is guided by an observation that compassionate behavior can bring cohesion within any grouping of individuals, and this in turn can increase chances of survival. I think there is no a-priori offense made in considering the notion that both our capacity to provide love and our need of love are by-products of biological evolution. Let me restate the two facts: One, from the outset we are in dire need to be loved. Two, we are impelled to love. All of this is not new. Now here comes the interesting part. As we mature from child to adult, our perception also expands and we are forced to exist in a progressively bigger and bigger world. Since our starting vantage point, immediately after birth, is from within our mothers embrace, further afield the world is often uncovering its other side - the unfriendly side. We slowly learn of the innumerable different kinds of perils that we must face. We also learn of the limits of our protectors: our mother, father, family, friends... They are all limited in their capability to eradicate the pain and discomfort that we necessarily encounter. At some point we may suspect that our life's domain, our world as we experience it and which is a source of all of our inner states of mind, is perhaps unconcerned with our well-being. Can it really be the case that the Universe that surrounds and bounds us is impersonal and untouched by our fate, indifferent to whether we live or perish? This is apparently at odds with our initial experience and bilateral communication with the world immediately (and some time) after birth. Taking into account the way we are born and raised, we perceive the notion of a world which does not care for us simply - unnatural. What our natural instinct does tell us is to love and be

loved without any rational basis as a source, as these emotions predate the development of reasoning. Later in life they often take precedence over reasoning even when we are in command of this capability. We have a genetic longing for a direct and all-encompassing source and target of love, like the one we have perceived starting at infancy, when the whole world was comprised only of our parents and their affection. Our Father. Our Mother. "Our Father, who art in Heaven..." As our perceived world grows, by automatism we take our initial impressions and project them further out. Human kind therefore inevitably constructs a concept of a God, in part as a means of understanding the cosmogony but more importantly as a justification for love of the Universe towards us, and a channel to love the Universe back. Regardless of the details, all major religions in the world today teach us of a similar construct which serves our most intimate need for a source of unconditional and eternal love. Their claim is that we must be someones dear children, and that someone must deeply care for what happens to us. This is how the world must remain to be, if we cling to how our experience in individual existence has begun. Almost all of us, as infants and children, have had an intoxicating experience of life-giving love received for free, and loved in return. Understandably then, few of us are immune from a desire to remain in such a state. A God, a meta-parent, an all-powerful and ultimate protector and savior, gives us a way to keep and satisfy this most intimate need indefinitely. To understand the Universe in any other way would be to tantamount to a statement that the greatest love, security and joy we have ever experienced is merely a local and transitory phenomenon of our nurture. If you consider that in most cultures the strongest insults are usually rude statements concerning the individuals parents, to say that there is no God who loves us and who we can love, would be by definition the ultimate insult that can be given to a human being. The human need for love and desire to love is undeniable and actually one of the greatest qualities of mankind. In that respect, I feel truly sacrilegious to conclude that God is the accidental byproduct of the fact that we are not made from larvae and cannot take care of ourselves as soon as we hatch. I'm honestly deeply sorry. Sorry for every human being, including myself, since this discourse offers no remedy for its conclusions.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_0UPh5FELg

Belgrade, December 27, 2011.