6/24/18 - "Conscience and Consciousness" We are taught at a very young age to apply our minds, to utilize our conscience, to determine right from wrong when a conflict occurs to us. I'm sure, if you were anything like myself, you found the idea silly, as it is very much intuitive knowledge in a human being. And, I find, that everyone displays a certain degree of obedience to reason in conducting theirselves as social beings. However, I also found that many of my peers had a strong propensity for cruelty, or a general lack of concern with ethical principles that I, personally, valued highly (Even as a child). As I grew older, the discrepancy between myself and my peers became less apparent or obvious, but remained fundamentally present in their consensus psyche. I also found that I tend to lose favor with an individual peer after a certain amount of involvement, and I suspect that this natural discrepancy is the culprit. People don't like to be told (Even if not directly) that they are wrong, or in any way inadequate. I don't know the experience. No one has ever given me sufficient evidence that I were inferior, in an ethical sense. Maybe you take it now, that I am mocking you, and I should feel some sense of wrongness or guilt for my "cruelty". If it is true that I am in the wrong, my conscience has nothing to say about it. I wonder, what does the conscience of another say when I point out some form of guilt to them about theirselves? I can only speculate, but I am sure, if I am accurate, that their pride flares up, and they take pride in their guilt as a psychological defense. But, back to the beginning - If we all have a certain intuitive sense of ethical conduct, why are there discrepancies among us? I would theorize that the universal mind would dictate that we all share a like-intuition for this knowledge. In some way, this must relate to maturity - As I have recognized some improvement in my peers with aging. However, I believe this improvement is related to a growing awareness of the necessity of reason, thereby yielding conformity. Most people are born with a certain amount of defiance against their conscience, so they must be instructed to obey it by their parents, but almost no child obeys the instruction of their parents over their free-will. My theory is, that most people have a greater affinity for consciousness than conscience. A lot of people like their conscience, but most favor consciousness. It's more fun for them to act freely, without concern for ethical causality. I was never much of a fan of consciousness. Perhaps, I wasn't gifted in this way (Or, cursed). It may have gotten me in trouble at school every once in a while, early on, but I overcame the tricks consciousness plays on oneself easily for my love of reason. I got into trouble more often than most of my peers, and yet, I say that I was the most mature of my peers. I also got into trouble with the law, later on, yet I maintain that I am profoundly mature. Consciousness gets everyone in one way or another, but mine was always utilized with a strong dominance of conscience. Maybe I'll always run into trouble in dealing with less ethical entities than myself. They seem to prey on me. But, I am sure, that the trouble will never stick, because I always conduct myself in flawless observation of conscience, and the conscience is a source of unlimited power. It is the one thing in life that can make you truly untouchable. No? Try me. (There goes my consciousness again, looking for trouble.) |