The Importance of Importance

When a person looks back through history, from whatever perspective, two things are abundantly clear. Humanity is suffering, and there is no mechanism to reverse the trend, and prevent the suffering. Equally clear, is the attitude, that this is a basic tenant that will never change.

History is filled with things that could never change, but of course they did. People devised ways to do impossible things, and the people who devised them were thought to be incorrect, irreverent, or impractical fools.

The body of humanity is made of all people, be they living or dead. Hopes, dreams, and plans outlive the bodies that nurtured them. So does the sorrow, despair, and anger outlive the bodies that were destroyed by them. Ideas exist for longer than the human lives that created them, and some superstitions probably appeared in the first generation of human life where they are jealously protected still, today.

It is superstition that prevents us from solving the most basic problem that exists. The problem that not only threatens the existence of each human life, but the existence of all human life. Worse, it devalues our very being, the wonder of our creation.

There is a particular superstition that has interfered with the health of humanity. This superstition has caused us to repeatedly harm ourselves throughout history. It creates the illusion that reality does not exist, and hocus-pocus does. There is no logical reason for our ineptitude. Our ineptitude is caused by purposeful disregard for the plight of our human companions.

Drugged by superstition, we observe harm inflicted on others with no remorse. As we feel our own pain we inflict more harm. Through our impaired vision we see a contest where the rules are to destroy or be destroyed. After the battles, we notice that there were not any winners, and those who were too young, too old, or to ill to fight were hurt too. The generations that follow live with sorrow, despair, and anger. They struggle to save small bits of hopes, dreams, and plans.

Absent mind altering superstition, we plainly see that either all people care for, and protect all others, or all of humanity suffers the consequences. Through superstitious eyes, even academic subjects are used to twist reality. Math and science use phony operations and tamper with data to artificially produce erroneous facts that look correct through hallucinogenic vision. Many people plainly see many of the effects of the error, but they think that they are powerless to correct it.

Religious historical accounts cover more time than more recently recorded academic studies. The human tragedies that were recorded there have been repeated so many times that present historical events are quite predictable, because they follow the same path, for the same reasons.

People are somewhat intelligent, but while we do well with abstractions, we seem incapable of taking care of our own environment. We make the world a mess, and try to raise our children there. Instead of doing something about it, we place blame and punish the “wrongdoers” who think we are the enemy. They punish us right back. In effect we are fighting in the celestial life boat that is about to sink because we are not paying attention to reality. As we try to rank people according to their “goodness or badness; cleverness or stupidity, richness or poverty,” we should be taking care of each other and the boat.

It is no secret that the environment that we share is what controls both our happiness, and our success. Yet our drug of choice, superstition, forces us to fight, demean and impoverish those who are wrongly held responsible for pain caused by the cruelty of war, economic toxicity of injustice, or the violence inflicted with poverty.

Right and wrong, good and bad, rich and poor cause people to stratify personhood. Stratification is poison in the well of humanity. A nurturing environment is the only habitable place for humanity. War, disrespect, and bigotry are inhumane. They destroy the environment for people that are here, for those yet unborn, and those who have passed after spending their lives preparing the world, for our benefit.

This world is a place where each of us have opportunities to make things better for others. When we use those opportunities we improve the world for everyone else. When others use their opportunities, they help us. Diligence and sacrifice improve the world. Making life better for everyone else is a gift to humanity. Mathematically each of us is of nearly imperceptible importance. We are like one grain of sand on a beach. Who would miss just one?

The importance of importance is immeasurable. The importance of each person to the well being of all people is immense, We must learn not to undervalue ourselves, or other human beings. We are the product of the environment that others left for us. We can make the world a wonderful place for others, who are busy making it a wonderful place for us.

The importance of importance is what makes the difference. If that one grain of sand on the beach is not important, neither is the beach. The sand is what the beach is made of. Diminishing even one person, devalues all people. As it presently stands our environment will not support peace and justice. If some people are not important to us, neither is humanity.

As Earth’s inhabitants we have the ability to take care of our human friends and our shared environment. How will we do that? When we learn the importance of importance, we will finally understand that the golden rule is economic reality, and economic reality is the golden rule.