An Open Letter: The Grand Iteration
Every single individual soul plays a role in the advancement of Humanity.
*This essay was inspired by a particularly saddening post on a social medium. I thought it of the utmost importance to get this idea out rapidly so as to hopefully save a life from doing something regrettable — Brooke, you are far more valuable to the world, as is everyone else out there, than you may understand. Let this be an attempt to effectively explain, albeit it maybe not the best attempt.
To whom it may concern,
The standardized public education system has failed (among many, many things) to effectively teach one of life’s most important lessons. Important for seeding value into the individual, and inspiring the individual towards growth. A law of nature that is hidden deep behind life’s machinations. While so many of us get lost in the brutality of life & death, or in enjoying the beauty of wondrous landscapes, there’s a mechanism at work behind the scenes. Behind all of the struggle, the failure, the success, the heartache, the pain, the pleasure, the joy, and the ecstasy.
Every single life plays a very, very valuable role.
Life’s Value
How many of you have ever stopped to consider ‘why is Life valuable,’ in any serious extent. I mean seriously considered it. How many. How many have approached this question from a rationalist or objectivist position? Considering my rhetorical structuring, I clearly assume that it’s not many. Seeing how so much of The West is completely drowning in their own emotions for lack of rational understanding & acceptance of the reality that consumes them, I’m sitting quite confident that I am accurate in my assumptions.
First, let’s establish that my use of “life” in the context of this essay will pertain to the act of living whereas “Life” will refer to the broad spectrum that encompasses living organisms in general.
Why is Life valuable?
Is Life simply valuable because it is? As if there is some intrinsic quality to simply existing, wandering aimlessly, carelessly converting molecules. No, this is not why Life is valuable.
Is Life valuable because of… consciousness? I would argue no. Consciousness, at least our understanding of it, is quite fleeting and evasive. Not to mention simply knowing you are your own individual is not necessarily valuable in its own right either, that depends on the individual’s spiritual, emotional, and intellectual dispositions.
Is Life made valuable because of doing moral acts on to others? No because that would mean evil acts devalue Life. When, to the contrary, it is in moments of great despair that we often find the most beauty. The great Yin & Yang.
Is Life valuable because of love? No. Love is an intent to preserve & promote the life of an other and one another. Love does not exist beyond Life. So it cannot also be what gives Life value. Love is an augment to Life.
My answer? to what gives Life value?
Potential.
Detour
Quickly let’s take a detour. This will help me more effectively get my point across.
Why is it that the United States of America quickly rose in prominence? Exclude the realities of the great oil trades during WWII, or the great tycoons of industry, or the bankers, or the Skull & Bones fraternity. The USA rose quickly due to rapid technological advancement. Why was this capable of occurring?
Because entrepreneurs were allowed to think freely and try new things and the government broader stood out of the way of the engineers and free-thinkers (or they bought/stole their ideas after being proven successful). When any average citizen is capable of trying something new with cheap, commonly accessible parts and be able to replicate it to produce a product that provides value to the market, the market funnels cash towards these individuals in order to profit from the new innovation. Mix that with the USA’s access to oil, single best geography to promote trade, agriculture and defense, and… BANG. Innovation hub of the world. Like a big bang.
Free markets provide far greater improvements than any government entity. Governments are like insecure councils of old men & women; they prefer echo chambers and tradition. Both of which are antithetical to new think; by relation innovation. Now, what I’m not suggesting is that the US is some perfect free market — it most certainly is not.
However, creative destruction is necessary for improvement and innovation. Now, because our human brains are built to fear loss, protecting ourselves and what we have more than seeking to gain, we all tend to focus on the destruction portion. Without honestly looking at how that creative destruction occurs. New thinking requires not only events and experiences, but more importantly it requires new life.
A new life with a new way of thought because of new perceptions of experiences to try a new method and provide a new answer to a problem.
New Life
Here is where we get back to our path. I think it is widely accepted, for good reason, that each and every individual is special. Every single child experiences the world differently, is raised differently, moves differently, and perceives life differently. Meaning every single one of us has the potential to think about a problem in a manner that has never been conceived or acted upon to a great enough extent to provide a change to the world. Especially if the world doesn’t realize they needed it.
Remember the iPhone? I do. When it came out, the vast majority of “experts” thought that it was a silly device, void of value to the average individual. (The jailbroken iPhones were so much fun; downloading apps for free from the App Store felt like getting away with a grand heist.)
This exemplifies the value to each and every life: potential.
Now the question beckons; how do we excite potential across (human) Life broader? The answer to that question is found in the most effective method in teaching, whether teaching children or adults. Regardless of any mewling from the “grown” children that masquerade as adults, we all learn the same way in any actual effective manner of the concept. We learn via our passions.
Whether its in the eyes of a child or in the eyes of a parent, you can see & feel the sensation when the student experiences a revelation. A spark in their soul that ignites the greatest of all human emotions; the trancelike state of wonder. We all learn faster, both in depth and in breadth, when we are enjoying what it is we are doing. It can be woodworking, welding, drawing, painting, engineering, bodybuilding, reading, writing, gardening, ranching, farming, it doesn’t matter — you will improve your skills at an astounding rate if you’re enjoying the activity.
Why is this valuable to humanity as a whole? How is it that your life impacts anybody else?
Those individuals that chase their passions for passions’ sake gain expertise, and that expertise is valuable to many others. Many times in manners that are not foreseeable or conceivable. Inadvertently pushing innovation. By providing a service through their passions, they also further improve innovation by improving the lives of an other. The musician helps the engineer decompress. The developer that spends her nights up late will appreciate the gardening tutorials produced by a hobbyist — helping her maintain her own mental health, allowing her to continue providing a service to her employer. Enabling innovation, directly and indirectly.
This is how all of Life progresses. It doesn’t matter if it’s a human city or an anthill or beehive. Success is achieved because all are chasing what they’re best at. That can include making mistakes or being wrong, it doesn’t matter. Mistakes are part of the creative & innovative processes. This can’t be acted-out without Freedom, the Freedom to be anything and do anything we desire (as long as we aren’t inflicting damage or pain onto others with intent).
This is why America and Capitalism are so unbelievably powerful and important.
This is why each and every individual plays a very, very powerful role.
This is why each and every individual misunderstands the power that they hold.
Potential is a power of the future, while authority is a power of the past. Potential has no limits.
We all experience value from that feeling of being useful, or in-service, to another. That value expands when it is provided via a passion that we enjoy in and of itself.
Life Is Valuable
We are each valuable because of our potential that we have yet to experience ourselves. Feelings of inadequacy hurt, but its just a message stating that there is a better way. All sensations we experience are simply a reflection of the state of our reality: hot, cold, pain, pleasure, hunger, thirst, satiation, contentment. What you’re feeling will tell you you’re either doing something correctly, or that changes need to be made.
Life has value because of the potential impact on an innumerable amount of souls. Whether we improve the lives of one soul, or one billion, this is the value of each life. Any individual has the capability to improve a countless number of lives. Making each life lost a loss of a potential to cracking the solution to what we perceive as science fiction, or walking an individual back from a ledge. Both are great feats.
Life is valuable because of potential; potential is limitless; making Life valuable beyond measure. Every living organism is a step along the march of Life to attempt to produce an ever-improving smarter, stronger creature. Life is simply about finding the next best thing, and leveraging what is the current thing.
This is also the value to producing a family. While the mother and father have their own potential, they also have the potential to produce a very strong, very intelligent, and very capable individual that could provide a priceless solution in the future.
Your life has value.
A new way of looking at the situation may provide you with powerful insight.
All lives are improved by the others we share this existence with.
— I hope this helped… anybody really… in some manner —