5 of 19

Write now Article Tools

Page 2 of 2

into the human soul by the cultural norms that a child grows up in, and these too the human soul must consider.

Since the soul sees beyond the body's mortality and is a social being united with others by complex mental and emotional bonds, the soul's concerns and desires necessarily come into direct conflict with the body's survival/reproduction wiring, from the most trivial levels to the highest.

I want to be slim, in accordance with my society's demand that attractive people be youthful-looking, but my body craves *barbecue* and *pie* and baked potatoes with all the fixings. My body, on the other hand, demands that I load up on fatty, caloric foods just in case tomorrow there's nothing to eat; anxiety about keeping fed was impressed upon the human body over generations of evolution. So who wins? Sometimes my socialized mind, powered by my soul, over-rides my body's appetite, though it may be for any number of different reasons: because of a distaste for stuffing myself while much of the world starves, or because I'm actually trying to do something for my body's long term survival that my body can't do for itself such as cut down on my cholesterol count, or because the person who made the food is someone I know to be a lousy cook, etc. The body has no such complicated concerns: it says, FEED ME, and keep feeding me until my stomach is loaded, or I might starve tomorrow!

Or: I find a man collapsed in an alley. Nobody else is around. He's well-dressed, out cold, breathing funny. My mind says, call 911, this guy's in trouble. My body says - it's just a sneaky little voice that makes me hesitate with the cell phone in my hand - my body says, look at that Rollex, that wallet-bulge in his pocket: money, shiny stuff = status, impress the guys so they're less likely to hurt you, and impress the girls = more GIRLS, better girls! TAKE THE MONEY AND THE WATCH AND RUN, nobody will know. You can still call from somewhere else, stay anonymous . . . This voice speaks in words, pretending to be the soul/mind meld, but it's really the body, trying to grab a chance to promote its own safety and status so it can get to that procreation imperative more effectively.

Meanwhile, the unconscious man starts to convulse. What do I do?

It seems to me that all of the bitter, ugly behavior of human beings, the actions that make us groan, cringe, feel sick to our stomachs and despair for the nature and future of humankind, all of that miserable stuff springs basically from the unruly insistence of the instinct-driven body on doing whatever *seems*, in the short run or the long, most likely to extend its own life and to Hell with everyone else. War, murder, robbery, merciless exploitation of others, the rape of the environment - everything links back to the body's relentless pursuit of survival at any cost (just an aside here - Robert Mugabe, just as an example among far too many like him, clings to power by any means necessary because if he is deposed, he could be prosecuted, and would probably be executed for his many decades of crime, and the body says, no, anything but that!).

My soul-infused brain tells me that caring is better, sharing is better, altruistic behavior feeds my soul on its way to becoming or joining something higher, something sublime, something worth any trial. My body says, I have to do whatever it takes to stay alive, on any terms, as long as I can and as safely cushioned in wealth and privilege as I can be.

What do I do?

And what do I do about what happens when other people make choices that they see as good for their individual survival and prosperity, but terrible for everyone else?

For me, those questions sum up the state of perpetual conflict and turmoil that we call "the human condition".

Learn more about this author, Suzy Charnas.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

• << previous page
• 1
• 2

Add your voice

Know something about The human condition?
We want to hear your view. Write now!