h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I'd like to wax philosophical for a bit! I think a big problem in our world is a lack of respect ... let's first just consider humans. In my country, South Africa, lots of absolutely horrifying crimes are committed ... in which it is clear as crystal that the perpetrators had no respect for human life. In the worst cases this can be quite astonishing for 'ordinary' people to grasp. One tries to imagine how another human being could do such a thing ... I also see in many cases some people have difficulty understanding how some people could do such things to others. At any rate I've been considering this for most of my life. And I think I *can* understand how some people could have so little respect for others. In fact looking around me and considering the things I see I am sometimes astonished that there is any respect at all, in the world. A great many people I see, are very much lacking in basic respect. If they still refrain from treating others with the utmost contempt, this is possibly due to various kinds of social pressures and inhibitions. The fundamental thing is, in their thinking - about others - respect doesn't really feature much.

In my own thinking the issue of respect has been a very challenging one. I have challenged myself to try and feel respect for the very people who do not respect others. Such people are the most suitable targets for contempt. And yet, I have tried to not feel contempt, even towards the people just about everyone else would be inclined to despise. How can one feel any respect at all towards such people? Well ... by putting yourself in their place. Totally ... not trying to imagine yourself as you are, in their situation, but imagining yourself *being them* in all ways. If you *are* them then you think and feel and do exactly as they think and feel and do.

This extends to more than just humans in my own view. It encompasses what it means to be 'somebody', or a 'person'. This could be an intelligent alien species as well. It could be non-human beings here on Earth who may not be as clever as we, but that nonetheless have thoughts and feelings. I think this category may be very much wider and include a heck of a lot more things than we currently realise. Any being in the category 'person' should be respected, in my own philosophical system. Any being is a being in whose situation I might have been ... who I might have found myself being. It's pure luck I turned out to be *this* person, *this* being, in this time and place and this body. I recognise that I am what I am because of my genes, my circumstances, and various factors of good or bad fortune, over which I had no control. This is true for all autonomous subjective beings.

Every person, every being with awareness ... is a unique viewpoint upon the Universe. In fact, every such awareness in a way contains the whole Universe. This may be too much philosophy for many people to stomach, but for me, it's a very important part of the truth of existence. To me, this is enough of a reason for respecting every conscious being.

Respect still doesn't mean I have to agree that everybody and everything is good and right. I still can think people are shortsighted, that they make mistakes, that they do things that are destructive or counterproductive. I still can be critical. But amidst my criticism, I still have to be respectful. If other people make mistakes ... I must know that I can make mistakes as well.

That is such a big subject Willem, I shall have to come back to it when I don't having pressing duties to perform, and my other half isn't hovering

I skimmed through it though, and I agree. Back soon,

Websailor

Hello Willem ,

A very good post and I agree with all that you say. The title 'Respect' says it all and the way how people are these days with the attitude of a common saying 'I'm alright jack', meaning 'I'm okay so s*d everyone else' really annoys me .

I was brought up to be respectful to people and treat them the same as I would like to be treated. We live in a world where some people have to swear in every sentence, use violence and abuse if we even look at someone the wrong way and just generally rude.

Of course, don't get me wrong, not all people are like that. Most are polite, helpful and sympathetic but I have noticed that the generation we live in, it is getting worse .

It is how the parents bring their children up which does not help. Sometimes the parents are worse than the children edging them on to cause violence and trouble on our streets.
The law is crazy anyway. You lay one finger on the problem teenager or child and you are in front of the magistrates being given a harsh sentence for giving someone a clip round the ear. It never did me any harm, in local schools the teachers have been told not to shout at the children because it might upset them. A bit of discipline didn't do me any harm and learnt us not to do whatever we did wrong again.

Years ago we were all frightened of the policeman, the sentencing was strict and the comfort of prisons were minimal. Now they have televisions in their cell's or should I say hotels , resulting in being over-crowded. What next fluffy blankets .

I could go on all day but I feel I have made my point and enjoyed writing my view.

All the best, keep safe and don't have nightmares .

Nigel

Hi, Willem and Nigel,

I don't need to write anything now, Nigel has said it all

Websailor

Thanks Webbie

Willem, there is me getting stuck in and I never asked how you are keeping these days . Hope you are well, mate.

Thanks for the offer of sending some of your photo's. Send them to Webbie and I am sure she will send them on to me .

Looking forward to seeing them.

All the best.

Nigel

Beautifull compassionate post Willem, as always.

I have wondered if aliens have seen us, surely they would watch for a long time! It would seem if aliens can see us they are advanced technologically. I hope, if so, it would mean they were also perhaps "more humane" in whatever language or terminololgy said alien would use.

So far the technology has often surpassed (in speed alone perhaps)the humanity of past civilizations. We are just guessing at that of course but it would seem logical in retrospect.

We have a long way to go in respecting and sharing what we have here on earth.

I suppose aliens could have stoped us from procedding further technology wise, when we were not ready!
JUST daydreaming. Who knows - "They" may have saved us from ourselves before!

I think of animals as beings.
Not human beings.
I think of aliens as beings if high intelligence is presumed.
We are human beings among the other beings. Whomever and whatever they may be. Seen or unseen.

Your phrase "every such awareness in a way contains the whole Universe"

Makes sense to me!

Hello Nigel, Websailor, and Abbi!

Nigel, here in South Africa there's also such a situation. My posting of 'Respect' of course does not just refer to the lack of respect found among younger people ... I find a lack of respect in pretty much all levels of our society. But certainly it is worrisome that younger people are becoming less and less respectful.

My parents are school teachers over here and they experience this first hand. There's an enormous problem with a lack of discipline in the school where they work. It can really be attributed to various different causes ...

One such cause is, and I will admit it freely, the whole history we have here with Apartheid and everything else. These days it is fashionable to blame Apartheid for almost everything and sometimes unfairly ... but in one case, really, the blame does rightfully lie there. Under Apartheid, people have been exploited and kept in lowly positions and humiliated and this has worked through to people's estimation of their own selves, as well as provoking a build-up of anger and resentment. I cannot go into the detail of this 'history' now. I just want to say, that part of the solution would be to work towards a system that is truly just and where there is truly a sense of equality of all people. (Of course my own 'vision' is even more radical than this since I want to include non-humans as well).

But this is not just a problem in South Africa. It's a problem world wide that people are exploited, and that there's obscene levels of inequality. We need, globally, a better system. This too is stuff for a different discussion!

But back to the school kids and the youth of today. Many different things are needed. First of all, the parents themselves need to respect themselves more and set a good example, one their children can respect. It is a huge problem if children feel ashamed of their parents. Then the kids need self respect as well. For that I am convinced that what is needed is discipline - personal discipline. In this world, 'discipline' almost seems to be a swear word. But if we don't have it, where does that leave us? I am convinced that if we as individuals are more disciplined - and if this comes from ourselves, rather than being imposed from above - we will build much, much more self-respect.

And basically, respect for oneself is the basis for respect for others!

I sometimes think that humans should suffer ... a bit, at least. If suffering is not exorbitantly extreme ... it can be a good thing. I've gone through a bit of hardship in my life. This has helped make me stronger. I know that it has taken me into some really dangerous territory and I might not have made it out alive ... but I did make it out and I am still alive, and I think the better for having had these experiences. I really think people need to sometimes have to work very hard, sometimes thye have to suffer and find a way to endure it and/or get over it. Striving for a life free from suffering, free from deprivation, free from trouble, toil and hard work ... where everything you need and want just drops into your lap ... such a life might sound like a lot of fun, but where does it leave you? Never having had any difficulties, never having had to work and learn to overcome them? Does that leave you with a sense of accomplishment? Does that help you to understand and empathise with all the struggling and suffering people around you?

I think people should experience hard times in their lives and that it could help them respect themselves and others more. But the 'hard times' must not be exorbitant and it must be shared evenly among people! Not like today ... where some people have to experience wars, famines, persecution and what not ... while others are living in the lap of disgusting luxury.

Nigel, I know your situation is more on the 'hard' side than most ... how's it going by the way? On my side ... currently I'm doing very well. I have chronic pain, I experience pain every day, but it's not too bad and I've been able to have a very active life despite having it. It's now much better than it was some years ago.

OK it's been a bit of a digression! Trying to get back to the point ...

In South Africa we've had corporal punishment in schools and at home as a bit of an institution. Recently it's been outlawed. This is part of what makes it hard to maintain discipline in schools ... I mean the fact that a 'system' upon which they depended, is no longer available. It is still legal to shout at children! But I think that, too, can be a problem. At my parents' school, the owner of the school frequently shouts at the children ... and she shouts terrible, demeaning insults at them! This is not the right thing. This only breaks their own self-respect down even further. One must find a kind of stern way of reprimanding wrongdoers without humiliating them, breaking them down.

OK Nigel, that's a bit of what I think about respect among the youth ... Abbi, about the aliens, I'll talk a bit in my next posting!

Hey abbi, I think it very likely that there are 'other intelligences' out there. Maybe some of them have made contact with some of us ... who knows! I do think that aliens would rather 'watch' than interfere directly in our affairs. I am thinking of where we humans might end up, if we evolved in a *good* direction for a number of centuries or millennia. I am very sure of it that we can still evolve in a positive way, in things like intelligence, empathy, respect, consideration, discipline, and many ways we can perhaps not even imagine. Now ... supposing we evolved like that ... supposing we solved our own problems down here. That *can* be done, I'm sure of it! ALL our problems on Earth can be solved, there are solutions, we merely need to find them! We have minds capable of almost anything. We need to solve our biggest problems down here ... injustice, inequality, war amongst ourselves, the destruction of our environment, those are the biggest ones. But such problems we have to solve, if we are to have a future. And if we solve them we *will* have a future! Then we can apply our energies to something like reaching the stars.

I am fairly certain we can do that. We may have to find new sources of energy. We may need to go through changes ourselves. We might need to visit the stars in different forms from the ones we have now. Anyways, suppose we reach another star system, and on it we find some beings that are at the stage where we used to be ... making war, destroying their environment etc. What would we do? Would we go down to them as gods and order them to straighten out their act, or else?

I'm guessing we would *not* do that! It would interfere with the autonomy of the alien culture. If we acted out like that to them, it would make them seem like children and us like parents. There could be no equality in such a situation. We would be the 'authorities', infallible. Beings of the other culture would stop evolving, stop trying to find their own answers ... instead they would instantly expect us to give them all the answers and to solve all their problems for them.

I'm guessing that in such a situation, we might try to act and influence things 'behind the screens'. We might do things like taking samples of the living things we find there so we could preserve them in some way from the destruction going on, so we could re-introduce them to the planet when the primitive aliens wise up. We might speak to some of the more enlightened aliens and ask them to give messages to the rest. Of course our 'prophets' would not know (or even be able to understand) our real nature. And they'll have to compete with other 'prophets' who speak nonsense. The source of the messages must thus be less important than the sense they make.

This scenario might happen with us, in the distant future. In fact it might have already happened on other planets ... and indeed it might be that the inhabitants of these planets are now overseeing our affairs like this! And maybe saved us from ourselves indeed. Why have we not blown ourselves up yet?! Technologically, we *have* the means to blow ourselves all up, we've had the ability for a while ... but so far we've almost miraculously refrained from using that ability! So could there be someone out there restraining us? Or is it we ourselves who're doing it?! Of course if it *was* the result of alien activity ... the last thing they'd want us to know, is that they are the ones who did it! We *need* to believe we're working on our own problems by ourselves and not that there are extraterrestrial 'saviours' that will help us out of every scrape. There's still a lot of work, and evolving, we need to do down here...