Instead of comparing our lives to those we consider more fortunate, we should rather compare to all those who have lived. Then we would see how fortunate we are. Helen Keller said something like that once. I have been saying something like that for a long time. It bears repeating. I have long felt that there was some universal truth to it. I am convinced that our ability to compare and contrast is our competitive advantage and this idea of being able to compare our lives to all who have lived, not just humans but all who lived, is a unique ability. So when I read that quote by Helen Keller the other day I was struck once again. And it dawned on me that this could have been practiced by any sentient being and the conclusion would be largely the same - Life is good! At first this struck me as a flaw in the thinking. That if it were true that this maxim could apply to all sentient beings at their time the maxim had no value. Value comes from singularity doesn't it? That's what I said to myself. But then it dawned on me that this broad quality approached universality and that there is value in that. Universal truths are the framework.
If it were true that humans are mainly motivated by pleasure, as some have claimed, it seems that they would endeavor to simplify their lives. Life's simple pleasures are the best. We have been hearing that for millennia. Our experience bears that out. So why do humans complicate their lives? I think it is because they are mainly motivated by fear. Fear is mainly irrational. Of course there are legitimate fears but those generate either paralysis or tightly focused action. Illegitimate fear generates unfocused action. Because the fear is unfounded there is no concrete target for that action. So life, for many humans, is this series of unfocused actions responding to some irrational fear. This leads to unnecessary complexities. A lot of people are afraid of being alone. In response they create a multitude of affectations. This gives them a sense that they are addressing their aloneness - That they are moving to togetherness. This apparent success breads further affectations. After all if something "works" then it is worth repeating or elaborating. The returns on these apparent successes quickly diminishes because an excess of affectation is counterproductive to relating because so many artificial layers make it difficult to connect on a fundamental level. This connection on a fundamental level is the only emollient for the fear of aloneness.
