Amerika

For many years, my outlook on humanity was clouded by assuming that other people knew better because they were succeeding at The System and seemed happy. After watching most of those end their careers in go-nowhere specializations or dubious managerial positions as their kids flee and happiness fails, one might recalculate.

At this point, it seems clear that most humans — remember our three categories: Jarls (less than 1%/125+/leaders), Carls (about 19%/115+/artisans), and Thralls (80%/115-/laborers) — are motivated by the path of least resistance combined with whatever brings not pleasure but peace of mind, like a tranquilizer.

We can divide this into two categories:

1. Least resistance: people adore what is easiest and most importantly, presented to them as a multiple choice question rather than an essay or mathematical proof. If the easiest way to survive is a job, they toddle over to that option in great numbers. They like the easiest answers, intellectually, because most cannot visualize more of any object than the number of fingers they have (per Kant, h/t Lonegoat). They like nice even divisions into grids because this makes it easier to visualize numbers, which is itself easier than conceptualizing them or, better to a Platonist, understanding patterns as the actual counting unit and numbers as a matter of scale. They like whatever is handy at the moment the decision is thrust upon them because this reduces social risk of looking indecisive and thus, weak. They like answers that seem complete and absolute, like use of authority and rules.
2. Above nature: what primarily plagues the human is that despite having consciousness that gives us awareness of most of the world, we are still no more powerful or important than squirrels, especially once peer pressure takes over a society and only convenient simplistic partial truths win out with the herd. Humans instinctively hate nature and want to subjugate it, but even more, they want logical reasons to deny it, and so any notion which makes human intentions seem more important than reality — egalitarianism, patriotism, dualism, individualism — automatically has great appeal because it brings “peace of mind” to humans by giving them a generous illusion that they are in control and nature is secondary.

You will see these tropes show up anywhere humans discuss what is important. They want it to be convenient and to elevate humans as gods above nature. Convenience translates to means-over-ends, since it is never convenient to get to the root of a problem and figure out how to interrupt its cause, and our divine pretensions translate to endless moralism, judgment, and fragile emotionality which make us cruel and weak.

Tags: caste, intentions, reasoning, the system