In our society we are bound by many problematic mental manacles that in our more primitive state would have served a purpose for basic species survival; that time has passed. Now we find ourselves floundering about in disagreement in and amongst each other, for seemingly pointless reasons, arguing back and forth about 'changes' taking place within our cultural/structural society. The question is why, for what purpose, and how do we solve these disagreements?
I find that our biggest problem is not that the changes are 'earth shattering' but rather they are treading upon arias that, in our more animalistic ancestry, would have remained relatively un-trodden; that of our perception. In many ways we find ourselves fighting against what we find as 'counter intuitive' due to the fact that animals do not rely on complex problem solving and rely more on rudimentary ways of going about their business; penis=male, vagina=female, ect. When someone comes along and says that those rudimentary judgments are 'flawed' or 'wrong' persons immediately become defensive; as we are questioning a part of their very animal survival mechanism.
We must understand that our brains were not made for complex society, we've built that through trial and error over countless centuries, so the fact that we find ourselves in this predicament should in no way surprise us. We're clever creatures, but we are still animals, we rely on the same rudimentary functions of basic survival; still pride ourselves on our basic animalistic urges and behaviors. I know it get's old, but it is easiest, when people have an awkward reaction to same sex relations, of any and all sorts, it is that very deep down primitive mind who speaks "What about producing children?" Now anyone worth their humanity knows that relationships are not solely based on that very biological function, but because we are animals we naturally trend towards this type of thinking; we, as animals, want to reproduce, it furthers the species.
But our problem of perception goes farther than that, as equating earlier, penis=masculine, vagina=feminine, these very presupposed definitions are also a problem. Neither of these gentiles can truly determine whether or not they will behave in this or that predetermined way. Yet we ascribe instant definitions to things before we have even acquainted ourselves with said individual attached to said appendage; even more strange is that if we see said attributes we have already mentally ascribed said appendage to them before conformation; in most cases. This is the limitations of the animal mind, we can over come some of it, as we have most certainly have grown over time. So, how is it that we can solve said issues?
The human mind is relatively malleable, people's perception is not 'ultimate' in any way, we must remember that our animal perception is very flawed and can easily be manipulated by forces beyond our control. Many people's gender identity is a factor beyond their control, along with sexual orientation, taste in food, appreciation of art, thought on beauty, so on and so forth; we all slightly perceive things differently. We can tell this in both good and bad ways, persons can become convinced they have a weight problem and develop an eating disorder, they may think they need to lose weight but in actuality are starving themselves to dangerously low levels of nutrition and body index. People can experience both audio, visual and tactile hallucinations, they can think they have experienced something and believe it in totality; it may have indeed happened in their mind, so they would not be lying.
Outside forces can and do play a part in human thinking and development, along with interior biological forces; both genetic and invasive. These things also make up our mental landscape along with our human experience and cultural upbringing. Wrap these things tight enough together and you have a very complex system of thought/experience all wrapped nicely into a very simple machine with simple impulses and simpler processes. The human mind may be malleable but the human animal is still very constrained within the animal world.
This is why, earlier, I have recommended that nihilism should be the next step in our philosophical journey towards adulthood. If the agnostic/atheist position of "until further evidence I will assume no god" holds up and the human species fosters and grows a sense of basic philosophical honesty. Than the next step in growth requires a similar agnostic/nihilist position of "until further evidence I will assume no intrinsic meaning" in order for us to grapple with the "what is our best course of action to organize our society?" question. We must come to grips with the facts that we are the originators of law, art, beauty, science, ect. Our minds and our perception is what define our lives and experience of the world, we make our future based upon how we perceive and define it. Yes of course we don't want to fall into the trap of 'thinking makes it real' for it takes more than thought alone to make reality; though thought is the first step.
In this I find that taking the nihilist position allows us to break down the presupposition barriers that we have erected. Our predefining of things without evidence, or our use of oversimplified rudimentary thinking, is often what gets us into trouble. When we rely too much on that animalistic path of a+b=c when dealing with complex issues that require slightly counter intuitive thinking, we paint ourselves into a corner not worth standing in and get trapped trying to justify an unjustifiable position just because we held too much to the overly simple preconceptions of the past.
Our world is no longer the plains of savanna, we no longer clime the trees or swim the seas, we live in complex societies interwoven throughout the world. This is the human experience. If we are to survive and thrive in this new world we must break down these animalistic and primitive tendencies of our ancient heritage if we are to survive in this new world of cooperation. We are single no more and like the single cell we must join together in cooperation to form a cohesive body or be doomed to parish alone; it is time we unite and know that we are the only ones making the rules and the only ones obeying them. Our minds must grow up if we as a culture, as a species, are to grow beyond our selfish past and see things in the light of beauty and grandeur that I know we are capable of, so as to do wonders far grander than any of our predecessors could have even dreamed of and dared not even imagine, out of embarrassment, that we were capable of more than we knew.
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