Wouldn’t it be just grand if we could always make decisions with perfect timing, precise accuracy and complete/total information? There would be no guessing, estimating, predicting, prejudging or the stereotyping of future outcomes and best of all, no need for lies, damn lies and especially research. Since that Is not likely and getting even less possible as the (smaller) world explodes with even more data (and less truth) every day. So how do we cope but to “satisfice” with our individually limited experience (“bounded rationality”) and do the best we personally can. The following presents some possible ‘avenues’ for your consideration.
I recently read that, despite denial to one’s last breadth; parents do actually have “favorite” children. Perhaps they “love “them equally but they really “like” them in some sort of priority ordering. At the extreme situation, they would even chose one to live and one to die, (like in the movie, “Sophie’s Choice”), if he/she was forced to pick one priority order. What about the method of the myriads of choices we make every year in our lives? First of all, as human beings instead of machines (therein lies the appeal of A.I.), we are subject to inconsistent emotional dispositions. Secondly, we almost never have complete information for any given situation in a timely manner. Finally, the world is continually a moving ‘target’ for every condition we face. BUT, if we can choose between/among our kids…
If I can be so presumptuous (you know I can) :oD, I would like to list the order in which I think people use certain criteria to make decisions in the absence of God-like perfection. I think the most primitive level of criteria are limited to merely physical aspects. Next, I would say intellectual aspects require slightly more insight from which to evaluate. Emotional facets constitute more overall wisdom still. Finally, those individuals utilizing the spiritual components of life tend to be the most evolved of all. None of those are absolutes mind you as ‘extremes’ in any one area. Certain conditions might prompt an overlap or ‘assessment jump’.
Por Ejemplo, (like the girl who said: “papier mache’ hat” to George at Monk’s on Seinfeld), people who decide only based on looks, appearance, race, ethnicity, religion, gender, money, possessions or sexual orientation, probably are very lazy about doing the work necessary to get below the surface. Shallow observations and superficial conclusions tend to simply answer all of life’s questions for those folks. Exceptions might be a very talented athlete who can transcend the mere physical or at the other end of the continuity spectrum, an impaired person who suffers a fate through no fault of their own.
Next up along the hierarchy comes those people who value brainpower and intellect above all else. Isn’t this exactly the main divide between the Old Testament and the New? Did not Jesus teach that “legalism” was inferior to the emotional considerations’ of “Love?” Do not the Academic Arts & Sciences continually change but Love remains eternal? I think people who can love their enemies/neighbors as themselves are much more evolved than someone who memorizes words and/or multiplies numbers. Exceptions might be Albert Einstein in one extreme and Carl Jung in the other. We certainly do not want to look down upon a mentally challenged individual or someone who is psychologically damaged, however.
Finally, I would propose that the people who govern their entire life from a spiritual perspective are the most enlightened (and the rarest). To live life with an understanding for the vastness of the infinite universe and a perception of timeless eternity, certainly gives one an appreciation for and comprehension of life’s limitations and incorporates the constructs of humility and shame. There is probably no higher order of living than this and for we Christians, Jesus is the one and only perfect embodiment of this. This is something we can only achieve in ‘little pieces’ every once in a while. A few Saints but mostly just sinners.
How about some concrete choices that I might hypothetically make while subjecting myself to extreme scrutiny by some reader for each instance. Obviously (hopefully?), these following scenarios presuppose that I have no other knowledge about the people in question and every individual out there needs to answer each priority for themselves. First of all, being an (patriotic) American citizen trumps race, religion, ethnic background, gender, sexual persuasion, or social class/image/prestige for me. So, the Olympics is all about national pride/loyalty to me but if it comes down to an Italian European versus a German European, I root for my “heritage.” If it is a Caucasian I don’t know versus and an Asian I don’t know, it’s the Caucasian. A Christian over non-Christian; but Catholic over Protestant; man over woman; straight over gay. I would expect most to make very similar choices.
In other words, I root for my own kind, and I think most would also pull for the ‘home’ team PROVIDED ONE KNOWS NOTHING OTHER THAN APPEARANCES. I remember in the 1960 Olympics; some Americans rooted for the Russian versus Muhammed Ali (for being black) and I had absolutely no tolerance for that. Where it gets more difficult for me is when two similar factors converge? Do I vote for a Protestant man or a Catholic woman? An Italian lesbian or a French straight woman? That is when I really am torn. Before you get all, condemning, please remember to the original contention of ignorance and I’ll take some points for honesty if you please?
The same might be true for the Intellectual realm. I went to Vanderbilt so, I root for the Commodores versus Duke or Stanford. I root for UCONN because I am from CT and UCLA because my brother-in-law worked there. UCONN vs, UCLA in women’s basketball is a tougher call for me. Fairfield and Fordham (where I also went to school) is a “no brainer.” Likewise for academic disciplines; Business and other professional schools? I pick them over Arts, Sciences and Engineering. Behavioral Sciences are a more difficult choice between Sociology and Psychology.
When it comes to Emotions, the task of my ‘inside’ work is not done and will never be done. And no, not just because I am a hot mess; rather because to me, this is the purpose of life and not, “who collects the most ‘toys’ wins!” Whether overcoming old fears or reconciling petty jealousies or even curtailing things like anger and greed, intellectualism works from sun-to-sun, but introspection’s work is never done. There are many fewer tangible rewards for sure but what is invisible is truly invaluable.
As far as my own supreme consciousness arrival? Fuhgeddaboudit!
As previously mentioned, however, if Christ is, in fact, the role model for the spiritual culmination of our living here on earth, we seem to be falling way short. One must question the political decisions of continual wars whereby many innocent victims are consequences of those conflicts. One must also wonder how so many problems can be ignored in country while so much money is spent on out-of-country expenditures. It becomes impossible to live Christian values when our culture is dominated by such powerful non-Christian forces.
Like many hypotheses and theories, we start out with a holistic concept and look for confounding variables. Many considerations can become transcendent. For example, when did Michael Jordan stop becoming JUST a black man and emerge into an all-star basketball player, entertainment icon, role model, billionaire, historical figure? It becomes both complex and complicated. What changes when just another “pretty face” becomes Ms. America and then celebrity spokesmodel? How about the average garage band rocker who becomes a movie star and then teachers a college course on film? Hall of Famer; Olympic Gold Medal winner; Nobel Prize winner; Ph.D. therapist with hit talk show? Governor? Senator? Saint? The rarer the category, the most precious it is considered.
As humans, we are woefully disadvantaged for this task. Until we can know everything there is to know about everything (omniscient) and have to power to change whatever we want (omnipotent), we have to do the best we can. Moving up the ‘ladder’ from Physical, to Intellectual, to Emotional and approaching Spiritual might just be a good way to live one’s life? I am certainly trying.
If one can make progress towards the emotion of Agape’ love, one might be on the road to becoming what the mystics call being “one with the universe”. As a country, we seem fixated on the choices of the physical and the intellectual and that is why we appear so emotionally immature in the world’s eyes. Compounding the problem is our collective arrogance on the world stage. We purport to be democratic and are not and we pretend to be God fearing and do not act like it much at all!