The Human Condition

 I have often considered what, if anything, outside of our living on the same planet best expresses or defines what we all share as human beings, our commonality if you will. I excluded that we live on the same planet, have the same genetics and that we all can think, talk, eat and so forth. Certainly all of these have an impact on how we live, but I wanted to go beyond the obvious and mundane to a root idea or concept.

Is the need for contact with other humans what we share, or that we want to have things or that we strive for something more? I do not believe these expressed the commonality I sought. Moreover, while we certainly do not share a common set of values, or belief systems it occurred to me that what we do share is that we all believe in something beyond what we can perceive. For example, people believe either religious or spiritual truths or that science will eventually unravel the mysteries of the universe. For a while, I entertained the notion that belief was what I was looking for; however, it did not really help me define our shared human condition for the fact we can believe in anything is a product of our existence.

Over time, this internal conversation shifted to one of trying to understand or define the “human condition”. Looking up the common understanding of this term, I found that it used as a reference to the distinctive features of human existence. Further, as mortal entities, there are biologically determined events that are common to most human lives, and some that are inevitable for all, and the ongoing way in which we react to or cope with these events is the human condition. I had already considered and moved past the first part of the above definition, the second I could not get by so quickly.

Certainly if there is a definition of the human condition it must include that we all must react or cope with events. I felt it was important that any definition of the human condition reflect the reality that we all have not choice but to cope with life. This led back to the basic element of life, and a simple fact: all of us are born, we live our lives and then we die. We cannot escape or avoid this truth; the inevitability permeates our lives and in many ways help to define it.

If we look at these three stages we see that we have no control over what body we find ourselves in or the circumstances of our birth, and while we have created the illusion we can control others, and even our time of death we can do neither. When you do think about it you realize that the only aspect of this equation we appear to have any say whatsoever over is the part in the middle, how we live our lives. So, I wondered... does this help me to define the “human condition”?

I thought and meditated further on what I had learned and finally something clicked. The realization is that here we are ... living our lives as they unfold and the only aspect of them we have any control over is ourselves, though sometimes even this is beyond our control. Regardless, our lives consist of physical separateness and we have no handbook to help us along the way.

If we were connected we would know what each other is feeling and thinking and we could not hide from that. However, regardless of whether we can do these things the fact is we are not physically connected. If we had a handbook we would understand the meaning of life and how things "work", which would help us make our way more easily. Alas, we do not have a handbook. Certainly, there is joy and pleasure in our lives, yet collectively we struggle through life’s pains and sorrows, through its hardships and turmoil.

All that we see around us is a reflection of our struggles to live. Each of us has the right to live our lives as we choose and can follow whatever path we see fit though truth be told our upbringing and all the various cultural influences upon us significantly affect our options. Thinking of struggles brought me to consider Buddha suggestion, namely that suffering is located at the heart of the world. So naturally I considered whether suffering could be the fundamental element of the human condition.

While I do agree with the Buddha, at the same time I was looking for an attribute and suffering is a consequence. Yet something clicked and it was the realization that if suffering is the consequence then the attribute I sought must be the cause. What followed my asking myself a simply question - "What is the cause of suffering?" My answer was that the cause of suffering is ignorance, and therefore ignorance is the “human condition”.

The general definition of ignorance is lack of knowledge, education, or awareness. This can be seen everywhere we look. Our ignorance has manifest into the various forms of discord and conflict we see in our world, countries, neighbourhoods and lives. Yet the world consists of individuals and hence what we see on all of those levels is truly the summation of the issues and conflicts within humankind, within that person staring back at us in the mirror. If this would seem obvious to you, then surely the question we should be asking ourselves is why have we not done anything about it?

The problem with ignorance is that we are generally unaware of its true. It is somewhat of an unknown unknowns and fathom. It can also be hard to recognize even we are looking right at it. With our busy lives it becomes a luxury to be able and willing to take the time for the kind of deep self-examination it takes to become aware of our own ignorance. Few ever do so and when they do the purpose is typically to mitigate a problem not necessarily to resolve it.

People do not explore their ignorance because day-to-day living and a noisy world take almost all of their attention. People are far too busy trying to live their lives to look deeper into their existence. The external world is as compelling as it is distracting and too few realize that the very source of their issues lie within, and our blinders and ignorance keeps us from looking. So how do we alleviate our own version of the human condition?

The law of inertia applies to ignorance in that unless acted upon by an opposing force it will continue unabated. So, what is there to oppose our ignorance? Certainly it is not the majority of people who, even if they considered ignorance as the problem when it comes to change, would tend to follow the old adages of “I will if you will”, “you first” or "It's impossible to know so why bother?" This cycle perpetuates the human condition; however, you would be astute if you recognize that while others may find reasons not to look within to resolve their personal demons, you can.

We are raised and taught by a world that has been mired in the same problems for millennia. There have been those who have tried to raise the awareness of humankind through their teachings. Unfortunately, once they are gone people interpreted their words and even their intent through the lens of their own ignorance. At this point, much of what remains is the interpretation of their wisdom those who do not fully understand it. So, if we have tainted the wise through our own ignorance, what can any of us do to change our personal human condition?

We change our conditions by working on ourselves and looking within. This is how we go about illuminating our ignorance and remove the separation between us and ourselves. 

© 2009 Allan Beveridge 

Last updated July 23, 2020