Could the world be run on kindness?
Could a to-do list be made of all the things that need to change in human nature?
And then could we just do it, on ourselves?
And if we can't completely change, could we change on two days a week, like that fast diet?
And if we still need to be selfish, greedy, power-mad, corrupt,
intolerant, indifferent, deceitful etc. could we be a bit less of all
that on the other days of the week?
And if that works, what would be the increase of kindness in the world?
Any answers?
4 comments:
Yes; but we would need to be replaced as a species!
Oh Tom, I'm more optimistic. When one sees the extraordinary kindness and generosity and courage of strangers towards each other, for example in a crisis, I feel it's possible to believe that those traits in human nature could be magnified many many times over.
It’s a very fine idea, worth looking at. Can “we” change human nature? “We” implies communal effort. Is that possible? Has it not been tried before? Did it work then? In what ways was it inadequate?
“When one sees the extraordinary kindness and generosity and courage of strangers towards each other, for example in a crisis, I feel it’s possible to believe that those traits in human nature could be magnified many many times over.”
Yes, those traits are already there in human nature, and they come to the fore in a crisis. But when it is not a communal crisis, individuals tend to prioritise their own nagging dissatisfactions, which mostly can’t be satisfied materially.
The simplest method I’ve come across is what Byron Katie calls “The Work”
Vincent, in the above post, I did say:
"Could we just do it, on ourselves?"
I meant every individual trying to change themselves, if only for two days a week. By the collective "We" I meant each and every one of us changing ourselves. I did not mean one group of people getting together under some flag or party or theory or belief and attempting to change other people.
Of course it's been tried before, nothing new under the sun, and there are thousands if not millions of How-To-Do-It programmes out there (including Byron Katie's) ancient and modern and mixtures or updates of both, to suit every imaginable personal taste and outlook.
The word 'kindness'implies an interaction between one's self and one or more others. Yes we can be kind to ourselves. But my question "Can the world be run on kindness?" was about becoming kinder to others and making an individual effort to do so. Asking one's self: how can I be kinder to others, in my own life, right now? How can I change those traits and behaviours in myself which are unkind?
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