Sanity Is Impossibility by Santosh Jha - HTML preview

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CHAPTER 4

 

Somehow, given the current hypothesis about Reality, which contemporary human wisdom accepts; the entire idea opens up for novelty of diverse interpretations and philosophization. Objectively speaking, even average people have their reasons to see and accept that as Reality is not singular and definitive, probably intellectuals and experts of different domains are ‘cherry-picking’ suitable perspectives from contemporary world milieus and theorizing as per their own predilections. This perception is common among masses, globally. This emergent trend has twin troubles of intellectuals not caring enough for non-reactionary and holistic expression of their genuine concerns on one hand and average men and women growingly becoming less open to criticisms of their fixed beliefs. Unfortunately, both troubles are maturing and consolidating.

It is the same situation, which has often been associated with history. It has been said that history is not the expression of ‘what was there’ but what someone ‘wants to see’ what must have been there. Somehow, very few people are willing to learn from history that world is always a better place to live when all possible shades of Realism is allowed compassionate and accommodative advocacy as well as hearing. It is because holism must have as many possible dimensions of realism and they all must have equitable playing field in society, culture and politics. Contemporary world has this aspect hugely missing. History’s lessons seem to have never been dumped and sidelined as summarily as it is being done now.

For example, there are serious voices that warn about twin disasters that are imminent and ready to explode anytime, threatening to make organized human live extinct from Earth. These voices cite threat of Nuclear War and Environmental Changes as imminent and already big threats on face of humanity. Still, majority of average men and women are least bothered about them and many even think that such threats are only unreal and perceptional, created and lobbied by a section of intellectuals and experts to install their own personal or group agenda.

Similar is the situation with issue of rising threat of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and other cutting-edge technology like 5G internet system, etc. Globally, there are voices that are listing some imminent threats to organized human life-living in the new millennium and they also put out strong advocacies for governments to pay attention for corrective measures for restoration of sanity in the system. However, average people and even governments globally seem to be oblivious of them. Rather, there seems to be an unobserved skepticism and observed disdain about such concerns.

The basic and primary idea is that as Reality itself is an elusive proposition in human scheme of perception and communication, there probably can never be singular and unified human initiative towards any threat to sanity and system. Probably, the very dualistic nature of Reality orchestrates an ever present, innate and intrinsic ‘Causality’, which lines up one group of humanity as beneficiary of an ‘Insanity’, even while larger human population may remain devastated by the same insanity.

For example, the very threat of nuclear weapon insanity evolved in the same line. The environmental issue also has same story. The technology as threat also has same old reality. The very idea of nuclear weapon was an insanity that a country created and executed on humanity. Ideally, there should have been global and complete annihilation of all nuclear weapons so that history could never be repeated. However, what happened was that few nations have them and they are not interested in destroying the weapons but using all possible power and clout to stop all other nations from having it. So, the Reality has just shifted shades. Insanity is not killed but what is done is stop it from spreading to others, even while monopolizing the insanity as an ‘asset’ and as clear threat to others for submission and one-upmanship.

So, broadly, Reality itself is neutral. The perception of good and bad Reality is only contextual and relational. Therefore, history tells us that since inception of human civilization, what humanity has always done and has accepted as benchmark of success is to control and monopolize ‘contexts’ and ‘relativity’ in such a fashion that it makes Reality collapse in their favor and profit, even as it creates disaster for rest of humans. Human definition of success is in positioning ‘Causalities’ in their favor so that the Realties these causalities or contexts collapse and create stands and remains in their favor and benefit, even while the same stands as authoritative command over rest of humanity for subjugation.

It is this transcendental approach of humanity towards Reality that has the seed of insanity in human world and life-living. This hypocrisy as singular basis of all benchmarks of successes has been with humanity since long and there has never been any organized initiative and enterprise to correct it. This is primary reason why Sanity Is Impossibility for collective humanity. This eventuality is so deeply wired in the body-mind mechanism and process of not only humans but probably all living organisms. That is why it is said that medium is message and Reality itself is entropic. The relational and contextual character of Reality seeds and nurtures deep-seated entropy, which finally shall reach its destination of final annihilation of the media that expresses Reality. Human insanity therefore seems systemic and headed towards the finality of self-annihilation. History of humanity has proved beyond reasonable doubt that Sanity Is Impossibility as it is the way Reality happens and expresses itself in human body-mind mechanisms and milieus.

The relationship of Reality with its Media is something, which humanity has experienced since long and at every stage of evolution of human civilization, many humans have understood it and have also warned against it. History has enough proofs to show that at individual and personal levels, it is somehow possible to rise above the wired hypocrisy that character of Reality and body-mind mechanism has. That is probably why there have been documented texts that talk about ways and means to do it.

From ancient times to contemporary world, many evolved and empowered humans have talked about this. However, the magnitude of cosmic energy of the ‘Causality’ between the Reality and its Media is so colossal that humans cannot override it and probably cannot stop or reverse its trajectory at collective domain. If Sanity Is Possibility, it is always at individual and personal levels because it is here that entropy is somehow manageable.

Before we proceed, we must deal in some detail about this notion of Entropy, which happens to be at the center of our hypothesis that Sanity Is Impossibility at collective levels but a Possibility at personal level. No need to say that even this notion of entropy has similar fate that is common to all Realities – Dualism about it being what it is said it is. Let us talk about it and unravel entropy issue to decipher why entropy is crucial in our hypothesis.

There is a basic hypothesis, which needs to be accepted so that we could consider a probability about human world and life-living. This somehow shall help in widening the scope of our discussion and debate about our core hypothesis that Sanity Is Impossibility. This hypothesis, we have for our consideration is – As contemporary science does not singularly explain a Reality from beginning to the end, we have the intellectual latitude to fill in possibility of situation, which broadly conforms to overall picture yet adds new dimensions. Accepting this opens up probability of novel scientific philosophizations, we are attempting here.

The evolutionary theory of human existence on Earth is such a scientific postulation, which is widely accepted but surely does not tell us everything from start of evolution to current time. It leaves many blanks in the line it draws about evolutionary journey. This allows us to fill in with novel possibilities that should conform to overall postulation of evolution principles but adding new dimensions of probabilities. We are doing some ‘filling in’ here to see and hope that it helps us in widening our perspective on the hypothesis that Sanity Is Impossibility.

There has been a general acceptance that evolution is a ‘stupid engineering’ with accidents piling up to create species and finally we humans, with no specific and auspicious goal in mind. Somehow, the details and undeniable proofs about this hypothesis are not available. Like all Realities, evolution is also viewed and accepted with diverse acceptances even by scientists, while the majority of masses take it with varied forms of convenient thinking. However, it seems quite possible that evolution principle, if juxtaposed with contemporary knowledge of matter that forms everything in cosmos including us, has enough data to prove as sufficient platform for assuming some detailed prognosis. One such assumption or hypothesis, we are going to attempt here. And, I insist, as always, this must be accepted with energy of skepticism and personal testing before internalization.

There are questions hidden in the evolutionary design and outcomes that need explanation so that we could understand as what essentially is the core and critical energy that powers the way evolution happened. For example, when you visit a super store you find at least a hundred varieties of body soaps with different shapes, colors, fragrances, packaging, pricing, ingredients, etc. However, scientifically saying, all body soaps have singular role and utility for us. The evolution of body soaps also seems to have been on the same line the way species evolved. We can see, there are hundreds of small insects around us, every species varying in some small detail of form and features but we are not sure do they have any specific roles, without which evolution could not have inched ahead the way it did! This bio-diversity is more prominent in oceans.

We have already admitted that evolution principle leaves many blanks in the long linearity of progression it explains to us. We do not sufficiently know why and how two rather similar insects with seemingly only small difference in a few details actually hold irreplaceable importance in evolutionary chain or not. Like, if humanity had only five types of body soaps, instead of a hundred, we do not sufficiently know how and why it would have made any irreplaceable impact on the way our personal hygiene optimality would have evolved and continue to evolve towards a better future or not!

So, given that we do not have enough and genuine data about the above questions that could stand us in good stead about answering them, can we say, it somehow puts a question mark on the very genius and meticulousness of evolution? The same way, can we say, having a hundred types of body soap instead of only five comprehensively complete varieties puts a question mark on the very genius and meticulousness of human intelligence?

Therefore, given the hypothesis that evolution principle gives us enough latitude to sneak in philosophical questions, which may have critical ramification on our hypothesis that Sanity Is Impossibility, we may supply three broad questions –

  1. Can it be categorically accepted that evolution has essentially been a stupid engineering with its primary energy not guided towards long-run order, system and excellence but short-run, localized and un-foresighted plugging in?
  2. Can it be accepted that the very design of evolution may have started with a set and ordered progression but at some stage of its very long journey of billions of years, evolution lost it and gave away to emergent and accumulative entropy?
  3. Can we say, the long history of known progression of evolution has enough recorded and tested proofs that evolution is essentially a process, which has innate, inbuilt and embedded pathology for sequential annihilation of its own creations?

I very humbly leave the possible answer for the above questions on reader’s enquiry and future evolution of science itself. However, what we can and must do is talk in general about certain aspects of progression of things in time and space domain. This may help us answering the above question or at least head in right direction searching answers. This is somehow easy too as for that we do not require data of facts from as distant a past like a billion years. Rather, we can and we shall look for possible data in our contemporary world and current life-living.

There is a basic question as what creates causality and subsequent causalities, which in turn create a chain of progression we know and accept as evolution. We still do not know what ‘caused the first causality’; that is how and why big bang happened. We also do not know with utmost clarity about early stages of universe and therefore not very sure how other sub-causalities worked out. However, scientists do tell us that just after the big bang only energy existed. However, as the universe cooled down and expanded, matter and anti-matter were produced in equal amounts. However, what scientists are not able to tell us as why and how in our visible universe only matter exists and very miniscule antimatter are found. Usually, matter and antimatter collide and annihilate everything.

We know how everything in our universe is made of matter and antimatter, which could annihilate everything, is missing hugely, even when big bang created equal amount of both. So, the first causality of Reality is unknown to humanity. There is a hypothesis that probably matter was created more than antimatter and therefore even after annihilation, sufficient matter could remain intact to form galaxies and stars. And, therefore journey of Reality began. So, what we have is a philosophy that is at the genesis of Reality and not the definitive science.

This leaves us with some latitude to consider more philosophical probabilities about how Reality, which we are in and part of, unfolded and how evolution drew its primary and sustained energy for the massively long progression of time since big bang. From what humanity has known about start of Reality after big bang, there emerges a probability of a philosophical hypothesis that at every stage of progression after big bang; from the first few seconds, where major happenings emerged to current timeline of 21st century, it was entropy that constantly supplied Causalities energizing evolution. Evolution itself may be postulated as systematic and patterned progression of entropy, which always meets its finality in entropy annihilating a probability.

This philosophization about entropy as primary and sequential energy for causalities of evolution seems to have enough existing support for validity, which we humans can see and do see in our life and living.  We all know that ‘Mortality’ remains the only singular reality of the cosmos, be it the universe or we humans, who have deciphered and known the universe. This inevitability of mortality itself seems to suggest that Entropy probably has the last laugh and it is the singularly powerful Reality, above which nothing stands. Ancient Indian Yoga philosophy has documented this cardinal positioning of mortality almost 3000 years back, as core and cardinal element around which all causalities of realities are created and plays out. Mortality may well qualify to be the definitive stamp of entropy and its transcendentality and omnipotence. So can we say, this is also what shapes all causalities so that everything could lead to finality of mortality?

Not with any definitiveness of surety! The trouble is; the very scientific concept of Entropy and its philosophical manifestation and outreach are faced with the same dualism, which all Realities are. Many may not accept the very hypothesis that entropy was minimal at the time of big bang and it amplified later. Also, many even doubt that universe is a ‘closed system’, which is essential for the very concept of entropy to stand its ground. The fact remains that as we have already discussed, contemporary scientific explanation of Reality has many philosophical hypotheses, which some may agree to, others may not and still others may never!

However, this itself is the platform for beautifully spacious domain of acceptance of Liberty with philosophy. When we are not sure, there is this empty space for all sorts of other and related ideas to have equitable acceptance and currency. And, why we are hypothesizing on Entropy being the core and cardinal ‘Causality’ of all Realities that we humans have known in long history of evolution, is because of the fact that it seems, entropy, or what we may call in more generality and holistic sense as ‘Propensity Of Probability Of Disorder’, has the most lateral as well as vertical manifestation all around us. Also, humanity has understood the ‘entropic nature’ of Reality since thousands of years.

There is strong and sufficient illustration in over 3000 year old Yoga philosophy about how Reality manifests itself in different shades of entropic expressions. It is believed that these shades of entropic expressions engender different cognitions of a reality to different people, even different organisms, in turn impacting differentiated behavior-action patterns. These different patterns then create milieus for more and varied entropic expressions. This dialectics of Reality keeps energizing the chain of evolution, which is a succession and progression of a set of behavior-action engendered in response to a causality that presents at a point of time and space as Reality. This all must only be accepted as a philosophical hypothesis but it seems, this hypothesis somehow matches up with how evolution has been described to work as.

Evolution has been said to work as a patch up mechanism, not looking for long term solution but short term diversion to survive against an immediate trouble. This supports the entropic nature of evolution of Reality. For example, it is said that if by a certain development in physical milieu of a species, it becomes tough for the species to sustain itself, evolution would respond by shortening the gestation period of the maturity of the infant in the womb of the female of the species. This would be the response of evolutionary adjustments so that the new born has better probability of survival and species could have better freedom in moving to other physical milieus where life is easy.

It is said, evolution would not create any solution by installing such physical changes in the species that would help it improve its milieus to make life easy. This patch up adjustment of shortening the gestation period of womb may affect the infant’s strengths and abilities and this shall itself create more entropic progression in evolution but evolution does not care. It is believed evolution comes up with stupid engineering solutions and thus adding entropic consequences.

Though nothing can be said with surety but it seems around 10,000 species go extinct every year on Earth now as out of the estimated 100,000,000 different species on Earth, we lose .01% of them every year. This may be explained as an indication that evolutionary engineering may not have been working out sufficient solutions to these extinct species, which perish in their ambient milieus. May be, evolution is busy patching up things for other species and in turn engendering such entropic situations that prove fatal for these extinct species. Or, as many believe, changes in milieus are happening fast and evolutionary tools cannot catch up with this speed, making survival impossible for these extinct species. Whatever be the reality, it seems probable that evolution works on entropy energy, in turn adds more to keep complicating the life-living milieus and finally appropriating annihilation of species. A stupid engineering can do no better! Or, for that matter, no engineering can do anything about finality of entropy.

Like, evolution gave a powerful and un-satiating sex drive to humans to probably fix a possible trouble in its mechanism. However, it did not care enough not to create the HIV virus that has killer potentials for humans. The evolution gave venom to snakes for its own survival potential but did not have the idea that someday they would kill thousands of humans. Evolution seems like a very localized and short term adjustments to entropy situations, which itself becomes a mega factory of successive and subsequent trigger of endless and probably bigger entropies. It seems; there is an entrenched theme of cannibalism as well as inter-species conflict in the evolutionary scheme of things. These themes are also deeply manifested in wired human subconscious layers and this may well be termed as ‘stupid engineering’ by evolution as it installs permanency of 3Cs – Chaos, Confusion and Conflict in milieus within body-mind media as well as the milieus.

Somehow, it seems a rather likely hypothesis that had evolution been a progression towards perfection, excellence and innate ‘extropy’, human world would have been different. Philosophically speaking, humanity understood at least 5,000 years back that the core element that predominantly shapes human life-living and world view is its mortality. Still, evolution seems to have added more and even easy avenues of death for humanity, instead of pruning them. It is accepted by a section of scientists that the human consciousness itself is the accidental or progressive outcome of ‘Entropy-Expansion’ as human brain reached a threshold of complexities and excellence of information handling and memory of experiences. This human consciousness is now considered not only at the center of our understanding of Reality but also happens to be the singular element of almost all troubles of humanity.

The idea is that philosophically, there is a strong and reasonable case of acceptance of a hypothesis that entropy is the primary causality and successive and subsequent entropies are sub-causalities of progression of the way Reality expresses itself and chooses suitable media to communicate this expression. Naturally, as time progresses and evolution keeps up pace with its transcendental stupid engineering, larger and more diverse entropies shall unleash themselves till the ultimate and inevitable finality of mortality is attained.

Somehow, many people can very rightly dispute this hypothesis. And they have reasons to believe so because overall, the human world seems to be doing very well. Rather, there are definitive indicators globally that human life and living is getting ‘better’ every passing day. This however is classical dualism of human world. This we need to understand to have a holistic picture of Reality in our world and our life-living.

The primary reason why the world seems to be becoming a better place to live every passing day on one hand and still, the sanity of the system is eroding and dwindling fast on the other, is the way Reality is presented, portrayed and made to be consumed by average people. There are enough economic data about tangible consumptions of market utilities and it is periodically dished out by governments and market mechanisms. No doubt, technologies are improving and better and more consumptive availabilities are being ensured; laterally and vertically. However, when we seek a data about societal, cultural, psychological or behavioral wellness and availabilities, there are none or very sketchy ones. Rather, in many researches, the derivative outcomes are not commensurate to the positives in consumptive domains. The fact is that average humans are dished out and displayed only a part of the Reality that has tangible data, which supports improvements and growths. The holism is never available for visibility, let alone scrutiny.

So, in a country like India, ask for data about gross domestic product (GDP) growth and it shall come up in seconds, showing it is improving every quarter. It is altogether different thing that governments and its agencies have now devised smart ways of ‘managing’ real data and presenting a skewed or perspective data to show up their rosy sides. Data mining is now very well a part of data management skill. Ask for data of sale of vehicles, housing, consumer items, etc and they are everywhere. Ask for share market and mutual fund data and there are good reports. Everywhere there are talks about the data and emerging realities and media is dished out ‘commanded info’ to show up satisfactory efforts of governments. No doubt, there are real data too and they are good. This feels great and ushers in confidence. But it cannot be denied that as economics in contemporary world is intrinsically linked and aligned to politics, no economic expression is free of political interference and expediency.

This apart, ask for data on inter-religious solidarity, inter-caste stresses, behavioral patterns of lower-middle class, wellness perception of demographic divides, happiness index and other social and cultural data, there shall be none or very sketchy ones. Even the economic data is confined only to selective broad indices, which are easy to be managed. Ask for GDP data and it comes quick. However, ask for data of share market and mutual fund investment of different age group, demography, ethnicity, income groups and gender divide and there shall be either no data, sketchy ones or a data that has not been revised since a decade.

We need to understand how relevant and critical data about core and cardinal realities of life-living are not only bothered about but also intentionally vitiated so that current insanity is sustained, because this insanity feeds the un-satiating greed empire of ‘5 Percent’ over the rest of ’95 Percent’. This very data mining enterprise of modern world, be it economic ones or even socio-cultural ones, is essentially a politically aligned and linked exercise and therefore, information in contemporary world is seldom sacrosanct.

For example, global researches point out to the fact that diabetes is a manifestation of growing stress within the body-mind system and outside in milieus, both being interlinked. There are updated global data about number of diabetic people and on what medical support they are. It is there as it suits the industry and profiteers. However, ask for a data about how growing menace of monolithic cognition is affecting the stress pattern of minority communities globally or in a country and how these stresses are linked to probable surge in number of diabetic people within the group. Let alone the data, this very probable idea shall be dismissed and even openly flayed by authorities. Try to relate socio-religious issues and especially political decisions with lifestyle changes and seek a data about that and you shall be in for trouble. This is primarily because, it does not fall into the purview of mainstream business of profiteering from a situation of insanity in society and culture.

The modern age is no doubt the era of information surplus but the fact remains that enough data may be available but it is never across the board and holistic. Moreover, there seems to be a conscious effort by concerned authoritative layers to flood in contradictory data and information so that there could never be a singular Reality for average person. The confusion is not only natural but also intentional for specific and ‘desired’ end results by people who rule and dictate.

These details can be endless but we are not going into those. What we can summarize is the hypothesis that at micro levels, it may seem that individuals or group of humans are responsible for this or that troubles of human world and life-living but the macro level fact remains that they are not the actual protagonists of trouble and insanity. The trouble is innately and intrinsically in the very make up, nature and structure of the Reality, as it is unraveled and expressed to Human mechanism and system of observation and perception. The real protagonist of troubles and insanity therefore is not the human body-mind but the Reality itself that plays out in human milieus on Earth.

However, from this hypothesis emanates the sub-reality, which is the basis of our assertion and the core content of this eBook that Sanity may be Impossibility at macro levels in our human world, it is very much possible at individual levels. The primary reason for this assertion is the realism that whatever be the finality of reality, it essentially plays out, is unraveled and deciphered only at the lowest level of an individual body-mind mechanisms and processes. Reality plays out and is actualized only at the microcosmic and local levels of individual self consciousness.

So, effectively, this eBook proceeds on the hypothesis that though, the primary culpability of troubles and insanity does not stand with individual consciousness, the only media that plays out and executes the actual ‘offence’ and wrongs, is the individual consciousness. Therefore, it is at individual level of microcosmic Reality that sanity could be possible, if ever. That is why there is old saying that there is no need to change the society, nation or the world; rather change should be designed and installed at individual level, for every man and woman as it is the people who are the last and the only effective ‘media’ to message any change about Reality and its possible alternative expression.

This hypothesis brings us to the task of elaborating how sanity can be made a possibility at individual or personal levels, even while remaining and interacting with the larger milieu, which is innately and intrinsically antagonistic to sanity, system and order. Before we begin, we have already understood that in our further enquiry into this discussion about how personal sanity can be made possible, we must be first sure and definitive about two core elements –

  1. Entropy Of Milieus Of Human World
  2. Entropy Of Human Consciousness

In simple words, we need to understand the dynamics of why both human world and human consciousness have innate, embedded and inbuilt mechanisms and processes, inclined towards ever-ready disorder, chaos, confusion and conflicts. Why is it necessary? It is because when we are enquiring about possible sanity solutions of the trouble of human world and human life-living, a clear and categorical understanding of the dynamics of the entropic nature of both shall help a great deal. It is because, solutions are not external to troubles, rather embedded and internalized into troubles themselves. Almost always, solution is elements arranged in an ‘alternative ways’ to the arrangement of elements that create and sustain a trouble.

For the sake of convenience and continuity, we are not detailing the two issues here but they have been dealt with in separate chapters in the second part of this eBook. It is up to your choice and priority whether you first read them before we move onto our next chapter or after. In the next chapters, we are discussing ways to install and sustain possibility of sanity at personal levels.

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