Kill the Beast
“Who do you think you are talking to?! Do you know who I am?!” Those are the trademark questions of our social agreements. You will hear them behind closed doors of VIP sections of top ten companies as well as among the members of a gang of landfill hobos. You will hear them sitting at the family dinner table as well as when passing a joint in a circle of thinkalikes in a dimly lit back alley.
Self-importance is at the root of our social identities.
From the time we are able to comprehend it, we are taught to lead, follow, or get out of the way. We are breastfed this social hierarchy and then we wonder why the world we live in is such a shitty place to be. We breastfeed this internalized worldview to our kids and then we wonder why Earth resembles hell more than it resembles heaven.
Many will argue that hierarchy is the way nature rolls. After all, packs of social animals always have leaders, those who follow, and even those who go out of the way. However, in animal realm, alphas never assert their dominance. The pack simply follows the dominant individual because the members are smart enough to discern the advantages that go with it. And, even though e.g. young elephants are known to engage in elaborate politicking in order to advance in social order and beta chimps are infamous for their alliances and brutally violent power grabs (even wars), these behaviors are all motivated by pragmatic concerns such as access to water, females, or what have you.
In certain regards, humans are no different. We are animals through and through. But on top of it, human animal, having the power of symbolic thinking, gets kicks even from simply being on the top of the pecking order. That is, the intoxication from having control of those brought into submission. After all, when you put a pack of humans indoctrinated with self-importance into an environment that provides all of them with enough resources, they will still fight for the imaginary throne and discriminate on the basis of value.
Yet, there is no inherent value in human being. Some may be stronger, some may be smarter, some may be more skillful, perceptive, or even more pleasing to the eyes of their respective beholders. But the value of them all is the same. That is, none. Furthermore, there is no difference in value between human being and anything else that can be found in Universe. Nothing has value because it is priceless.
No wonder that humbleness and modesty are so lauded in certain circles.
However, many, if not most, imagine those traits as being synonymous with being a doormat, yes-man, or a submissive weakling. Quite predictably, because that’s exactly how it appears from the vantage point of self-importance. Therefore there are masses of those who try to directly assert their value in an open conflict we euphemistically call competition, but also all those self-deprecating fools who consider themselves humble while they still derive their sense of value (and subsequently importance) from being able to withstand the self-torture they submit themselves to.
What a farce. True humbleness is simply the loss of value judgment. It’s what happens when one loses self-importance. Nothing is less than, thus nothing is more than. Everything is leveled while still allowing for quantitative judgment of individual features and qualities. So let me be clear — humbleness does not make one better. It just brings peace and satisfaction. It simply liberates, because it’s the truth. At its core, it’s elementary and total acceptance.
Sure, you may still argue that value is real, but then how much is Sun? And of course, when you furiously ask, “Do you know who I am?!” I can only reply, “Yes, I do. And you won’t fool me,” even though I risk that your self-importance will get the better of you as it will feel threatened.
Well, you have an uninvited tenant living in your mind. We will be all better off when you kill that self-important prideful beast.
