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People are flawed, deal with it
Thursday, 22 February 2007
Like most people, I've had all kinds of disappointments and things that make me angry in life. Sometimes, I just can't believe that the world can be as cruel as it appears.
When I think about the single biggest factor that has shocked and disappointed me most about reality, it almost always comes back to things people have done. Those who I thought were friends have betrayed me, those I thought I could trust have cheated me, or those I thought cared have neglected me. This, above all else, has been a source of misery to me on many occasions.
But I'm beginning to figure the whole thing out.
I think I, like most of us, have pretty high expectations of the people I interact with. I've built up this framework of rules and morals that I expect them to follow, because those are the rules and morals I myself try to follow. But I think this is naive. Most people just do whatever the heck they want. And if my interests happen to conflict with theirs ... well too bad for me. This seems to be the case even if they're people who appear to really like me and show loyalty.
The people we share this Earth with aren't angels or gods. They're not born particularly good or noble. They're all flawed to some extent, just like you and me.
We humans like to think we're some kind of higher beings, and in some ways we are. You just have to listen to some of the music we've produced, the books we've written and the science problems we've solved. But all this is just a fraction of who we really are.
The truth is that most of us are petty, shallow and self-obsessed much of the time. We don't focus on the problems that are noble, but those that come from our most base desires. We seek love, status and material comfort above all else, and God help anyone who gets in our way. That's just the way the vast majority of us are, and to pretend otherwise is just wishful thinking.
I'm not saying you should hate people, hide from them or treat them with nonstop suspicion. There's all sorts of things about most of us that are lovable, wise and trustworthy. I am saying not to go too far in your appreciation of humanity's finer points. Realize that we're all flawed and capable of selfish and destructive acts.
That's just the way life is. And as regular readers know, I think basing your decisions of unpleasant truths is a much smarter way to go than dressing things up in pretty lies.
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