Mortification 2

A recent reference to the religious meaning of “mortification” – giving up physical delights which are seen as sinful – tickled my fancy. I wonder if society today does not do a lot of the same things in relation to “scientific” fads and rumors. Mortification is basically an extreme extension of common sense rejection of total hedonism. 

We all realize that if we go too crazy indulging every momentary desire, we will regret it. Some cults and individuals have extended that to believe ALL momentary delight will only lead to bad outcomes – rejection by a god, loss of eternal life, karmic judgment, whatever. So monks sat on pillars in a desert, or purposely inflicted pain on themselves to become more holy.

I have friends and read stories which indicate the same thinking is beginning to permeate the culture. Folks are avoiding ultra processed food, sugar, sun exposure, any given thing at any given day depending on the latest Internet “revelation”. All to feel better in the long run, sort out current problems, live longer and healthier. 

Moderating hedonism is, of course, always a good thing. Being aware of lifestyle and its consequences is useful. But rejecting pleasure simply because it is pleasure – and therefore “evil” – is pretty stupid. 

If we don’t enjoy our lives – a lot! – we are missing the whole point. That monk in the desert will refuse clothing. Some of my friends will refuse ice cream. I tend to laugh at each of them and think we will all end up in similar condition in another hundred years. 

And I’ve also lived long enough to understand fads and that what is “good” for us today may be really “bad”. And vice versa. 

Mortification (1)

There are three widely desperate dictionary meanings to the word “mortification”. Extreme social embarrassment, religious concentration on spiritual over bodily matters, and medical tissues dying. I mix them all and will use mortification as an alternative to “aging” which has  become far too overloaded with connotations. Especially extreme aging after 80 or so. 

Mortification in the eldest elders fits the definition pretty well. There is shame at the loss of abilities, health, and social meaning. There is a need to concentrate on almost anything except the physical, as mind and body noticeably deteriorate, often rapidly. And there is the hard realization that creeping death of parts will eventually, not too distantly, become death of all. 

I especially, like many of my peers, grasp at the spiritual aspect. It is the simplest way to avoid shame. It is relatively easy to not focus on “sinful” pleasures of the flesh. And it is simple acceptance that death is always part of life. 

Many advanced elders find their own ways to spiritual calm, whatever works. The problem with any mortification, naturally, is how much, how far, how soon. No need to mortify too quickly.

Accepting death and irrelevance is all very well, but moments are still infinite and enchanted. The final end after all, will show up as it will, whether we accept it or not. 

Humpty Dumpty

Louis Carroll had Humpty Dumpty state “words mean what I want them to mean, neither more nor less”. Orwell expanded this into the political realm (“war is peace”) following the Nazis (“work is freedom”). We are living in a time when the meaning of words is as fluid as water. 

On the one hand are the straight reversals. “I am honest” claims the dishonest politician. “I’m not a crook” the crook tells us earnestly. And – worse than that _ what do we mean by “honest” or “crook?” And by extension and implication isn’t everyone? 

Then there are the all-encompassing labels, when simple values or statements are branded as signals for so much more – usually evil. These are at least our traditional – “traitors”, “communists”, ” “woke”. By making any small idea (“police should be less brutal”) into a monolithic conspiracy including all ideas that the speaker does not like, conversation becomes impossible. 

Obviously, when everyone from rulers to influencers to your mother-in-law, neighbor, and children can make any words mean whatever they want, communication cannot happen. Language has been a glory of our species.

In the old days, different languages sounded quite distinct. Now they all sound the same but are incomprehensible except to other members of your tribe. 

We all know what happened to Humpty Dumpty. 

Social Donations

Any society must do two big things: protect itself from other societies, and maintain internal order. Even the most rabid libertarian agrees there must be a military and an internal police force with systems to protect property, secure persons, and enforce contracts. That means bureaucracies that must be paid. 

How to pay has varied tremendously. Small tribes were based on family obligation. Agricultural civilizations used payment in kind. Many empires simply looted. And, of course, there were taxes (for the military king) and tithes (for the social service priests). 

After the industrial revolution, things have become very complicated. How to pay for necessary bureaucracy (and what is truly necessary to maintain that society) is uncharted territory in current civilizations. Everyone hates taxes and fees unless they fall on someone else. Hidden taxes and fees are hard to enforce and rarely bring in enough. Nobody is quite sure how to tax capital to retain meritocracy and production. 

Two other methods have been tried. One is to simply let rulers buy their way to power and then loot and extort to get even richer. It worked for the Romans and it’s close to the democratic election system today (with elections bankrolled by corporations and special interests). 

The other is donations as in religious tithes or today’s non profit gifts or internet pleas.

Purchase of power inevitably becomes unbearably corrupt and destroys the social fabric. Donations tend to clump into smaller and smaller cliques (such as immediate family) which also shatters society. 

Perhaps there is a solution out there somewhere, or maybe simple evolution will provide a working methodology. It’s worked so far. 

Normally Inert

In apocryphal metaphor, a frog will not jump out of a slowly warming pan of water until it is too late. Similarly, people continue their normal lives as disaster approaches or rages around them. 

When I was much younger, I’d casually wonder what I would have done were I living in Germany in the 30s. Or how I would have reacted in the Roman empire as barbarians invaded distant frontiers, or what I might have done in a medieval European village as plague swept nearby. 

Sadly, I now know the answer: nothing at all. 

We may dream of being part of or even of influencing grand history, but the fact is we live in daily routine. We are too busy with everything around us to care much about big issues. At least until they strongly affect us. 

To be fair, this is evolutionary sanity. Survival overrides everything else. We may use leisure to consider cosmic issues, but often leisure not related to daily life is counterproductive to security and happiness. 

So the American voter frogs squat in their warm water, as customs and institutions they took for granted are ripped to shreds and incinerated. The only consolation is that sometimes vast destruction leads to evolutionary (perhaps good) change.

Once upon a time I thought the cataclysm would at least take a while and be imperceptible locally. Now I’m not so sure.

Ignorant Belief

My childhood education was stuffed with scientific outlook. It was a dangerous world out there and we needed all the science we could handle to defeat godless communists and other horrible menaces. Science can, after all, help us build much bigger bombs and delivery systems. 

But science is stark, complicated, and based on probability. It’s turned out most folks can’t handle it as a life guide. Belief in anything simplifies a complex world immensely, represents common sense, and ignores annoying exceptions. Most of the time, for an individual, it is comforting and harmless. 

If you believe that the lucky penny in your pocket keeps away elephants, you’re in luck. If you believe it helps your team win you will be sporadically rewarded. If you believe it will deliver next week’s lottery, you’ll probably be disappointed. No matter. You have a right to believe anything. 

Unfortunately, ignorant belief is not as useful as science in dealing with the “objective world” you and I share. And it may be a danger to others or society. If you believe your sick child will be saved by a lucky penny rather than a doctor’s care, I may decide to help that child and the hell with your belief. 

Many beliefs, however comforting to believers, have been horrible to societies. Witness the Nazis or Aztecs. 

Humans are complicated and finite in an ever more complicated and infinite universe. Lucky pennies may help any individual. But they can be an evil way to deal with others.