A wholesome mean

Well, it is Friday, the first of two during the finals period. A few streaky clouds ride the wind high above on an otherwise brilliant and sunny day. The weatherbug says it is already 60F. The day promises to be quite warm and sunny :).

I awoke this morning to the 2nd mvt. Allegretto to Beethoven's 7th symphony. It came from the brain, as music of many stripes is bound to do nearly every waking moment of my life, which makes it difficult to ignore. I wonder where it comes from sometimes, or what or who picks the day's line-up. But the interaction between the music in the brain and the events of the world can make emotions that are difficult to manage and/or understand. Perhaps a similar problem is true for others; one feels as though one is reacting to the appearence of some rather large and assertive emotion in the mind rather than purposely employing emotions and feelings toward the achievement of some positive end. The mind is a very powerful tool, as the literature on athletic visualization can attest. Perhaps a mind is both within our control and without, more or less.

And perhaps that is okay. Sometimes it makes us sad, and sometimes we would do things on impulse which upon further reflection we might not do. Perhaps our minds can get us into trouble, be it with others or ourselves. Our thoughts have the power, as the Buddha is reported to have said concerning words, to both destroy and heal. When thoughts (or words) are true and kind, they can change our world.

It would seem essential to consider the nature of our mind, and the ways in which it operates both within and without our conscious control. If we would be good, and act gently and kindly toward our fellow men and women, it would seem necessary to direct the mind away from such tendencies as do harm to ourselves and others. Many humans (perhaps everyone) have desires that can do both themselves and others harm. Some people know this, yet the desire plays upon their mind more strongly than their knowledge that it is bad for someone, and they seek to feed this desire at an expense their rational mind was unwilling to pay. It is said Voltaire once wrote that if a man has a desire, the only way counter that desire is with an idea of equal or greater weight within his mind. For example, if I wish to eat a piece of cake, to prevent myself from eating the cake (aside from making myself full on other fare) would require an idea of equal or greater weight for why I should not eat the cake, for example, that I wish to run in a few hours, and I won't be able to if I have cake in my stomach. That is, perhaps, not an especially hard decision, but it describes the idea I am trying to convey.

It would seem necessary to posess some degree of rationality in our minds so as to do good for ourselves and others. Yet often, it is by impulse that we create profound art, see things new and fresh, or change the inertia of habit and custom in a way that is ultimately beneficial. Impulse can destroy us, yet it can liberate us as well. Irrational behavior can destroy destroy relationships, guide people to self-destructuon, and lead nations collectively toward disaster. Yet irrationality has the potential, like rationality, to do us a good service, and allow us to see things in a new way. Some artists thrive on such thinking, and some seek experiences that more often than not provide a fresh and new perspective on something common or seemingly banal.

Can we be totally rational as human beings? Perhaps with training and the constraint of freedom it would be possible. Yet perhaps to drift too far in one direction is neglect the other, and an overabundance of rationality could well render ourselves and others somehow less than human. Perhaps. If nature is our model, then perhaps a healthy balance of all such forces would do us the optimal good. For a forest is not all trees, nor all animals, nor all low plants, nor all high. It is not totally dark on the forest floor nor entirely light, but dark and light, a shadow here and a splash of sunlight there. There are predators and there are prey; producers and consumers; parasites and hosts. There is, in short, no thing that dominates the forest, yet the forest is balanced and healthy in its growth.

We must be careful of too much rationality as well as too much irrationality. Both can do us great harm should they exceed their due influence in the coucils of people's hearts and minds. Perhaps a healthy mind requires them both; a wholesome mean at the center of all things. Something to consider this Friday, my dear readers. May it be blessed :).