Of Human Behavior

Of Human Behavior

Ted Folkert

December 18, 2014

Human behavior never ceases to amaze me. Maybe we could have a worldwide cease fire for the New Year. That would amaze me.

Okay, “Maybe I’m a dreamer”, like John Lennon sang, “but not the only one”.

Technology advances at the speed of light, even as we speak. By the time I finish writing this piece of superficial opinionating, there will probably be a new form of digital communication available which will make punching keys no longer necessary. Perhaps a device that reads your mind and transcribes your every thought, advances such thoughts to a higher level of thinking, edits the message to accommodate your target audience and places it in the minds of every conceivable person who may have interest in being made aware of it, with your digital signature attached. This is digital behavior, or scientific behavior, or technological behavior – not humanistic behavior.

All the above hyperbole is more feasible and more likely than a change of human behavior. How does human behavior remain stuck in the 15th century mold while everything else advances at breakneck speed? We no longer need adding machines, typewriters, stenographers, dictation machines, dictionaries, encyclopedias, pencils or erasers. We don’t need recordings, tapes, or CDs. We don’t even need books any longer. Soon we will no longer need coins or bills as a means of exchange, although it hasn’t been that long since we were trading chickens for cows and milk for bread. But we seem to still need killing each other.

How much have we progressed in human behavior? Today we read and listen to reports of 141 innocent people in Peshawar being murdered for no reason other than that the murderers were sending a message, settling a score. Human life must have no value, at least less value than an expression of opinion. Every other day we hear about innocent people murdered because they were practicing the wrong religion, worshipping the wrong god, or worshipping in the wrong way. None of this is for money or for food or possessions, it is all for principles, for power, for messages, such as: do it our way or you will all be murdered, don’t rain on my parade or you will be murdered, do as I say or you will be murdered, follow me or you will be murdered.

No one could possibly count the lives lost by the actions of someone doing God’s work with a sword. More people have died over religion than for money or power or anything else. No one could possibly count the lives lost by those seeking or retaining power, including our major religious organizations, as our history books will attest. No one could possibly count the lives lost for reasons of territory, economic advantage, ways of life, disobedience of power.

If we could count the refugees around the world, those who have left their homeland for their own safety and survival, we would be astonished at the number. It is obviously in the millions. Human behavior – what a simple term that is so impossible to explain or anticipate. What a hard thing to alter. Every time we think we have improved human behavior, 30 or 100 or 1,000 or 1 million people are needlessly displaced from their homes or murdered.

Let’s just name a few countries where we are murdering each other on a daily basis for inexplicable reasons, not just an occasional murder for revenge or jilted love or money, but mass murder to prove a point or gain power or territory or privilege – or to force religious principles on others. How about Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Israel, Palestine, Libya, Russia, Ukraine, Pakistan, Nigeria, Egypt, Sudan – it might be easier to name the countries where all is peaceful.

Human behavior. Unpredictable. Inexplicable. Unalterable. Unimaginable. Unnecessarily brutal. Shamelessly administered. How will we ever improve human behavior?

John Lennon sang about it:

Imagine there’s no heaven, It’s easy if you try, No hell below us, Above us only sky,
Imagine all the people, Living for today.
Imagine there’s no countries, It isn’t hard to do, Nothing to kill or die for, And no religion too,
Imagine all the people, Living life in peace,
You may say I’m a dreamer, But I’m not the only one, I hope someday you’ll join us, And the world will be as one.

His song speaks volumes. It says in a few words what could fill a tome. It seems so simple. Imagine!

We read the history books about the nature of human behavior centuries ago and shake our heads in disbelief. Future generations will read our history books and shake their heads in disbelief. Our human behavior is little, if any, better than that which we read about – and it isn’t getting any better. So where do we start? Who wants to go first? How do we communicate it? We have the United Nations. It, of course, seems useless. There is no functioning behavioral disciplinary system – only idle threats. We have economic sanctions which only seem to exacerbate festering relations, strengthen resolve, and bolster the resistance to peaceful resolution. And then we have the Veto power of the big “important” countries, so that nothing can be done to alter their behavior against their will.

Please help us elect better leaders, not only here but the world over. It is the only way to improve human behavior. The message must come from the top down, but it must be started and demanded from the bottom up, from a groundswell of the proletariat, and for the common good.

I may be a dreamer, but I’m not the only one.

Think about it!

And Happy New Year!