Philosophical Musings As Grounds For Revolution

Even something so simple as wondering how we can live a better life has as its basis a fundamentally philosophical disposition. To even consider life's possibilities is to tend towards philosophy; and this follows whether we consider our own possibilities or those of our children.

My argument--or contention, if you prefer--is that we are all philosophically inclined in that we want to live the best life imaginable, that we desire understanding, that we thirst for knowledge. We are Homo sapiens!

Obviously if there were not more or less skillful ways of existing there would be no need nor rhyme nor reason for wisdom... or for the love of wisdom. Yet there are more and less skillful ways of existing which tend to predispose us as human-beings to endeavouring to understand how best to live.

Developmental psychologists argue that a child's initial mode of learning is through modeling and mimicry. The child attempts to repeat what the child sees and hears and notice and is aware of. Children are born imitators of that which they see. The unfortunate side of this is that if the world around the child is not setting an example of grace and ease and well-being and strength and tolerance and compassion then the child will be less prone to mimicking those sorts of behaviours. After all, in the early stages of development there is not capacity for reflection on whether or not what the child is modeling and mimicking is proper and fitting (or if there are other ways that might be more skillful and beneficial in the long-run). It is not until later in development (pre-frontal cortex, the seat of abstraction, the emergence of forethought and better judgment) that the child becomes capable of reflecting on the 'ways of the world' modeled to him or her, and whether or not those are in fact the best ways for existing.

It may emerge with something as simple as 'wondering.' There is a sense of 'Hhhhmmmmmm.... is this all there is? Are these the only ways we can exist? Must racist remarks be a part of our world? Do we need to perceive certain ethnicities as beneath us? Is that really wise? Is that in keeping with what is ultimately True?

Philosophical tendencies in humanity. Feminism. Civil rights. Emancipation. Reformation. The Declaration of Independence. When someone begins to wonder if all that seems to be is all that really is, that is when the world starts to shake. It is that quiet wondering in secret that is the ground of Revolution. Has been. Is now. Will be.

People pondering: The world starts to tremble.