SEXUAL COMPETITION THE CAUSE OF SUFFERING
“Unless suffering is the direct and immediate object of life, our existence must entirely fail of its aim". Arthur Schopenhauer “
Although suffering is an unpleasant and inescapable aspect of human existence, it is not a flaw of creation nor a punishment from God. Rather, it is an integral component of the human experience, and the propellant for evolution.
The very nature of our consciousness is based on suffering, without which reality would not be progressive and evolving. Buddhism teaches us: that all suffering is rooted in desire, and all desire ultimately leads to suffering. In other words suffering and desire are the same thing, you can't have one without the other. This insight should force us to confront the very nature of our own existence, and the motives behind suffering and desire.
If we were to rid ourselves of desire entirely, what sort of existence could we have? It's almost an absurd question, yet deserves serious consideration since most of our human efforts concern the solution of suffering. For it is desire that drives us forward in life, and desire gives us purpose and direction. Without desire and the resulting aspects of suffering and satisfaction, life would not function as we know it.
So while suffering may not be the ultimate goal of life, it is nevertheless a powerful and essential force that shapes and guides us. And if we can learn to understand and embrace this reality, we may find that our lives are richer and more meaningful for it.
But, first lets answer the question, where does suffering and desire come from?
Consider the simple single-celled Eukaryote, and the evolutionary process driven by sexual competition which through time and iteration produced our civilization.
Even this simplest life form capable of reproduction exhibits consciousness, it must exhibit some form of suffering and satisfaction as it competes for its choice of mate, and looks for food. Its curiosity leads to discovery of food and mate, which, in conjunction with sexual competition, comprises the two factors that drive evolution. Suffering serves as the foundation for all life forms to perceive and comprehend their environment.
I see only two factors that have driven evolution, sexual dominance and curiosity, or discovery. There are other concepts and words we have developed that describe more complex factors, love, evil, hate, consideration etc... yet all these are evolved concepts, that certainly did not exist when the highest form of life was the Eukaryote. The Eukaryote has only two basic functions, the discovery of food, and sexual reproduction. So which came first the chicken or the egg, the discovery of food or sexual reproduction? Obviously discovery. We know that before sexual reproduction, life reproduced by simple “cell division,” mitosis, as there was no sexual competition in the reproduction process, so therefore curiosity came first, then the behavior of sexual competition emerged.
Somewhere engrained in our biology lies the root of suffering, a primal force fueled by sexual desire that drives us to love and hate. Both desire and suffering is a personal and subjective experience that defines our place in the natural order and gives us a keen awareness of our existence. Without suffering, our consciousness would not be the same, and the meaning and purpose of our reality would lack foundation and drive.
I think we can say that sexual reproduction requires desire, which gives rise to consciousness, which in turn is motivated and trained by a cycle of suffering and satisfaction.
The question of consciousness in the early stages of evolution raises intriguing questions into the nature of the biological competition that over time gave rise to human motivation. As we contemplate the complex processes involved in the race of the sperm to reach the egg, we may ask whether the sperm is imbued with any sense of consciousness in its journey. Similarly, we may ponder the degree of consciousness exhibited by the male and female whose reproductive drives sparked this competition. Were their desires deterministic, driven purely by the primal, lizard-like impulses of the cerebellum, or were they informed by more complex cognitive processes of an independent soul, where love or compassion are actually considerations of the self and its intellect?
The emergence of consciousness in the simplest creatures with sufficient brain activity is a fascinating area of study. Such creatures, driven by their innate curiosity and the competition for mates, have undergone natural selection processes that have resulted in the evolution of modern human civilization. These two factors, curiosity and competition, have proven pivotal in shaping the world as we know it today.
How do seemingly insignificant initial conditions give rise to complex human civilizations?
You may be familiar with the concept of fractals as a visual representation of patterns that emerge from repeating a simple mathematical function. However, in biology, it is sexual competition and curiosity that drive the underlying mechanisms of evolution. These foundational impulses have propelled evolution towards increasing complexity over millions of years, in a manner similar to the geometric iterations of fractals. I argue that the complexity we see today is a result of these simple interactions between single-celled organisms that reproduce sexually.
Furthermore, I believe that the process of single-cellular reproduction is far from simple. The molecular-quantum state of these organisms gives rise to an almost infinite number of permutations, the complexity of which is beyond our current ability to calculate or observe. We are left with only a apparently chaotic system that is impossible for us to fully understand.
It is well-established in the scientific community that sexual competition plays a central role in the evolution of species. Through the process of natural selection, organisms that possess advantageous traits that enhance their ability to compete for mating opportunities are more likely to reproduce and pass on those traits to their offspring. Over time, this can lead to the development of entirely new traits and species that are better adapted to their environments.
Likewise, curiosity, the activity of discovery - the drive to explore and understand the world around us - is equally crucial in shaping the course of evolution. This impulse is what motivates organisms to adapt to their changing environments, to seek out new sources of food and shelter, and to innovate in order to overcome new challenges. Without this drive to discover and innovate, the process of evolution would be stymied, and life on our planet would remain stagnant and unchanging.
In essence, it is the interplay between sexual competition and discovery - these two fundamental characteristics - that give rise to the complexity and diversity of life on our planet. As these impulses drive organisms to adapt, innovate, and evolve, the patterns of evolution that emerge can be seen as a kind of fractal, with each iteration building upon the previous one to create a richer and more intricate tapestry of life.
The human organism is intricate and the resulting behavioral diversity is equally intricate. With an estimated 30 trillion cells contributing to the reproductive act, the act itself and its associated competition are no longer straightforward. When human numbers expand and interactions occur, civilization emerges, adding further complexity. Ultimately, the evolutionary process and subsequent civilizational behaviors can be traced back to the initial factors of sexual dominance, iterated to produce complex social patterns of behavior.
It is unfortunate that most people use some sort of metaphysical account to explain human nature. Biblical explanations which deny evolution, and distort human reason.
The adage "as above, so below" embodies the idea that what occurs in the higher realms is reflective of the events and occurrences in the lower realms. This notion finds expression in various religious beliefs that seek answers to our human condition by looking to the heavens through mystic visions. Astrology is one such example of this concept, as it connects human motivations to the astral positions of planets. In ancient times, Gods and Archons were believed to be planetary causes for wars, harvest, love, and any human attribute one could imagine.
If we were to transport ourselves back in time, say, twenty thousand years ago, we would have understood human motivations as being influenced by animal spirit deities. Ten thousand years ago, however, we began to notice the planets and stars, and our definition of the unknown began to shift, relative to the stage of our cultural evolution. Indeed, our understanding of the cosmos has been a continuous, evolutionary process that has been shaped by cultural and scientific advancements, as well as the philosophical underpinnings of the societies in which they developed.
The search for the eternal has historically been directed skyward, toward the heavens, in hopes of grasping the metaphysical and incomprehensible. However, the immensity of our reality demands a view not only from a bottom-up perspective, but from the self inwardly, into its biological and quantum underpinnings. The self's will is firmly rooted and shaped by its biophysical composition, engaged in a perpetual struggle against the entropic current of the universe. This entropic current serves as the impetus for our motivations within the evolutionary framework of space-time, with the quantum field effects responsible for our reality as we know it. Therefore, it seems plausible that the essence of eternity or deity may lie within ourselves, rather than the heavens above.
Undoubtedly, modern advancements in cosmology and biology have provided us with greater insight into the intricacies of the universe and human behavior. Our understanding has shifted away from attributing the influence on humankind to Gods, spirits in heavenly bodies, or archons of the pleroma. However, regrettably, these more substantiated perspectives have yet to be comprehensively explicated or universally embraced by the populace.
One may posit that "as below is above," for the forces that govern life on Earth are rooted in biology, which over time has evolved and expanded to encompass the planet and beyond. Indeed, the natural progression of life leads us to contemplate a future in which we may become one with the universe itself. As the evolutionary trajectory of life continues, it is not difficult to imagine that humanity may eventually bridge the gap between the terrestrial and the celestial, perhaps transcending the physical confines of our world and becoming a part of the cosmic tapestry that stretches out into infinity.
Human beings are motivated by two fundamental functions: discovery and reproduction. Through these functions, humanity has the ability to not only understand the reality that surrounds us but to also transform it. Our discoveries become eternal, providing a legacy for future generations, who continue to build upon the foundations of the past. Education, in turn, allows for the maturation of our children, as they prepare to continue the process of discovery and progress.
"was is the saddest word of all" The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner.
Upon taking a step back and observing our reality, one may come to realize that only the next moment truly survives; it is the only event that is truly "real." Our eyes are the most powerful tool we possess to perceive reality, but our perception is always of the past, depending on the distance of our observations. The past is accessible to us only through memories, and the future is no more than a probable prediction. As such, the present moment is actually the next moment and that is our reality, all else was. Death serves as a stark reminder of the transience of all things, reminding us that everything ultimately returns to dust, and the value of leading an honest and virtuous life.
Since our reality is the next moment, and we know that each next moment is the product of causality, the only act that can change the future is an assurance the knowledge that informs our actions comes from a true and well aligned view of reality.
In summary:
As primates, our primal motivation is breeding, just like any other primate. Breeding is a competitive endeavor, where individuals subjectively select a better mate over another. Sexual competition is the cause of suffering, the perpetual struggle that propels most species to reproduce, and the driving force behind much of our behavior. For humans, this innate drive has been responsible for shaping the character of our civilization. From the good we do to the wars we wage, and the vast spectrum of human experience, it all has its roots in the function of sexual competition.
In the grand scheme of things, humans have long been regarded as the pinnacle of evolution, yet we often fail to ponder the underlying reason or purpose for it all. While we may marvel at the vast and complex civilization we have constructed, we seldom consider what has driven this process. It seems unlikely that evolution and the development of civilization could be motivated, initiated, and conditioned by a simple first cause, such as sexual competition. And yet, every day, individuals seek out partners and engage in a blind, lifelong competition for survival against the fittest among us. Sexual competition is the driving force behind the dialectic, the argument that sparks progress - progress that should not be mistaken for the well-being of the individual, but rather as a relentless movement of suffering that produces incremental change, what we call evolution. Sexual competition has been and remains the primary motivator of civilization, history, economics, art, and nearly everything else that concerns us.
Humans possess a unique ability among the animal kingdom: a complex system of language that allows us to communicate with each other. With this linguistic tool, we banded together into family and clan units, using our voices to express preferences for leadership and ultimately gain an advantage in the game of sexual competition. As larger, better-organized groups emerged victorious over smaller ones, solitary individuals became rare and adaptation to the group became essential for survival. Nations were formed, and so, it is from this primal competitive nature that our civilization blossomed, and this driving force is what gave birth to our history and progress.
From our inherent drive to compete, a progressively advanced society arose, comprising numerous families, clans, and social groups, each striving for their own particular interests. At its core, civilization is the interplay of individual interpretations of their personal sexual preferences. Philosophy, customs and religions codified in our behavior, each reflecting different competitive attributes of this primary motivator. These divergent perspectives fuel the dialectic, or the ongoing debates and discussions, whose conflict and resolution shape our past and future.
Conclusion:
Despite millenniums of considering existence, we have yet to discover a rational purpose for our struggles. The best we can do is say we do this for our family, or for survival, but actually we function without a clear understanding of why we exist, or why we are driven to engage in sexual competition in the first place. Our behaviors are labeled as noble, courageous, brutal, or victorious, yet we lack a deeper meaning beyond mere existence itself. It is only in recent times that we have begun to question the absurdity of living without a clear reason for doing so.
Our collective drive originates from the iteration between the many individual sexual motivations, what German philosophy refers to as the "will." It is this will that fuels the dialectic, the argument that produces characteristic competition between cultures, societies, and individuals, shaping the nature of economies, sociology, and all activities between people as individuals or groups.
We have built nations and civilizations, but at a cost. Individuals have become abstracted from their own lives, bound to a social and religious structure that manipulates them through their own lack of awareness. They are unaware of their purpose or what their future may hold. Despite this, individuals remain loyal and dedicated to the daily routines dictated by their cultural, national, and religious beliefs.
The outcome of sexual competition has led to a range of deterministic behaviors that produce winners and losers. This division has given rise to a social hierarchy, a system of social stratification in which a small number of people at the top benefit from the labor of a large number of people at the bottom. This social hierarchy requires poverty, stupidity, and neglect.
Poverty is necessary to keep the lower classes in their place. When people are poor, they are more likely to be desperate and willing to work for low wages. They are also more likely to be ignorant and easily manipulated.
Stupidity is also necessary to keep the lower classes in their place. When people are stupid, they are less likely to challenge the status quo. They are also more likely to believe the lies that the upper classes tell them.
Neglect is the final piece of the puzzle. When the upper classes neglect the lower classes, they create a breeding ground for crime, violence, and disease. This keeps the lower classes in a state of fear and desperation, making them even more susceptible to manipulation.
Sexual motivation is a driving force behind social stratification and conflict. The desire to reproduce has led to the development of social hierarchies, in which a small number of people at the top benefit from the labor of a large number of people at the bottom. This constant struggle between winners and losers is the root cause of wars and other forms of social conflict.
We can overcome these problems by recognizing the absurdity of our behavior. We are all motivated by lust, but we can choose to act on our desires in a more constructive way. We can choose to cooperate with each other instead of competing, and we can choose to be considerate of others instead of selfish. If we make these choices, we can create a more just and peaceful world.
