David M Fernandes-Smith

Inner Equilibrium 

            Finding ones level of comfortable satisfaction can be difficult, especially in a world run by companies figuring out how to sell us things they want us to need.  I believe that our brains instinctually tell us that we want to be one with life. That means being apart of all the living creatures that exist, this is why we take the time to study different plants animals and of course each other. The s feeling of belonging is a powerful and binds us all together. Our bodies are created to be comfortable in an equilibrium state which is to be perfectly satisfied. We can achieve this be being understanding and being respectful. These ideas will be further developed throughout the essay.  

Being a black and Native American man coming up in the 21st century, I experienced my own share of prejudice first hand and from the accounts of those senior to me. I strove to understand how exactly I could get ahead in life with my bright insight and hunger for knowledge. Through the help of influential models like my family, I realized that I could not be perfect and please everyone around me. The use of prosocial behavior helped me to realize that I could receive positive reactions such as admiration and respect, even from those much different than me. Understanding others can be a difficult task, you don’t know their lives and what they’ve been through, you don’t know what type of mood they’re in based upon situational or dispositional causes. Therefore it’s better to give people as much of a clean slate as possible until you actually get to know that person, and take time to understand their environments and influences. 

Excerpts from Simone Weil, “The Needs of the Soul”,  “The respect due to every human being as such, even if effectively accorded, is not sufficient to satisfy this need, for it is identical forever one and unchanging; whereas honor has to do with a human being considered not simply as such, but from the point of view of his social surroundings.” This quote explains how honor, not to be confused with respect, is a different much deeper custom that is developed culturaly. If we all thought on a similiar level of honor culturaly, that would make us closer to being in one state of mind. One state of mind then inhibits, equality and understanding. Our society is notorious for the stereotyping and discrimination of various groups and individuals solely based on the observational learning of ignorant predisposed behavior. Conforming or complying to these social norms is to contribute to the lack of understanding we already see so much today.

In conclusion, honor, respect and equality, are all beneficial values that we should actively strive to maintain. We have strayed so far from the path of our instinctual needs, that we have learned to create vast unnecesary and even outrageous ones. To support these constructed needs we have destroyed the planets atmosphere (climate change), stripped the planet of much of its resources (gold, silver, copper) and have triggered chaos on the planet we call home. It is important to keep these wants and needs in check.