When Does Claiming To Be 'Special' Become Hubris?

An explanation of and call to

When Does Claiming To Be ‘Special’ Become Hubris?

An Explanation Of And Call To ‘Accept->Embrace->Find New Possibilities’

   We live at a time and in a world filled with more ‘stuff’ than ever before. Beyond the infinite number of physical objects lies an equally numerous collection of internal phenomena; feelings and thoughts strewn across the ‘floor,’ causing many of us to trip, stumble and perform a slow-motion faceplant, one we can watch as an out-of-body experience. 

   Deep inside the chaos rumbles a central, pivotal question: what, if anything, does the future hold for Homo Sapiens Sapiens? This question spans the entire spectrum of human concerns. It is not confined to the split in the environmental ‘movements’ between so-called Doomers and everyone else, who hold onto various levels of ‘hope’ that we will ‘solve’ enough of our present problems to ensure at least a mid-term survival. 

   What causes Doomers to conclude we are probably done for? Many have spent years, even decades, in the Environmental Movement, so why do they ‘give up?’ HOW can they give up? The reasons, naturally, are as varied as their numbers - changed life situations (health, mobility, income, family…..), but there is one particular notion that can often override all the others - we just ain’t that special. 

   I am an atheist-turned-animist. I have never needed to believe in an all-powerful entity in order to be in total awe of what surrounds and includes us all, and I propose to leave the subject there. This is not intended as a polemic against religion. I mention it at all merely as a segue to the dominant prejudice of our ‘specialness,’ a true ‘root of all evil.’

   As discussed in an earlier essay,* one sustaining path open to all of us, regardless of our specific circumstances, is: to accept -> to embrace -> to open up new possibilities (a->e->n). Those three steps can be applied at any age and to any changes in our lives. I have come to heartily urge doing so, as it has and continues to help me adjust to several of my own personal challenges, many of them more than a little bit daunting.

   Among those concerned with the aforementioned question of our species’ survival, perhaps the most basic and difficult test is recognizing the limits of our ‘specialness.’ We are certainly capable of performing tasks that no other form of life can accomplish. We have erected an astonishing array of ‘structures,’ both physical and metaphysical. Doing the former has necessitated the manipulation of our surroundings, of shaping them to our purposes. Accomplishing our goals has meant combining the former with the latter, applying our immense mental capabilities to those creations. 

   Forgotten until relatively recently have been the unintended aftereffects of all the mayhem we have also caused; again, both physical and metaphysical. We are now being overwhelmed by both - destruction of biomes across the planet and an accompanying pandemic of emotional distress. 

   The two are marching, hand in hand, as Mother Earth shows us daily that she has lost patience with our meddling. Why is she so pissed off? More to the point, why do we continue to perform transgression after transgression? Against what, specifically, are we trespassing? Only the Laws of Nature.

   As special as we are, we are not above those laws. Despite our best efforts, which have found us capable of gouging them, bending them to our will, ultimately, we cannot eradicate them. No matter how special we think ourselves to be, in the end we are not their match, much less their conqueror. 

   The Laws of Nature provide Mother Earth an ultimate fortress with a vigilant moat so wide and deep that no amount of ‘human ingenuity’ can successfully lay siege. Ironically, its edge, on which we presently teeter, is calling us to the most crucial kick-off, the final rerun of the accept -> embrace -> new possibilities sequence. The objective in this decisive chain is the full recognition that our importance, our exceptionality ends at that edge, the threshold of Mother Earth’s defensive trench.

   There are trenches prohibiting easy access to the ‘a->e->n’ progression needed to resolve countless predicaments - social, emotional, economic, political - but letting go of our supposed transcendent supremacy is far and away the most critical. 

   Since there is fierce resistance to doing so, even among those who seem to most clearly grasp the precariousness of our species’ circumstances, can an acceptable pathway be presented, a tolerable corridor capable of providing the final ‘n,’ giving us the most hope for that ‘second chance’ we desire so desperately? Absolutely!

   The challenge is to convince our fellow humans that our best hope is, in fact, to enter and complete that crucial ‘a->e->n’ series, the one that lays to rest our hubris. As someone in the middle of that sequence and has caught glimpses of light at the end of the tunnel, I can attest to the benefits of completing the journey. 

   Even as I continue to bounce along the bumpy roadway, every day brings more positivity to my life. Unlike what many seem to fear, the letting go hasn’t caused me to ‘give up,’ quite the opposite. Hoping is not the problem, but we need to be selective about what we hope for. ‘Clear-eyed’ is not an antonym of ‘hopeful,’ it’s  an invaluable modifier. Peace.

*https://docs.google.com/document/d/12naK0EkpnlXyORU4uFmZAKW63ItTRXNDkKZDixv6-94/edit