Your system or someone elses system?

Question

Blake said it best:
“I must Create a System, or be enslaved by another Man's; / I will not Reason and Compare; my business is to Create.” William Blake

assert your world or become a tool:

“There's no reality except the one contained within us. That's why so many people live an unreal life. They take images outside them for reality and never allow the world within them to assert itself.” Hermann Hesse

"the Boss"..you do not seem to understand the question

"the Boss" if everyone thought like you, then there would be no progress, all great breakthroughs in science and art have been by people who were individuals living by their own systems einstein, descartes, leibniz, blake, van gogh, pascal. if they had just been followers of other peoples systems all their lives then they would never have been able to bring something new.

"tasty.morsel" (are you really as tasty as you claim?), yes my mistake it is not an either or question, all i am trying to say is that shouldn't we all assert a little bit of our own individuality. I am not saying we should reinvent the wheel or not use\integrate other systems.

Answer 1

I believe you say that every person must create a personal philosophy, develop their own ideas, and not depend on what they get from others.

Such idea is true in part. The world is quite complex, human life is limited. Each individual cannot develop their own ideas in all subjects. Such goal is impossible in practice, because it would tax us too heavily. What happens in reality is that we accept ideas we receive from others. Then, in important matters, we verify and generate our own ideas as necessary.

That last sentence is the critical part. To decide what is important, how to verify knowledge, how to generate original ideas, how to decide whether to revise our thinking is all hard work. Some people are intellectually lazy. Such people are easily manipulated by others, which is why we all need to be with our eyes open. We all have blind spots, areas where our knowledge is insufficient. It is important to recognize this limitation, and to corrected it as necessary. Otherwise, we may become victims of manipulators.

Answer 2

I like your question - it is extremely interesting.

I like Blake's quote - that he must create. I write poetry and I always think of my poems as my creations. I think when Blake wrote "I will not Reason and Compare; my business is to Create", he is just saying that he will create something new according to his views and not think about how it fits in with any other systems. He is just going his own way - to the beat of a different drum.

I also like Hermann Hesse's quote - that we have the real world inside us - actually in Judaism - each human life is considered a separate world - that is why there is the quote that if you save a life (human being) it is the same as saving the world.

I think these are valuable insights and quotes and I have no problem incorporating them into my thinking. The best thing anyone can do is keep an open mind and learn - life is a journey and learning is the main component.

Answer 3

The many systems that exist do so by the grace of individualism. Only if a system is accepted is there genuine reality in anybodies world. Take going to a new job, one that has functioned for some years in a system over time has been built to successfully work. Your arrive not knowing anything about the business system, what can you contribute that hasn't been tried? YET, to show creative endeavor you must add to the system from your own experience to improve the company.
Spartawo...

Answer 4

Creativity is a part of human nature. It can/should never be stopped. If you create a system better than the existing one only then it will receive general appreciation and acceptance. Its not enslavement if we follow a system which is delivering properly. A system is needed to be replaced if its not delivering and instead its causing sufferings and exploitation. If merely egotism will be the reason behind the creation of a system then please remember that this attitude has caused many problems is the past.
A man made system can not be flawless. There always remains a room for its improvement. What is rational is to struggle for its improvement unless a system is introduced which can be called a true replacement of the existing one in all terms.

Answer 5

To worry whose system you are using (yours or someone elses) is to be enslaved to ego. I did not invent the wheel, so does that mean I must invent something better?

With your headline & your quote from Blake, it sounds as if you're trying to say that something must be your own and not be influenced by others. I simply said that that kind of thing is just childish ego, unless there is a legitimate reason to create your own.

As far as the inner world of Hesse's I think he's talking about experience and not emphasizing that it has to be your creation per se... but needs to be pure and not influenced by superficial forces.

My resposne to you is that there are far more failures in this world due to such grand egoism than there are successes. Many ruined human beings have entertained this grand way of thinking, and most true genius was not so glorious as you may imagaine.

Answer 6

This is not an either/or question. Someone who only is a tool never makes decisions for themselves. They are co-dependent. Someone who only asserts their world or creation quickly finds out how lonely their world can be. The truth of the matter is...we are all both, at times, with different percentages. The pendulum swings in both directions and yet still maintains a center. To refute either side as an unnecessary or lesser part in life is to deny balance.


***edit***
Bijo,
So I've been told...thanks for asking. I just signed up this month and I must have gone through at least a hundred names that were "unavailable". Finally, I said to myself, "I wonder what kind of tasty morsel is left out there. There it was! Not "unavailable"! Yea!

Answer 7

Look at the bigger picture my friend.No matter what you create,you still can't escape the system that this small planet of ours operate.You would have no choice but to comply.You will not be able to create a whole new system for the way this universe works......You however on the micro level can set up your domitory the way you want it and call it a System you created and take Pride in it.And then by all means bask in the minuscule glory till the sun goes down.....

Answer 8

I am spiritual, not neccesarly in a "defined" religion. I believe what I believe and choose not to force my ideas on others. I would never choose something someone had created for me, but only what my instinct sets before me. The one thing I know for sure, what I believe is peaceful and not vengeful.

I don't really even talk about what I believe with other people, because I don't find the relavance in that.....of course unless they really choose to know.




A misogynist, huh? Wow.

We always fear what we can't understand.

We always hate who sees us for who we really are and then walks away.

Answer 9

You're right. It is our uniqueness that must be acknowledged to connect to "The Real." Each one of us contributes to the whole when we remember who we are - what we love. Only then are we co-creators of reality by offering what is within, without.

Answer 10

Being a magickian, I live by my own system; I have borrowed pieces from other systems, but the final arrangement is mine.