The Laws of Life #3 is The Law of People: Unique and Identical

This pic says it all. Taken from a Star Trek series, these two men are the same and they hate each other, for the same reason, race. So, what is the difference? The colors are on the opposite side of each other. So true isn’t it? Same but different and yet such discord.

If there is anything in our lives that determines our lives it is the other people in our lives. The Law of People states that people are all the same and all different.

When you look at the struggles of the world what you see are people expecting everyone to be just like they are AND people who think nobody is anything like them. So what you have are those who are trying to force everyone into their way or those who are trying to get as many out of their way as possible.

I guess it is known as ”Elitism” and ”Socialism” but not in eco-political sense. 

The truth is, we are all the same, physically, psychologically, emotionally, mentally in terms of how we are formed. We are after all a species, Homo sapiens sapiens. In fact, we are a decendent of homo sapiens. Basically, it means all humans are the same. So, at this basic level, we have billions of peers. But here is the problem…

…I have been reading a book called ”The Art of Thinking Clearly” by Rolf Dobelli, and in it, he mentions one very important fact about envy.  We envy those who are like us. Now, you may ask, how is this important?  Well, he is talking about the fact that a baseball ball player is not going to be envious of a ballet dancer. They are in two different arenas of competition. But, for the human race as a whole, isn’t it true that we are constantly evaluating our position within that group and this drives us to compete?

Live and let live is a nice idea, but it simply doesn’t work that way, does it? At some level in everyone’s life, there is a competition going on, it is unavoidable and that drives us crazy and we aren’t even aware of it. Being all the same is true, but that means two things, good and bad, yes we have the same nuts and bolts, but the machines as a whole are in a silent competition. That causes problems.

The other side of it is, we are all different. This is one thing that huge groups of people just don’t get. The expectation that everyone should be like us is insane. There are so many categories of differences that it boggles the mind, and every difference has a group of people who want to make the rest of the world be just like them, from race, religion, political affiliation and economic concept.

It is an absolute mess, isn’t it? The most absurd concept is the American idea to embrace everyone’s differences, e pluribus unum, but that most of the world is controlled by people who don’t feel that way, and that difference is something Americans don’t accept, when if you were going to be truly accepting of differences, you would have to allow for the fact that some folks aren’t going to want the world to be that way and be okay with it, even when they hate you for being different at the same time.

To have a successful life, we must be aware of these two realities and know that our position in life is like a square dance, it changes as you move through the people. We are who we are, but we also are who is around us. This dance, this underlying competition, cooperation and mutual compassion is all part of the human experience.

I guess the bottom line is, expect nothing and be ready for everything, because people are people, they are all the same and they are all different and that makes the world a very confusing place…and…it is nobody’s fault.

So, either we see ourselves and life as if it is a terrible drama or as a improvised comedy. Either way, our journey begins the same and ends the same, we may as well enjoy it if we can.

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