Levels of Survival

 After my last blog post my Mum sent me a text. In it was some personal stuff talking about what I had written. And included was the following:

(The) Dynamics of Survival

1. Survival as self
2. Survival through reproduction; sex, family 
3. Survival through groups, society, community
4. Survival through species (mankind)
5. Survival through all life forms
6. Survival through the physical universe: matter, energy, space, time 
7. Survival through spirit, soul
8. Survival through creation, god

I found this interesting so that night I called her and we had a 55 minute conversation about this, It was mostly trying to understand what each one of those meant to each of us. It was a lot of fun.

So now I am going to talk about each one of these. I am not going to strictly adhere to what my Mum and I talked about. In fact I am going to widely diverge from the conversation that we had. I have done some reflecting since then and want to write about that. So hang on folks. This could be fun. Or not.

1. Survival as self
To me this is the most selfish survival. It is only about the individual person and has no connection to the rest of us. I will survive and if everyone else is dead and I am alive that is ok. And, in order to be in this world, we must each survive. So this is all about the Physical World. The survival of the ID, which can only survive within the meat suit we call a body.

2. Survival through reproduction; sex, family
This is still the most basic survival. It is, however, where we begin to acknowledge a larger reality than just our own world. Where there begins to be more than just the Self. Even though, in this paradigm, it is still about the preservation of some part of our own self and a continuation of the idea of ME.

3. Survival through groups, society, community
And it is here that we begin to truly see a wider world and something bigger than just ME. We begin to form relationships and groups, mostly with people who look and sound like us, although not always. So even though we are starting to see a wider world it still is a narrowly focused world.

4. Survival through species (mankind)
It is here that we begin to see, and maybe even delight in, our differences in the world around us. It is here that we begin to see that idea from Star Trek of I.D.I.C. (Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations) as a real possibility. To be on this level we must have begun the process, and be fairly far along in that process, of losing our fear of the other, of those who do not look or sound like us, of those who are different.

5. Survival through all life forms
And now we are talking about advanced living. Embracing differences instead of fearing it. Recognizing that what we do has consequences for ALL Life. And that we are not Masters of the World, we are Stewards of the World.

6. Survival through the physical universe: matter, energy, space, time
And here is where we start stepping out of reality as most know it. For here is where we begin to see, and accept, what a small part we ultimately play in this Universe. In the Physical Universe we have Matter, Energy, and Space, and without Time to give these things legitimacy they do not exist. Nothing does. Survival through the Physical Universe is where it really stops being All About Me.

7. Survival through spirit, soul
So what is next? That is really the question for this one. Do we have a Spirit/Soul? Religion says we do. Science has not yet found evidence for or against. We, People, hope that we do. Everything Spiritual Creation of Humanity throughout our existence has been an effort to convince ourselves that we are more than these bodies. That somehow that essential spark that is the true SELF will carry on. I don't know. And neither does anyone else. No matter how fervently they tell you different. Like I told someone else a long time ago, "It ain't none of my business until I die and then I will know".

8. Survival through creation, god
I personally do not believe any god exists out there. I believe that every living thing is a piece of a greater whole. That on the most fundamental level, the Quantum Level or some such, we are all connected. That We Are One. That the binding force of all life and creation, the most basic and potent energy, is Love.

So Time gives us Legitimacy and Existence. Love is what ties us all together and makes us Whole.

We must Love each other or we shall all die.

Love one another. It is the Only Rational Act.

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