Today, with my recent expedition, I would like to extend why the past is essential. The past has the power to set standards or perhaps quality. Sigismund Freud has always stressed the past in his research. Every branch of science that deals with people ultimately deals with the past.
Children at a very young age tend to look for things surrounding themselves. Those kindergarten children grew into dragon-ic figures if they were raised with dragon toys. The same goes for every distinctive imaginable category of interest. A child's choice of comfort differs. Most will not be able to stand northern lands in contrast with the time they had visited those places in the best season. However, the locals will stand out and love the dark, cold winter there.
You have been raised in certain conditions, such as your family's food choices, culture and climate. All those experiences leave their mark on you. Although I don't think they define you, I am inclined to see that they set people's bounds. Imagine you are on a boat. Motionless. The wind and the people from the coast would push you towards the sea. You move in a particular direction. That is true for the spirit as well. The people you have been raised with give you a cognitive frame that you use to distil information. Your moves are the reactions based on that information. The wind, however, after you leave the coast would differ from the initial pushing direction of the people. The wind and the waves are your surroundings, such as the place you live. Be it people in New York or the whales in the baltic sea.
Most importantly, your desires are based on your past. I am not saying what you have been being or what you will seek. I tell you that what you have been through gives you great acceleration. You may have been hurt, and your past was full of pain. Indeed, you would move against your history. On the other hand, if they were pleasant, you would seek them.
Desires are present and powerful. You tend to them firmly. It is hard and quite irritating to move against them, though sometimes you have to irritate yourself. More importantly, desires possibly tell your future. Because it is hard to resist them, statistically, a significant portion won't resist them.
It is why if an outsider knows your desires, you feel annoyed. They gain power over you as you have given what you will be doing—both on the chessboard and in life. Desires can be adjusted and raw, but more on that after.
Logically, if someone knows your past, they possibly predict who you will be. Machine learning algorithms usually predict days when you will order pizza or go to the theatre with your beloved.
Your past defines your short-term behaviour well but is not as reliable for the future. At least for free people.
You build your life on those values and desires defined by your past. In life, when you make big decisions, they can also guide you or deceive you. They are the fields where your characteristics grow and eventually bear fruit over time. Society, at best, hopes to taste a fruit that is sweet and delicious. Philosophers usually desire deep aromas, while groups desire smoother ones.
Be prepared to challenge your past. Challenge yourself to choose a path of outcomes you cannot foresee. If one won't question themselves, no one else can.
Initially published for Polyhedron on 8/29/2022
Comments