I'm not talking about "God". This is a beneficial property permeating everything in the universe, but it is purely a secular phenomenon. There is no faith required to understand this concept. While some people may be tempted to apply the "G" word to this concept, it is a term with far too many inapplicable connotations to be useful in describing this concept.
The word "force" may even be misleading. I don't really mean to imply that it is a force or energy in the physical sense. Tendency is probably closest to my meaning, but I want to give a sense of tangability to what I'm describing. Understanding it as a tangible property of existence is an important aspect of what I'm trying to convey.
The logical basis of this phenomenon is the fairly self-evident observation that things which are mutually incompatible tend to annihilate each other, while things which are mutually compatible co-exist indefinitely. This simple and obvious fact may not seem that significant. However, applied incessantly and ubiquitously it has sculpted the universe into a unified, intricate, and harmonious whole.
This tendency underlies all of the processes which have created the universe as we know it, and which make the ongoing existence of life possible. Chemical reactions, physical processes, and natural selection are all manifestations of this basic rule.
Most of us are unaware of this force most of the time precisely because it is so all-pervasive. Our senses and minds are tuned to be aware of the exceptions, rather than the rule. Imagine for a moment that you're a fish. How aware would you be of the water? You'd probably pay more attention to the occasional air bubble that drifted past you than the water that constantly surrounded you. Likewise, we often tend to pay more attention to the negative exceptions than the positive rule. Exceptions are simply more noteworthy.
What is interesting is how this process, operating continuously and iteratively over eons, has created such a wonderfully complex and beautiful universe. All of the processes which have created the universe are manifestations of this force, from the raw physics which resulted in matter and energy, to the chemical reactions which created the plethora of compounds which make up our world, to the natural selection which has created our magnificent biosphere.
Is the force benign?
It may not yet be obvious that this force is benign. It would be hard to defend the position that this force is malevolent since that would imply you would prefer the non-existence of the universe to its existence in its present form. I'm confident that this is a minority position!
Of course, there is an element of subjectivity in describing anything as benign or malevolent, good or evil. The question is "good for who or what?". That question actually strikes to the heart of the matter. The point is that this fundamental tendency to harmony has eliminated the forms of existence which are incompatible with it. The continuously iterating process of eliminating discord has left primarily forms of existence which are compatible with each other. The exceptions are necessarily localized and temporary. Therefore, by definition the majority of existence always benefits from the force I'm describing.
The root cause of love
Let me bolster my position by citing an indisputably good phenomenon which are engendered by this force: love.
Love has many facets: Romantic love, parental love, brotherly love, etc. Many of us are lucky enough to feel a sense of love for all human-kind. Where does this emotion, the most powerful and fulfilling psychological force in most our our lives come from? A simple answer is at hand if you accept my assertion: This emotion is a consequence of the universal benign force, manifested as natural selection.
Romantic love is obviously and strongly tied to the sex drive, and hence to procreation. It's pretty obvious that species and individuals within species who have a tendency to procreate are favoured by natural selection over those who do not. Furthermore, romantic love cements the bonds which allow human couples to maintain long term monogamous relationships. Humans tend to have small numbers of offspring, and as with many such species, monogamous relationships are useful in that they allow both partners to invest in the successful upbringing of the offspring, ensuring a higher survival rate.
Likewise parental love is also an obvious consequence of natural selection. If you're going to have small numbers of offspring (as our biology dictates), taking good care of them is essential to the survival of your genes. An emotion which compels you to do so is clearly an advantageous adaptation.
Love of siblings, parents, and other relatives has similar biological justification: these people share your genes, and their ongoing survival is therefore in your genes' interest.
Archeological evidence indicates that humans have always been highly social animals. Like most other primates we have tended to congregate together in troops of between a dozen and a couple hundred individuals. Groups of this size cooperated to their mutual benefit, sharing food, dividing labour for efficiency, helping each other when they were sick or injured. Our psychology has thus evolved to facilitate this advantageous behaviour: giving us a natural tendency to form friendships. This is the basis of a broader love of community and nation, and extends in some to encompass all humanity.
Romantics will find it distasteful that I've described love as an extension of biological function. I, on the other hand, find it endlessly heartening to know that the existence of love is a natural, almost inevitable consequence of a fundamental law of the universe. What a wonderful universe!
So why focus on love? Why not hate? Is it not equally a product of this phenomenon? Absolutely, so let's discuss it:
The problem of evil.
So, what about all the ugliness in the world: hatred, war, murder, disease, etc? Does this disprove the notion that this force is universal, and/or that it is benign?
There are two interrelated answers to these questions. The first is more superficial but applicable to everyday life, the second is more philosophically satisfying, and fundamental to the understanding of the phenomenon I'm describing.
Evil is an exception
It is important to note that the ugliness in the world is the exception. The news media and our human nature continually draws our attention to it, so we are disproportionally aware of it. However, if you think about it even a bit, you'll see that what I'm saying is true. Most people are not murderers or murder victims. Most countries are not at war at any given point in time, or even within most of our lifetimes. Most people do not hate anyone, and even those who do, generally hate a minority of the people they know.
In short, the existence of evil does not refute my assertion, any more than the existence of birds disproves the law of gravity. All rules have exceptions.
Interestingly, as I explain below, in this case the exception is quite literally what makes the rule.
Evil as part of the overall harmony
While evil is exceptional, it is by no means an aberration. Indeed, it is an integral part of the process by which complexity and beauty are created.
The evil and ugliness of the world are a natural result of the fact that the force we're discussing causes diversity. Among the diverse variants of good and harmonious phenomena created as a result, there is naturally a number of ugly and evil phenomena co-created. The discord and tension caused by the existence of these negative phenomena is part of what creates the instability in the system necessary to keep the creative engine going. This is why discord is always exceptional, but will never be completely absent.
If we broadly define evil as a destructive force, it becomes clear that it is necessary for life as we know it to exist. Creation and destruction are two sides of the same coin. A harmonious system could exist without destruction, but such a system would by definition be in static equilibrium. The presence of destruction is necessary to make the system dynamic. It is the dynamic nature of the system, in the presence of the tendency for harmony, that has created our wonderful world.
Imagine what earth's ecosystems would be like in the absence of heterotrophic organisms (organisms which eat others). Natural selection would not allow any such ecosystem to exist indefinitely, since the consumption of other organisms is so advantageous. However for a while after life first evolved, there was such an environment. The fossil record shows that the biosphere of the time consisted of a ubiquitous coating of slimy microbes (see microbial mat). I for one much prefer a world with gazelles and lions, trees and beavers, insects and birds.
Of course, even the slime-world of the precambrian era would not have existed without the creative/destructive cycle which resulted in the stars an planets in the first place.
Likewise warfare is a terrible blight on human existence. However, what would our society be like without it? One cannot with intellectual honesty just imagine our present society would peacefully if there had never been warfare.
Most of the attributes of our current society that we treasure have been created, at least in part, by war. Our modern democracies, our freedom of religion, the relative egalatarianism of our society all had to be won by a painful process involving war. I'd be willing to speculate that the only society that could have evolved in the complete absence of warfare would be a rigidly hierarchical patriarchy with a state controlled religion. As in the example of predation discussed above, it is of course absurd to suggest that such a society would be stable for long. That's the point.
This does not mean I'm claiming that war, in and of itself, is a good thing. I'm only pointing out that it is one example of the negative, ugly parts of life that are necessary for the existence of the positive, beautiful aspects we treasure. It is a temporary, localized discord that drives the creative forces of human history.
"So what? How do I apply this in my life?"
All this may seem incredibly abstract and disconnected from your everyday experience at this point. However, if you look deeply into your relationship with the rest of existence in light of this realization, you'll see some important implications on your outlook and approach to life. I'll discuss a few of these below. You'll notice a strong theme of commonality between them, and you can interpolate and extrapolate naturally once you detect the theme.
Be optimistic
This is not a naive perspective. Bad things do happen, and sometimes they never get better in the lifetime of those affected. However, most things work out reasonably well most of the time.
There's a natural tendency of people to worry when the future is uncertain...and the future is always uncertain! Any sense of certainty we have is purely illusory. People are afraid of the unknown, and fear is painful. However, just because you don't know what tomorrow brings does not mean it will be bad.
This fear of the unknown seems to be rooted in a deep seated assumption that the universe is hostile to our existence. The insight I'm discussing here shows that nothing could be further from the truth. Our overall environment, from the planet, to the ecosystem which supports us, to the society in which we live is predominantly beneficial to our wellbeing. If that were not the case, we would not exist!
By all means prepare for and plan to avoid negative outcomes. Once you've done so, don't dwell on the possibility of such outcomes. Chances are that things will be just fine. After all, it's the natural way for the universe to unfold.
Be positive
This is quite similar to being optimistic, with the exception that we're not talking about the future in this case, we're talking about here and now. Pay attention to the harmony and beauty in every moment of the day. You don't need to ignore or suppress your awareness of things that are unpleasant. Just don't give them a disproportionate amount of your attention.
As I discussed above, we're very attuned to the negative exceptions. This has some advantages in that is allows us (in fact compels us) to improve things. However, don't let this ingrained tendency remove all the joy from your life.
Our natural predisposition to focus on the exception can cause us to tune out all the beauty which constantly surrounds us. However, this is relatively easy to overcome by modifying our outlook with a few simple tools:
- Tune in to the present moment. Don't mentally drift off to the past or future.
- Make yourself aware of the detail around you with all your senses.
- Focus on what is, without comparing it to some mental ideal, or some previous experience.
Embrace change
Remember, the nature of the harmony in the universe is a dynamic equilibrium. It is not a unchanging monotonous utopia. Everything is temporary. Wonderful things will always disappear eventually. However, if you think about it, those very wonderful things whose passing you mourn would never have existed without change.
We tend to view change as negative. This is partly because we're losing something known, and it will be replaced by something unknown. Our nature is to value the known more highly than the unknown. This is a fallacy, known in economic psychology as the endowment effect.
Open yourself to the beauty and joy in the world that you have yet to discover. Don't cling pitifully to the comfortable status quo as it slips away inevitably.
Once again, this is not to imply that all change is good. Of course not. But even negative changes have some positive consequences. Furthermore, our innately change-averse nature tends to make us view neutral changes as negative. Change will occur whether or not you accept it, it is fundamental to the nature of existence. All you accomplish by fearing change is to make yourself miserable.
Be harmonious
Go with the flow! The fact that the universe tends to be harmonious does not mean that you always get "your way". Be willing to modify your expectations and assumptions based on circumstances. Banging your head against a wall is not going to help you.
If you find that you're having difficulty because everyone and everything seems to be against you in a certain area...that could be a clue! Maybe you're taking the wrong approach or have the wrong values. Would everything suddenly seem easier and more comfortable if you changed your attitude on the topic?
Everyone is wrong some of the time. If you passionately and deeply feel an unwavering sense of moral rightness on an issue, there's a pretty good chance that it is just your ego asserting itself. Much of the evil done in the world has been committed by people with just such a sense of rightness.
Compromise is a necessary ingredient of consensus. This doesn't mean that you can't have principles, or that you need to be a doormat. Just be open to the possibility that you need to modify your position or approach in a given situation.
Cherish your intimate connection with existence
Knowing that you are both the result of, and an ongoing cause of this intricately beautiful fully integrated harmonious system can be very enriching. There is profound interconnection of all things in a dense and continually modifying web of cause and effect. All this is unified by the simple phenomenon I've described here.
If you can truly experience this, and understand it at a visceral level, it can be a deeply fulfilling spiritual experience. This profoundly satisfying aspect of the outlook I've described above is not only compatible with a purely naturalist approach to philosophy, it is actually a direct extension of it.
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