A New Paradigm is Long Overdue

All the world's philosophies and religions in setting out to create meaning and purpose for our existence have failed to address basic requirements for our long term survival as a species. Our starting point without reference to what has been proposed before is seen in the following circumstances:

1. That we do not know who we are or why we are here.
2. That we exist, in other words, we perceive that we exist.
3. That we exist both as individuals and as a species which perhaps can be divided into subspecies, or perhaps cultures or ethnicities. Another and more difficult view is that of soul advancement.
4. That we we live in an infinite universe. Yet the part of the universe that supports us is finite and we are totally dependent on it for our very survival.
5. That the most fundamental drive of human development and aspiration is essentially capitalist, in other words, the possession of things and ultimately our own corner of our finite earth.
6. That our course of action over the past few thousand years has been injurious to the environment on which we depend.

Therefore I consider that it is time for a new ideology, a new sustainable system of thought and action which is harmonious for our greater community and with nature.

The major influences that govern our society are fear, desire and belief, the first two are basic primal urges which I suspect have been present in our humanoid species since time immemorial and these are subconscious within the entire animal kingdom while the third one, belief is something more intrinsically related to modern humans. (Human like species have existed for some 3-2.5 million years and note the page on the origins of religions which may well be applied to philosophy.

When we look at the migrating herds and flocks of wildlife, it appears that they operate purely out of knowledge in the hope that when they reach their destination, they will find the appropriate food and water.

With humanity, it has come to the point where as a collective, there is a belief without any actual knowledge. It's a little bit like me saying that so and so is a good or bad person, then depending on what you think about me, you may choose to believe that about that person we stand colours your thoughts and reasoning ability. Because if you have a particular belief which is proved to be false, there is always some inertia to be overcome, and it's not always easy to accept the truth.

This idea is interesting when we look at Buddhism, the students of Buddha are expressly asked not to believe, they are simply asked to develop a cognitive understanding of the teaching and then to apply it in their daily life to test whether it is true or untrue.

In Christianity, Islam And some other belief systems, there is considerable pressure and expectation to accept the teachings and to believe in them Before actually testing them out.

Within our modern political systems, there is no authority which says that one system is any better than the other, it is simply a matter of belief and I suspect a great deal of wishful thinking and the fallacy of this entire system is apparent in our world which is currently at war.

People have been talking about a 'new age' since time immemorial, and of course since the advent of the written word, and along with the advancement of world trade and the sharing of ideologies, the phrase 'new age' took on a new lease of life in the late 20th century and there were many attempts toward creating a more balanced approach toward life on Earth. However this brave attempt seems to have been consumed by capitalism.

Here, I am suggesting it is time to review what we know of a history and take some remedial action to help reduce such mistakes as have been made in the past. I think, and the premise is that by adopting a philosophy that requires no belief, but does require conscious thought and appropriate action to test the idea is sound and must be tested.