Hypotheticals
You Are The Leader Of A Vast Society - Stop Being A Tyrannical Leader
I think knowledge of basic science is all you need to become enlightened, we just haven’t thought through all the consequences of what we already know.
We know that the human body is made of 37 trillion cells. This vast society has created you – the thing in your head right now comprehending the message of this article. The mind, the ego, whatever you want to call it.
But many systems in your body aren’t you. Your eyes are processing the letters on the screen, completely automatically. Pattern recognition turning different lines and curves into letters and words. Rules of English, syntax, grammar, programmed into your head from when you were a child, converting the sequence of words into a coherent message.
And finally, you, at the center, the thing actually processing this message, mostly oblivious to all these other automatic systems.
You are the leader of this vast society… or at least, you could think of yourself that way, if you want.
What sort of leader are you?
We can look at our human society as a metaphor. It’s the perfect metaphor because we have created our human society in the image of our own cellular society.
Doesn’t it suck when someone doesn’t do their job? Or abuses their role?
In the United States, like everywhere else, we have a monetary system. This is really important! Except the people in charge of investing money wisely are sometimes tyrannical. They skim off the top, only to benefit themselves. They engineer systems where they can get rich quick, at the expense of the rest of us. They use their power to buy off politicians to increase their power even more.
They have been given an important function in society, and we depend on them to manage the monetary system wisely. Instead, many of them just abuse their position to enrich themselves.
Are you any different, though?
You are the ego. You have a duty to the rest of your body. It’s your job to listen, propagate messages between different parts of your body, and be kind. And in this position of power, instead of doing your duty, you have become a control freak.
Your job is to listen… but what if you didn’t? What if you ignored things that didn’t glorify you, and amplified things that did glorify you? Filter out the “bad”, filter in the “good”, for whatever definition of “bad” and “good” you want to use!
Your job is to propagate messages truthfully… but what if you distorted the messages in such a way to exert influence and control over the rest of your body? Or you could just insert completely fabricated messages into the delivery system, so your body thinks it’s under threat when it’s actually safe.
Your job is to care and be kind… but what if you were only kind when things went your way? And threw a tantrum when things offended you? What if you blamed and shamed your body when it reported information you didn’t want to hear?
You would be a tyrannical leader.
It’s so easy for us to call out a corrupt President, or CEO, or manager, or boss. It’s so obvious when we are the ones subject to a tyrannical leader trying to exert control. We just want to scream: just do your damn job! Not everything is about you! We need you, and you’re failing us!
You are the Elon Musk of your cellular society. You are the billionaire. You have access to vast information, resources, and power.
I hope you’re a wise leader.