Letter To Society: Everyone Should Have A Belief (Faith)

Letter to Society
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Institution
Letter to Society
In a complex world that we live in today, it is important to understand the problems that citizens face. Some of these problems are as a result of our choices as human beings because we have restricted ourselves to a certain way of living. Having a purpose or a belief in something can help us deal with these problems.
Human beings lead a complex life because we live out of choice rather than out of necessity. However, this does not mean that we have freedom since most of us have not identified what brings us happiness. In addition, living out of choice means that we have so many options and it might take us forever to find out our one true calling or purpose. A variety of choices is usually quite confusing and takes time before one can consider which option is the best. It might be in choosing careers or a life partner and in the end, we might end up making the wrong choice and live our lives in misery.
Dillard compares the life of human beings with that of a weasel and reveals that we can choose to live in freedom by noting that “ we could, you know. We can live in any way we want. People take vows of poverty, chastity and obedience-even of silence-by choice. The thing is to stalk your calling in a certain skilled and supple way, to locate the most tender and live spot and plug into that pulse. This is yielding, not fighting. A weasel does not attack anything; a weasel lives as he is meant to, yielding at every moment to the perfect freedom of single necessity.” This quote reveals the importance of living in freedom without any restrictions.
This quote also reveals that human beings are faced with the problem of learning to live in necessity rather than choice, like the weasel. This can only be possible if we as human beings are able to trust our instincts for survival like the weasel. The story about the eagle with the skull of a weasel stuck on its neck best illustrates how weasels react at the moment without thinking about consequences. Human beings are too cautious and have to evaluate every possible outcome before acting which is limiting.
In addition, citizens have to learn to live without motives or bias in order to live freely (Dillard). This is only achievable if we live carelessly without thinking about what is expected of us. The weasel does not think, it only acts and is, therefore, able to live freely. Human beings should learn to live for the moment by following their instincts and acting momentarily without worrying about consequences. The reason why we as human beings worry and limit ourselves to fully live a satisfying life is because of the societal expectations and provisions that guide how we should act and behave at all times.
One of the problems that citizens must face is death. Death is an eventuality for all of us, and we cannot be able to avoid it. Dillard reveals that finding a purpose or a necessity and holding on to it can help human beings face death. This is also clearly illustrated by Eisley (2012), who notes that we are all waiting to become fossils in the future. Through his journey, he discovers fossils and the extinction of some primates, and through his eyes, we are able to see a man and the world as it is passing away. It is a reality that man has to face death, no matter how much he tries to avoid it. The best way to deal with it is by living a happy and fulfilling life because eventually, we will all die.
Citizens also have to face the problem of uncertainty about the future. People have different beliefs about what the future holds with some believing that the future is predetermined and cannot be changed. Whether this is true or not, the fact remains that no one knows about the future. However, as human beings, we always try to learn through studying our pasts so as to predict the future. This often limits our ability to experience the world as it is currently, in the present, because we are trying to understand and explain the world instead of appreciating it the way it is.
The Slit can also be interpreted as how human beings view the world from a single point of view. The inability to view the world from different points of view or have a complete view of the world in our lifetime is also a problem that citizens in a society must face. This is because we cannot tell exactly what happened in the past because we were not there, neither can we tell what will happen in the future. We can only know what is happening currently, which gives us a restricted view of the world, that is, we only see the world from a single point in life.
“Finally, I do not pretend to have set down, in Baconian terms, a true, or even a consistent model of the universe. I can only say t...