Humbled by Culture: A Note to my Younger, Atheistic Self

By Sadhika on

“How much trouble have the poets and orators of every nation given themselves!—not excepting some of the prose writers of today, in whose ear dwells an inexorable conscientiousness—"for the sake of a folly," as utilitarian bunglers say, and thereby deem themselves wise—"from submission to arbitrary laws," as the anarchists say, and thereby fancy themselves "free," even free-spirited. The singular fact remains, however, that everything of the nature of freedom, elegance, boldness, dance, and masterly certainty, which exists or has existed, whether it be in thought itself, or in administration, or in speaking and persuading, in art just as in conduct, has only developed by means of the tyranny of such arbitrary law, and in all seriousness, it is not at all improbable that precisely this is "nature" and "natural"—and not laisser-aller!”

                                                     - Friedrich Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil.

          (The Natural History of Morals)


It is only when we are taken out of culture that we realise its contribution to our lives and our sanity. Culture is not confined to the beliefs we have, the gods we worship and the songs we sing. Beyond art, music, literature and faith, it is in our economic institutions, and in our laws of country and home. The traffic rules we follow on the road is culture; the transactions we do at a supermarket are culture; the manner in which we speak and act with our husbands and children is culture; the insurance premiums, credit card bills, taxes we pay is culture.


Culture is not all poetic, but it is extremely meaningful. It is everything that the human civilization has considered meaningful enough to codify into laws, poems, myths, policies, art, literature, scriptures, games, music. It is the condensed hard-earned wisdom of our ancestors. Whatever was valuable endured. Whatever was strong enough to remain. Whatever saved us to bring us standing tall on this day. Whatever gave us our daily bread, forgave our trespasses and delivered us from evil.* It tells us how to live our lives, how to pass our day and what to value. 


In my younger days, when I scorned the gods and those who practised rituals, offered sacrifices to deities and visited temples, simply because it was not “logical”, simply because I thought an imaginary being in the sky cannot grant wishes, little did I know in my overwhelming arrogance and ignorance that it is not as literal as all that. Keeping religion aside, why do we work jobs? Why do we buy groceries? Why do we earn money? After all, is it not a piece of paper that the entire population of a country has collectively agreed upon to assign value and exchange for goods and services? Is a marriage certificate not a piece of paper agreed upon by the two persons in the eyes of the law? Why should I be governed by a piece of paper then? You fool! It is no piece of paper. It is what gives us structure, it is what gives our lives meaning. You want this! Pieces of paper like these have held the world together, held countries back from war, held marriages intact.


"It is not truth and certainty that is the antithesis of the world of the insane, but the universality and all-obligatoriness of a belief, in short, non-voluntariness in forming opinions. And the greatest labour of human beings hitherto has been to agree with one another regarding a great many things, and to impose upon themselves a law of agreement—indifferent whether these things are true or false."

                                                        - Friedrich Nietzsche, The Joyful Wisdom.


Wait before you strike down entire negotiations and agreements made by whole populations. Our progress is testimony to the human race’s ability to negotiate. And you are privileged to belong to this race. You consider yourself intellectually superior to others because you can draw out with all your education that there exists no direct cause-effect relationship between praying and between your father becoming better from his illness? You think you are original enough to make up your own thoughts and make your own decisions about what you value? How arrogant of you to assume that you can redesign society better than the one that exists! How mighty you consider yourself to be! Of course, none of it is literal. Why does that mean that it isn't true? Congratulations for being so consumed in your triumph over others that you reduced centuries-long beliefs rife with symbolism and the wisdom of our ancestors with 1+1=2-logic that even you didn’t learn until yesterday!


"They all pose as though their real opinions had been discovered and attained through the self-evolving of a cold, pure, divinely indifferent dialectic (in contrast to all sorts of mystics, who, fairer and foolisher, talk of "inspiration"), whereas, in fact, a prejudiced proposition, idea, or "suggestion," which is generally their heart's desire abstracted and refined, is defended by them with arguments sought out after the event. They are all advocates who do not wish to be regarded as such, generally astute defenders, also, of their prejudices, which they dub "truths,"—and VERY far from having the conscience which bravely admits this to itself, very far from having the good taste of the courage which goes so far as to let this be understood, perhaps to warn friend or foe, or in cheerful confidence and self-ridicule.”

                               - Friedrich Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil.


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*Lord’s Prayer:

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name;

thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

Amen.

1. Beyond Good and Evil - Friedrich Nietzsche

2. The Joyful Wisdom - Friedrich Nietzsche

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