Demand

1. Perhaps the most important difference between us and animals is demand.

2. We don’t expect for example from our dog to learn to read, or from our cat to go to school.

3. But we require that people do so, to become educated and to find a worthy job.

4. Not only this, but also we constantly press ourselves to become better, while if we don’t succeed we feel remorse.

5. What is that magic power which drives us all?

6. Is it some kind of law of evolution, or is it some sort of custom established in modern societies?

7. In fact if evolution comes about as the result of random processes then demand can be described as a perquisite of social status or personal satisfaction.

8. In such a sense one may ignore social or personal expectations and live a quiet and peaceful life.

9. But what if the demand of perfection is an order we are programmed with?

10. Although our dog demands from us to be fed, while we demand from our dog to leave us alone so that we can read a book, it could have been vice versa if dogs had evolved earlier than us.

11. It seems that the first species that prevails over the rest assumes the role of modifying its environment and excelling in the universe.

12. Even if we regard such an effort as a chanceful event of natural selection, it seems that natural selection by definition incorporates the meaning of demand- selection of the fittest to become better than all the rest.

13. But how far should we go in order to satisfy such a demand, or what are the limits when we impose it on others?

14. How much are we aware of the destructive power of our insolence?

15. How can we know beforehand what we are going to achieve?

16. – Should we demand right now the answer?

17. Or had we better find happiness without preoccupation? –

1/23/2020

Painting: No Expectations, Justin Brennan

[https://jbrennanart.com/2015/05/24/no-expectations/]