From the Deep Thoughts Corner of Dr. Yo’s desk…
The duality of human nature is not so much about our being part animal and part spiritual but about being part individual and part communal.
The MAJOR problem with Western society and the culture that supports it is that we have greatly over-emphasized the former at the expense of the latter. Today we live in a place where we’re individualized, atomized, privatized—culture teems with messages to look out for number one, it’s your life to live, you only have one so make the most of it, protect your private property, your private thoughts, and your privacy in general. I, me, my.
We seem to have forgotten that NOTHING of value has ever resulted from a solo effort. Even the obvious geniuses throughout history—Aristotle, Shakespeare, Mozart, Einstein, Costello—could not have produced their chez-d’oeuvres in isolation. We all speak languages none of us created alone. Think about that.
Socrates agreed to drink poisoned Hemlock, even though he had plenty of friends and students begging to help him escape, precisely because he considered himself as much an Athenian as he did an individual. Who among us would drink the Hemlock today?