Review by lena_gregory -- Rediscovering the Wisdom of Hu...
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Review by lena_gregory -- Rediscovering the Wisdom of Hu...
[Following is a volunteer review of "Rediscovering the Wisdom of Human Nature" by Chet Shupe.]
Rediscovering the Wisdom of Human Nature by Chet Shupe is a book for those, who have been susceptible to the changes our societies have been undergoing and believe that it no longer serves the purpose of making us as happy as we used to be. The author himself being one of those people, digs deeper to answer the questions of why is there so much unnecessary suffering and pain in our societies and what would help us rediscover the true nature of our souls and bring us back to the state, where we could be unrestrainedly happy.
In the book, Shupe explores the way that the invention of language changed the way that we think by unnaturally instilling thoughts of worry and anxiety into our consciousness and every-day lives and the way in which the modern world and technological advancement removed us further away from the authenticity and confrontation of our most intimate emotional states. It replaced it with a constant fear and worry for our future. Development of language has changed everything for us, he claims. With language, came conversations about the future and with that, people began feeling obsessed with the idea of controlling their own personal futures. People went from living in the moment to living for the future. This led to the creation of law, which would ensure that humans behaved in a certain way to make people’s behaviour predictable and thereby “to safeguard the future”.
The author believes that the legal system is a great barrier between living in the moment in the natural order. Humans tend to believe that feelings cause us to break the rules as often our deepest desires lead us to break the law and so we believe that we are born sinners because of that, turning ourselves against our feelings that cause us to sin. Law created morality, a set of rules which humans abide by and judge what is right and wrong, which also detaches and distances them from their feelings and they become less attached to the world, but more guided by the strict set of rules that the law imposes upon them.
One of the most important theses in the book, is the idea of “Law of Life”, which states that we should “serve life, do things that feel good, and avoid doing things that result in emotional pain”. By doing this, Shupe suggests that humanity will successfully flourish and minimise their chances of unpleasurable sensations. When we experience pain, it’s not because we consciously chose it and to undermine the proposed “Law of Life”, but because we were “born into civilised cultures, where we’re not free to honour it.” It links to the idea of the creation of laws, leading to the suffering caused by breaking the “Law of Life” and unaware of this, blame the suffering on the human’s sinful nature. The author finally suggests that when we finally recognise the problem and start honouring the “Law of Life”, the things that cause us pain and suffering in life will cease.
The most liked point in the book was the author’s bright ideas and excellent examples of the way, in which humanity created more troubles for themselves. All of this was backed up by interesting secondary literature and other research that contributed well to the points made. The author's ideas are refreshingly new and original, which is what makes this book special. Liked least was the overall structure, in which the author quickly jumps from one point to the other. I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars because of a number of punctuation and grammatical errors and because of the flimsy structure.
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Rediscovering the Wisdom of Human Nature
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Rediscovering the Wisdom of Human Nature by Chet Shupe is a book for those, who have been susceptible to the changes our societies have been undergoing and believe that it no longer serves the purpose of making us as happy as we used to be. The author himself being one of those people, digs deeper to answer the questions of why is there so much unnecessary suffering and pain in our societies and what would help us rediscover the true nature of our souls and bring us back to the state, where we could be unrestrainedly happy.
In the book, Shupe explores the way that the invention of language changed the way that we think by unnaturally instilling thoughts of worry and anxiety into our consciousness and every-day lives and the way in which the modern world and technological advancement removed us further away from the authenticity and confrontation of our most intimate emotional states. It replaced it with a constant fear and worry for our future. Development of language has changed everything for us, he claims. With language, came conversations about the future and with that, people began feeling obsessed with the idea of controlling their own personal futures. People went from living in the moment to living for the future. This led to the creation of law, which would ensure that humans behaved in a certain way to make people’s behaviour predictable and thereby “to safeguard the future”.
The author believes that the legal system is a great barrier between living in the moment in the natural order. Humans tend to believe that feelings cause us to break the rules as often our deepest desires lead us to break the law and so we believe that we are born sinners because of that, turning ourselves against our feelings that cause us to sin. Law created morality, a set of rules which humans abide by and judge what is right and wrong, which also detaches and distances them from their feelings and they become less attached to the world, but more guided by the strict set of rules that the law imposes upon them.
One of the most important theses in the book, is the idea of “Law of Life”, which states that we should “serve life, do things that feel good, and avoid doing things that result in emotional pain”. By doing this, Shupe suggests that humanity will successfully flourish and minimise their chances of unpleasurable sensations. When we experience pain, it’s not because we consciously chose it and to undermine the proposed “Law of Life”, but because we were “born into civilised cultures, where we’re not free to honour it.” It links to the idea of the creation of laws, leading to the suffering caused by breaking the “Law of Life” and unaware of this, blame the suffering on the human’s sinful nature. The author finally suggests that when we finally recognise the problem and start honouring the “Law of Life”, the things that cause us pain and suffering in life will cease.
The most liked point in the book was the author’s bright ideas and excellent examples of the way, in which humanity created more troubles for themselves. All of this was backed up by interesting secondary literature and other research that contributed well to the points made. The author's ideas are refreshingly new and original, which is what makes this book special. Liked least was the overall structure, in which the author quickly jumps from one point to the other. I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars because of a number of punctuation and grammatical errors and because of the flimsy structure.
******
Rediscovering the Wisdom of Human Nature
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
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