Human Constructions
Think of most things you value: love, morals, family, etc. Now, how many of those things would exist without humans? In other words, can you conceive of any of these things existing without humans being a necessary condition?
While realizing that many of things require humans is not surprising, what seems surprising is how many of them would cease to exist without humans. The significance of this is realizing where our values are placed relative to what exists in the universe. For instance, it’s become clear that most of the things we value lack some sort of material manifestation. I don’t mean that the thing we value is itself not material, but that there the thing we value leaves no material trace of its existence. Sure, it exists in our minds, the minds of many different people, but it doesn’t have a defining material trait. As such, what sort of justification do we have for their existence?
It’s an odd predicament, isn’t it? I can’t doubt the existence of the chair I sit on because it’s physical manifestation is obvious; I am sitting on it, it is taking up room, etc. Yet, what sort of justification do I have for the existence of something like happiness? See, even some sort of effect of these things wouldn’t be able to prove their existence; such a thing would be a fallacy called begging the question. This is because, in lieu of a conditional, I can’t prove the antecedent from the consequent. There’s no need to be esoteric with such an error: if I tell you I’m smiling because I’m happy, do you have any good reason to believe that I am happy?
This can be drastically extended for a powerful effect. Does money have value? Well, it has the power to be traded because it has value, but just because I am able to trade it, does it follow that it has value? Of course not, I can only merely believe that it has value. I would even contend that similar reasoning can be used to undermine most things that require humans as a necessary condition.
Yet, there’s little reason to be worried. Many a constant thinker desire to fall into hedonism upon the realization that things like “value,” “meaning,” and “truth” in themselves have no justification. That’s why it’s important to remember that we are all human.
For instance, I am currently seeing red. Any basic physics class will teach that the color “red” is the effect of a lightwave of ~650 mm being reflected on an object that is interpreted by the human eye. In short, “red” doesn’t exist. The “red” is merely an interpretation of a human eye, nothing that manifests itself physically without humans. As such, I am thoroughly convinced of the ontological status of “red.” It only exists because humans exists. Yet, upon this realization, I do no stop seeing red. In fact, as powerfully as I will myself to stop seeing red, I still see it in front of me. As such, it is real enough for me, so real that I cannot will it out of existence from my mind.
What does this mean for many other human constructions? Simply that we must maneuver through them and find those that are so fundamental that it is seemingly impossible to remove them from our minds. In this quest it is that we could find the link between the existence of humans and their relation to the universe.
