The first element of the Prime Directive is to seek pleasure and avoid pain for yourself and others. In the Handbook On Being Human, vol. I the Mysterious Dr. M. says that we (humans) have the capacity for Self-Determined Evolution. That is, we can write our cultural and biological histories in advance. We do this through the power of our aggregated choices. But how can we exercise that capacity without imagination? Imagine the world three or four generations from now. A world where every adult and child has been raised by instruction and by example to seek pleasure and avoid pain for themselves and others. Now think of the many problems that you and I face and hear about everyday that would no longer exist. As children some of us take pleasure in bullying others. As teenagers some of us take pleasure in harassing, rejecting, and isolating others. And as adults some of us take pleasure in dominating, obstructing, and discouraging others. Human instincts and drives, emotions and desires as described in the Handbook can often push someone to become narcissistic in the pursuit of their personal pleasures. Often those pleasures are hurtful and damaging to others. But the Prime Directive states that if those pleasures cause any pain to others then their pursuit is a violation of the Directive. If in this future world the Prime Directive has been internalized by succeeding generations of our yet to be born then our efforts today will Create Peaceful Space for our children in the future.
Dr. M. emphasizes the fact the it is about you. It is your choice that makes the difference. The collective will emerges from the aggregate of individual choices. Industrial and technological planning, scientific methods, economic and political models are developed by people, groups of individuals. Conflicts and wars emerge from the imbalanced pursuit of personal pleasure and 'strategic interests' without regard to the pain caused to others. Imagine how these institutions would change as succeeding generations of our descendants moved into their time, having been nurtured on this first element of the Prime Directive. You can start today with the young minds that surround you. What do you think?
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Yes, I do believe that it is possible to change an institutional's state of “imbalanced pursuits” by beginning with young minds. For instance, Nobel Peace winner Desmond Tutu (Wikipedia, n.d.) prevents an all-out racial war of in 1993 at the funeral of South African Communist Party leader Chris Hani, a fierce opponent of the apartheid government. This transpires by Tutu spurring a crowd of 120,000 (young adults included) to repeat after him the following chants, over and over: "We will be free!", "All of us!", "Black and white together!". Hence, the ‘collective emerged from the aggregate’ of Tutu’s individual choice to follow his Prime Directive of seeking pleasure, that is, by bringing forth positive energy, and avoiding pain.
References:
Wikipedia. (n.d.). Desmond Tutu. Retrieved on December 11th, 2009 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desmond_Tutu
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