Philosophical Questions: Distance
May. 17th, 2025 12:55 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithPeople have expressed interest in deep topics, so this list focuses on philosophical questions.
As people, we feel our moral obligation weaken with physical as well as emotional distance from individuals in need. For example, you’re more likely to help someone dying of hunger at your feet than someone dying of hunger in another country. How does this human trait of morality dependent on distance shape our world?
The distance factor is absolutely necessary to human sanity and functionality. Our time, energy, and resources are finite. No one person can do everything. In order to accomplish anything, we must decide which issues matter the most to us personally and then work on aspects of those within our reach. it doesn't mean we are limited to small problems; we can choose to work on big things like climate change or world hunger. It doesn't mean we have to stay put; we can network or travel to reach problems of interest that are far away from our starting point. It just means that we have to make choices about what to do with the resources we have.
Nobody can be morally responsible for everything, because other people have free will and make their own choices, sometimes very bad ones. You are only responsible for what YOU do. Other people fucking up far away cannot be your problem, because they need to take responsibility for their own choices.
However, some people incline toward greater scope. People with high existential intelligence gravitate toward big questions. People with high naturalistic intelligence may feel distressed by climate change or environmental damage and need to work on those. And the higher up the pyramid of moral development or spiritual enlightenment, the more likely someone will care a lot about "humanity" as a whole and want to work on large-scale problems threatening humans. Beyond the standard levels is a theorized cosmic or transcendental level, which is where you find principles like "Don't destroy the biosphere or a planet" and "Don't impair other people's soul paths." Trying to explain why those are vitally important ethical principles to people who aren't on that level is an exercise in frustration.
One reason is because spacetime is an illusion created by incarnation. It's not real, but it can function as if it were real within the bounds of the material plane. When you're in a body, it can only be in one "place" at a "time" and other "places" can seem "far away." But when you are also aware of other layers of reality, then you have ulterior resources. You may understand that distance is just a perspective, not a reality, so it has less influence over your thinking. You may know that all souls come into life with a set of goals, so the roughly half of the global population living in poverty doesn't look like a bunch of useless mouths to feed but like a crying waste of human resources. You are still limited by finite resources, but much less so by finite mindset.
Think about what you can do well. Think about what you care about. Put them together. Go fix something. But don't burn yourself out trying to fix everything, and don't let people should on you.
As people, we feel our moral obligation weaken with physical as well as emotional distance from individuals in need. For example, you’re more likely to help someone dying of hunger at your feet than someone dying of hunger in another country. How does this human trait of morality dependent on distance shape our world?
The distance factor is absolutely necessary to human sanity and functionality. Our time, energy, and resources are finite. No one person can do everything. In order to accomplish anything, we must decide which issues matter the most to us personally and then work on aspects of those within our reach. it doesn't mean we are limited to small problems; we can choose to work on big things like climate change or world hunger. It doesn't mean we have to stay put; we can network or travel to reach problems of interest that are far away from our starting point. It just means that we have to make choices about what to do with the resources we have.
Nobody can be morally responsible for everything, because other people have free will and make their own choices, sometimes very bad ones. You are only responsible for what YOU do. Other people fucking up far away cannot be your problem, because they need to take responsibility for their own choices.
However, some people incline toward greater scope. People with high existential intelligence gravitate toward big questions. People with high naturalistic intelligence may feel distressed by climate change or environmental damage and need to work on those. And the higher up the pyramid of moral development or spiritual enlightenment, the more likely someone will care a lot about "humanity" as a whole and want to work on large-scale problems threatening humans. Beyond the standard levels is a theorized cosmic or transcendental level, which is where you find principles like "Don't destroy the biosphere or a planet" and "Don't impair other people's soul paths." Trying to explain why those are vitally important ethical principles to people who aren't on that level is an exercise in frustration.
One reason is because spacetime is an illusion created by incarnation. It's not real, but it can function as if it were real within the bounds of the material plane. When you're in a body, it can only be in one "place" at a "time" and other "places" can seem "far away." But when you are also aware of other layers of reality, then you have ulterior resources. You may understand that distance is just a perspective, not a reality, so it has less influence over your thinking. You may know that all souls come into life with a set of goals, so the roughly half of the global population living in poverty doesn't look like a bunch of useless mouths to feed but like a crying waste of human resources. You are still limited by finite resources, but much less so by finite mindset.
Think about what you can do well. Think about what you care about. Put them together. Go fix something. But don't burn yourself out trying to fix everything, and don't let people should on you.
Thoughts
Date: 2025-05-17 05:33 pm (UTC)That's true.
>> I can toss a few coins into a busker's or homeless person's tin, but giving a few meagre coins to modern charities is most likely a subscription these days, often starting at monthly payments that are more than I can afford.<<
I'm not a fan of the modern trend of making everything a subscription, because it raises the fixed monthly expenses of a household, sabotaging the flexibility of your budget to respond to challenges like a car repair.
Options to cope with this include:
* Watch for drives. These are usually annual. So for instance, you'll see drives for school supplies in late summer, for coats in late fall or early winter, etc. Food drives for nonperishables can happen any time. Then you just put in the thing and you're done. I particularly like to put spice kits in the food drives, because when it's "Beans for breakfast, beans for lunch, oh boy beans for dinner (better than no beans at all)" then having a way to vary the flavor reduces the risk of appetite fatigue.
* Visit the charities in your immediate locale and see what they do. Usually they'll have a bulletin board or handout on the topic of "how you can help." Most keep a wishlist of donations for new or used things they need, some of which you may already have.
* Watch for places that let you buy something for a person to claim later. The first reference I saw was "cafe sospeso" or "pending coffee" in Italy, but our hole-in-the-wall eatery at the local mall has a "blessing board" where you can buy any of their edibles to pin up for whomever needs it.
* Plenty of places have a donation jar for various purposes. This is a good way to dispense literal spare change.
>> It makes me feel disempowered. <<
This is a common feeling. It takes some thought to figure out why you feel that way (which you did above) and then how to empower yourself. Some ideas:
* Look for opportunities to help in your immediate area. Mailing a check often feels detached, but doing something face-to-face has much more impact.
* Put yourself in the other person's shoes. Think about times when you have felt that a small action absolutely saved your day, and what that would look like for a person at the end of their rope. It doesn't have to be a big thing, it can be as simple as fixing the one problem that is crushing them in the moment, like when they're at the cash register and come up a few coins short. This is where little gestures can make all the difference in the world.
* Think about what people need in certain situations. Someone from a local church put up a booth giving away free bottled water at a street fair last summer. He hit on that idea by asking, "What would Jesus do? What do people need here?" It was that simple. And when the food trucks are selling beverages for $5-10, I would bet he saved some people from heat-related illnesses. You might not afford a whole booth by yourself, but maybe you could team up with some friends to do it -- or even just offer one beverage to someone who looks overheated.
* If there are homeless people near you, one affordable and effective way to help is stuffing a gallon ziplock bag with a few essentials. Popular items include a toothbrush, toothpaste, travel soap, tampons for a lady, meal bars, a gift card to any local eatery, and new socks. Handing out a care package is a quick easy way to help.
* Sharing your company costs little or nothing, and can help reduce loneliness which is a huge health risk. Watch for people on the fringes and say hello to them or offer a compliment.
* Use what you have. One good way to help for free is to set out a charity box whenever you do your spring cleaning or decluttering, and fill it with things you don't need that are still useful. When you're done, take everything to a local charity. If you don't have clutter yourself, you might volunteer to help a friend or neighbor clean house after a death in the family. Help then is desperately needed but few people offer.
* Humans aren't the only option for helping your fellow beings. You could also plant a pollinator patch for insects, or make a sleeping box for community cats, or put out a water source for all wildlife.
* Understand that heroism isn't about showing off. It's about caring enough to notice and help. Most of the times when you save a life, you won't know that you have done it -- but you can know that you're doing the kinds of things that have that effect.
>> With the mortgage gone, that might change for the better and those charities that I can make one-off donations to will be placed on a roster.<<
That's an excellent plan.
>> It still feels hopeless when the root problems, greed and war, are celebrated by many in positions to make real change, but don't. <<
Those are still things that individuals can work on locally.
* To undermine greed, teach generosity, sharing, and gift economy skills. Challenge social praising of greed. Instead praise people who are generous.
* To undermine war, teach peace skills. Calm, emotional vocabulary, conflict resolution, mediation & negotiation, meditation, etc. are all things that can be taught and learned.
* You can also help after war by assisting refugees if you live in a resettlement area. Just a kind word can be of great value to someone who is routinely abused. If there is a refugee center, you might offer your services as a local tour guide to show people resources such as laundromats, restaurants, bargain stores, etc.
And no matter how big the problems, remember the starfish story: "I sure made a difference to THAT one."
Re: Thoughts
Date: 2025-05-19 01:25 am (UTC)The part that I love is the making, and keeping everything that I make is both selfish and wasteful.
Re: Thoughts
Date: 2025-05-19 01:52 am (UTC)Re: Thoughts
Date: 2025-05-19 02:21 am (UTC)Re: Thoughts
Date: 2025-05-19 03:01 am (UTC)How picky are you about yarn? Sometimes I find it at thrift stores or yardsales.
Re: Thoughts
Date: 2025-05-19 10:31 am (UTC)Re: Thoughts
Date: 2025-05-19 02:31 am (UTC)Re: Thoughts
Date: 2025-05-19 02:59 am (UTC)