Our Shared Expectation magnifies and even creates our “common” problems. This extremely disquieting reality is built into the underlying mechanics of how the human brain works. The truth be told, we cannot even consider this prospect for very long. For us is not about consideration anyway.
The Intricate Why?
You are a body in constant motion. This human music of the spheres may appear to be outwardly Newtonian - like the orbits of planets and here then gone forever comets. Of course, like ancient astrologers (who were better astronomers than we often give them credit for), we all know things are far different from the predicable and majestic round and round. We don’t believe it. How do I dare to say, “I know that”?
People don’t behave as though this is true.
There are multiple forms of motion at work for us all the time:
- The not so obvious and extremely complex physical issues it takes to survive from one step to the next. Somewhere in the order of 30,000 to 50,000 biochemical reactions must take place in the right order for you to take your next breath. Yep. We’re still really mushy about the numbers. Gee. This month after 50+ years of scientific enterprise we finally recognize that DNA employs pattern codes on top of the basic protein synthesizing codes we’ve confined the helix to for a lifetime? Really? Really.
- The emotion (I trust you see the blatant “motion” in there?) that provides us with vital feedback and factually and effectively affects all our decision making.We shouldn’t be surprised to “discover” recently that to get state-of-the-art robots to learn to move on their own, we must provide them with programmed forms of internal motivation. A Good is required to act and move.
- That third form of human motion – our social motion. I believe I can reasonably argue that social motion is governed by a quantum set of rules with uncertainty at its beating heart. To keep it simple – to look and to measure the social motion is to change it.
The neuroscience says we’re individually hard wired to hedge our bets and decision making on the ever malleable “mind” of the group. The size of the group matters. It is all about shared expectation. We know we share our expectation in many ways. At issue are the mysterious means by which expectation is shared.
“Common Sense would be wonderful…If it wasn’t so uncommon.”
In our technology and computer enhanced world, the reality of our shared expectation driven reality may be easily disguised by computational hogwash. There is nothing new or inherently technical about the phenomenon. To overwhelm is easy. Today we call it “spin”. It is tactically “politically incorrect” to call systematic mistruth a “lie”. That would make it a “sin” against another.
People Recognize that Sin is Dangerous Ground
If we set the Art of War aside for a moment, I trust that you personally recognize the underlying seriousness of such a charge whether you personally approve of the “sin” word or not.
I do need to be clear that a “charge” is a separate and socially different motion event from an “accusation”. In quantum speak it’s an entirely different state.
We tend to desire to mush these terms together.
Some people purposefully seek to flip or twist the definition of terms to suit their current argument. This is an act of sophistry.
To clarify - the difference is in the social motion I’ve alluded to above.
We all recognize dramatic change of social state that arises from a charge.
We all get that. We’ve all been there. None are guiltless.
We know what to expect.
The sinner in all of us wants to make the charge an accusation.
An accusation is a matter of debate. In the social motion an accusation requires no ruling – no judgment. It might occur but it is not required. There are reasons for this which we’ll get to in a bit.
A charge opens up all action and our behavior, good or bad, to formal public discourse and fact checking. Legal nuances aside – Judgment can be rendered because events occurred and witnesses can be called.
We Pay Attention to Witness
Why? We believe our stories in the context of the social motion are perhaps the only things we ever own. You don’t have to be a moral philosopher to understand “a personal sense of value and purpose”.
However, that rather feckless definition of human value is like thinking that sex is the same as children.
To surrender your stories for the stories another is an act of serious faith. The behavior requires considerable daily discipline and thankfully little else or we could not do it. This act also makes no sense until you see how it allows you and others to behave in the social motion. However if that is your reason for your faith, you will not be pleasantly surprised for long.
Our Expectation is Not His
Amongst all the current quackery we should recognize that false accusation is always coupled with intention.
Accusation arises from the accuser’s expectation of the intentions of another.
This is something we can never know. Human intentions are always in motion by definition.
Often our intentions are something we create and make up after the fact.
That is provable.
That is what makes false accusation and gossip a “sin”.
We are charged by His Story to behave differently.
Merry Christmas
I’ll leave you with the angel’s blessing from Luke 2:14.
Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.
This verse is often cut short these days for reasons that might be clearer to you now. It should always make us pause and carefully consider what His angels are singing to us on the night of His birth.