Brave New Kitty

Everything can be taken from a man or a woman but one thing: the last of human freedoms to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.–Viktor Frankl

We don’t often think about it, but our most human characteristics really have no known boundaries. No known limit exists for how much knowledge the brain can absorb. No known limit exists for how many people we can love. No known limit exists for our capacity to become wiser, more loving, more spiritual, more understanding, more positive, more supportive, wiser, braver or kinder. Like the Universe itself, the reaches of man’s inner potential appear to be infinite.

There is no end point, no point at which we say, “That’s it. I’ve learned enough, grown enough, developed myself enough. I’m done now.” It is not even possible, because every day that we get up and interact with the world, something new happens, and it changes us, whether we are actively seeking change or not. The only way to be done with change is to die.

I suppose what I’m talking about is the nature of consciousness itself. And like the Universe, which seems to have no beginning and no end–you may say the Big Bang or God was its beginning, but where did It/He come from? What was here before It/Him? Whether you think there was something or there was nothing, such pondering boggles the mind–consciousness seems to have no beginning or end. You could say the beginning and end are birth and death, and while that is technically true, it does not explain how consciousness works, where it comes from, or why, while we have it, its scope appears to be infinite. Consciousness is truly greater than the sum of its physical parts, and nobody, if they’re being honest, can tell you why or how this is the case. It is as great a mystery as the origin of the Universe itself.

The scientific determinists believe that consciousness is completely reducible to its parts. It is, they believe, merely the interaction of chemicals in the brain and the causal chain of events in a person’s life. I think this infinity-of-consciousness idea is a decent anti-determinist argument. If consciousness were merely the result of physically observable interactions, then that would imply that limits exist (because all physically observable and categorizable phenomena have limits). Determinists would probably say that such limits do exist, even if they haven’t yet been discovered (which is similar to the argument for determinism itself). Maybe so. But until such limits are discovered, the theory is about as scientific as an argument for the existence of a theological God. (That is to say, not scientific at all.)

The only reason I mention this is that all attempts to put limits on human consciousness have failed, and thus they should be regarded very, very skeptically. Not only because such arguments are unprovable, which they are, but more importantly because such beliefs create limitations in our own minds–when none really exist. And if we are actively seeking growth and change, any thought of limitation is a grave hindrance.

This is not to say that consciousness is magical or infallible–let’s get this objection out of the way first. For example, consciousness can’t make us fly or read minds, it can’t teleport us to other worlds, or make us live eternally (although some might argue even with these extremes). I am only purporting that, within its realm–man’s inner realm, the world of concepts, beliefs, emotions, and spirituality–consciousness appears to be infinite. Within its realm, consciousness is, well, omnipotent. A manifestation, perhaps, of God Him (or It-) self.

It is also not to say that all people possess equal capacities for growth–which is start of the point I’ve been leading up to. We are all different. We all start at square one (birth), and we all have unique abilities and unique life experiences. Some of those experiences enhance our unique abilities, and some detract from it. Some of us are treated so horribly, we spend most of our adulthood trying to soothe, heal, and fix our consciousness. Some of us go far; some of us barely get out of the starting gate. Thus is the nature of life: it cares little for fairness or equality. We all have to accept the cards we’ve been dealt, and lamenting that fact does nothing but detract from the potential we do have.

In fact, such lamenting might possibly be the primary thing standing in the way of growth and change. While the start we get in life certainly plays a role in how far we go, it probably has a smaller role than many of us believe (perhaps another anti-determinist argument, if anyone is keeping track). Many who get rough starts triumph over them, while many who have every advantage squander them away. This is not always true; those born into poverty in third world countries are not likely to do great things with their lives–although some certainly have.

I don’t want to say that luck of the draw isn’t important. It is. Handicaps of circumstance can destroy much potential. But we can’t really blame this on the limitations of consciousness. And those of us fortunate to live in circumstances that we can change are better off getting down to the business of doing so rather than complaining about those we’re powerless over.

And here’s the fact that, once accepted, can truly transform us: we are all fortunate enough to live in circumstances that we can change. We all have enough control over our lives to positively transform ourselves. Consciousness itself makes this possible. Its infinite scope makes all situations transformable, all obstacles defeatable. Truly, where there’s life, there’s hope.

Perhaps the greatest advocate of this idea was Viktor Frankl. Dr. Frankl not only survived his experience in a Nazi concentration camp, he found in it great wisdom, meaning, and even serenity. In the midst of the everyday life horrors in the camp, Dr. Frankl had a great realization: that no matter what one’s life circumstances are, a person is still capable, through the efforts of his own consciousness, to find meaning and happiness. They could starve him, torture him, and humiliate him, but they couldn’t take his mind–his consciousness–away from him. It was his, and what he did with it was up to him. He wrote about this profound realization in the great book Mans Search for Meaning, which I highly recommend.

Our life circumstances matter, and they influence who we are and what we become, but they do not have the final say. Consciousness is too powerful a force for that to be the case. No matter where we start or what our circumstances, we are all capable of infinite growth and change. Focusing on this simple truth, rather than on limitations, has the potential to transform our lives in ways we can’t possibly imagine.