Certitude

 

 

On Page 57 of his book, The Passionate State of Mind, Eric Hoffer has two entries which I quote and then comment on.

 

Hoffer: “          93

 

The fact of death and nothingness at the end is a certitude unsurpassed by any absolute truth ever discovered. Yet knowing this, people can be deadly serious about their prospects, grievances, duties and trespassings. The only explanation which suggests itself is that seriousness is a means of camouflage: we conceal the triviality and nullity of our lives by taking things so seriously. No opiate and no pleasure chase can so effectively mask the terrible truth about man’s life as does seriousness.”

 

My response: Humans cannot deal with the certitude of facing their ultimate doom out of fear of dying and being nothing if God does not exist, or, far more terrifying for a mortal and depraved creature, facing the grim prospect of becoming holy and virtuous enough to stand up to and survive judgment from an all-seeing divinity, at the end of it all.

 

One way to deal with these awful choices is to avoid them entirely: no one is better at walling off metaphysical destinies of certitude better than the true believer so deadly serious in promoting his holy cause.

 

Hoffer: “          94

 

Considering how lighthearted we feel when we do not take ourselves seriously, it is surprising how difficult the attainment of this sensible and practical attitude seems to be. It is apparently much easier to be serious than to be frivolous.”

 

My response: Unless one is courageous and a lover of goodness and truth, one will not be willing to face the Good Spirits directly to discover what is God’s mission for oneself on earth. To maveize is to develop the self in line with being the best version of oneself that one can be as an individuated businessman, artist, mother, writer or farmer, and this self-growth is one gift back to God and the Good Spirits.

 

When one gains self-esteem and is doing what one was meant to do, when one is authentic and at peace about how one is interacting with others and the world, there is no need to take oneself too seriously, to lack a sense of humor, though one’s service to the good deities is no joking matter at all for one.

Most people never maverize, so they are unable not take themselves seriously, which is their fake pride in their group-allegiance.

 

 

When people live their quiet lives of discontented despair in their group units, or quiet mass movements, or they become anomic, panicked, and frustrated when abandoned by their shattered existing order, so they live as true believers dedicated to their holy cause, their approach to life and themselves is one of deadly and deadening seriousness.