The Great Ideological Anchors
Perpetually sculpted by change, we are, desiring something stable- something that remains familiar. As a ship, we cast anchors into the abyss of time, laying hold to parts of ourselves, and the world.
Change is the great enabler of life, like an invisible chisel, constantly molding the shape of matter from one thing to another. Without change, we would not exist, but our experience is one that feels like being simultaneously dragged around by an ocean's current and kept afloat by a force whose effects we observe, though not its causes. This constant change gives rise to a yearning for things that remain constant, amid the various circumstances and mental states we encounter throughout our lives. These things that do not change can be referred to as ideological anchors, which are built on objective ideals carved out by nature.
The second law of thermodynamics states that systems naturally move toward higher levels of disorder over time unless there is outside interferance. This is thought to be due to the spreading of heat, which is the source of all energy in our universe. This can be seen in your daily life, like when you turn your air condition off, and your house becomes closer in temperature to its surroundings, or when you drop an ice cube into a glass of water, and it starts melting. Buildings naturally decay over time, just as humans follow the same cycle of growth, followed by a peak and an inevitable decay. The higher levels of disorder, or entropy there are in a system, the more random it becomes. This can be felt as you become older, where you acquire aches and pains, and an ever-increasing amount of random ailments that make life more difficult. Even on the level of an idea, this fundamental law can be seen. Ideas are noticed, then grappled with internally for a while, then after some time passes, the distinct shape held inside of your mind fades into static, or is molded into some other shape.
The timescale of our existence as humans is long enough to where this constant change leaves a hole in us psychologically, that craves stillness, order, and predictability. This is likely what drove the existence of a "self", which acts as a grounder to reality. It's a psychological anchor in the midst of the chaotic, seemingly random stream of change. The highest ideals in humanity are a direct result of this void shape in the human psyche, as if they were meant to be, sculpted by nature. The most important symbols in the human race, are truth, beauty and goodness, which collectively guide us if we pay attention to them.
Truth is one of the fundamental pursuits of human society, and it represents a desire to be more closely intertwined with fabric of reality, but it's not something we as humans will probably ever fully know or be aligned with. As such, it is a never-ending endeavor, which is only chipped away at through time, memory and curiosity. When individuals do not pursue truth, they become hopelessly bored and apathetic, blown around by circumstance and seemingly tamed, like a farm animal. It is NO COINCIDENCE that the pathetic animals held by zoos appear depressed, as if their life force is subdued- almost as though what is raw and endowed by nature has been suppressed by their artificial environment. This suppression is like being subjected to a tyrannical force, one which wants to fit you into a box, to be a certain ideal shape, a useful pawn for society.
All of the transformative human discoveries that have resulted in great improvements of our lives, or the lives of our loved ones, were born out of a search for the truth. Curiosity is seen in many other life forms, and it is what ultimately leads to integration with reality; without a thirst for the unknown, it never flourishes. Truth is the core from which the other two symbols, beauty and goodness, emerge.
There are some variations to what is thought of as beautiful, and it can encompass many things outside of purely physical manifestations. Beauty seems to reflect our desire for order and purity, which is why facial symmetry and proportions are so integral to what we consider physically beautiful in our fellow humans. While beauty is pleasant for us to look at, it also seems to express something about the state of the thing. Facial and body symmetry typically reflects a harmonized working of systems in the body, which is a good predictor of health and genetic fitness. While looking good does not mean you are healthy, it is a great indicator, and looks are not only set from birth, they are cultivated through lifestyle, diet and circumstances as well. Beauty therefore hits on a universal truth of sorts being expressed by reality, which we are pulled towards.
Goodness is the social representation of beauty, which our morals and ethical principles have spouted from. Being a "good person" is a popular symbol in culture for a reason, and it is connected to both truth and beauty. The wisdom of truth inside of us drives us to be compassionate, to do things that not only benefit ourselves, but those around us as well. When we are good to those around us, we tend to live more peaceful, happy, and fulfilling lives. It seems to be a great feature of nature that humans experience a psychological turmoil when they are a source of negativity for the ones around them. It's a type of psychological karma, and perhaps this is why psychopaths are unphased by such actions, because there's no inner-disturbance to be felt upon causing distress. The turmoil one feels when doing wrong to others corresponds directly with the desire to do good.
Great works of art combine all three of these ideological anchors of humanity. While beauty and goodness originate from the truth, truth is only a foundation. The Mona Lisa, which is the most famous work of art in the world, is the epitome of the Italian Renaissance, and it represents the enigmatic subtlety of a woman, of beauty, and of nature herself, which elegantly beams through her. Art that is aligned in this way projects an emotional resonance, a psychological stirring, which our memories hold onto, as if our psyche has realized that it has struck something significant that reflects its essence. Maybe great artwork aligns with archetypal pathways in the brain, which represent the universally inherited and experiential aspects of human consciousness.
It is at the height of human creativity, our desire to project order, which has lead to every man-made structure in the world. The structures of the world represent the order which seeks to impose itself on its ever-changing environment, to THRIVE and to GROW. The "self", economies, belief systems, and religions, are all offspring of this creative energy within man that seeks to set an anchor, to lay his roots, expanding his will's true desire for EXPRESSION. What's just as beautiful as human creativity, is that nature herself, is the master sculpter, but we must submit to her laws rather than run from them. Human ideals of truth, goodness and beauty are the ultimate expressions of nature's creative play, of her nuance and artistic expression. This life force within us, is INVIGORATING; it is confirming, of our deepest suspicions, that we are here to play the instruments which we have been endowed by nature, to the best of our ability, in spite of the struggles, the setbacks, the opposition, and the paradoxical landscape of emotion. Ideological anchors are the ultimate creative life force that are to be harnessed, and to be cast through the telescope of consciousness towards GREATNESS.