Doctrine of creative evolution

A Story by Naval Tharun

When born, we are all born the same. Empty slates made of curiosity. Our want to explore the world starts from the first breath we take, the first finger we hold and the first face we gaze. We wave our hands and cry out loud for food before we embark on our treacherous journey of discovery towards the trees that stand tall, to the sands that seep through our hands and to the others who look the same. We learn how fire hurts and how ice soothes that pain. We learn to spot the different people around us, we learn to make sounds that excite them. We walk, we dance and we burp to the accolades showered on us as they teach us their common tongue. We learn to commune and they teach us the truths they respect.

They teach us of Gods in the heavens and Demons in hell. They give us rewards for conforming and punishments for rebelling. They teach us to question just enough, so we may progress their society but never question its legitimacy. We grow with regrets from the past, confusion in the present and fear of the future. As we learn more, we ask the forbidden questions, we bite the apple of forbidden knowledge. Many get subdued by the heavy handed system but some endure the oppression and continue to explore in seclusion. They learn of truths not uttered a lot, they question the Gods and Demons and they label their confusion Agnosticism. Many among them become overcome with complacence while some keep up their inquiry, they discover no rationality to the existence of a predetermined plan or the presence of an omnipotent entity. They champion their beliefs and tout it as a result of superior intelligence. They proudly call themselves Atheists. They revel in their newfound freedom from an authority as they sustain in the moralities taught to them. Many amongst them espouse the beliefs of humanism and proclaim war on religions. They find meaning in their rebellion and their self-made purpose while the others ponder their existence and face the abandonment caused by their lack of faith. They stamp themselves as Existentialists and once again many among them resign to their supposed fate and content themselves with sustenance.

A few idiots continue their inquiry, carefully dissecting the moralities of the society as they progress slowly towards a cold, dark abyss of meaninglessness. Fear grips their hearts and death looms around them as they declare that life has no meaning. Not only that God is Dead but his values are too. They label this as Nihilistic and warily stop to wonder the significance of their discovery. Some succumb to the spectre of irrelevance and death, while some others retreat to safer confines of belief and meaning which maintain the moralities upheld by the functional society. Once again, a few outliers continue their treacherous journey to a new world beyond Good and Evil, they free themselves from the truths that were taught to them. They observe the madness around them as they become the child again, then one who who took his first breath, the one who outstretched his palm and the one who gazed at everyone with dumbfounded curiosity.