LIVING IN A TEMPLATIZED SOCIETY, Sameul Onatuga-Isichei [read e book TXT] 📗

A few days back while pondering about the Law of individuality and how individuality is so much a part of creation and nature that without it not only would things cease to work as a unity but they would all disintegrate, pulling far away from each other and cease to exist.

When we look around us carefully we begin to see that there exists a personal signature to all this so much so that nature and the whole of creation thrives long the scared lines of individualization. No two things of the same nature exist for all of existence is the unification of diversity. Even down to the molecular world, every cell and atom is different from the next and it is the difference of each cell form the other that enable them to carry out their respective functions thus it is safe to say that without the differentiation or better still without the individualization of each cell nothing can exist as we have it today.

The wise men of ages past have always said that the world needs individuals and not persons and I must say that I too totally agree with this view point however it is most unfortunate that in the world of today we tend to have more persons than individuals. The globalization of the world has resulted in virtual resemblance of people across the board regardless of their socio-economic background and geo-political spread. Everybody these days walks, talks and thinks alike, while this is good, it also has it fair share of disadvantages.

In today’s world we live in what I like to call a “templatized” society and this templatization of society is far spread all thanks to globalization. The word templatized is derived from the word template which means a read-made mold, pattern that things are suppose to fit into with little or no alteration. In today’s world there exist a template for everything from education to gender roles, to governance and economics with little or no recognition given to the central part of our existence which is that we are all separate individuals who although working for the collective whole as a UNIT cannot be boxed into a ready-made pattern or template. Like I said earlier without the recognition that each cell is an individual with a distinct part to play in the unity of the whole nothing that we see today from the tress to the wild animals would exist consequently their existence and continued existence is depended on the recognition of this simple truth.

As human with the intelligence we claim to have, we should know better, we should know that following the law of correspondence, that which hold true at the molecular level like holds true on the external level of reality. Borrowing from the thoughts of Karl Marx, that which holds true at the sub-structural level (the molecular level) would hold true at the level of the super-structure.

The problem of the world today is partly caused by the global templatization of society and human life. The government and the system of the world today are trying so hard to box everybody into a pattern. The global educational, social and even cultural systems are so similar that it is pretty difficult telling them apart with little or recognition given to the fact that we are individuals who are suppose to play different roles for the continued existence of the Whole. We are not designed to be the same people neither were we fashioned to play the same role and become carbon copies of each other and eventually puppets to the society.

We are individuals with an inherent personal signature to all things that we do. The growth and spreads of the templatization of society to me has been an advent of the rationalization of society and like the Max Weber feared, the rationality of society has resulted in the literal death of creativity hence the creative drive of the masses is gone amiss leaving only a handful of individuals who have discovered and recognized their individuality to lead the whole race while many remain as puppets blowing side to side by the wide of society. The templatization of society makes it easier to lead and rule society however its major setback can be seen all around us, in the form of the general and consistent push-back against the templatization that we are witnessing today which is due to the fact that more people are forced to conform and those that refuse to conform are regarded as recluse who want to revert the system. In our present society there is that standard although invisible which everyone is expected to fit into irrespective of their difference and when one fails to fit into such standard he or she is frowned upon consequently making it pretty difficult for people to break away and find their true selves.

As a collective we must come to the understanding that life is a diversified unit that is life exist as a whole and complete system due to the fact that there is diversity which brings about homogeneity, balance and unity. Look at the tree, each leave on the tree is in one way or the other difference from other leaves on the tree and without such unified diversity I doubt the trees would have caught our continuous fancy and neither would it even exist at all and the same goes for everything else. The only reason why life holds us in awe every time and the why it such a beauty whether we choose to consider the constellation of stars in the galaxies far far away or woods and forest it is because of it immense diversity and how this diversity ensure the continued process called life. Life recognizes each cell, atom and subatomic particle as an individual and works with them on that bases and assigns to each a distinct function even in the body of the collective as each cell knows that it is part and parcel of a collective whole and its duties and function is to ensure the continued existence of this whole because if the whole perishes then its own existence is extinguished.

The same should go for human organization, as a collective or as individuals we should come to the understanding that it is our duty not to try to box and put everyone in a corner because the box doesn’t in any way ensure our continued existence on favourable conditions. We tend to be like elephant raised with a chain to its ankle and when that the elephant is all grown it still thinks the chain holds it bound when in truth, it is its former conception of itself that keeps it bound while there is more for it explore and discover. The same goes for us either as individuals or as a collective, the templates of today although good during the formative years of the race however have become the chains that keeps us bound and deprive us from exploring the totality of our existence when there is infinite more for us to do, explore and become.

I cannot over emphasis the basic truth that we as individuals are bound to play different roles for the betterment of the whole which is based on the fundamental truth that humanity is UNIT and not unity. The world today thinks humanity to be a unity and for a unity to be effective people must be one of the same kind in thought, organizational structure and character. However coming to the understanding that humanity is a UNIT all playing different part for continued existence of the collective whole and if the whole perishes then the individual cannot exist, the same way the your individual cells cannot exist when the person ceases to exist. We must begin to readjust our thought and character to recognize that we are individuals working for the betterment of a single system. For the system to work each person must come to recognize him /herself as a dynamic individual and at the center of his or her individualism lies the role he / she is suppose to play for the collective good. The world desires individuals and not persons and when we through our various social systems and structure directly or indirectly emphasis the development of the personality instead of the individuality we tend to short change ourselves and retard our collective progress.

The difference between the personality and individuality is similar to the difference between the light and darkness. The word personality is derived from Latin word persona, where it originally referred to a theatrical mask that is the mask an actor wears while on stage. The Latin word probably derived from the Etruscan word "phersu", with the same meaning. This goes to show that our personality is not our real self, the personality changes with times and season. It is but a mask which everyone’s individuality is suppose to speak through. However it is a shame that many have chosen to identify themselves with their personality choosing to define themselves by fickle things such as social status et al. Your individualism on the other hand is everyone distinct imprint and characteristics that separate them from each other. The Law Of Individuality states that the collective whole of humanity is comprised of individuals distinct from one another by such obvious and easily measured characteristics as fingerprints and voiceprints and more complex and deep seated traits. Each presents something unique to earthly society, and the whole of creation hence each person has the right to individual expression.

"The original Spirit endowment of individual minds, souls and bodies is to be fully recognized and upheld."

If we truly desire to continue to exist, grow and develop then we must discover our individuality and develop it holding in mind that the growth and development of our individuality is essential for the growth and continued advancement of us as a people and as individual.

The template of today’s society has its pro’s as it is useful in taming us and putting us along the right path however the box must not be looked upon as finality as we must come to the point where we out grow the template and have sthe courage to venture out to discover our individuality there by not only thinking out of the box (societal templates) but realising that in truth there isn’t any box in the first place and what we though the box was, was nothing but social constructions.

Publication Date: 06-03-2013

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