One World

19) OW!

Posted 10th May 2016

After a visit to the dentist when I was a boy, I had a numb cheek from the anaesthetic. Absent-mindedly I bit my inner cheek sometimes during the few hours it remained numb. Of course, when the anaesthetic wore off I had a very sharp pain in my inner cheek which lasted a while. After that experience, whenever I had a numb cheek from a dentist's anaesthetic I made a conscious effort to not bite on it. That is, the painful punishment that I received from the time I negligently bit on my cheek trained me to take better care of myself. Of course, my cheek is normally not numb, and so if I were to chew upon it there would be immediate pain that would instantly repel me from such self-damaging behaviour.

Another example I'll give on pain as punishment for an earlier transgression: when I was 15 or 16 I drank a lot of cider one evening. It seemed like fun at the time. Later that night at home I was violently sick. That was a very unpleasant experience. For many years after that night I was repulsed by even the smell of cider. To this day I seldom drink - and when I do I rarely have more than a couple of pints of lager on a night out. It's not that I couldn't drink more, it's that I hate the feeling of nausea that follows later. The 'punishment' I suffered from a few heavy drinking episodes in my young adulthood has caused me to back off from over-drinking.

In summary: -

- Instant pain repels me from continuing an activity that is harmful to me. I also learn not to commence the activity ever again, else it will be met with pain;

- Delayed pain punishes me for having previously carried out an activity that is harmful to me. I learn not to repeat the activity again, as I know it would be followed later on by pain.

Now,

If a person hurts another and they immediately feel pain in reply, they are repelled from continuing to hurt that person;

If a person hurts another and they later suffer pain, they guard themselves against repeating offensive behaviour in the future.

However,

If a person hurts another and they are immediately rewarded in reply, they are encouraged to continue to hurt that person;

If a person hurts another and they are later rewarded for this, they are encouraged to repeat the offensive behaviour.

If a person or group hurt the planet and they receive a lot of money either instantly or later, and there are no negative effects for them, they will be encouraged to persist in this activity.

If we are to find global peace, become a global body, people must feel pain when doing anything that harms the global body, so that they are repelled from repeating the harmful behaviour. Preferably that pain would be instantaneous, to stop offensive behaviour in its tracks, but delayed pain would also serve as a lesson to dissuade people from future transgressions.

Also, people should be rewarded for doing good for the planet, instantaneously or later on, so that they are encouraged to promote global well-being.

Sounds ideal doesn't it? But the previous paragraph is actually a reality already. You see, regardless of the political borders artificially dividing the World, the World IS a global body, e.g.:-

- Man uncovers fossil fuels to burn them in our precious atmosphere - man is 'punished' with climate change and pollution;

- Two countries take from one another to serve their own interests - both countries feel the pain of war/terrorism/sanctions etc.

i.e. by the World engaging in self-harming behaviour, it is being punished by immediate or delayed pain. The World needs simply to realise this - to make the causal connections.