Prisons of the Mind

Consciences are prisons of the mind. People without consciences are free.

There. I said it. But before you decide to lynch me, let me explain how I arrived at this somewhat unusual statement.

Our conscience dictates the way we view everything. When I say conscience, I mean our sense of what’s right and what’s wrong. Our morality, so to speak. Of course, morality is merely a part of our conscience. A huge part, to be sure, but only a part, nonetheless. So when we view certain things, say polygamy for instance, as “right” or “wrong”, it’s our consciences telling us that it is so.

The same applies to all our opinions. Our conscience dictates our points of view, which dictate our opinions. This can, and almost inevitably will, lead to certain paradigms which would be nigh unshakeable. Which is why it would be difficult for a person who’s grown up thinking that polygamy is wrong all his life to put himself in the shoes of a person who thinks it is right, and vice versa; his conscience tells him it is so, and therefore he is unable to believe anything else.

That a conscience prevents us from doing certain things, I don’t think anyone will dispute. That it often bars us from doing the needful, well, I imagine a great many would dispute that point.

Often, this firm belief in what is “right” and “wrong” prevents us from taking the most pragmatic path available. We may even decide to go against our conscience, but the guilt or shame that comes after would seriously mess with us, and could drive us over the edge in certain extreme cases.

Another example. Say you really need some money. Suppose there’s someone who’s got pots full of the stuff, and wouldn’t miss the amount you need. Now, suppose you could steal some of this person’s money – just what you need – and be done with it. The only fly in the ointment being your conscience; it keeps telling you not to do it, you shouldn’t, it’s wrong, you shouldn’t steal, ad nauseum ad infinitum.

Your only other option is to spend a whole lot of time working for the money, or not get what you want at all. In my opinion, the path of least resistance here would be to just steal the money and do with it what you will. You’re happy, the person you stole from isn’t upsetted by this turn of events, and no one else is harmed. Your conscience, as I said, is all that prevents you from doing so. Because of your conscience, you can steal the money, but if you do so, you’ll be treated to a guilt trip which would certainly annoy you, to say the least. A person without a conscience, however, would be free to do as he pleased, or as his abilities and capacities permitted.

A conscience does more than that. It is what makes you feel bad after you get low grades, it is what makes you feel guilty when you lie to get an extension you need, it is what prevents you from telling an obnoxious/unwanted guest to get the hell out of your house. It does all this, and then some. Also, as mentioned above, a conscience often prevents you from gaining proper understanding of a situation by preventing you from being able to put yourself in the shoes of another, which, if nothing else, could lead one to making uneconomical choices, or inflicting suffering on a person for simply doing what he/she had to.

Our consciences aren’t even something that we install ourselves, really; the base work is laid by the society we grow up in, and though we may later modify it, it’s a rare person who changes it against the dictates of his/her society, or really changes the foundations of his/her conscience. Such people are usually called “deviant”, or are said to have “gone crazy”.

So essentially, we punish others for adhering to moral standards – possessing consciences – which go against ours. In a way, it’s what’s happening to Saddam; he’s stuck to his standards, whatever they may be, and because they go against what we think is right and proper, we’re trying to have him punished. Yes, I know he’s killed a lot of people, and I’m neither condoning nor condemning his actions, but he listened to his conscience, whatever it may have said, and because they go against what ours say, we want him executed, or locked away for all eternity. Or, in my opinion, be forced to eat rotten tapioca and listen to Kenny G 24/7. But then, that’s just me.

We say that people without consciences are monsters, but do they think so? Does a so-called “monster” care about his “misdeeds”? Not at all; he/she’d be perfectly happy so long as he/she gets what he/she wants. So in a way, a person without a conscience would be happier than a person with a conscience. He/she can do whatever is necessary to get what he/she wants, and would feel no regrets later; no pangs of guilt or shame to keep him/her awake at night, no moral dilemmas to brood over, nothing of the sort. Simply satisfaction at having gotten what he/she wanted. The only circumstance in which I can imagine that this wouldn’t be true is if our “monster” is simply incapable of getting what he/she wants. But then, that upsets everyone, conscience or no.

While it seems evident that if everyone had no/really really flexible (like Mr. Fantastic) consciences, society would break down into chaos and anarchy, it still seems to me, that a conscience is nothing but a prison in our head of society’s making, yet another way to make us fit in with the crowd. And as a result, I still believe that people without consciences are the only people who are really and truly free.

- Note -

This was originally posted (by me, of course) on blogchaat. I just reposted because I'm feeling a little lazy these days, and have a ton of work which I should really get down to. Nothing much else is new, I just need to get some new batteries for my camera so that i can upload pics of my x-rays here. Look pretty cool, if I do say so myself.