Human Social, Cultural and Economic Values and Expectations During Our Brief Existence

 

I met a former Malay patient of mine this afternoon and during our casual conversation she lamented the loss of one of her close cousins who was very rich but died recently after a short illness. He was only 46 years old. She went on to tell me having great wealth does not guarantee us happiness and long life. She mentioned we can hold on to the possession of this world for a short few years, which to me at maximum would just for a 100 years if we are lucky, but on death we have to release all those wealth, properties and possessions we have accumulated in our brief existence in this world.

Human life span indeed is exceedingly short in comparison to the age of the universe or with the age of this Earth. Just to give you an example, if the age of the Universe at 13.8 billion years was just one day of Creation, then 100 years of our human lives lasts for just 0.23 second. But if the age of Earth at 4.543 billion years was just one day in Creation, then 100 years of our lives last just 0.7 second.

 I have had this same thought all my life, and yet humans from birth till death gather and build a lot of things that are unnecessary for their biological existence here on this Earth.  In life most of us will try to acquire as much wealth and material properties as possible and try to live with them as long as possible. In doing so, we carry with us a lot of burdens trying hard to maintain them till old age. But as we get older and older, we lose our strength and may have no more interest trying to maintain them anymore. 

Finally, we must die, whether or not with relatives surrounding us at deathbed, often suddenly alone, and on death we release every dot of everything we have gathered as we look around for the last time is going to rot and be forgotten throughout all eternity. Whether or not we like to entertain such thoughts we have not an iota of choice. We will only realize this when we take our last breath and close our eyes for the last time. Our question is, when shall this be, at what age? 

What then is our purpose and short existence here? My belief is to live a life as simple as possible carrying with us no or little burdens!

However, not all would think the same. Not everyone is born with spiritual wisdom. For instance, we often read in the newspapers of elderly people, especially retired women who lost all their life savings, amounting to several million ringgits to scammers who convinced them to “invest” for “quick returns” in dubious schemes that do not exist. The loss of their entire life savings was due to their sheer greed even at old age when they already have more than enough investments to see them through in the remaining golden years of their lives.

But I think most elderly people would show no more interest to “invest” any further materially except spiritually if they are sane in wisdom. I also think most importantly we need to invest in our health which is the richest of all wealth and earthly powers using whatever energy and strength we have left.

A very famous psychiatrist friend of mine whom we knew each other since our college days told me a few times a lot of his patients suffer from obsessive compulsive disorders (OCD) and stress syndrome because they are so obsessive about keeping a lot of rubbish and very old things clustering around every space in their house from downstairs to upstairs, inside every room unwilling to throw and clear them away. He told me actually 99.999 % of all the things we buy and accumulate in life and in our house, we actually use only once, twice and at the most five times in our lives, after which we stack them in boxes or hang them all over the house to collect dust. Who then is going to maintain, dust, wipe and clean them every day for us especially when they get older and older, losing their health and strength, let alone their mental stress and OCD that does not allow them to relax with blissful and unburdened carefree time when they were younger?

 As he was a very senior consultant psychiatrist who was formerly the Head of the Department of Psychological Medicine at the University Hospital, University of Malaya, and later became a Consultant to WHO in this area of medicine he knew much better on stress syndromes.  I could not help but fully agree with him. He was very close to me even during our working lives.

I have always felt in my life’s own experience that I have done the same mistake and have taken wrong moves in life. It’s a long story that requires chapters to relate. I have realized that all we need to remain very healthy and happy are free air, water that costs us just a small amount in water bills, and the much more expensive foods that can take up 30 % of our income.  Social-wise, all we need is friends to share their ideas unselfishly. That’s all we need. WHO remains firmly committed to the principles set out in the preamble of its Constitution that defines:  

“Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”.

Mark the key words “social well-being”

 Nevertheless, my personal beliefs and contemplations, my psychiatrist friend’s qualified professional diagnostic analysis, together with the lady’s patient of mine reflections I met again this afternoon may not necessarily be shared by everyone, especially self-centred individuals. Most humans are not altruistic. They are outright selfish. They clearly share nothing with anyone, and they obviously remain socially ill no matter how rich or educated they are.  

This I believe is because most human cultural, economic, and social acceptance reflect their philosophical and existential reflections on their human behaviour in their pursuit of material wealth mainly for themselves, sharing nothing with others.

From a philosophical standpoint, different individuals and cultures have varying perspectives on the purpose and meaning of life. Some may argue that the pursuit of wealth and possessions is a way for individuals to find meaning or happiness, while others may emphasize more spiritual or altruistic pursuits.

Since I have training in biological evolutionary standpoint at Cambridge, this concept may also apply in societal human structures. I think human behaviour, including the desire to accumulate resources, can be seen as a product of evolutionary processes that favoured traits contributing to survival and reproduction.

I believe sociologists too would agree with me that human societies and cultures have complex systems of values, beliefs, and norms that shape individual behaviour. The pursuit of wealth and material possessions can be influenced by societal expectations, cultural norms, and economic structures.

The comparison to other animals is interesting. While animals may not accumulate material possessions in the same way humans do, they do engage in simple behaviours that ensure their survival and reproduction. For instance, animals may build nests, gather food, and establish territories. They use only natural leftovers like leaves, twigs, straws, empty shells, or mud that return to Nature when their work is done. In their innate behaviour, at least they do not destroy the environment like we do by using steel, bricks, sand, cement, concrete and cut down forests and greeneries for wood, let alone use up diminishing oil, gas and fossil fuels that is destined to wipe up the entire humanity sooner than we expect.

Ultimately, views on the significance of material wealth, the pursuit of possessions, and the meaning of life vary widely among individuals and cultures. People draw upon diverse philosophical, religious, and cultural traditions to shape their perspectives on these matters.

This is just to share human values in our brief existence here in this world.