> > I wanted to fork the thread "War on Science" to deal with the more > interesting discussion to me - Why isn't fairness, honesty and all the > wholesome qualities of being human so often absent in politicians, > scientists, business leaders and other guardians of society? > > I guess "isn't" was a typo above? I guess you intended to write: " Why is fairness, honesty and all the wholesome qualities of being human so often absent in politicians, scientists, business leaders and other guardians of society?"
The way I have come to understand this is -- these qualities are all very much present in every being. However we are convinced that we are separate. We are convinced that we are limited. (Body-consciousness - excessive identification with only what is explicitly seen, not what is experienced). This sense of separation, this sense of being limited makes us scared. We feel the need to protect our self. We don't want to be limited. We also don't want to be separate. We all want love. We all want to be one. However, the prospect of being one scares us -- we think that will mean giving up our individuality, our unique beauty. We all in our deepest innermost being want to be unlimited -- *because that is what we are*. This need to protect our self, when there really isn't any need to protect our self because we are unlimited anyway, creates conflict within. This conflict makes us do all the silliness that we do, at whatever scale. However, this silliness also just seems silliness -- when we are viewing things from the perspective of being separate. When we view things from the perspective of being whole and One, then this silliness seems like a beautiful wondrous eternal dance.