It’s rather strange how we behave. There merely isn’t an explanation, or justification for the way we live our lives. Not in the material sense, or in the spiritual sense either. I mean, there’s no reason for our reasoning. At least, till date.
Let me put forth an example: I know certain things about a friend X. Like, say, the person Y that X really really wants to have a relationship with, but for reasons that will be a blog post by themselves, it just won’t work the way we, as his friends would want it to. That’s what good friends are for, always looking out for the best, always hoping for the best.
What keeps us ticking?
Today’s technology is far developed, advanced and sophisticated (for the three are not the same), than what it was, probably yesterday. Thereby, if I so wish, and malice rolls into my character, I can torment the said friend X in one of the many ways possible: I can create a new email id with Y’s assumed identity, and make a mess of X’s head. Or I could approach Y with X’s assumed identity, and go the other way round. Or I could have Y for myself, by using the almost infinite powers of technology.
Oh don’t get me wrong, this isn’t going to be a post about how technology has failed us, and how identity theft is getting simpler to go by, and yet difficult to actually escape from. Nope, that’s so not what this post is about.
It’s more about the inner workings of my mind, that actually prevent me from doing any of the above mentioned, presumably malicious, activities. And it’s not the fear of the law, because technically, I am not claiming that I am someone else, since I can assume whatever identity that I want in the virtual world. Neither is it the fear of losing a friend, because frankly, the chances of X actually blaming me, or even figuring out that it’s my doing, are pretty down to nil.
So then, what is it that holds me back, behind the line?
Let’s see it another way, in another domain: I go to a restaurant. Not very upscale, just the joint by the corner, especially the ones where you would typically find some of the taporis so to say. Now, as I wait for my table to be ready, these people land up. And since I was here before, I should be the lawful owner of my table for the period when I wish to engage the dining services of the restaurant. More often than not, I will have my table. The taporis will wait their turn.
Now, nothing really stops them from snatching my table from me. And me being me, won’t really object to them having it. I might even offer it to them, for that matter. But, they won’t. (Yes, there are people of the other kind too, but then, there are more of the kind I am talking about.)
Yet another example: College. Seniors. Ragging. There’s ragging, and there’s ragging. One can make you friendlier, and the other can, not just scar you for life, but simply make life impossible to live. People do both. But most do the first kind, unless there is some sort of deep seated hatred against you. Not that they cannot do the second. They certainly can. But they won’t.
So what is this feeling of letting things go the natural way? Of not troubling others for no real reason? We hunt because we can, at times. We engage in certain acts, because we can. So why not these?
Conscience, ethics and the crap. Yes, send it all over here…
But, it must have started somewhere. The first human must have thought about it. Inculcated it amongst the next generation. What made him do it?
(Yes, there are sections of the society that love doing all or some of the above. Sociopaths, we call them. Norman Lewis, of the Improve your Word Power fame has an entire chapter on them. So these, so called, sociopaths, do they also not stem from the same human? What happened there? Suddenly one fine morning, they woke up, and hey, I can torture that dog that’s outside. And then another, otherwise fine, morning, hey, I can kill my neighbour. Is it really how that happens?)
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I was not going to mention about the hiatus in my posting schedule, but then, for posterity’s sake, here goes: I did not post, because I did not feel like it. Period.
And in the meantime, a lot has happened: CAT is in two days. Damn. Sem 7 exams approaching fast. Flu. Caught some this week. Still coughing a bit. Attended an assortment of social functions: A friend’s birthday bash, a friend’s sister’s reception, more of those coming up. Hathway is awesome. Long live Hathway. Gilmore Girls. Am now into season 5. Again, long live eMule. Basically, long live a lot of things. The list is simply too big, and I don’t want to hog the limelight. Hopefully, meet you all in a newer post, sooner than this one!