Do you think individuals try to grasp and understand the complexity…

Question

Of the external world, universe and all of its aspects with the root motivation to understand the “self” to a higher degree?

Answer 1

Honestly?  I think most people are trying to figure out things like how their television remote control works or why s****. Doo keeps being scared when it's always the feeble old man with the smoke machine and costume.  In other words, most people are too self-absorbed, too wrapped up in their needs, to look higher.

What's interesting is when life creates hardship.  When people get hurt or burned by a life event, it might create a kind of "learnable moment", where people have to stop, step back, study what happened and why things went wrong.  Yet - alot of these people choose to chain-smoke instead, and sit in a bar and whine about all the bad things that have happened..ah, well, they'll always have Paris.

Answer 2

Your question makes me think of a quote in The Urantia Papers; P.22 - §2 Urantia mortals can hardly hope to be perfect in the infinite sense, but it is entirely possible for human beings, starting out as they do on this planet, to attain the supernal and divine goal which the infinite God has set for mortal man; and when they do achieve this destiny, they will, in all that pertains to self-realization and mind attainment, be just as replete in their sphere of divine perfection as God himself is in his sphere of infinity and eternity. Such perfection may not be universal in the material sense, unlimited in intellectual grasp, or final in spiritual experience, but it is final and complete in all finite aspects of divinity of will, perfection of personality motivation, and God-consciousness." Note; Urantia is an ancient name for Earth.

Answer 3

I think so. I think we see ourselves in a lot of the world, or the world gives us inspiration, so we look for understanding in it so we can better understand ourselves.

I mean, we are all creation, so seeing other creations may help us see our own beauty amid all our chaotic choices.

Answer 4

Never trust anyone over 30 . . . um. . .  50 . .. um.

Making the connections you are asking about requires reflection which, I think requires a reason to reflect. At some point we all get to meet our "selves" and at that point, when we realize we can no longer lie with impunity we begin to wonder where the "self" came from, and why it is important.

For some the quest stops at religion, primarily because it is easy to stop there and to continue to let the "self" rule. For others the quest continues, even with the realization that we will never actually "get it".

Gandhi subscribed to the belief that no matter what the answer was we owed it our respect.

Me, I just believe life is good and so I look for that in the universe.

Good question!