Letter to human beings on the two commandments: Surviving and altruism

The meaning of life and some ideas for being good and happy

Dear relative of the human family:

Given my age and with all my affection, I take the liberty of addressing you on a first-name basis. If you are curious, you will have been able to read the other appendices. And whatever you wanted from the website. In any case, you already know what the two commandments are about. Just in case, I will copy the first two paragraphs of the letter and the two basic ideas. And then I develop some ideas about how my proposals might affect you

I am writing this letter to talk to you about your duties as a human being, whatever your sex, profession, age, race, country, religion, ideology or culture. You have been told a lot about your rights, but first and foremost you have duties. Not being clearly aware of this may have caused you to feel frustrated and unhappy and that, by action or omission, you do not do what you should do, thereby causing harm to your present and future fellow human beings. The greater your ability to influence your environment and circumstances, the greater the harm.

You should know that as a human being you have the survival of your species/family as your purpose. And that, therefore, you have a duty to do what is best for this purpose. And that, in order to do so, you have the right to live as well as possible: you and your environment. Take this on board because it is what gives meaning to your life. Normally you will already be doing most of what you need to do. But maybe you are missing or omitting something important for you and for others. I think it’s good for you to know that. Then you do what you want, know and can.

I enunciate the two commandments:

“Like all other species of living beings, ours, Homo sapiens, has as its primary vital purpose its own survival”. And, being part of it, all humans have had, and continue to have, this same purpose for our species to survive. This is the first commandment.

In 2013 I confirmed that broad altruism is the main element that our species has adopted as the most effective and efficient means to achieve the priority life purpose. This is the second commandment.

Broad altruism encompasses anything that benefits another or others: productive work, cooperation, solidarity, mutual support….   And whatever its motivation: instinctive, reciprocal, gratuitous, onerous, … Altruism is always self-interested and remunerated: materially, as group appreciation and as self-esteem.

These mandates to survive by loving affect all living beings who have the dignity, duties and rights of persons because they belong to the same species/human family. And they affect us in many ways.

We have the dignity of persons because we are human beings. And now you know that this dignity implies a duty to do, with altruism/love, what is best for the survival and well-being of the species/family to which you belong.

And you also know that you are programmed to collaborate with your species in passing on the life you have. You know that you are a link in the long chain of life that goes back, at least, to the birth of our species. Jorge Luis Borges ends his poem Adrogué with a line that says: “I who am time and blood and agony”. Much time and much blood and agony have passed for each of us to be here today. Our task is to hand over the baton to the next in the best possible conditions. And to be happy with it: in this life and in the next if there is one.

I enunciate the universal ethical principle that should underpin your behavior: Do or omit, with altruism/love, what is good/best for the survival and well-being of our species.

You are a very intelligent being and therefore with what has been said you might already know, more or less, what you should do in every circumstance of your life. But, for what it’s worth, I add the following:

Ideas to be good and happy

(see previous text on the Web, by clicking here)

I tell my children that I have been happy enough for about fifteen years. Since I was 65 or so. More or less when I took on these ideas. I summarize some old advice, which are not dogmas of faith, but the result of my thinking and my experience:

• If you are a “normal” human being, you know that you are happy when you do what you have to do: what you believe or feel you have to do according to your goals and your moral conscience. Until now, the possible problem was that you didn’t have an explicit rationale for what to do and how to do it. Now you do.
• Assume that you have an implicit duty to live in order to collaborate in the survival of our species. Even if you don’t succeed, the duty is to try with love and joy. And, more or less, you will already be doing it.
• Once you have assumed the above, ask yourself if you are happy. If you are happy enough, don’t change. You are probably already fulfilling the basic mandate quite well.
• If you do not feel happy enough, review your moral standards and behavior and try to see if they can be improved in the light of the universal ethical principle. And then act accordingly. Here are some possible things you can do to act accordingly:
• A first thing is to accept yourself as you are. To try to fulfil the vital imperative it doesn’t matter what kind of living being you are now: man or woman or different, young or old, wise or ignorant, rich or poor, handsome or ugly, healthy or sick, … Whatever you are, accept yourself. You and your environment or circumstance: family, friends, homeland if you have one, … It is the best you have at this moment.
• Once you have recognized and accepted yourself in your environment, think about what you could change, within your possibilities, to better fulfil the basic mandate. If you have doubts, consult someone you trust and believe to be wiser. If you don’t have anyone, ask me and I will answer you as best I can. For the moment I do not charge for it.
• It is possible that what you think you should do to fulfil the universal mandate is not in accordance with the rules and laws of your environment. In this case do what you can.
• In short, it is a matter of doing what you think is best for the basic purpose, within your means. And to do it with love and joy. These are the conditions for being good, effective and happy. And don’t assimilate good to stupid, soft or poor… You must try to be good, but, if possible, smart, strong, rich… The more the better and so you will have more to give more.
• An old idea is that to do good deeds it is better to try to be better: healthier, wiser, holier, more solvent, and more smiling or cheerful. But it is not about being perfect. Try to improve, but don’t want to do more than you can do.
• And above all love yourself. You are the best you have; however, you are. And if you accept yourself and your circumstances, you will be able, from there, to try to fulfil the basic objective of loving your fellow human beings. And with that you should feel happy. If you are not, think again and try to act accordingly until you are.
• For my part, I would only ask you, if you have seen and find these ideas true and useful, to pass them on to your friends, enemies and acquaintances, by whatever means is easiest for you. And, if you have the possibility, spread them by the means that seem best to you. You will be taken into account in order to be happier: in this life and in the next if you believe in it.

Thank you

J.C.