Reflection for Today ▶️ ⏩ ⏹️
Le Lit, by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, 1892
Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up. Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone?
— Ecclesiastes 4:9-11
Man is a social creature, with both community and intimacy being core, 'human given' needs that must be fulfilled for our lives to have emotional and mental balance.1 This is true today, and was true from the beginning: So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.2
Our pride, and belief in the power of self will often deny the need for help. We go it alone, seeking the glory that comes from solo achievement. To a great extent we have forgotten how to share. The advent of copyright law, the term 'intellectual property' and the rapid rise in the professional world of the corporate/copyright lawyer3 tells quite a story about the decline of the collective spirit, and the rise of selfishness. Such folly must, inevitably be short-lived. Whenever we go against our own natures, deny our own needs—or worse, the needs of others—we cause great damage to the collective psyche. Human needs human, Two are better than one.
1 What are the human 'givens'?
2 Genesis 1:27, previously reflected on in Equality
3 The corporate lawyer is considered by David Graeber to be one of many 'bullshit jobs' we have created in the business world, On the Phenomenon of Bullshit Jobs: A Work Rant, August 2013