At some early point in human history, the individual had no identity. One only identified as in a relationship with the group. Society was viewed like a single person with every individual functioning as part of that person. Some would be like the eyes of society in the performance of their duties, others as the legs in carrying out their functions, while still others were the brains, making important decisions for all members of society. This view was extended to include the entire Universe as a single breathing person and is commonly expressed as WE ARE THE UNIVERSE, in a commune relationship with all creatures together as one. Yet certain philosophers saw problems with the collective view. They saw group identity leading all individuals into destruction because everyone is eventually used for the benefit of the whole. They came to see that in the communal or cooperative state were all things are part of the whole, individually we are disposable. If we are everything together as one, then independently we can be exploited. To prevent atrocities against them, they saw the need for a new identity that was different from the group and an independently valuable self. Society is forever changing and as part of society, we also must change. Thus lacking with group identity is anything permanent and secure. Circumstances changes, the weather pattern shifts, new people with new personalities arise to newly define the group; we may even be invaded by some foreign society and a slave identity is forced upon us. Thus early philosophers began to ask, "What may be our group identity tomorrow? What shall become of us as a consequence to future changes? Today we are a peaceful cooperative, but tomorrow we may become savage warriors defending ourselves from invasion. We also have nothing eternal to build because change eventually reduces all our accomplishments to dust. Must every home we create eventually become rubble? Can we have a fixed point of reference to permanently build upon? We also have nothing permanent to learn that is not subject to the changing times. No lasting and eternal knowledge to rely upon." Accordingly they continued, "What is the true meaning of life? Why bother to reach out and achieve if the forces of nature eventually destroy all our efforts? What benifit is there in happiness in a world likewise filled with suffering? And can we find genuine knowledge if everything is soon to change?" Thus early philosophers desired to be different. They sought to go beyond the universal state of all things together as one. They desired a new identity. The courage of going beyond societies norms can hardly be understated. They boldly considered going beyond everything, the WE ARE THE UNIVERSE experience. A brave new step was in this way taken. So began the metaphysical journey leading to a radical new idea. A new word is about to come into existence in defining our identity. A word containing only one letter, yet never found in all the vocabularies of the ancient past. A new experience of transcending into a separate and distinct existence is about to occur. Some early philosopher experienced the new and individualistic identity of... I AM The new single letter word is the first person noun of "I". Myself the individual is someone distinct from the group. The recognition of having a separate existence, the experience of coming-into-being. The reality of my uniquely individual self apart from all else. "I" am a fixed point of reference to permanently build upon. I can gain permanent knowledge by relating it to myself. Now there exists a true and lasting identity of my distinct person in spite of the changing times. The experience is one of individualism ands was presumably first realized by the ancient Greeks. (The word "I" doesn't even appear in more ancient manuscripts.) From aimlessly drifting in the "sea of relativism" where everything is constantly changing, a reference point for humans to fix absolutes was in this way first established. A first-point for permanent development and lasting growth to occur. And a birth point of Western Civilization is the ancient identity of separate "I"s. The universe began to be viewed differently. Here began a rational, intellectual, explanation of the world around us with a fixed reality not denied and off on a tangent line to the collective explanation of all things together as one. Here began Metaphysics or western philosophy presenting an intellectual understanding of the universe. Notice how the term "Metaphysics" has been given a different meaning in modern times. Other terms have also drifted away from their original meanings; liberalism and humanism are two examples. Be informed they are from Greek and Biblical thought. Know they imply that man is a good measurer of truth and not the "no one knows" aimless philosophy of Emmanuel Kant floating in the sea of relativism. The "WE ARE THE UNIVERSE" is the mentality of ants and bees. They all share the same collective-consciousness and work for a common cause. They are bred only to work on a single purpose through batch processing, one bee per each cell in a honeycomb of fetuses. Any defective baby is aborted to preserve the strength of the Universal Whole. Occasionally a bee is fed royal jelly and allowed to become "superior" to the others. Thus no concept of equal rights, no separate "I"s to consider as having any rights. No individuality in Communism. ("The Village" is a commune or Communism and non-democratic.) What became of Society after this new identity became widely known? Was Society brought down into chaos as some feared and predicted? Or did the very opposite occur? Society became more stable than the tribal state. The concepts of Human Rights developed, freedom and democracy appeared. Progress began to occur leading to the better way of life we enjoy today.
