The Hall Of Crazy Mirrors.

Trying to get a clear view of mankind is like venturing into a large Hall of Crazy Mirrors: there are many images there and all of them are different. Some are simply bizarre, some are grotesque and frightening, some are funny, some are cute, and a few might even be flattering. You leave the place unsure and confused, not sure whether to laugh or cry, unclear about what is reality.

As one who has been alive for quite a few decades I have had the opportunity of observing many hundreds of manifestations of human behaviour and to be affected both positively and negatively by them. I can’t say it has always been pleasurable, though certain cherished moments do spring to mind.

I guess like most I started off being very idealistic and saw humans as being benign, caring, and having a wondrous potential. Children often do.

Then the realities of adolescence and young adulthood intruded upon my rosy world and the School of Hardknocks opened its door to me and began its testing curriculum. But despite the many knockdowns I’ve received I’m still mostly more optimistic than pessimistic though, in latter years, both are becoming less clearly defined.

I am enough of an educated realist to know that humans, by nature, are a rather curious cocktail of good and evil. Which prevails depends a great deal on the circumstances that each human finds themselves in. Often, circumstances can bring out the stark differences which exist between what each one of us was born with (our genetic inheritance) and exactly what happened during our learning process (which continues throughout our lives). Often the two things are at war.

Of course, no two children have the same genetic inheritance and no two children experience the same learning environment. The result is that we have famous people like Bach, Shakespeare and Van Gogh and people like Hitler, Pol Pot and the Marquis De Sade. However, the bulk of us muddle along and will leave this earth known only to a few and will be quickly forgotten.

Sometimes when I look at a group of human beings I see, stripped of their clothes, a group of primitive, immoral killer apes which lack any refinements or culture. Have a close look at a football riot between opposing fans or read about some of the civilian massacres which have occurred during various wars or follow the trail of humans, both men and women, who traffic children for the sexual pleasure of paedophiles. At other times I see groups of caring humans whose lives are spent helping others, who, individually, are the sort of people who would dive into unsafe waters to render assistance to someone in distress without thought for themselves, who would give you the shirt off their backs. What a strange mixture!

My view of mankind keeps changing just like the images in the Hall of Crazy Mirrors keep changing. But given the current state of the world, I know that, all too often, there are more fearful images than uplifting ones.

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