Every action has a consequence.... A sentence that may seem obvious to most. From religion to science the understanding of the implications of our actions is one that forms the basis, for many, of our morality. I do not believe that actions will have consequences in the way that God may unleash his wrath upon us. However, I do believe Issac Newtons third law can be applied to our lives: For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction....
This law may differ in the respect that our actions will not always infer an opposite consequence, yet our actions are always proceeded by a consequence whichever direction this may fall. For many, our actions take on a selfish nature, when consequences are only considered if they directly effect us. One could argue that this is not our fault, that in fact our propensity for selfishness is so in built, that it is part of our genetic make up. This is true in many respects, we are machines in which precious genes may live on forever through our children, many actions we take depend on the survival of these genes at all costs, even to others.
We make decisions day to day, hour to hour, minute to minute and often such decisions are made without a thought for the consequences that might ensue. For example, take the food we eat. Historically the decision of what food we consumed was easier, food was a way to survive, the element of choice was not apparent when we ate what our bodies needed. Today however, many of us have the luxury of choice, technology has advanced and we are surrounded by options that all lead to a healthy diet. To much choice? Well yes, in the respect that our decision making has become more difficult, but we live in an age where the food choices we make could have drastic implications for the environment we live in. For thousands of years humans have ravaged the oceans, taking fish, mammal and bird from every corner of the globe. This has left them, some what inevitably, in a dire state. Once the oceans were teaming with life but our inability to perceive or even understand the consequences of our actions has left them motionless.
The answer seems so easy, live a frugal existence. But yet again our selfish propensity overcomes many of the decisions we make- why should we make decisions that will ultimately benefit others?
It's hard not to lecture when people ask me why I don't eat meat or fish, because yes, of course I would like them to understand the consequences of their actions and of course I would like them to change because our deep rooted habits will only change when others follow. Many people take the view of - some people eat this, some eat that, we are all different. Well yes! We are all different but we all play a part and we all have a choice.
When eating an endangered animal such as bluefin tuna, tiger prawns, cod or seabass some may say, well its only once....There are 6,697,254,041 people on the earth so what would happen if it was just once for everyone?
Everyone has a choice and the consequence that precedes the action can go one of two ways. Take time to think about who and what will be effected by the decision you make. Because although our genes are selfish....
Our brains are separate and independent enough from our genes to rebel against them... we do so in a small way every time we use contraception. There is no reason we should not rebel in a large way too (Richard Dawkins, The Selfish Gene 1989)
The flutter of a butterflies wings.....
