The Loss of Momo

“Order in society necessarily exists because of human action and not human design. We cannot create diamonds, but we can produce the conditions necessary for the creation of diamonds.”

Today is without a doubt a dreadful day. At around 8.15am this morning, my pet hamster, Momo, passed away. It is certainly a tragic death. Our relationship of barely 3 months came to an end this fateful morning. At first instance this may sound silly as most of us would think that it’s just a pet hamster. Anyway it’s just a hamster. Nevertheless underneath this tragic event lies an even more important matter, which is my failure to care for a living being under my care. I alone am responsible for her death and it is I which will have to bear the responsibility and will mourn over her death for as long as I live. It is simple. In our relationship, I am responsible for her welfare and general being. As her guardian, my position renders me accountable to her good being. That’s as far as it goes in a pet-human relationship.

Yet in our modern society what happens when things go wrong? Who is to be blame? Who is to be accountable? If things go wrong, what should we do? Who should do what? Let us start with this premise, when things go wrong the best thing to do is to do nothing and not interfere. To many of us, this would certainly be an idea which cannot be understood or accepted. How can we choose to do nothing when something is obviously wrong? I on the other hand propose the contrary. Please follow.

Modern society, unlike a direct pet-human relationship, is not as simple as it seems. Modern society is made up of various complex relationships of complex human behaviour. Various acts by various individuals are committed with different intentions and will also result in different outcomes, intended or unintended. Humans learn by experience. Whatever experiences he goes through will determine the extend of knowledge which he possesses. Hence because every individual goes through different experiences, every individual will have different levels of knowledge.

Next is this. As the knowledge of every individual is different, there is order in society not because of the same action of every individual but because of the separate actions of every individual, each complementing the other. The separate actions of each individual, which is determine by the knowledge that each possess, will enable society to function harmoniously and orderly. This we will call as evolution or more accurately, spontaneous order.

What happens when there is interference or a foreign agent is introduced? This will necessarily result in chaos and confusion. The following is why. Interference or a foreign agent is mostly always comprised of a systemic rule designed with the intention to achieve an intended end. Such interference or foreign agent will only worked out if each and every individual intends and acts the same way resulting in the same consequence. This is where it is certain to fail. Because each individual has different levels of knowledge, the reaction of each towards the interference will also be different, thus resulting in different outcomes. When different outcomes occur, the intended ends of which the designed systematic rule set of to achieve earlier is unfortunately now unachievable.

Order in society necessarily exists because of human action and not human design. We cannot create diamonds, but we can produce the conditions necessary for the creation of diamonds.