Born
Every man is born into specific social-cultural circumstances. Capitalism, rationalism, idealism, scientificism, individualism, freedom, democracy, Christianity, Islam, all different approaches to answer the same question: what is man?
We are all defined from birth. We did not choose to be born into this conditioning space, but we were. We are so determined by these circumstances in that it affects everything from the way we speak and our social conventions to our worldview and how we see life and existence itself.
So, if I was born in the Western world, I lead my life by values inherited by Christianity—e.g. though I may consider myself the most atheist of post-modern post-Christianity, I can still be guided by an inherent Christian belief that every individual human being is endowed with a dignity, which I call person). I carry with me my family’s preconceptions, my home city’s idioms and its sociolect; and, if English were my native tongue the verb “to be” would determine my thought patterns, whereas if Spanish were my mother tongue, my worldview would be inherently colored by my differentiating between “ser” and “estar.”
Sexuality, country of origin, height, education level, history, psycho-sociological wounds, family background, father and mother “figures,” all define my experience of life in some way. But, at at the end of each day I am confronted, in the silence of my pillow, with the same ineludible fact: I am. Each of these two words a mystery and a cause of anxious thought for the apprehensive mind. Now, I can—in a more or less conscious manner—choose to alleviate the sting of the question by trying to respond by pointing to possessions, a credo, accomplishments, my memory (or the story I tell myself about my past), a specific physical, intellectual, or sexual attribute, or any other existential palliative; but the fact remains: I am; and how I answer to this statement will dictate every word and action of who is “me”.
Photo: Sculpture by Antony Gormley
