There is something in us that prefers the one option over the other. What is the mechanism that is capable of preferring? What is the source of it’s preference?
This mechanism is almost omnipresent in our mind; we are so used to it that we have no notion of it, unless we meet someone with very different preferences.
Part of the riddle is the interaction between mind and preference. Although our taste for music, language, etc. can classify some type of it as distasteful, knowledge about it can transform our preference to this exact type to tasteful.
But knowledge is not enough. Knowledge has no desire. Knowledge is fact. Facts don’t drive our heart’s decisions. Our desires do. Apparently, when knowledge feeds our desires, we change our preference.
If we have material status as a desire, and we see a cheap ugly car, which we then hear is a unique classic, only driven by the most wealthy on earth, our preference about the car changes immediately. We want to have this car. We must have it. For what? To feed our desire.
There is an interplay between desire and preference, that is a riddle in itself. If we have a desire, our preferences can change as a result of that desire, like the car. But desires themselves are also object of preference; our desires can change over time. What meta desire preference mechanism is behind this? Is there more to the human -than the inner experience- that drive these forces?
Religion has no doubt about the answer. The mechanism of preference and desire is not driven by human biology, but supported. Our desires are driving by spiritual beings. Our preference is an ongoing battle between the spiritual powers.
At this point complexity enters next level. If there are spiritual powers, where do they enter our mind? Are they in our mind? Are they our mind?
These days we have sociological, biological and phychological reasons why we have and change our preferences. When raised in a certain neighbourhoud, we most likely prefer its little habits as our own. This is by observation. As a result, we have a certain prediction about who someone is.
But the believe about the nature of men’s being, which includes our desires and preferences, is on spiritual ground. Not necessarily religious grounds, but on ideological for sure.
The riddle cannot be answered, unless we can observe our nature, in an absolute way. Until then, we must believe the truth about the nature of our being, and preferences, and desires.
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