How Working On Our Chests Can Heal Divides And Benefit Society
Advice from C.S. Lewis about fixing our chaotic times
Not What C.S. Lewis Had In Mind When He Talked About Working On Our Chests - Created By Author In Starryai
“Sometimes, I wonder if the fear of offending others contributes to the popularity of abstract art. These days, it seems like every office building, conference center, and apartment complex has the same abstract art on the walls. None of it says anything.”
— David Perell, How Philosophers Think
I’d never really thought about it much, but I have seen lots of abstract art on the walls of large buildings. Vague colors and nebulous shapes mark the canvas. Sometimes for me it’s hard to tell if the piece is done intentionally or paint happened to get knocked over on the surface.
According to podcaster and writer David Perell, he thinks the placement of the art itself is intentional. He mentions that “anything with form has meaning, and therefore could invite controversy.” So, it’s better to put something formless on the wall.
Perell calls it a spinelessness, which reflects attitudes of our times.
But is this a modern creation or a wrinkle from past times? Oddly, C.S. Lewis spoke about something similar in 1943 in the middle of World War II in his book The Abolition of Man. He mentions speaking with English countrymen who wouldn’t condemn Nazi society.
After all, every society has their own views, so how could one condemn another? It was almost like that formless painting on the wall. Don’t take any kind of stand because anything you say with meaning could invite controversy. The thought even led certain people to be silent on Nazi Germany.
In his book, he addresses a fear of concrete values and an embracement of the totally subjective. Everything is as you see it; some fondly say, “your truth”. Lewis explains this eventually tears apart a society.
If everyone has their own truth, there is no linking bond of “the truth”. People have no common language or value. Conversations turn into screaming matches of who can yell loudest, and one tribe goes to battle with another.
Any of this sound familiar? You’ll likely see it played out in real time on Twitter, but it stretches to other social media. It continues offline too. According to Lewis, the solution is to work on your chest.
The Head, The Chest, And The Stomach
“We make men without chests and expect from them virtue and enterprise. We laugh at honour and are shocked to find traitors in our midst. We castrate and bid the geldings be fruitful.” — C.S. Lewis, The Abolition Of Man
Lewis isn’t making fun of someone who can’t do pushups here. He uses the chest as a teaching device. He divides a person into three parts: head, chest, and stomach.
The head is our logic center which doesn’t use emotion. The stomach is the reverse — all base emotion and no logic. While the chest is the meeting place for the higher and lower drivers of humanity that makes us the special rational animal we are.
Lewis warns all head with no emotion makes us distant and cruel. While all stomach makes us like an animal. The chest mixes logic and base emotion, which brings about the best in us. For a society to be great, its citizens must use their chests.
But learning to meld emotion and logic isn’t intuitive. This lesson must come from others. Lewis likened it to adult birds teaching their young to fly. But he sees a problem here.
How can you pass on the knowledge to use your chest when everything is subjective like the abstract art mentioned earlier? How do you pass on values when none are shared?
The Importance Of The Tao
Lewis thought all great societies pass on value by means of ethical systems, philosophies, or religions. They show there is an order to the world and truths within it. Greek, Chinese, and Indian societies all did this. He points out cultures in the West and East from ancient times found this equally important.
Lewis called these universal systems “The Tao” as in “the way”. By passing on lessons through this Tao, we can learn to use our chests properly. In addition, we have a base language to communicate and understand each other.
With this Tao, the painting on the wall becomes less abstract, gaining form all can recognize.
The Tao is also a way to pass on meaning. Lewis referred to it as “propagation versus propaganda”. By propagation, a culture passes on deep wisdom, which can improve your life and bring about cohesion of a community. Lewis believed subjective values were propaganda, which only sounded good, but caused chaos.
How To Develop Our Chest And Heal Society
I remember a friend of mine joined the army and got stationed in a desert far from the creature comforts of society. He never read much in high school. In fact, later in life he admitted he could barely read at all when he left.
During his time in the desert he read all the classic books he never read in school, or at any time else. When he finished those, he focused on other great works of literature. Between combat operations and the books, he came home a changed man.
I think this is our starting point. Our current time focuses way too much on the present and future. When it does this, it forgets we’re a branch attached to a much bigger tree. We can gain a lot of sustenance from that tree and the Tao which flows through it.
Classic literature, philosophy, and even religion can connect us into the roots of our human culture and give us a common language. It can also help us build our chest. Furthermore, these sources aren’t hard to find.
Modern society gives us incredible abilities to customize everything. But it also gives us that totally subjective and abstract painting, which means nothing. It’s hard to have shared goals or even communicate through this nothingness
It’s up to all of us to find more meaningful concrete sources to draw from.
Frankl’s Man’s Search For Meaning, the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius, the Bhagavad Gita, and The Epic of Gilgamesh can all pass on deep concrete values and lessons from various cultures. These and similar works can help us learn the lessons needed to be that unique rational animal, which makes humanity special.
All these sources and philosophies are just waiting to pass on their wisdom. The Tao hidden within their words will be the ultimate bridge to cross the chasms created by our subjective divides. The painting they create will be anything but abstract.
-Originally posted on Medium 8/15/21