Leviathan- by Thomas Hobbes

Introduction: Leviathan is a book written by Thomas Hobbes. (Click here to find out more)

Had a crash course in Yale Online on Hobbes and his ideology, it was interesting as this coincides with this year's election. Hobbes mentioned that we make decisions based on rational choice and we do not have absolute free will. Well, I feel that there is free will and it is absolute, no grey in this area at all. The idea of not having absolute free will just doesn't gel for me. Yet, I argue from the same point on rational choice, where we pursue our will and self interest. By pursuing our self interest we need to be free in our thoughts and not restraint or oppressed by others, and one can achieve but sometimes at a huge cost. This cost is how we weigh our decisions. Many times our fears (rational or irrational) decrease our desires to go after them. It is easy to see how we apply this in our daily lives.

A week before my father passed away, I was contemplating bringing him to church and helped him be closer to God. Yet, the fear of rejection was so strong, that when I asked him, there was not enough sincerity and hence it failed. Fear can sometimes not only decrease our desires but inevitably caused us to lose sight of what is important to us and not being able to get the best result possible. So proceed with your thoughtful plan, and do it without fear.

Hobbes mentioned that we are power seeking and I do see in many instances we want to win others over and gather them for our causes. Hobbes was a radical thinker of his times and he suggested "all men are equal" in the 1600s. What is really interesting is that the idea on social contract in which people exchange to preserves their rights. His idea was that good laws should serve the people not just the sovereign really hits the bull eye. It is like a realisation that all this time what I was looking for is whether the elected members are going to be able to serve the people well. First of all, I think they should do it by understanding the people. As we can't expect others to see eye to eye with us, if all we are doing is looking down at them. This does not only apply to the government though. In managing relationships, this is vital.

Sometimes, we are rude to others and we make insensitive comments. Actually, unbeknownst to us what we are really thinking is that the other party is stupid and we are superior, smarter. To us, it may be that we are trying to educate the other person but if we subconsciously doubt the person's intellect, our arrogance will flow through our presence and our tone. We may choose the wisest words to present our ideas, but our body language will betray us. Take a 15 minutes challenge and see if you can speak in this manner and not be betrayed by your actions. The other party might swallow his/her pride to listen to you, but if there is a third party present. It will only disgust them. It is difficult to change, but if we want real respect we have to speak to others not with such thoughts but cultivate a habit of humility and remember that we live in a vast world with many things to learn.