So I was on my way to class today. I was walking to the university and it was the quantum field theory course. We're taught by this diminutive woman, whose voice is barely audible to a class of five. But if you observe the rate at which she can write equations on the board, then you'd rather not cross her. So I try to be as punctual as I can. I was a bit peevish - I'd forgotten to switch off my ipod and was out of battery. I'm addicted to the damn thing - I was half inclined to cancel the long walk because I would be walking in relative silence.
Ten minutes from my house, I heard a soft yelp from the side of the road. I investigated to find a little puppy on the side of the road, hidden behind a pile of bricks. The little thing couldn't move and seemed to be in a very bad shape. One of my cousins is doing really good work with abandoned and street dogs: she loves the damn things. I decided to call her, and was decidedly grumpier to realize that I had forgotten my phone. There really wasn't a choice - I hurried back and somehow managed to get through to her. I had to abandon my walk, of course. Eventually, I was late inspite of driving to the university. And in the middle of class I actually staged a walk out so that I could accurately describe the puppy's coordinates.
Throughout the whole episode, I knew that my actions were being dictated by conditioning. I was empathetic perhaps because I knew I should be. The puppy didn't really make me go awww. I was involved, but only distantly so. I doubled back because the cost I would have to pay wasn't too much. And perhaps because I can't live for long with an uneasy conscience. I wonder what I would have done if I hadn't been able to contact my cousin. Would I have gotten the puppy home myself? Looked after it? Weathered my mother's remonstrations? Perhaps. And perhaps not.
Do good things happen to people who do good? I don't think so. As in: good things might happen. And they might not. But because I went back, I was reminded to carry an important report which I had to submit today. I don't think the two events are correlated. But: :)
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3 comments:
Weird post with a weird end. :P But relax, this is how everyone feels. It's the conscience conditioning, as you said... we're brought up such that our conscience may beep even when our geniune emotions do not.
Ultimately, I believe, it's not about doing good so that good happens to us, but just that, heck, we're here, why not help the others who are in pain too? (And correlation? Sample size = 1, remember? The world isn't as rosy as it is to you, for people who regularly sacrifice to do good. Yet, they do good, because, well, what if no one does?)
I follow not your line of reasoning. :) People saving animals from distress doesn't have much of a correlation with them going all mushy inside, does it?
And don't get me started on Karma. :)
Line of reasoning: you are not dead from inside/ you are empathetic => you get all mushy when you see an injured puppy => you will try to do smtg about it.
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