The Purple Thread

The Purple Thread

Glasgow High School, 1999

Iʼve been invited today to speak to you about my personal convictions.  I’m pretty flattered to do this because although I’ve always respected the beliefs I hold, I used to think of them as simply a sensible option and that everyone surely thought the same. So to be asked to come here to share my personal beliefs with you at this time in your life when you might be grappling with your own and working them out, is indeed an honour. I understand in this series of talks you've already heard from some more typical religious viewpoints, so perhaps what I have to say may balance that out.    

First, it’s important to stress that any convictions I’ll talk to you about, I didn’t invent, I’ve just made a selection and collected them from the host of viewpoints, attitudes and stances I’ve been confronted with throughout my life. Shaping beliefs is a lifetime occupation and with me it started in my toddler years, then once at your age my curiosity surged, that’s when I could sense definitive contours emerging.  And the more experience and years I gain, the more I realise beliefs and values need continual nurturing, they need on-going examination and they need constant reinforcement -  and there are few people willing to go to these lengths.  

My worldview identifies me as a Philosophical Naturalist, that's a mouthful but it simply means I look for answers to anything in life within the natural realm, rather than a supernatural one. For those who share my worldview, Nature is all there is, and it’s where all answers lie, so its where I’m compelled to look to make sense of the world, to explain why it’s full of diseases, why we share it with fellow animals and why it always surprises me.  

The nature I witness around me cares nothing for feelings, it has no interest whatever in confirming my prejudices or affirming my delusions. Beliefs glimpsed through a veil of faith and reserved for a group of elect followers seem to me to overlook the obvious.  Whereas, Nature recognises no elect sect to reveal its secrets, all there is to know awaits being discovered by anyone who takes the trouble to investigate and it's only through arduous investigation (and not from the latest celebrity fashions or attitudes) that humankind can advance.

I’m also a Hard Determinist which means I believe the concept of free will is flawed or non-existent and that human beings are simply the result of a long chain of cause and effect circumstances. Inevitably this leads to my conviction that all our choices must have a basis either in our physical make-up, our mental state and our experiences of life and whether these faculties are inherited, nurtured or happen purely randomly these realities are what drive us towards every choice and decision we make, no matter if we are acquiescing to the norm or railing against it.  

For me, it’s a simple and indisputable fact that when we come to make our decisions, none of us can reach outside our biological, our physiological and our neurological parameters, we didn't choose any of them and we simply cannot rise above these practical human constraints that determine our parents, our looks, our temperament, our susceptibility to diseases, to addictions and so on. These parameters have provided us with our personal attributes good or bad. And we are guided by them, we are driven by them and we follow and adhere to them with every decision and every change we make in our life. To pretend we can act outside of them, be something or somebody we are not, or give any other explanation for our actions would render us with super human abilities. Because, where else did this supposed free will come from, did it fly in through the window and land inside our head?  

I’ve listened for decades to opposing arguments, so far, none have offered me convincing evidence to dispute the simple truth that the concept of free will, ie the ability to make free independent choices without reference to any of the personal aspects we've been endowed with, is an illusion. We certainly make choices yes of course we do, but every one of them is based on, is driven and influenced by all these personal characteristics I've just mentioned. Our human constraints, the ginger hair, the perpetual joker, the hard worker, the convict and so on make us individual, they render us unique and make us who we are.

Although not always, for the most part, I’m a Stoic.  Stoicism is an ancient set of beliefs that are used to guide one's actions. For example, a Stoic would say that instead of complaining about obstacles that we find in our path of ambitions, we should be grateful for them, even welcome them because it's these obstacles that force us to contemplate and find a way out or through them.  And, when we we overcome that obstacle and achieve success once, we can use that same strategy repeatedly and it will eventually provide us with a resilient attitude to all of our life's harsh realities. So instead of fearing these difficulties, problems or tests, we should confront them and set about solving them - a Stoic would say there's always a way. The uncertain nature of life coupled with a this outlook strengthens the spirit and provides me - and anyone who adopts it - with a mental and physical sturdiness to countenance all that life can throw at us. 

These are some of my views and they are for sure stark views, they eschew the flowery or fashion and they tend to be unwavering.  For those with flimsier beliefs like the existence of angels, or how crystals can heal us of diseases or that the gargantuan universe is tuned into the feelings and aspirations of a single person living on a small, mundane planet, these to me are shoddy or insubstantial beliefs. Nevertheless such beliefs represent personal convictions that can mean everything to their host because without them reality for some would be hard to bear and holding fast to such beliefs provides a grounding post when life tosses them around. So, I’m not exceptional in sticking to my beliefs and although I’m almost completely convinced they’re right, that's not entirely convinced so I leave the intellectual door ajar because - I could be wrong.  

As you can hear, these are not simple or everyday beliefs, they’re replete with intricate details that’s taken me a lifetime to settle on. They also forbid me from accepting that anything in life is inevitable because if there’s one consistent principle I’ve relied upon, it’s that there's always space for one rebel variable that defies all expectations - and makes things go wrong with alarming regularity.

For me, adhering to a philosophy that provides an external check on my actions is vital. When it’s time for me to be selfless, to seek objectivity and realism, I know I must be cautious because my personal dreams and aspirations often get in the way. I’m not alone in finding that just when I need them most, my reason and rationality take a holiday and I get emotional and make mistakes, sometimes serious and unfixable mistakes.  So, Naturalism gives me an impartial source against which I can test my ideas and one that yells at me in my heart and in my head when I allow my emotional self to take charge.  

I think that coming to a conclusion on any subject should not just be about declaring what our beliefs are, like saying I don’t believe in capital punishment because it’s wrong or I believe the planet is 6,000 years old because one group of people insist that it is, but that any conclusion that leads to a firm belief should be able to show every empirically-based and ratified step it took to get there. 

My views cannot embody the one and only truth there is to be found because there are many equally valid dimensions of life waiting to be explored. These discoveries may be found in some of our socially constructed systems of meaning like expressing ourselves through art, time invested in sports or indulging in our sensual selves. These are all essential to a rich understanding of what it means to be alive and human. So maybe tomorrow, I will follow one of these routes and so alter my beliefs somewhat. But I doubt I would alter them in any substantive way.  For all practical purposes, reality, I mean that which exists prior to and independent of us, insists that even with a richer understanding of life’s bounties, I would most likely limit my beliefs in the way I’ve described. If I did not insist on evidence, the snake-oil salesfolk would be able to sell me any old story at all, and I would be bereft of any buffer that could test or challenge them.  

There are many who object to imposing such limitations on our understanding of the natural world.  And most of these objections rest on the confidence that there exists a more profound, ineffable and life-altering truth about the world beyond the clouds awaiting discovery. Well, maybe there is, but if after 200,000 odd years of human searching with the utmost assiduous perseverance, not a sliver of this elusive truth has yet manifest, I reckon it’s time to look elsewhere.  

Another regular objection I often hear about my beliefs is that without the supernatural realm, the universe is devoid of wonder, awe, meaning or purpose. And I’m always asked questions like: Donʼt you long to be a part of something bigger than yourself? Don't you want your life to be significant, rather than thinking of yourself as a collection of atoms?  

For me, Naturalism presents me with a world more profound than any other. It tells me that the same atoms that make up my body were once in the heart of a star. In some distant solar furnace hydrogen atoms fused together to make the heavier elements that are required for life. When that star died and the elements were subsumed into the vastness of space, eventually time and gravity brought them together again to form new stars and planets. 

And on at least one of these planets we call Earth, a handful of atoms began to do something extraordinary.  By no other force than the laws of physics as we know them, macro-molecules formed long chains that were prompted by their chemistry to make crude copies of themselves. The first cells formed and began to divide, others stuck together leading to the first multi-cellular organisms. Some of these cells evolved limbs and antennae also some patches were sensitive to heat and pressure, that meant this newly-formed entity gave that part of the universe the ability to feel.  Other cells evolved a very thin membrane, thin enough to let light through and when turned in the direction of its source their light sensitivity meant this small part of the universe eventually evolved to see. Much later when more sophisticated human organisms evolved to use language, that allowed them to record and pass on their experiences. And once their brains increased and their minds became more enquiring, they could look at themselves in the mirror and ask ‘who and where am I?’ I believe the answer is we are an evolved part of this whole universe, and at this moment and in this place, we exist in the humanised form of pupils of Glasgow High and a visiting speaker and we are presently communicating. So essentially what you and me are, or what I believe we represent, is the universe talking to itself. 

So to the person who asks me whether I want to be part of something bigger than myself, I say: Each one of us symbolises the latest stage in complex chemical, electrical and social reactions that have been taking place for billions of years. We represent an unbroken chain of heredity that unites us to every other living thing on this planet and beyond. Yes, we are simply a collection of atoms, but atoms with awareness: Yes, we're just matter, but matter that can ask questions and make meaning. As The Cosmologist, Prof Carl Sagan put it "You are a way for the universe to know itself" So I ask you, how could I, how could we, ever be part of anything bigger than that? 

I believe we're all just insignificant specks of stardust then? Yes, I do.  Weʼre small, that’s for sure and our existence is short.  But that star of ours, the one thatʼs been around for a couple of billion years before we were born and will remain for millions of years after we die,—our sun, magnificent as it is, can it dream? can it strum a guitar? can it experience the pleasure of playing around in the snow? Do any of the stars in our galaxy ever wake up in the morning and decide to write a song that will ring in the ears of generations to come, In fact, can any one star feel a single thing? As far as we know, no, they can't.  Without sentient life there are no feelings and no state of affairs preferable to any other, and no such thing as value or meaning. But introduce a physical body with a brain and mind that can recognise itself in the mirror and everything changes. Suddenly value, meaning and feelings all come alive. 

Itʼs been so long now since we've all been looking to an impotent sky for clues to answer lifeʼs puzzles, that we've failed to grasp the obvious right in front of us. We might depend on that star for our survival but what we actually have is a co-dependency because the star needs us too. We give it significance. The sun is important to us because it gives us life, but then it’s our human consciousness that gives that star and our planet its worthiness. The entire cosmos as we know it, is made significant to us and through us.  How big a deal  is that?

But, just look at how so-called intelligent beings have written the story so far.  We inherited a planet and we’ve trashed it; we’ve got each other for support and consolation yet we never stop killing one another.   As for our animal companions, our actions to them are so severely debauched, I can’t even bear to recount them.  

So, let’s hope that the final chapter in the human story will take us to better outcomes, because if it doesn’t, to any who come after us, I do believe we’ll go down in the history of the universe as an embarrassment, a failed experiment.  

Naturalists like me who want to live ethically in a natural world, have a formidable task before us. You see, if there are no gods, then humanity has no guarantee of a happy ending. We must solve our own problems and up till now we just don't seem up to the job. Itʼs true, some pioneers have made incredible advancements since we started out; we've cured diseases, tripled life-expectancy, and through the power of our technology weʼve given even the remotest corners of the world the ability to connect to every other corner. Three cheers for that. But thus far we’ve also narrowly escaped annihilating ourselves with nuclear weapons and even without them we’re still well on our way to human annihilation.  Our destructive greed has trodden a path that must be tempting for the planet to get rid of us at the earliest opportunity because by ridding itself of the vandalous nature of humankind, it might preserve itself in better nick. 

Our tale of destruction is difficult for any caring person to read when each page is saturated with violence, greed and hatred.  Still, although the read might be uncomfortable, we shouldn’t close the book just yet. If we read the small print we can see that it also contains scores of individuals who stand apart from all the ugliness and create some beauty spots here and there. From tiny gestures of kindness to heroic acts of compassion they are the ones who redeem the human narrative, or at the very least make its reading more palatable. Right now each one of you here today in this school is writing your own contribution to the current page of the book, whether your efforts inspire different generations only time will tell. 

So, let me finish with a ‘mise en abyme’  an apposite tale within a tale, an account of inspiring beliefs reported by the Stoic philosopher Epictetus. The story goes that Emperor Nero had a twisted sense of humour. He used to write plays where the characters performed a range of humiliating and degrading acts. He would then cast prominent members of Roman society into these roles and have them perform before large audiences. Anyone who refused to play Neroʼs sick game was promptly executed. One time, the Roman Historian Florus and the Stoic philosopher Aggrippinus were both summoned by Nero to act in one of these plays. True to his philosophy the Stoic had no intention of taking part in such debasement. But Florus protested "If I refuse to participate in Nero's festival, heʼll kill me." "I still refuse" said the Stoic "but you feel free to go ahead" "But why are you taking this dangerous stance?" asked Florus, the answer was "because you think of yourself as no more than a thread in a robe, a thread whose duty it is to conform, just a single white thread like all the rest with no wish to clash with the others. Me, I aspire to be that one purple thread that stays true to its colour even though its inclusion makes it stand out. As I see it, the purple sets off the white robe, that one thread's existence makes the robe distinctive and individual. So, please donʼt tell me to be like the rest because then I couldnʼt be that purple thread." 

Such optimism isnʼt always a rational attitude. But neither is predicting the future, because we just never know.  So I believe when all said and done, the human story will in the end be an inspiring one. If itʼs not, I still admire those who didnʼt accept easy answers or bow to received wisdom, those who pursued what was found through meticulous and diligent investigation to be true and did good deeds not for any promises of reward or threats of misfortune, but out of a respect for life and their fellow travellers. If in the present we could emulate the Stoic hero of the past and no matter what our beliefs, find the courage when we see wrong-doing and to stand apart and say "please don't tell me to be like the rest” we could maybe change the world’s course and fix these wrongs. And that’s why in my own life I choose to uphold these beliefs and principles I’ve just described to you, I take whatever actions they drive me towards and I stand by their consequences because I too have opted to be a thread of a different colour.    

Now, I’m happy to answer any of your questions.

June Maxwell

at Glasgow High School, 1999