How To Examine Human Activities -- A Collection of Guides (By Mr. Ogbule Chibuzo Isaac)

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(Philosocom's O. C. Isaac Articles)

(Philosocom's Subcategory on African Philosophy)

Article Overview by Ms. Gabbi Grace

"How To Examine Human Activities -- A Collection of Guides" by Mr. Ogbule Chibuzo Isaac is a comprehensive exploration of human behavior, philosophy, and cultural practices. The article offers a diverse range of perspectives on various sociopolitical and cultural issues, including classical philosophy, African philosophical perspectives, and contemporary African cultural beliefs like the "Ogbanje" phenomenon.

This variety makes the article intellectually stimulating and provides readers with different angles from which to view human activities and societal structures.

One notable strength of this article is its integration of African philosophical perspectives, particularly through its discussion of the Ogbanje phenomenon in Nigerian culture. The author's effort to bridge African cultural philosophies with more universally recognized frameworks adds depth and uniqueness to the discussion, promoting cross-cultural understanding and appreciation.

The use of classical philosophical ideas, such as those of Aristotle and Jean-Paul Sartre, adds a layer of intellectual rigor to the piece, challenging readers to think deeply about existential questions, human desires, and the nature of reality. The inclusion of these philosophical elements enriches the text and elevates the discussion beyond mere cultural analysis to more universal philosophical inquiries.

The article is written in an engaging and often provocative style that encourages readers to question their assumptions and beliefs. The use of rhetorical questions ("Why should we panic?" "Are those things yours?") invites readers to engage in self-reflection, making the reading experience more engaging.

Mr. Isaac's insightful observations on human nature and society, such as the discussion on egotism, the influence of social relationships, and the psychological aspects of human desires, offer readers a nuanced perspective on the complexity of human existence. The article emphasizes the importance of examining human activities in a way that is both critical and empathetic, which is crucial for understanding human society in all its diversity.

In conclusion, "How To Examine Human Activities -- A Collection of Guides" by Mr. Ogbule Chibuzo Isaac is a thought-provoking and rich exploration of human behavior, philosophy, and cultural practices.

(Background music)

What is the need to examine some issues our sociopolitical lives?

Humans according to Aristotle's view are political animals. This implies that man is a social animal who needs the social relation of others for his act and potency to fully manifest. In other words, humans are human only in the mix of others. The social influence of others affects humans in their conscious and conscience development thus in turn affects human conception towards a particular reality.

It's no wonder there are varieties in culture, traditions, belief, norms and values which are based upon human relationships in a particular society, despite these differences some can still be captured the similar with others view, pointing to the fact that society is an organic whole by which each element is inter-related.

Man by nature is so egostic who seeks for anything that can only be favorable to his individualistic existence but despite that, Humans still maintain that social aspect, the egostic part of man keep influencing his socio-political relationship which was captured in the first state of human nature as it was a game of might and the 'fits' are made to survive.

Man according to Aristotle is a rational animal, which implies that man possesses the act to think towards his existence, environment and his relationship with others. It is in this sense that one can understand that society is an organization of the people, for the people, and by the people. If you don't think about others, others will think for you, thus has been the base where all the socio-political ideology and practices have been theorized. Most of these theories include: Communalism, socialism, capitalism, democracy and to mention but a few.

Therefore, to discover the best way man should be in society man needs to think and be able to examine his relationship with others in order to negate the danger of Human activities which might not really be immediate but in future to come.

The quest of examining sociopolitical issues is not for one person, it is for everyone but better analyzed by the sound minds. This question however is very important in human life and development as it stands as the base on how best the society and the relationship of man should be.

African Culture In Nigeria: Obajne (A case of study) A Myth or Reality

The Myth Of Ogbanje is regarded as an influential spirit that possesses little children in Igbo traditional society,this spirit influences little children and makes them behave negatively to the norms and instincts of their parents and the society. Most People believe that Ogbanje is merely a myth, but the wonderful part is that it influences most of their children even till the adult stage.

A cultural myth Ogbanje has existed among the Igbo people of Nigeria. These children may have morbidities that are manageable while some normal children may have to live with the stigma of being labelled such. The objective of this work was to assess Nigeria’s perception of ogbanje phenomenon and morbidity in ogbanje children.

The Belief of Ogbanje

It has since been a literary and cultural phenomenon, however is of clinical interest since the children may have some symptomatology pointing to a clinical entity. Also the belief of mothers on the phenomenon may affect their health seeking behaviour ultimately affecting morbidity and mortality rates.

The modern day Igbo mother may no longer patronise native doctors who heal with voodoo, but may patronize herbal practitioners where they receive herbs of which their content and dosages are unknown. Belief in cosmic powers and supernatural causes to ill-health may also make mothers seek help at churches and prayer houses rather than seek orthodox help.

The Effects of Ogbanje on Nigerian Children

However, many cultural and religious beliefs exist in Nigeria and amongst the Igbo tribe of Nigeria. One of such beliefs is the “Ogbanje phenomenon. Ogbanje is an expression of the Igbo tribe of Nigeria which means a repeater. It describes a magical child who repeatedly dies, reenters the mother’s womb only to be born again. The ogbanje spirit is said to be a malevolent spirit which plagues the family with misfortune and grief.

Ogbanje children are believed to be committed to a shortened life span to the deities. With this commitment they receive a desirable appearance or outstanding psychic talent but at the expense of human relationships.

They are said to have spiritual companions with which they always communicate supernaturally resulting in hallucinatory experiences or dreams. They are also said to arrange to die at an agreed time of a brief illness usually at about puberty or a significant day of their life such as their birthday.

Conclusion: Obanje -- a Myth or Fact?

The picture below shows how African conceive of the efficacy of Ogbanje, critically looking at the picture above we could see the simple analysis pointing to the ontological look of all Africans.

In their simple sense, before a Child is come into existence, there are several forces driving their being, these forces are always pacify and control by natal rituals by offering sacrifices to the deities that influences their being and that's the only way most of the children do away with those forces while the careless parents neglect this implication and their offsprings are mostly trapped by this spirit.

Nevertheless, it is also good to know that this Ogbanje spirit falls on Nigerian Children with or without natal rituals because those forces are believed to still have influences on human daily activities but are said to stop after proper rituals to liberate the child in question.

While in Why -- Ask Why?

Why are people pushed with multiple desires, passion, emotion, anxiety and the likes...?

Psychologically, some people allow their id to suppress their ego and thus influence their human nature but why should it be so?

Though we are aware of our innate desires which we strive to attain in every minute on earth but why should it be multiple?

Forgetting that we all are striving to fill up nothingness!

Have you taken time to think about this nonsensical world... The purpose of this life: We try to make meaning with our primitive-cultural beliefs, dogmatic beliefs of our religious doctrine and all other selfish opinions claiming to have found life meaningful... all are opinions conferred on presumption and not Truth... though humans claim that to be wise enough but indeed they're clever ...painting their self opinion to be Truth.

Then having known these facts, why should you be overwhelmed by burdens of pains, pleasures, emotions, desires whereas you know that life is too short?

Among those things you desire to get, if you end up getting one out of ten then be happy and if you end up getting all be happy too but always remember that nothing is permanent including yourself and nothing external is yours then why should you be angry when your external things leaves you? Are those things yours?

You strive to have a child as if it's our purpose of being here? Giving birth does that justify why you're here? You will still leave them and they can never be you then why should you be angry?

Why should people's life influence you? How sure are you whether they're right?

Your friends fail you and you're angry? You are angry because the one whom you love ended up failing you or cheating on you, so why should you panic? It's true that you love him/her but does he or she belong to you? Even at that, he or she claims to be smart, being smart for how many years then everything will fade away, why should you be angry? Let them go, there are not yours and let them cheat after all for how many years?

You strive to diffuse in pain and suffering here in order to attain a better world to come, how sure are you that such a world ever exists?

Then if there should be the route that leads to another end, then it is even good to die on time but if everything ends here then why should we panic?

The best is to live in peace and contribute to humanity (development of people and transformation of the society).

The Question of Existence and Nonexistence

Nothingness is basic to understanding existence. Nothingness is the absence of being. It is ontologically dependent on being, meaning that it can only exist in relation to being. Existentialism holds that humans are the beings that bring nothingness into the world.

We understand the world by questioning being.

For example, if a mechanic is trying to find out what is wrong with a car that has broken down, they might look in the carburetor. In doing so, they must be considering the possibility that there is nothing in the carburetor. If there is something in the carburetor, then the problem must be somewhere else.

Sartre illustrated this point in Being and Nothingness by saying, "If I question the carburetor, it is because I consider it possible that there is nothing there in the carburetor."

In other words, the mechanic's questioning of the carburetor is only possible because of the nothingness that exists within the carburetor. If the carburetor were full of something, there would be no need to question it.

This shows that nothingness is essential to our understanding of existence. It is through our understanding of nothingness that we are able to make choices and understand how things might be if they were not as they are.

But, to be exact, I myself expected to see Pierre, and my expectation has caused the absence of Pierre to happen as a real event concerning this cafe. It is an objective fact at present that I have discovered this absence, and it presents itself as a synthetic relation between Pierre and the setting in which I am looking for him. Pierre's absence haunts this cafe and is the conditioning of self-nihilating organisation as ground. By contrast, judgments which I can make subsequently to amuse myself, such as, “Wellington is not in this cafe, Paul Valery is no longer here, etc.”

But, to be exact, I myself expected to see Pierre, and my expectation has caused the absence of Pierre to happen as a real event concerning this cafe. It is an objective fact at present that I have discovered this absence, and it presents itself as a synthetic relation between Pierre and the setting in which I am looking for him. Pierre absent haunts this cafe and is the conditioning of self-nihilating organisation as ground. By contrast, judgments which I can make subsequently to amuse myself, such as, “Wellington is not in this cafe, Paul Valery is no longer here, etc.”

These have a purely abstract meaning; they are pure applications of the principle of negation without real or efficacious foundation, and they never succeed in establishing a real relation between the cafe and Wellington or Valery.

A Guide Towards a Good Relationship

Dear singles and those searching, I have this for you: A wise person would always manage a relationship to something meaningful, such as marriage. Unfortunately, most times before we understand and know the real essence of that thing called "love", a number of past breakups, heartbreaks and selfless care rewarded with uncountable betrayals and cheating without remorse must have killed it. That is the case most times. Then you sit and wonder if this love thing is really for you or you are just wasting your time that should have been channeled into more productive ventures.

Yes, it can be devastating sometimes. Again, most times we dare against all odds and insist on marrying for love alone, irrespective of the series of pains and rewards of love with cheating but eventually end up gaining perpetual pain as marriage.

Then it may be too late. Allow Your relationship to be born out of genuine friendship first because real friendship is bold and courageous in truth but mare expression of love laced with irrepressible emotions, premarital sex and romance is usually fearful and weak in truth. This is why some of you cannot face Your fear and correct the people that you claim You love when they are wrong because You are afraid they might get angry. Also, unending tolerance and the inherent ability of your partner to genuinely compliment. Your consistent efforts and strength and also moderate/tame. Your weaknesses should be Your primary guiding principle to finding a different soul in a different body. Be extremely careful so as to not run away from loneliness as a single person and end up gaining a sour and solitary life as a relationship. That is why You must not rush anything. Everything must come at its own time. Build a healthy relationship with and possibly marry your friend and peace of mind coloured with happiness and success will happen. However, ignorantly succumb to mare love built on illicit sex and romance alone and endurance will happen in Your relationship, even in marriage if you eventually marry that person.

FAILED NATION: Nigeria: A Case of Study.

Nigeria is a nation that is characterized by its lack of weaving, eating bread that is not harvested, acclaiming bullies as heroes, and valuing conquerors as bountiful. It is a nation that despises passion but submits in awakening.

It is a nation that does not raise its voice, boast, or rebel when faced with adversity. It is a nation with a fox as its statesman and a juggler as its philosopher, and whose art is patching and mimicking.

It is a nation with sages who are dumb with years and strongmen who are still in the cradle. It is a nation divided into fragments, each deeming itself a nation.

Fact About Human Society

Human history can be viewed as a slowly dawning awareness that we are members of a larger group. Initially our loyalties were to ourselves and our immediate family, next, to bands of wandering hunter-gatherers, then to tribes, small settlements, city-states, nations. We have broadened the circle of those we love.

We have now organized what are modestly described as super-powers, which include groups of people from divergent ethnic and cultural backgrounds working in some sense together — surely a humanizing and character building experience.

If we are to survive, our loyalties must be broadened further, to include the whole human community, the entire planet Earth. Many of those who run the nations will find this idea unpleasant. They will fear the loss of power. We will hear much about treason and disloyalty. Rich nation-states will have to share their wealth with poor ones. But the choice, as H. G. Wells once said in a different context, is clearly the universe or nothing.

Morality in Subjection

"A morally sound person does not support evil, even when that evil is done by friends, family, or party. You will still object to it". -- Sir Ray Murphy.

The above saying brings forth the following question:

Each day, we clamor about how corrupt people or politicians have become. We attack them endlessly with words.

The honest question is: If we were to be their children or their partners, and knowing fully well that our father or partner is corrupt in the position they hold or in what they do, would we:

• Voice out and challenge our father?

  
  

• Voice out and hand our husband to the authorities?

  
  

The answer is blunt: no. We might even get corrupt together with them. I have never seen the children of powerful people trumpeting their parents' bad personalities to the public. Have you?

The reason is that personal interest is involved. We can only clamor and bring them to book if our interest is not involved.

As a student of human nature, I say to us all: The world is ruled by selfish interests, and it is nearly impossible to meet morally sound people in a society full of selfish interests.