We are our programming and our programming is flawed

How quickly all things disappear, in the universe the bodies themselves, but in time the remembrance of them; what is the nature of all sensible things, and particularly those which attract with the bait of pleasure or terrify by pain, or are noised abroad by vapoury fame; how worthless, and contemptible, and sordid, and perishable, and dead they are- all this it is the part of the intellectual faculty to observe. To observe too who these are whose opinions and voices give reputation; what death is, and the fact that, if a man looks at it in itself, and by the abstractive power of reflection resolves into their parts all the things which present themselves to the imagination in it, he will then consider it to be nothing else than an operation of nature; and if any one is afraid of an operation of nature, he is a child. This, however, is not only an operation of nature, but it is also a thing which conduces to the purposes of nature. To observe too how man comes near to the deity, and by what part of him, and when this part of man is so disposed.

We are temporary. Our pleasure is temporary. Our pain is temporary. Our reputation is temporary. The things we desperately desire are temporary. When we die, these will die with us. Yet we chase after them. Sure, they will bring us happiness for a while. Then we will find something new to chase after. And something else after that. We are temporary beings chasing after temporary pleasures.

Why is it that we chase after these temporary pleasures? Nature and nurture have a big part to play. It is in our nature to want to accumulate things. For a long time, we were hunter-gatherers. Accumulation was survival. Nurture also has a part to play. We are nurtured by beings who are just like us. Our parents have this drive. Our friends have this drive. Society has this drive. Our genetic programming and our social programming are both driving us to chase temporary pleasures.

Source

The content in this article is based on the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius. The full text of Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations is available here.