"That's karma baby, right there", exclaimed my wife when Seahawk receiver Jermaine Kearse made the circus catch to end all circus catches in Super Bowl XLIX. The Patriots appeared to have been "served". Once again their cheating ways would come back to haunt them as justice would not be denied. The whole world knew that the Patriots cheated in the AFC Championship game against the Colts by deflating their footballs, making it easier for "Pretty Boy" Tom Brady to grip them in a frozen rain storm and throw the ball all over the field. Now it was time for karma to take the Patriots down. Kearse's circus catch is one of the greatest in Super Bowl history, and if you make a catch like that, you can't possibly lose the game? Can you?
(You can't unless your coach proceeds to throw a dangerous pass at the goal line when you have the most unstoppable running back in football. Then, sure you can lose after that catch) (You Tube)
Yet, despite my wife continuously playing the "Karma Card" all night long, the bad guys won. Notwithstanding this set-back, many people will still cling to karma as a "thing". The idea behind karma is a relatively simple one that says if you do something bad, you will have something bad happen to you. It's a shame we can't quantify this phenomenon. There are statistics for everything. ESPN is consistently trying to invent new stats to explain why some such baseball and/or football player is better than the other. Maybe they can put their interns on this and let them figure out how often somebody or some organization, or some country that has done something dishonest, eventually received their just comeuppance. (This is already flawed since there are a plenty of people who believe the Patriots to be innocent of any wrongdoing and feel that karma was on their side, and that's why they won)
(He could at least get a zit on his nose or something? Right!?) (Times Union)
Karma is a word that a lot of people use, but are we using it correctly? Well, for both Hindus and Buddhists it refers to, "The sum of a person's actions in this and previous states of existence, viewed as deciding their fate in future existences." I'm not sure that most people mean to delve that deeply into the metaphysics of it all when they proclaim that it's "Karma", when a cranky neighbor slips on a banana peel. (Speaking of which, when was the last time you saw somebody slip on a banana peel? A couple of times in the Mackin Complex Dining Hall in SUNY Oswego, my friends and I put banana peels on the ground to see if in fact, someone would slip on it. Our research netted zero results.) Religion, whether you are "religious" or not, spends a lot of its efforts based on the idea that if you are good in the present life, there will be rewards in the next. Most religions hold the opposite to be true as well. Those who aren't so good in this world, will be in for a load of suffering in the next. In fact, very few religions do not preach this basic concept. How is it possible that there are so many different cultures in the world, with so many of these cultures seemingly at each other's throats, and yet, the basic teachings that make up their systems of faith, preach basically the same thing? Do unto others, honor your parents, and the good in this life will be rewarded in the next. What the hell are we fighting about anyway?
(Hey look, they have a golden rule too. Who'd a thunk it?) (You Tube)
Most of us would certainly like to believe in karma since it gives us all a chance to believe that the people who screwed us over or did us wrong in some way will have to pay for their transgressions. I think it's one of those ideas that actually allows us to cope with people who hurt us or do things that upset us. In movies, the villain almost always "gets it" in the end. Movies where the bad guy doesn't pay for his crimes leave us feeling unfulfilled and unsatisfied. (Like eating carrots and celery instead of chips) This is of course fiction. In fiction, we need bad people to pay for their sins. We can wish for this with a clear conscious. Is it the same in real life?
Well, first, let's explore where this need for karma comes from? I've been teaching Psychology at my High School through Hudson Valley Community College for over 15 years. One of the main themes we explore in this class is the concept of "Nature vs. Nurture". In other words, which of these two ideas better explains human behavior? Is it "Nature", the idea that we are genetically predisposed to think, act, feel, and behave a certain way? Or is it "Nurture", that all of your behavioral traits are learned from your parents and environment? When I first started teaching, I believed it was a combination of both. As the years have gone by though, I find myself leaning towards the idea that most of our behaviors are predetermined. Nobody taught you to have a good sense of humor or to be heterosexual, so it's entirely possible that we are born with a need to see bad acts balanced out by some form of judgement or vengeance.
(Only someone "Born to be Bad", could in fact be, "Bad to the Bone") (You Tube)
When was the first time you found yourself wishing for justice in the form of karma? I'll wager it was pretty early on in your life. It might have been the first time you were bullied in school. I remember I got into a fight on the bus in kindergarten on my way home from Robert E. Picken Elementary, and I got my new coat dirty. My mother who viewed dirty clothes the way the medieval church viewed lost chastity, was not going to be happy about this. Of course, my coat would not have gotten so dirty if I hadn't lost the fight, and I recall wishing many bad things should befall this individual. I don't believe any of these things transpired, and he seemed quite at ease with himself the next day when Miss Aranoff picked him to go first in "Duck, Duck Goose!" (Karma really failed me during this whole escapade since my antagonist would only be in my home room every year until the end of my senior year!) I couldn't even ask my older brother David to beat him up for me since the boy who kicked my butt had a brother who was bigger than my brother.
Hoffman low muscle tone: 1
Karma: 0
(In fairness, the prodigious amount of "School" my mother put in my hair made bobbing and weaving in a fight, a moot point.) (The Hoffman Collection)
Have you ever sat back and thought about the people you didn't like or that were mean to you, or were just jerks in general and thought about what they are doing now? Did you find yourself gaining any satisfaction over the fact that their life was not all that great? Does that make you a bad person? And if so, will it cause you to have bad karma? I have wished bad karma on several businesses after I thought they were jerks to me or had inconvenienced me in some way. I hated the "Builders Square" in Clifton Park, and sure enough it went out of business. I took credit for that! It's one of my super-powers, wishing retail stores into oblivion.
The fact is, we need the concept of karma as much as we do any facet of organized religion. What would happen to humanity if we didn't believe that our actions could cause either positive or negative outcomes for us in the future. If we all really believe that life was just a series of non-related coincidental activities, then what would compel you do the "right thing"? It would appear that a lot of our behavior is outcome based, which would mean that B.F. Skinner, the father of behaviorism (outcome based behavior) was right. Which would mean that "Nurture" does matter. Which means that my premise might be wrong? Screw you Skinner!
Maybe Sigmund Freud was right, that all of our behavior is based on breast-feeding and "potty" training? But my mother bottle fed us and according to her, we were all "potty" trained in about 20 minutes. This would explain how well-adjusted and normal my brothers and I have turned out.
(Yeah...maybe not) (You Tube)
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