Does this imply a cold awareness of the self as a perishable being with limited powers or does it lead you to believe you can be a perfect robot able to manipulate nature and the world according to your specific needs and desires? Being an it means having no soul. Having no soul implies being immortal. Being immortal implies that God does not exist. At that point man-it becomes the most powerful existing agent.
But reality contradicts this assumption and the failures of the man-it can do nothing more but hurt him. Furthermore, the lack of faith and the failure of reason to provide answers regarding the questions " What is the truth? What is essential? Why do I exist?, etc." leads to strong alienation. Having such an attitude as a life philosophy is unhealthy and very dangerous.
The other alternative is treating everything as a thou. Thou is a synonym for you and has a strong respectful connotation this respect may be of religious nature. From this point-of-view, it could be stated that seeing the world in terms of "you" installs a strong sacred dimension. It is important to underline that this manner of seeing the world implies a great selfishness. It is not even a "me- you" relation, but one focused on the other.
On the one hand this allows one to become...
Seeing the other in everything is also a means of observing not only general human coordinates, but a means that can be used in order to understand your reactions better. Stopping to focus on the self, one passes from the "to have" paradigm to the "to be" paradigm. This allows for a strong degree of freedom and therefore self development.
Focusing on the other implies a high degree of generosity as well. Should this attitude be possible it would result into a society of honest people, with strong character, a strong will and a just as strong internal balance. This would imply the reduction of conflicts and perhaps a better and wiser management of the resources, resulting into a better off society.
The matter becomes more complicated when we get to the part where you treat yourself as thou. It takes a lot of balance, a lot of patience and a strong degree of self-awareness. does selfishness alter the instinct of survival? I believe not. Seeing the thou in everything means accepting that your capacities are limited, that you are one of the many and that there is perhaps a higher instance with omniscient characteristics who understands the world. And it is perhaps this modesty that could act as an engine for real constructive progress.
