A dream about stupid critters

I had a dream a few weeks ago that stuck with me, and I thought if I could write it out, then I could make better sense of it. It was also one of the few dreams I had that actually felt symbolic. Most of my dreams are just wet ones. No symbolism needed.
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Two little sentient critters met up at night in a quiet corner of a dusty, abandoned industrial complex. The smaller critter carried with her something that looked like a gem. Whatever it was, it represented something of enormous value and potential. This object had the power to uplift sentient beings and create civilization or whatever, like fire from Prometheus or the forbidden apple of Eden.
The meeting was set up so that the object could be transferred from one party to the other. The smaller critter seemed cautious and unwilling to give up the gem, so the taller, darker critter started trying to convince her to give him the gem by talking about how power dynamics and control is at its core antagonist to the search for truth and self improvement. He was obviously the more intellectual and verbal of the two, and he said something along the lines of, “Right now we have two paths to choose from. We can choose to play the game of power, the same game we’ve been playing forever, the game that’s been getting us nowhere. Or we can choose to seek truth. The game of power will continue our stagnation, suffering, and insignificance. We’ll fade away into the dust. But the search for truth will allow us to make something better of our existence.”
It wasn’t exactly what he said, but I remembered it was still a nice, eloquent speech with the same idea in mind. Still, the little critter remained cautious and didn’t buy into it. Losing patience, the bigger critter lunged at the smaller critter and tried to take the gem from her. The tussle caused enough noise that it attracted the attention of a giant pigeon, which started pecking through the plywood walls of the meeting room to get at the two critters. The room shook and collapsed while the two critters slipped off the edge of the floor and fell off into the abyss in the backdrop of the abandoned industrial complex.
It was also raining and the dream had a sad, noir genre feel to it, so I enjoyed that.
So I think the reason why the two critters met their end is not just because of the treachery and deceit of the larger critter. They died because the polarity between power and truth is a lie.
Truth remains unrealized and unproven without the power to bring it into the world, and power without a respect for truth becomes tyrannical and pathological. I think the path of self actualization requires an ambition for both.
Individuals who moralize against ambitions for influence and power are frequently those who are themselves playing the game of power, positioning themselves as more virtuous and righteous than their peers, or those who have no power, vulnerable to predatory individuals in positions of power, and fearful, envious, and resentful of the powerful. Resentment leads to malicious and murderous intentions.
At the same time, to carry on each day without valuing the search for truth, from my perspective is a sad and futile life, where your experiences are processed solely through instinct, superstition, or emotional, primal fight or flight responses. To have lived this kind of life without having figured anything out, and without ever having the desire to “figure things out”, seems boring and pointless.
Come to think about it, I don’t think that ambitions for truth or power are really that different from each other. Both require self control. I can’t be a powerful individual if I don’t have control over my own emotions and vices. And I can’t seek objective truth if I’m stuck seeing things through the lens of my own concerns and my own emotional biases.
It’s better to be careful of those who moralize and those who make emotional appeals in place of real argument. There’s also the emotionally negative, moralizing side of myself that I have to watch out against. So that’s enough abstract pep talk for now. I think the way forward is to try my best to be honest with myself about what I want and move towards it. There’s much to do, much to learn, and time is always running out.
