| Oct. 14th, 2004 @ 03:49 pm norm |
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Current Mood:  contemplative
Current Music: manic street preachers-Tsunami
We knowers are unknown to ourselves, and for good reason: How can we ever hope to find what we never look for? There is a sound adage which runs: "Where a man's treasure lies, there lies his heart." Our treasure lies in the beehives of our knowledge. We are perpetually on our way thither, being by nature winged insects and honey gatherers of the mind. The only thing that lies close to our heart is the desire to bring something home to the hive. The sad truth is that we remain necessarily strangers to ourselves; we don't understand our own substance. We must mistake ourselves; the axiom, "Each man is farthest from himself," will hold for us to all eternity.
Of ourselves we are not knowers. --Nietzsche
Since the invention of complex spoken language and the advent and eventual dominance of linguistic consciousness, many functions mediated by the right half of the cerebrum and the limbic system have often been viewed as dangerous, sinful, or irrelevant. Indeed, so autocratic and presumptuous is the left half of the brain that not only does it try not to be conscious of many of these natural abilities, impulses and inclinations, but has attempted to suppress or discard them as useless and unimportant.
This is so terribly unfortunate for the right brain possesses tremendous talent and innumerable capabilities, much of which were millions of years in the making and which enabled our very ancient ancestors to live in harmony with themselves, with others, and with the natural and supernatural world surrounding. Unfortunately, since the left brain often refuses to fully utilize or is unable to acknowledge the existence of this supposedly hidden world and all the possibilities it represents, many (non-sports related) natural non-linguistic abilities which prevailed for over 100,000 or more years have been allowed to whither. "If you don't use it you lose it." Many of us have been increasingly taught to forsake the capacities so long and painstakingly developed and which are now associated with the right half of the brain, and instead have become slave to the linguistic whims, confabulations, and rationales of the left brain and have thus increasingly lost touch with
the Original Mind which at one time dominated the mental system maintained by both the right and left cerebral hemispheres.
Many of us have forgotten who and what we are and from whence we came and have been forced by prevailing logic, rationalizations, reasons, and preconceptions, to deny the unconscious wealth which can be found within our own mind. This has given rise to unnecessary feelings of guilt, and innumerable psychic and interpersonal conflicts, and has increasingly disrupted the harmony and maintenance of what was over a million years in the making: the family and the capacity to see things as they. All too often, of ourselves we are not .
Indeed, it is a curious thing about the conscious mind, for if repeatedly told that something is unacceptable, or to feel guilt for having or expressing certain thoughts, often it and the whole brain in fact begins to feel guilty and will reject and condemn what in fact may be quite normal. In order to not feel guilty, the conscious mind begins to believe what it has been told, or what it tells itself, and then denies, represses and explains away even the most natural of phenomena, even when they are an integral part of the Self.
Many modern human beings are so completely out of touch with who and what they are, and they have so willingly accepted the verbal labels applied by others as to what is acceptable, normal, and so on, that sometimes even the most natural of body functions, such as breast feeding, sweat, body odor, urination, defecation, and even the sexual act, is somehow viewed as abnormal, depraved, uncouth, and uncivilized, even when these actions or functions occur within the privacy of one's own home. At the minimum these topics are a source of embarrassment for many, and there are thus numerous products on the market to make one appear and smell as if a person is other than who they are, even when what they look and smell like is perfectly
OK (and by this I do not mean the unwashed body).
There is so much pressure, starting in childhood, to disavow certain tendencies, to wear certain clothes with the right designer label, to use the right perfumes or colognes, to drink certain alcoholic beverages, or to maintain a certain hair style or color, or a certain weight, waist or breast size, and so on, that the true self often becomes lost in the process. We are all bombarded with these messages, be they from advertisers, the media, our parents when we were young, or even the prevailing culture which constantly tells us even what is fashionable to think, feel, or believe. The overarching message is that "you need help," "you need to change," as what you are may not be acceptable.
But acceptable to who? We must deny and be other than we are because it may offend someone else's sensibilities. They may not like us or reject us, and if others do not like or approve of us, how can we like ourselves? So, if we wish to be accepted, we must be other than what we are; at least that is what many are erroneously led to believe.
Sometimes, what is offensive to one person is another person's mental health, intellectual capability, independence, physical or athletic prowess or beauty and sex appeal, or even their lack of concern as to what others might think. However, the person who is offended, who demands that "you" change in order to appease their sensitivities, are often responding to their own insecurities, some of which have nothing to do with the person being attacked. As pertaining to advertisers, it should be obvious that
they are not concerned as to anyone's health or psychological well being, but only in making money and will say or do whatever the law allows to get consumers to spend as much of it as possible.
Some people are easily offended, however, not so much because they wish
"you" to change so as to improve yourself, but because what they see reminds them of their own hidden self, and their own disowned and disguised impulses and desires, or, perhaps their own inadequacies. Rather than feel guilt for their own inclinations, they instead fling guilt and condemnation on those who represent their own unknown face.
THE DEFENSE MECHANISMS
In the land of the blind, those with eyes are said not to see.
Humans are fraught with all kinds of desires and "needs". They have a need to eat, a need to make love, a need to go for a walk, a need to go to the bathroom, a need for knowledge, a need for companionship, a need for physical activity, and the list goes on. Although we may label our desires and needs in a variety of ways (e.g., physical needs, emotional needs), some might best be categorized as "good needs" whereas others would properly be described as "bad needs." For example, the need for drugs or the unconscious need to resurrect certain aspects of a painful childhood, as in the need to be hurt, rejected, neglected, might best be described as bad needs.
Although admittedly the notions of good and bad are relative and value laden, what is meant here by "bad needs" are those which are harmful or self-destructive.
All desires, impulses, and needs, regardless of their being good or bad, are generated by the various regions of our brain and originate in response to our internal and external environment and in reaction to the manner in which others treat us. Our needs and desires are thus shaped by conscious as well as unconscious forces as well as our conscious and unconscious self-image.
Indeed, some desires, needs and impulses come to be denied, whereas others are disguised or misinterpreted in accordance with the manner in which we and others view ourselves. Some desires and unconscious impulses are not acceptable to our self-image. When this occurs conscious and unconscious conflicts sometimes result and the individual may completely fail to recognize and thus meet his real needs. This may leave him in a state of deprivation and dissatisfaction which in turn may generate feelings of anger or depression as well as considerable tension.
Denial and misinterpretation may also incite people to engage in activities which have little or nothing to do with their original needs. This may happen when the original unconscious impulses are completely contrary to the person's conscious self-image. Indeed, some people feel one thing while conducting themselves in a completely opposite manner. When they react against their inner impulses by behaving in a fashion opposite to them, so as to disguise them, they have engaged in Reaction Formation |
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