Misery , Suffering and the Human Condition

Watching and/or hearing the news on the major networks or listening to NPR for the past few months, the major theme has been misery, unhappiness, not feeling well, pain and anxiety. It’s about the Covid-19 pandemic. Today’s news is similar. Recently, there were individuals carrying automatic weapons, dressed in military gear, with armored protected vests and wearing face covering masks in a group at the state capitol in Michigan.  Did they have ammunition? These individuals did not look like they were going hunting. Would these individuals have automatic weapons on Halloween? Do these individuals walk around the house looking like they do?  Do these individuals walk around their neighborhoods dressed this way?  If they were sound psychologically, they would not be flaunting. They certainly didn’t seem happy or feeling good. This essay addresses man’s misery, suffering, pain and anxiety.

We had had pain, misery and suffering in the past. For example, the Native Americans; the Civil War; the 1918-1919 Pandemic ; the Coal Strike of 1919; the Great Depression ; Pearl Harbor; the McCarthy hearings; the Cuban missile crisis; the assassinations  of the Kennedys and Dr. Martin Luther King; Watts; 9/11; Columbine and Sandy Hook; Katrina etc. Worldwide  also has had its share: World War I; World War II; the Holocaust; Nagasaki , Hiroshima and Dresden ; Balkan Wars; Ottoman Empire wars; Kosovo; Vietnam; Iraq; Syria; Chernobyl etc. The list goes on and on of man-made exploitations of misery and sufferings.

Turning to today’s news are major discussion of predictions about potential vaccines, treatments and according to Bill Gates how much we don’t know about this virus without accurate, reliable and quick testing results with scientific-based contact tracing numbers. There’s discussion on what and when various business are to reopen; and what to do about the education of children. There is concern that remote learning does not take the place of classroom learning and that the children are going to fall further behind in reading and math. Governor Gavin Newsom has a program in place for legitimized and safe child care for those families that are returning to work. There is even discussion using the cabin fever excuse that people have to leave their homes.  Cabin fever is folk science nonsense. One medical Dr. stated that all he can do is provide medical facts to his patients about the contagious and the seriousness of Covid 19. He also stated that he realizes that patients are going to do what they are going to do.

Let’s take a look at the biological design of Homo sapiens. In doing so, it’s not surprising that many experience, at different times during their life cycle, significant periods of unhappiness, dissatisfaction, and lack of contentment, uncomfortableness, not feeling well, pain and anxiety. Because of these life experiences, man engages in many techniques in an attempt to modify, reduce, and even change his psychological state.

In man’s brain, there are many neurotransmitters that affect pleasure and/or pain. Man becomes easily addicted to sugar, fat and salt substances. Obviously, when we look at the people, in our communities, we see the results of improper nutrition. They’re too many of us that are obese coupled with physical complications of heart, diabetes, respiratory diseases etc. This observation suggests why we have the numerous health problems that we do and perhaps one reason why we lead the world in Covid-19 cases and deaths per capita. It’s also easy to become addicted to alcohol and nicotine. These habits also bring misery, pain and suffering to those unfortunate individuals. Don’t forget about drugs prescribed and non- prescribed. Initially, we know that it can be shown that food, alcohol, nicotine and drugs are initiated to deal with man’s desire to chemically change his physical and psychological reality. Unfortunately, the consequence of these behaviors bring additional psychological and physical health misery and suffering.

We also know that natural disasters like floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, fires and viruses also bring misery to those affected. In fact, I’m unable to purchase homeowners fire insurance from the major companies. They say I live in a highly vegetative zone with too much surrounding fuel that can cause fire. When I run on the trail, I’ve encountered two mountain lions. Once, I followed a mountain lion’s snow tracks. Roughly at the 16 1/2 mile marker on the Western States trail, I pass a monument for Barbara, a woman killed by a mountain lion. I make sure that I don’t run alone early in the morning or late in the evening. I’ve encountered bears and even rattlesnakes while running. Yes there is danger. Yes, I have felt exhaustion, pain, suffering, not feeling well with psychological and physical pain and discomfort on numerous runs. But they were self-inflicted. On the positive side I have not been attacked or injured by critters as of yet.

Biologically and psychologically we have drives based on needs which propel and direct our behavior in search of satisfaction and to avoid unpleasure. For example, the Abasement need is related to seek punishment, illness and/or misfortune; the Achievement need is related to rival and surpass others; the Aggression need is to fight, to attack, injure or kill another; the Autonomy need is related to resist coercion, to be a responsible and to defy convention; the Dominance need is to direct the behavior of others by command; and the Sex need is related to have sexual intercourse. In essence, man is self-centered or narcissistic in reference to his need structure. That suggests that he wants what he wants when he wants what he wants. Unfortunately, with the development of civilization we have rules and regulations going back over 10,000 years or so per the Hammurabi code. Rules, restrictions and regulations interfere with fulfilling our needs. Unfulfilled needs lead to anxiety, frustration and the expression of aggressive verbal and physical behavior. Thus, too much restriction leads to antisocial behavior, unhappiness, dissatisfaction, pain and misery. Religion was imposed, in part, to control the masses and to give hope to the daily misery. There were told that their misery and suffering would end on earth but when reunited with God they would be in heaven and/or with many virgins.

Civilization with advanced stage of social and cultural development and organization has created. According to the Doomsday Clock, the end of the world because of the threat of nuclear devastation and climate change is a matter of seconds. Man, in his society, cannot help but create misery, suffering, pain and anxiety for self and others.

Biologically, we develop and then die. There is no immortality of the body as we age. Physically, I was able to do things in my teens that I could not do in my 60s and certainly not today. I’m not happy when a young woman passes me on the trail and may rationalize and distort the reasons like just wait until she reaches my age. My first book was titled “It Has Nothing to Do with Age.” Today I would modify that title. One of the dangers in our biological design is our mind.

Unfortunately, we know very little about the mind. We do know that what goes on between our ears is constant and doesn’t seem to rest. It can even interfere with falling asleep. In our mind, are our secrets accompanied with various illusions and false beliefs that influence and motivate our behavior .These are substitutes in seeking pleasure and avoiding non-pleasure. The illusions are a displacement, a reduction of tension that allows for some satisfaction or temporary satisfaction of a need or needs which, at the moment, are unattainable in reality. It’s no wonder that we make the same mistakes over and over again and this is called the repetition compulsion. In our mind, we hold and chase many foolish and irrational ideas such as: Is there really a perfect or all wonderful mate, a perfect employment, a perfect home or location, a perfect possession, a perfect hobby or even a perfect sport? Are my parents the blame for my unhappiness, Trump has done a good job in tackling Covid 19, Trump’s wall will keep out the rapists and murderers, Trump is trustworthy, Trump won the trade war with China, the earth is flat, climate change is a hoax, we live in a democracy, subsidies to the farmers and the fossil fuel industries are not socialistic economic practices,   we don’t have a pandemic.

 We seek and follow money, fame, objects, prestige, power and possessions. Do they bring happiness or misery? We also follow and believe foolish folk science, irrational and prejudicial beliefs with pain and suffering around the corner. A better deflections allows us to make light of our misery .Read great literature; produce music and/or art and get involved in scientific activities. These are substitute satisfactions. Another poor deflection is using intoxicating substances which makes us insensitive to our misery.

Last night, Linda and I saw on TV “The Legend of Bagger Vance.” This is a feel-good story with a happy ending. However, the main characters experienced unhappiness, dissatisfaction, not feeling well, psychological pain and misery. During the depression, Matt Damon or Junuh was a decorated hero in World War I. Unfortunately, he experienced survivor guilt as a rest of his squad was killed. Prior to the war, he was the greatest golfer in Savanna, Georgia and perhaps was on his way to becoming the greatest golfer over. Returning to Savanna, after the war, he was a bum, depressed, PTSD, and an alcoholic.

Socialite Adele played by Charlize Theron was his love but Junuh rejected her when he returned. She also lost her father who put a bullet to his head. In the story, young Hardy played by J. Michael Moncrief called golf the greatest game. This was a game that could only be played and not won. In one scene, young Hardy saw his father, who once owned the hardware store, with a broom sweeping streets. Hardy was embarrassed and quickly took his two friends in another direction so they wouldn’t see his father. On a positive note, one of Bagger Vance’s clever life’s wisdom’s “Everything that is becomes one. There is a perfect shot out there trying to find each and every one of us. All we’ve got to do is get ourselves out of the way and let it choose us.”

After World War II, with all its destruction and negativity, psychologists like Erich Fromm, Rollo May, Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow and others were labeled as Humanistic Psychologists. They believed, researched and wrote about man’s nature. They stated, when fully functioning, man is constructive and trustworthy. In other words, when man is freed of  his defensiveness and open to experience, his reactions may be trusted to be positive,  forward moving and constructive. Man then will be able to socialize optimally because of his needs to affiliate and communicate with others. In fact these few individuals who become fully functioning were called self-actualizing.

Specifically, Abraham Maslow’s theory incorporated 15 concepts in arriving at his understanding of man. His research was creative in that he studied individuals like Wagner, Van Gogh, Huxley, Spinoza, Keats, Whitman, Goethe, Renoir, Byron, Lincoln, Jefferson, Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt, Einstein and other’s. Briefly, he developed a hierarchy of needs-starting with the physiological, the safety, the love-belonging, the esteem and finally the self-actualization. If one was able to reach self-actualization, not many did, Maslow described a number of characteristics. Maslow also admitted that people were not perfect, they had ordinary human failings and on occasion can be ruthless, alienate others, detached and so forth. He also argued that man’s happiness is dependent on satisfaction of his needs-especially his lower needs.

Per Maslow’s Motivation and Personality, these individuals can experience misery and hardships. They can tolerate uncertainty and ambiguity. They are able to overcome trauma despite their shortcomings and be loving, and protective. They can easily experience solitude and they respect people regardless of birth, blood, skin color etc. They are creative, original and life centered. On the contrary, they would not associate, be in a group with others that carried automatic weapons and display themselves at a state government building in a so called protest. These acting out miserable are not self-actualized but neurotic. Neurosis is associated with misery, suffering, unhappiness, pain and anxiety.

Maslow researched outstanding and productive individuals from all over the world. Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic model, had a different take regarding the outstanding achievements of the individuals in Maslow’s research. Freud views man as seeking pleasure and avoiding unpleasantness. The external environment provides barriers and restrictions that interfere with the satisfaction of his libidinal drives. Even though man employs illusions, drugs, alcohol etc., these mechanisms do not result in happiness but can result in more misery and suffering. The term displacement which is displacing the energy with an attachment to a more appropriate object explains how the individual chooses essentially a substitute in an attempt to fulfill satisfaction or pleasure. Freud believed that a displacement would be more pleasurable and not frustrating like the harsh reality in the external world. Substituting a wife for a mother would be an example of a displacement. In addition, individuals identify with others throughout a lifetime. Identification helps to fulfill one’s deficits by identifying with an object that has more of what he lacks.

An artist employs fantasies and imagination which are displacements from libidinal components like narcissism, aggressiveness and erotica to create works of art with the result that it is more socially acceptable. Likewise, a scientist, with displacements can solve problems or discover other truths. Other intellectual work can also be displacements that in essence are indispensable for the preservation and justification of the existence of society. Einstein, Jefferson, Spinoza, Goethe etc. all experienced some form of misery and suffering but, had  the ability to sublimate their instincts or drives thus resulting in pleasure thereby avoiding some of the frustrations that come from the external world . In doing so, they went on to provide for the betterment of society.

Because of all the misery and suffering from the external world or society, how much satisfaction and pleasure can be long-lasting? Money, power, possessions, drugs, alcohol, objects are illusions and diversions but do not provide long lasting pleasure.  For the few, displacement and sublimation assist in the betterment for society.  In essence, no man totally escapes misery and suffering in our society.

PS

Tony just gave me an update on our friend Tom a former ride and tie, runner and endurance athlete. Tom has ALS and currently has difficulty eating, drinking, breathing and talking. Our hearts go out to Tom and Laura.