Existentialism and Le Suicide

According to British philosopher Jeremy Bentham, the idea of exchange or justifying an activity fits within his concept of pleasure and pain. For instance, going out for a morning run can be looked at “was it worth the time?” Perhaps another way of looking at it is to reframe it and call it a pleasurable activity. According to this philosopher, the aim of life was to have pleasure. Activities can be assessed by employing a simple plus or minus on a balance sheet. Hopefully, there will be more pleasure or pluses than pain or minuses during a lifetime. One can conclude that if the amount of pleasure was greater than the action of pain, the activity was worth doing. One can then add up all of life activities to determine “whether life was worth living.” A second question can conclude whether or not one’s life “was a failure,” or was a “success.” There is too much suicide behavior in our country, and motives for suicide are highly complex. Revenge, murder-suicide and melancholy, are some suicide motives. Emil Durkheim in Le Suicide wrote about “anomie” as a major cause of suicide .Anomie translated means or refers to the destruction of traditional social bonds. In other words, all genuine social life interaction has been violated. He believed that people living in the modern political state are “a disorganized dust of individuals” and that was written in 1897. Just think if he was alive today and what he might write about our political state? We know that alcoholism, drugs and opioids, and other escape mechanisms are symptoms of boredom and monotony of life. Further, thinking and feeling that life is a failure correlates with strategies of escape. This idea “Suicides are up. Is This an Existential Crisis?” was found in the June 24, 2018 edition of The New York Times. It was stated, in the article, that there has been a 25% increase in suicides since 1999 across most ethnic and age groups; despite the fact that more people are seeking treatment for depression and anxiety. To Be Continued

Being Part 4

The nurture side, which has been estimated to account for about 60- 70 % of who we turn out to be. Even though Dr. Watson thought of us as being a blank slate, we’re not. The intrauterine and subsequent birth begins the environmental process. As a result of parental caretaking, it’s believed that personality is formed prior to attending elementary school. We’re subjected to many personalities, activities, and interpersonal relationships within the culture. Radio, TV, movies, and electronic devices bombard us as well. Maybe there’s college, marriage, careers, children, divorce, unemployment, health issues, military service, etc. etc. throughout our life space. No wonder it’s difficult to attain a self-satisfying life. Forget about seeking happiness; and stop chasing illusions and/or fairytales. In summary, being or one’s essence is about growth, evolvement and development, as opposed to decay. This translates into eliminating “I used to,” “I remember when,” “in the good old good days,” “when I was …,” Growing old is not for sissies,” “I can’t run because my knees hurt ...etc. etc. etc.” from speech. Growth entails nurturing the mind and body in the present with both realistic aspirations and expectations along with future goals. A keyword is realistic. Producing, creating, giving to others, making things better and working out both the mind and body are paramount. The cliché “if you don’t use it, you’ll lose it” is true. There will likely come a time when decay becomes reality with a return to the earth. Just before, look back with a smile on your face, and that’s called integrity. Cofer, C. N. and Appley, M. H. Motivation: Theory and Research, John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated. Harari, Yuval Noah. Sapiens A Brief History of Humankind, HarperCollins.

Being Part 3

One can marvel at the tremendous amount of information provided by Homo sapiens intelligence throughout the years. Currently, with the Internet, information about how to establish well-being can be received within a blink of an eye. However, some things don’t add up. For example, per suicide, white people and men are dying by the thousands. Nearly 84% of people who kill themselves are white, and about 77% of them are men. 49 of the 50 states saw their suicide rates increase over the course of a recent CDC study. Montana has the country’s highest suicide rate with veterans, accounting for more than 20%. Addictions are numerous and we currently have an opioid epidemic. Three quarters of the country are either obese or overweight. 1% of the country account for significantly much more wealth than the remaining 99%. More than 50% or so of the country are angry, prejudiced, concerned and politically divided. Too many in our country do not have health insurance. Educational divisions-achievement scores are particularly varied depending upon socioeconomic status differences {parents with more education, higher earnings, wealthier neighborhoods etc.} As a result of many of these issues, it is obvious that too many Americans are not living the good life, despite the plethora of available information. This means that a good life is dependent upon nature and nurture. Within our nature is our wonderful brain that has many functions, including mood, memory, hormone regulation, higher cognition, abstract thought, comprehension of language, social behavior, creativity, problem-solving, perception and navigation to name a few. So, the execution of behavior has short and long-term consequences. What may be good at this moment, may be disastrous in the long term. In other words, despite seeking pleasure, we continue exhibiting irrational and self-defeating painful behavior. It’s decision-making over a lifetime. Adolescent decision-making is usually different from middle-aged decision-making. There are always consequences for the obvious and the less obvious. In addition, wishing for the fountain of youth, winning the lottery, or taking the magic pill maybe just infantile and preoperational thinking at best More To Follow.

Being Part 2

Along with Jefferson, we give thanks to Adam Smith for capitalism .With capitalism and democracy, we have self-determination, economic growth and material abundance. First, Madison Avenue, and now in the electronic age, we have numerous objects to want. We’re told, drink a beer, Coke, or some other beverage and you’ll be associating with some pretty, smiling female, laughing, and scantily dressed. Attend the University to attain a degree, and make tons of money. We’re told to buy that diamond in order to get the perfect girl. Were told to purchase that dream house or go on a well-deserved exotic vacation, drinking a beer with a pretty girl next to you on the beach at the ocean. Were told to buy that fancy sports car or wear that status or designers watch. The Sunday New York Times provides many illustrations and examples for finding happiness. Existentialism emerged in the 1800s with Soren Kierkegaard and Frederick Nitschke. Within this philosophy, God was dead; there was brevity of human life with no immortality. Briefly, it’s important to deny the supremacy of reason and/ or rationality .It’s important to experience life in the present. Moreover, scientific and technical achievements have not solved the problem of man’s existence, but instead have placed barriers that interfere with its solution. Further, the highly technological mass production has resulted in the individual becoming lost, and now we live in a society of conformity. Because of the irrational forces, man is what he is and he can’t be comforted by religious, political, scientific, or other illusions. Acceptance of these realizations, results in anxiety and dread. Humanistic psychologists have incorporated some notions of existentialism. It’s believed that man’s potential can occur once man understands and accepts his existence. Only then, does he have the potential to attain self-actualization. Erich Fromm, Abraham Maslow, Carl Rogers and others have laid out their ideas and have described what it’s like to be actualized. In essence, it’s about growth motivated individuals that produce health and satisfaction. Illness is prevented. There is pleasure in producing and creating. In other words, it’s growth of the individual, with the expression of maturation and ongoing development while establishing character. More To Follow

Being

Happiness, a noun, is defined as “the state of being happy.” It’s also been described as the state of well-being that encompasses having a good life. Employing dualism, Aristotle perceived the soul and the mind as different from the body. He believed that reason, being unique to man, was a prerequisite and that attaining happiness was the highest goal to living. Also important was the ability to control one’s passions and desires and that could be accomplished through knowledge and rationality. Aristippus of Cyrene, another Greek, considered to be the originator of hedonism, believed that pleasure was the only thing worth striving for, and that pleasure was good. It was important to seek gratification and avoid pain. It was pleasure that results in happiness. The wise man was the perfected man. Epicurus, advocated happiness or pleasure. However, he believed that tranquil states, the absence of pain, and minor satisfactions were important in attaining happiness. He thought that friendship was the best and safest of the social pleasures. He advocated being in the present, and eliminating sexual intercourse from his equation. Taking the position that good was considered pleasure and/or happiness was believed by Jeremy Bentham. He also thought that each person works towards his own happiness and believed in the principal “the greatest good is for the greatest number.” Coming from America, Thomas Jefferson believed that blacks were innately inferior to whites in terms of both mental, and physical capacity. Jefferson also believed that slavery was a violation of the natural rights of man. However, in the Declaration of Independence, slaves were equated as two thirds of white Homo sapiens. Perhaps in writing about “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” he was referring to his affair with Sally Hemmings. Happiness was thought of being related to knowledge, or rationality. It was considered on one hand, it is being the acting out of one’s sexual desires and on the other hand, it was about controlling one’s passions. Happiness was also thought to be about friendship and working towards the greatest good in mankind. More To Follow

Dynamics of Nationalism Part 4

However, because of the ability for formal operational thinking along with defense mechanisms, they can even like and cheer for a black skinned Muslim. Sports and entertainment celebrities allows us to level the emotional playing field, despite our, racial, and prejudicial belief system. Shaquille O’Neal was a superior dominant basketball figure in his day. Currently, he’s a spokesman for many products on TV. Oprah Winfrey, a celebrity, has been even mentioned as a presidential candidate. Liking a dark skinned figure does not mean that one is not racially prejudiced. Anyone can root for their brown or black skinned star player /entertainer on the playing field or court. It’s what happens when an unkempt stranger that is brown or black skinned knocks on your door. Do they feel emotionally relaxed and at ease and welcome that Homo sapiens into your home to break bread? In summary, we begin life very vulnerable, low sensitivity to pain, helplessness and have to rely totally on our caretaker or caretakers for the emotional supplies of safety, comfort, and existence. Unconsciously, we develop mechanisms, patterns, and strategies to overcome and compensate for our fragile existence. Current realistic and concrete concerns fuel insecurity. For some, power, status, affluence, aggression, racism etc. become the vehicles that define character. Emotionality accompanies everything including narcissism, conscience, cognition, defense mechanisms and identity. We can lose individuality, humanism, brotherhood, ethics and formal thinking, depending upon our emotionally based beliefs, tribe membership and going along with a consensus. The early philosophers were correct in that fear seems to be stronger than love; and that we submit to a perception of strength. PS Where is Abraham Lincoln? He’s needed today. Meacham, Jon, The Soul of America The Battle for Our Better Angeles. Random House. Spinoza, Benedictus, Ethics .Oxford University Press.

Dynamics of Nationalism Part 3

They have a political philosophy that is based on an emotionally driven narcissistic orientation- me first. My needs, my being are more important, more privileged, more righteous, more God-given, and more racially pure than the others. Unconsciously, the primary emotional weakness dynamics of dependency, helplessness and fear, provide the platform or foundation upon which perception, cognition, conscience, emotion, and identity evolves. Because of unconscious underlying primary dynamics, Homo sapiens are driven to compensate for their vulnerability, and find the resolution and/or protection. Additionally, conscious concerns about health, economic instability and significant other worries and emotions tend to fill in the life space of many. They are driven to submit and participate with a force larger and greater than self. That merging or identification might be to a God, a religion, a political system, an economic philosophy, a country , a conscience, a psychic compulsion or even an authoritarian paternalistic individual. These identifications can be part, or all, and make up the emotional component of one’s identity. Now, the individual can share in the strength, power, glory and glamour. Ideas and slogans of natural law, individualism, demagogic, absolutist, corporations, capitalism, pulling one’s self up by their bootstraps, fighting for freedom, law and order, free markets or trade, Second Amendment rights, excessive money for military budget, make America great etc. and fit within the composition of dependence, narcissism, helplessness, fear and protection on one hand, and current gloom or insecurity regarding the present. Not only that, these emotional psychological components becomes internalized and becomes the master supplanting and interfering with conscience and intelligence, but not our defense mechanisms. It is now who we are and gives significant meaning to our lives. It’s our Homo sapiens identity. They worship the slogan of nationalism/populism. Nationalism is supreme. Do not worship or create any other false gods or idols before me. Other ideas such as humanism; It’s a shrinking world; love one another; love thy enemy; unions, socialism, “better angels of our nature” and we’re all Homo sapiens take on the division between us versus them. Those, the other, are not perceived as belonging to our tribe. Simply put, they are the emotional/hated enemy. More To Follow