Well thought out and written Suzi. I've also been fretting about this for awhile, and one of the more solid pieces of ground from which I hazard my guesses are to look at us as social primates. Logic and language scale much better than empathy, but logic and language are also flawed and ultimately self-destructive, particularly when wielded by those high in cluster B behavior. I have a strong suspicion that our hierarchical, herding instinct is fundamentally incompatible with empathy, and suspect empathy is the core of any morality worth its salt.
Our 'Herding instincts' are very active in us...yes, we are social beings, as are apes, dear and dogs, to name three, who also have the mammalian tendency for hierarchy, and it can be very useful to people at both the physiological and emotional level, keeping us feeling safe and secure...even sometimes helping us, those who are so inclined, spiritually. Having however classed ourselves above the average mammal on this planet, my take on it is that we could do our best, and stop acting as 'animals'. In truth we act nothing like animals, being far more destructive than any other living thing on earth.
We have choices we can make if we so decided, or think possible. and as such, considering ourselves 'superior' to other life forms, it's about time we lived up to what we profess to be, because, it being a matter of choice, we can chose to change our mindsets and we can chose to understand ourselves and what drives us if we so desire. The choice is always there to do ill or good, to be ethical or lie, to fight or turn away. I want to encourage as many people at 'street level; so to speak, to know themselves as best as possible, to grab each slippery, probably painful, thought that wells up when confronted by fearful stuff, embarrassing stuff, challenging things, whatever...thoughts we normally turn away from, quickly rebury into our subconscious, lighting a cigarette or otherwise distracting our selves from the emotional discomfort that fleeting thought produced.
It's quite amazing, the change that takes place in ones self when one makes little efforts, tries thinking differently; it's not difficult, just needs practicing when one remembers to do so, and amazingly this 'laissez faire' approach seems to work. What also helps is being grateful for what one has...looking for the satisfaction one has rather than being dissatisfied. Being grateful for the little blessings in ones life can of itself change ones mindset, whilst also making ones day nicer. Even practicing smiling more often helps...apparently the physical movement of widening ones mouth and crinkling ones eyes sets off 'feel good' chemical changes in our miraculous bodies. When one practices feeling good, empathy seems to come more easily.
Phew!! That's enough for now...bed time! For me at any rate.
Hi Suzi. You left me with a lot to chew on ... especially integrating free will with all that goes on at the subconscious level, a never-ending rabbit hole there.
Thank you for a comment as equally thought provoking as the original post.
I'm going to have another try at the 'rabbit hole' of the subconsciousness...a quickish one...it is only a rabbit hole if one applies ones intellect to delve...if on the other hand, as I learned a little in therapy long ago...one allows ones feelings to arise, or one catches certain thoughts before burying them again because they are uncomfortable and one connects those thought to the feelings that brought them up...it ALL boils down to feelings...non intellectual stuff...Most of us from early childhood onwards, have been forced to ignore our real feelings, not express them... as they are often considered socially unacceptable , oh and so on...social norms! Very destructive of the 'real' self.
Repressed feelings cause dis-ease of all kinds...the more painful the repressed feelings were, the worse the adult dis-ease.
If one thinks one hasn't suffered enormous trauma as a child, then it is well possible to sort ones self out, to know what drives one, by paying attention to upwellings of thoughts, to catch those fleeting thoughts and feelings, not to turn away from the discomfort, and bury them again, but to allow ones self to feel what is really there...then the 'Know thyself' suggestion made by Jesus, that wise man, comes into being.
If you have suffered heavy trauma as a child, then it would be wiser to do some work with a reliable therapist. If you had a reasonably good childhood, then allowing old feelings to well up and connecting them the the relevant events back then...memories, then intellect, workings out of the why, isn't required, it can be applied later on when feelings have been acknowledged or even better, expressed...I beat a maths teacher to death on my pillow...so much anger...then tears of pain...but one needs a private safe place for that.
I don't think one can understand what's in the subconscious intellectually, because most of that stuff got put there in early childhood (I'm generalising) before the intellect was properly developed and is usually related to feelings of...pain, fear, anger or happiness/contentmen.t Humans are actually very simple when they're born...the 'complicatedness' arises from unmet needs and fear or pain suffered and not allowed expression, which always brings relief.
I could go on into the historical reasons of how come we've become so dis-eased and complicated, but I think that would take a book!
Ouch. I know that hurts. I have had comments in YouTube that took hours to write, suddenly disappear with a mistaken key stroke.
Just now getting ready for bed ... wow ... 3:30 am here in Japan ... but if you haven't yet followed Tereza's Third Paradigm, she also pens enough to push my limits and then some. If interested, here is a link to her most recent (and my comment) ... https://thirdparadigm.substack.com/p/a-house-for-the-soul-in-the-land
As usual, my sleeping meds wear off after about 5 hours of good, deep sleep, then I pop my daily dose of thyroxine (had my right thyroid gland removed), and then back to sleep for another couple of hours ... during which I have vivid 'butterfly dreams' that disappear from memory by the time I've finished my first cup of coffee. I usually try to write them down in detail, thinking they are my subconscious trying to tell me something ... or a scene from a yet to be written adventure story. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfUfnUevhUk
Just got back from an afternoon trip to a heart specialist (no problems) and then a family English lesson. Lots of fun with the kids. At the dinner table where we were all gathered around playing a game of Go Fish, had a hoot when the 10 year old boy cut a wild fart They were all ears and laughter when I explained to never ever agree to a request to pull an old man's finger in the state. Interestingly, the same gag is common in China, but not in Japan. 😂
Well thought out and written Suzi. I've also been fretting about this for awhile, and one of the more solid pieces of ground from which I hazard my guesses are to look at us as social primates. Logic and language scale much better than empathy, but logic and language are also flawed and ultimately self-destructive, particularly when wielded by those high in cluster B behavior. I have a strong suspicion that our hierarchical, herding instinct is fundamentally incompatible with empathy, and suspect empathy is the core of any morality worth its salt.
Our 'Herding instincts' are very active in us...yes, we are social beings, as are apes, dear and dogs, to name three, who also have the mammalian tendency for hierarchy, and it can be very useful to people at both the physiological and emotional level, keeping us feeling safe and secure...even sometimes helping us, those who are so inclined, spiritually. Having however classed ourselves above the average mammal on this planet, my take on it is that we could do our best, and stop acting as 'animals'. In truth we act nothing like animals, being far more destructive than any other living thing on earth.
We have choices we can make if we so decided, or think possible. and as such, considering ourselves 'superior' to other life forms, it's about time we lived up to what we profess to be, because, it being a matter of choice, we can chose to change our mindsets and we can chose to understand ourselves and what drives us if we so desire. The choice is always there to do ill or good, to be ethical or lie, to fight or turn away. I want to encourage as many people at 'street level; so to speak, to know themselves as best as possible, to grab each slippery, probably painful, thought that wells up when confronted by fearful stuff, embarrassing stuff, challenging things, whatever...thoughts we normally turn away from, quickly rebury into our subconscious, lighting a cigarette or otherwise distracting our selves from the emotional discomfort that fleeting thought produced.
It's quite amazing, the change that takes place in ones self when one makes little efforts, tries thinking differently; it's not difficult, just needs practicing when one remembers to do so, and amazingly this 'laissez faire' approach seems to work. What also helps is being grateful for what one has...looking for the satisfaction one has rather than being dissatisfied. Being grateful for the little blessings in ones life can of itself change ones mindset, whilst also making ones day nicer. Even practicing smiling more often helps...apparently the physical movement of widening ones mouth and crinkling ones eyes sets off 'feel good' chemical changes in our miraculous bodies. When one practices feeling good, empathy seems to come more easily.
Phew!! That's enough for now...bed time! For me at any rate.
Hi Suzi. You left me with a lot to chew on ... especially integrating free will with all that goes on at the subconscious level, a never-ending rabbit hole there.
Thank you for a comment as equally thought provoking as the original post.
Nighty-night.
steve
Hi Steve, I wrote a whole long reply to your comment of 'rabbit hole' but somehow I disappeared it??
Having much else to do, I won't try writing it again just now, but I will try and put it together again in a day or so.
I'm going to have another try at the 'rabbit hole' of the subconsciousness...a quickish one...it is only a rabbit hole if one applies ones intellect to delve...if on the other hand, as I learned a little in therapy long ago...one allows ones feelings to arise, or one catches certain thoughts before burying them again because they are uncomfortable and one connects those thought to the feelings that brought them up...it ALL boils down to feelings...non intellectual stuff...Most of us from early childhood onwards, have been forced to ignore our real feelings, not express them... as they are often considered socially unacceptable , oh and so on...social norms! Very destructive of the 'real' self.
Repressed feelings cause dis-ease of all kinds...the more painful the repressed feelings were, the worse the adult dis-ease.
If one thinks one hasn't suffered enormous trauma as a child, then it is well possible to sort ones self out, to know what drives one, by paying attention to upwellings of thoughts, to catch those fleeting thoughts and feelings, not to turn away from the discomfort, and bury them again, but to allow ones self to feel what is really there...then the 'Know thyself' suggestion made by Jesus, that wise man, comes into being.
If you have suffered heavy trauma as a child, then it would be wiser to do some work with a reliable therapist. If you had a reasonably good childhood, then allowing old feelings to well up and connecting them the the relevant events back then...memories, then intellect, workings out of the why, isn't required, it can be applied later on when feelings have been acknowledged or even better, expressed...I beat a maths teacher to death on my pillow...so much anger...then tears of pain...but one needs a private safe place for that.
I don't think one can understand what's in the subconscious intellectually, because most of that stuff got put there in early childhood (I'm generalising) before the intellect was properly developed and is usually related to feelings of...pain, fear, anger or happiness/contentmen.t Humans are actually very simple when they're born...the 'complicatedness' arises from unmet needs and fear or pain suffered and not allowed expression, which always brings relief.
I could go on into the historical reasons of how come we've become so dis-eased and complicated, but I think that would take a book!
Ouch. I know that hurts. I have had comments in YouTube that took hours to write, suddenly disappear with a mistaken key stroke.
Just now getting ready for bed ... wow ... 3:30 am here in Japan ... but if you haven't yet followed Tereza's Third Paradigm, she also pens enough to push my limits and then some. If interested, here is a link to her most recent (and my comment) ... https://thirdparadigm.substack.com/p/a-house-for-the-soul-in-the-land
G'night Suzi!
steve
Thank you, I'll go look see what she writes. Hope you slept well.
Thanks Suzi.
I did, and didn't.
As usual, my sleeping meds wear off after about 5 hours of good, deep sleep, then I pop my daily dose of thyroxine (had my right thyroid gland removed), and then back to sleep for another couple of hours ... during which I have vivid 'butterfly dreams' that disappear from memory by the time I've finished my first cup of coffee. I usually try to write them down in detail, thinking they are my subconscious trying to tell me something ... or a scene from a yet to be written adventure story. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfUfnUevhUk
Just got back from an afternoon trip to a heart specialist (no problems) and then a family English lesson. Lots of fun with the kids. At the dinner table where we were all gathered around playing a game of Go Fish, had a hoot when the 10 year old boy cut a wild fart They were all ears and laughter when I explained to never ever agree to a request to pull an old man's finger in the state. Interestingly, the same gag is common in China, but not in Japan. 😂