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| ISBN-13: | 9781546266679 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | AuthorHouse |
| Publication date: | 11/05/2018 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 190 |
| File size: | 737 KB |
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CHAPTER 1
The Driving Force
Don't curse the darkness; light a candle.
— Unknown
Curiosity will conquer fear even more than bravery will.
— James Stephen
THE SENSE OF self develops as a mechanism of the evolution of the species. This might go against the religious belief systems of many traditions; however, as we shall see farther down, it doesn't contradict the presence of a divinity but actually may enhance it. Let us understand this concept.
We take the sense of self to be a unique attribute of the human species, but, actually, several species are beginning to exhibit a primitive sense of self or identity. For example, some dolphins are able to recognize themselves in a mirror and actually try to remove some paint that has been placed on their cheeks when they see it in the mirror. Likewise, some chimpanzees and great apes appear to have a primitive sense of self. I remember a story told to me by a friend from South America, who used to like hunting. In his younger years he went hunting in a forest and shot a monkey. He remembers the monkey touching the gunshot wound, looking at its hand, and then beginning to scream when it realized it had been hurt. This suggests the presence or recognition of a self — albeit at a very primitive level. So we cannot assume to have the predominant or preeminent presence of a unique self.
So how does the presence of a self facilitate the mechanism of evolution in a species? At a very basic and simple level, the sense of self helps to preserve the organism by allowing it to determine whether another organism is small enough to eat or large enough to be eaten by. For example, it is said that alligators will attack only prey that is about one third their size, suggesting a very primitive and basic sense of self. This allows for a delineation of body boundaries, which allows the organism to either hunt or escape being hunted. But at a more advanced level, the main attribute of having a self is the ability to have the mechanism of identification, and for this, you need a sense of identity. (You can only have a sense of advanced identity if you have the concept of self-existence.) This mechanism (identification), which appears to be automatic and subconscious, facilitates the introjection of values and behavior patterns that may be advantageous toward the species.
Let me give an example. Suppose there is a primitive society living at the edge of the ocean. Their main source of nutrition might be fish. Let us suppose that there are a number of fishermen in the society and that one of them has the habit of getting up at five o'clock in the morning, starting a little bonfire, dancing around the fire, and praying to a palm tree he believes to be a deity. He goes out fishing and comes back with a large load of fish. The rest of the fishermen get up around ten o'clock in the morning, go straight out to fish, and come back with only a handful of fish. After looking at this, the general population may start imitating the behavior and values of the first fisherman.
The fact that he is a successful fisherman has nothing to do with the fire, dancing, or praying to the palm tree; it's that he gets up at five o'clock in the morning when the fish are apparently actively feeding, migrating, or crossing. This story demonstrates the mechanism of identification at work, in which society tends to adopt or incorporate into their behavior patterns or thought processes that they believe facilitate the process of survival. This mechanism of identification has an advantage over genetic adaptability in that genetic adaptability takes generations to develop, whereas the identification process facilitates a mechanism of adaptability in a nonspecialized organism in terms of weeks or months as opposed to generations. In a rapidly changing environment, this becomes an evolutionary advantage.
From a more realistic and modern viewpoint, we can observe the identification process when an individual goes to the movies, for example. If the movie is an action movie, individuals will tend to identify with the hero of the movie. They will tend to introject and begin mimicking the behavior pattern and perhaps some of the values of the hero. Likewise, when adolescents begin to follow a singer, they tend to dress and act like and even adopt some mannerisms from this new idol. In this manner, they are beginning to introject a behavior pattern and even a set of values into their personalities. This gives them a sense of identity, which is based on the acquisition of affective fuels of ego integration, which we will discuss later.
Contrary to what many people think, evolution is a two-way street. When you have a macroenvironment and there are microorganisms (not microorganisms in the sense of bacteria or similar microorganisms, but microorganisms in that they are small relative to the macroenvironment) in that environment, evolution tends to take place at the level of the microorganisms, with the environment remaining relatively stable. However, if the organism grows to a significant size, it begins to affect the macroenvironment. This change in the macroenvironment then triggers another evolutionary change in the microorganism. The net result is that evolution becomes a two-way street where the macroenvironment changes in response to a large population load of microorganisms, and in turn the microorganisms must again adapt in response to the macroenvironmental change induced by its population.
A clear example of this taking place is global warming. For many centuries when the human population was a small, global warming was not a significant factor and was mostly dependent on environmental changes (volcanoes, eruptions, storms, etc.). In the latter centuries as the human population has grown significantly, it is beginning to induce global warming on a macro scale, which in turn is forcing many other living organisms to adapt — with the loss of some species and possibly the dawn of many new species, which are adapting to the new climate temperature. Our ability to think about and observe these changes is probably what gives us a chance to prevent them from taking place and to save many species that otherwise would be lost secondary to our actions. On the other side it is precisely the fact that we have a sense of self that tends to be concerned with its own survival that works against this realization and prevents us from taking action.
So what is the problem with having a sense of self if it is a mechanism of evolution for the survival of the species? The main problem is that when the organism develops awareness of its own self-existence, a profound fear of nonexistence automatically appears. In other words, if I exist, then the possibility is present that I may cease to exist. This fear goes hand in hand with existence. You cannot have one without the other. It is the price we pay for having a sense of self or existence. And here precisely lies the problem, because that fear is the driving force behind most of the actions of the self.
So how can we see the fear and the effect it has on the sense of the self ? We can begin to see this fear in two ways. Everyone at one point or another in life has experienced a sense of humiliation, either by another individual or by a set of circumstances. So let me ask: Why does one feel uncomfortable when one is humiliated? If you ask a lot of people, you would get different answers. Most will say they feel that they are less confident when they are humiliated. Others may say they fear that people may think less of them, and still others may say that they failed to live up to their expectations. The most common answer, however, will be that they feel that they are less. Let us call this a technical term: ego contraction. Likewise, let's call the sensation that they failed to live up to their expectations a lack of ego expansion. The next question is why an ego contraction is unpleasant. To begin to comprehend this fear, we will need to extrapolate the concept of ego contraction.
In mathematics there is the concept of a limit of a function. For example, when talking about a derivative, the definition is the limit of a function when delta X tends toward 0. We can use this concept and ask ourselves about the limit of an infinite number of ego contractions. In other words, if one contraction is followed by another and then another one, what is the endpoint? It becomes obvious that the endpoint will be what I call the zero point — nothingness or nonexistence. This is the reason that humiliation feels uncomfortable. The sense of self feels threatened by an ego contraction because it is looking at the end point of nothingness or nonexistence as a possible reality.
Let's try a different strategy. Let us look now at fears. What is the biggest fear a person may have? Fear of losing your life, fear of losing your job, fear of losing a loved one, or fear of sickness? Let us take fear of losing a job. Why is one afraid of losing a job? A person may say that if one loses a job, one may not be able to pay the bills and eventually lose the house; the spouse may file for a divorce. Furthermore, one may be left homeless, sick, and exposed to the elements, without access to health care. The endpoint is that now that this individual may die, and death implies nonexistence or nothingness. By promising an afterlife, religion becomes a coping mechanism for guaranteeing the sense of self-existence after death. Observe that the endpoint of this fear is again the possibility of nonexistence, the zero point, or nothingness. You can make the same analysis for any fear a person may have. If you follow it all the way to the end you will find you reach the same conclusion or end point.
So we can understand that an ego contraction makes individuals feels threatened precisely because the end point of it is a sense of nothingness or nonexistence. Let us go back to the prior paragraph and examine briefly a lack of ego expansion. A lack of ego expansion may also threaten the sense of self because it doesn't provide the self with a mechanism to feel safer or more secure against this fear. It so happens that ego expansion is the mechanism whereby the self integrates or solidifies itself against this fear. This ego expansion is predicated upon the acquisition of what I call affective fuels of ego integration.
So why do I use this term affective fuels of ego integration, what are these fuels, and how can they be identified? The word fuels refers to the fact that this is a mechanism of ego solidification that is continuously being used and expended. It has to be continuously replenished like gasoline in a car. Affective means that it has to do with affection. As we shall see, affection probably integrates the sense of self on the basis of emotions through a neurobiochemical process (I leave this research to the neurobiologists). Ego integration refers to the fact that these fuels solidify or strengthen the sense of self against this primary fear of nonexistence.
How can we identify the affective fuels of ego integration, and where do we look for them? It would be smart to look for them in the places where people deal with the sense of self and the negation of the self — the monasteries of the different religious traditions. They all have several common characteristics. First, monasteries tend to be isolated or set apart from society. Here we identify the first fuel, social fuel. Social isolation is very destructive, especially when it is not voluntary but it is imposed by circumstances. Second, individuals are given a religious adviser so that they don't feel superior or special for holding a specific belief system. This is the second fuel, religious fuel. Third, individuals usually live in poverty or take vows of poverty, a demonstration of material fuel, the third fuel. Fourth, individuals also take vows of humility — the fourth fuel, intellectual fuel — as well as vows of celibacy, the fifth fuel, emotional-sexual fuel.
In the different religious traditions, some or all of these fuels are present to some degree or another. The integration process of the ego begins at the level of the protoego probably between the third and fourth years of life, and likely even earlier. The different stages in the child, as described by various psychology schools, are essentially the child's attempts to begin to integrate the sense of self by controlling or achieving dominance over a particular fuel of ego integration as a mechanism of developing identity. If we look closely at the different stages, we will observe that, beginning with control of one's bodily functions, the organism is essentially trying to establish acquisition or possession of a particular fuel of ego integration. As a child develops, that control extends to other fuels, culminating in the intellectual fuel as a main mechanism of self-identity in most of the population, with some exceptions.
Individuals will tend to solidify their sense of identity by integrating themselves in the easiest and most efficient fuel available, depending on the circumstances. We will see in a later chapter how this tends to radicalize some individuals with religious fuel.
During the integrative process, the social and religious fuels are usually the ones acquired earlier and will serve as filters for other fuels acquired later in life. Once established, they will allow or block other fuels from integrating the sense of self. In essence, they become the equivalent of Freud's superego, or conscience. These fuels are usually acquired from the parents, immediate family, and surrounding social structures in the young individual, as well as slightly later by the religious education that individuals receive.
Almost simultaneously, if individuals are in an industrial and modern society, they begin to develop intellectual fuel in the form of elementary, high school, and college education. The acquisition of intellectual fuel eventually leads to their being able to maintain a job or a means of subsistence, buying a house (material fuel), and forming a family. The formation of a family is the acquisition of emotional-sexual fuel to complete this cycle of identity in the individual. Observe that the fuels are acquired in a somewhat specific order, although some overlapping in the acquisition of the fuels tends to take place during the development of the sense of identity. This overlapping does not negate the fact that these fuels tend to peak at different stages of development in a generally specific order.
It should be pointed out that within each set of the five fuels, there are subsets and possibly even sub-subsets. At times these subsets may conflict with one another. These conflicts will be explored further when we discuss the social fuel as a mechanism of polarization.
All of these fuels compose the sense of identity of an individual. They all answer the question, "Who am I?"
• I am in as much as society respects me or appreciates me. (Social fuel)
• I am in as much as God loves me. (Religious fuel)
• I am in as much as I have achieved. (Intellectual fuel)
• I am in as much as I have. (Material fuel)
• I am in as much as I am loved. (Emotional-sexual fuel)
Our sense of identity is predicated on these five fuels of ego integration, and the polarization that we see in our society is based on them.
CHAPTER 2The Etiology of Psychological Pain
There is no coming to consciousness without pain. People will do anything, no matter how absurd, in order to avoid facing their own soul. One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious.
— Carl G. Jung
No man is free who is not master of himself.
— Epictetus
No man is master of himself who doesn't know himself.
— A. Barquet
ONCE WE UNDERSTAND that the self is threatened by the end point of nonexistence and that it defends or integrates itself against this nonexistence by utilizing affective fuels, we can then understand the mechanism of psychological pain. Psychological pain has three roots:
1. the loss of or expected loss of affective fuel of ego integration; leads to an ego contraction
2. the lack of acquisition or the expected lack of acquisition of an affective fuel of ego integration; leads to a lack of ego expansion
3. fragmentation of union; leads to a sense of incompleteness
Observe that I talked not only about a loss or lack of acquisition but also about an expected loss or expected lack of acquisition. One is as important as the other.
(Continues…)
Excerpted from "Psychodynamics of Fear, Hate and Social Polarization"
by .
Copyright © 2018 Antonio R. Barquet.
Excerpted by permission of AuthorHouse.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Table of Contents
Dedication, vii,
Preface, xi,
Chapter 1 The Driving Force, 1,
Chapter 2 The Etiology of Psychological Pain, 8,
Chapter 3 Mechanism of Prejudice and Other Behaviors from the Perspective of the Concept of Affective Fuels, 25,
Chapter 4 Polarization by Social Fuel, 59,
Chapter 5 Polarization by Religious Fuel, 86,
Chapter 6 Polarization by Intellectual Fuel, 115,
Chapter 7 Polarization by Material Fuel, 127,
Chapter 8 Polarization by Emotional-Sexual Fuel, 137,
Chapter 9 Anatomy of Tragedies, 148,
Chapter 10 Where Do We Go from Here?, 168,