The human condition

[Heneni]

Words from Erich Fromn...

Today we come across and individual who behaves like an automaton, who does not know or understand himself, and the only person that he knows is the person that he is suppose to be, whose meaningless chatter has replaced communicative speech, whoose synthetic smile has replaced genuine laughter, and whose sense of dull despair has taken the place of genuine pain. Two statements may be said concerning this individual. One is that he suffers from defects of spontaneity and individuality which seems to be incurable. At the same time it may be said of him he does not differ essentially from the millions of the rest of us who walk upon this earth.


Lets discuss the insert.

[stephenw]

Originally Posted by Heneni

Words from Erich Fromn...

Not Erich Fromm?

Originally Posted by Heneni

Today we come across and individual who behaves like an automaton, who does not know or understand himself, and the only person that he knows is the person that he is suppose to be,

I imagine it has always been so. I don't imagine that people In any given time are different from people in another given time, do you?

Originally Posted by Heneni

whose meaningless chatter has replaced communicative speech, whoose synthetic smile has replaced genuine laughter,

Such an assessment says more about the observer than the observed in my view.

Originally Posted by Heneni

and whose sense of dull despair has taken the place of genuine pain.

How would you decide that another's dull despair is not genuine pain?

Originally Posted by Heneni

Two statements may be said concerning this individual. One is that he suffers from defects of spontaneity and individuality which seems to be incurable.

Defect by whose standard? Is a 'cure' appropriate or required?

Originally Posted by Heneni

At the same time it may be said of him he does not differ essentially from the millions of the rest of us who walk upon this earth.

This suggests to me that the author has been talking about themselves all along.

[Heneni]

I think he makes a fair assessment of the human condition. There are always exeptions. I think what he has pretty much nailed, is his description of what a person that knows not how to be themselves but rather what the world has required them to be like, end up being.

On the other hand, some of the worst advice you could give someone is 'be yourself'

It seems like being willing to be yourself these days would take courage any which way.

If you are yourself, you might face rejection. If your not yourself, you might fit in, but you will feel inner rejection.

Hmm..interesting.

[Heneni]

A cure for the human condition lies probably in the fact that we will have to stand back look at ourselves honestly. See what we find. Be that good or bad (according to each persons interpretation) one has to accept it for what it is. I'm sure that when this happens, great change can come.

[stephenw]

Originally Posted by Heneni

It seems like being willing to be yourself these days would take courage any which way.

Why do you think that?

[stephenw]

Originally Posted by Heneni

A cure for the human condition lies probably in the fact that we will have to stand back look at ourselves honestly. See what we find. Be that good or bad (according to each persons interpretation) one has to accept it for what it is. I'm sure that when this happens, great change can come.

Why do you think we need a cure for the human condition?
You seem to desire change for humanity, why?

[Heneni]

It seems like we are the only species does not live in harmony with nature. We dont understand that we are one with it, if we did, we would look after our world.

Humans I believe are like pack animals. However, we fear being excluded from the pack more than we fear the destruction of our world.

All humans have different personalities, but there is always the pressure of being that which we have ourselves defined as the norm. For every person that acts out of the 'norm' there is the fear of rejection.

It seems like humans act mostly out of fear.

[stephenw]

Originally Posted by Heneni

It seems like we are the only species does not live in harmony with nature. We dont understand that we are one with it, if we did, we would look after our world.

Humans I believe are like pack animals. However, we fear being excluded from the pack more than we fear the destruction of our world.

All humans have different personalities, but there is always the pressure of being that which we have ourselves defined as the norm. For every person that acts out of the 'norm' there is the fear of rejection.

It seems like humans act mostly out of fear.

I always feel positive about humanity. I think our behaviour is the result of many factors but I don't think I'd single fear out as the dominant one. I do agree that adherence to our concepts of social norms can result in dissonance. I think to discover who "I" am, I need to have a good look around my unconscious mind and shine a light into the dark corners, the self does not seem to me to be readily available to the conscious mind. I believe that which I am resides in the unconscious. Once(if!) I discover that 'self' I can concentrate in being in sync. with it. To be true to myself I must first discover myself.