Sometimes I get an urge to show what's within me, so that people could see me as I am – as if something wants to get out – to grasp on the "fundamental self". But the more I go introspecting, the more convinced I am that there is no such thing as fundamental self. It's easy to prove your own perception of yourself wrong if you just give it a go, most people won't though, because it's scary. It's easier to stay with the familiar. Familiarity is what appeals to us. That's one of the tricks used by commercials – when you hear a catchy song for about the 7th time, you start to like it – and the product – because it's familiar.
Unknown scares us, and there's a completely valid reason for that, when looking our history. If something wasn't familiar to us in the forest, there was a good chance to at least be very cautious about it. But I would say that in today's world "unknown" has never been as safe as it currently is. Well, it's still valid to be scared of unknown animals and things that you're going to eat, but modern life concerns usually are nothing alike to our hunting-gatherer ancestors – food in the store is 100% safe (excluding potential allergens), animals – in cities, where more and more people are living, confrontations with animals are extremely rare to non-existent.
So, nowadays, instead of animals, we are afraid of job interviews, moving to another city, running out of money, confrontations with unfamiliar faces, dentist, giving speeches, performing in front of audience, and the list goes on... Most of our fears are barely life-threatening, but it's a burden we have to deal with.
Fear of the dark, fear of the dark.
Social exclusion though – I think that fear is what we and our ancestors share. And for them it was quite real; if you got banished from your tribe, you had only small chance to survive by yourself, I would imagine.
Anyway, fundamental self. I don't think that is anything but potential, because people around the world have many different kinds of customs, religions etc. that could be different just because you were born somewhere else than you were. Is there the right custom, the original one that all people have? I don't think so. So, is the fundamental human without any customs, rituals or habits? Sounds like an impossible being. Fundamental self wouldn't be but a lump of something abstract we would call "humanity", but even that is just our own invention defined by the norms of any given era. But these constructs, and the belief into them, is exactly what makes us "human".
All kinds of things we can attach to ourselves and call them "natural", "of order that is determined by the laws of Universe". But all of them – money, religion, institutions, capitalism, socialism, friendships – they only exist in our collective beliefs.
Honestly, I don't know where I'm going with this, so I'm not going to bore you anymore than is necessary. I hope you got something out of this random row of thought in the middle of a work day.
We find satisfaction when we skirt the border between order and chaos. By staying 'safe' we stagnate, hence the necessary pleasure reward for flirting with the unknown and chaotic. It all serves to help us evolve and improve as a species.
Agreed. Have you heard of Jordan Peterson by chance? 'Order and chaos' is typically recurring theme of his.
Yes...it is something he talks about in his lectures. He has done a great job of turning many onto higher education. I commend his efforts to 'wake up' many to the insidious totalitarian agenda that is unfolding before us.
Yeah, he has lots of interesting stuff. A lot of things comes out of that man's mouth that others are too afraid to say. Don't of course agree with everything he says concerning his views, but I have a lot of respect for the man nonetheless.
Agreed. The thing that I'm struggling with is the question of just how this man manages to get so much airtime on msm channels as he goes against their agenda. I wonder if he is controlled opposition.
That's a good question. It could be that the mainstream media is actually trying to tear him down, but actually failing with it. To my understanding they usually cut and make things look different than what they are (as they always do) but Jordan has managed to reach beyond that through his own lectures and being on Podocasts where people can see what he actually says which is chosen very carefully.
Yes. The msm has given him a huge platform, helping him sell millions of books, sell out theatres and promote his lectures to the masses. The msm do make mistakes and I want to believe this is one of them but I am cautiously sceptic for now.
Jordan Peterson mentioned! On melkoisen nopea tahti mitä kaveri tuottaa tekstiä. Ihan mielenkiintoisia on luennot jossa Jordan Peterson tulkitsee raamattua ja sen oppeja. Melkoisen syvällistä , mutta kannattaa miettiä aina itse asiat. Eikä välttämättä omaksua toisen ajatuksia semmoisenaan.
Itseäni varsinkin persoonallisuus kiinnostanut hänen luennoistaan.
Ihan totta, että ajattelumalleja ei kannata omaksuta ilman omaa mietintää.
I share the same thought process regarding fundamental self. Main reason being is that we are in a constant state of change. We are constantly adapting to environment and aging and changing if we choose to accept that fact or not. And what can be "fundamental" if our perceptions and concepts are in a constant state of transformation?
River flows yet the same water molecule never flows twice on the same river, because by the time it would get on the river, its shape has already altered. The same human cells replace themselves, except for some nerve cells. Seems like the only "fundamental" really is the constant change of everything.
Exactly!
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