Posts

What We Truly Want

-
Image
Actually, this discussion should not be about whether humans are selfish by nature. What we should really discuss is whether we really want to be selfish. ​Everything suggests that we do not. ​The fact is that most people see themselves as good persons who would never intentionally hurt anyone else. ​The human need to view oneself as good is well-documented in research. While the exact reason for this need is unknown, psychology researcher Claude Steele has shown it is incredibly strong. When we do something questionable, our entire identity is threatened, and we spend enormous energy confirming that we are good after all. ​Psychology researcher Albert Bandura has described the mental techniques we use to be able to act without moral constraint while keeping our image of being good intact. A common technique is to believe we are just doing our job and to place the moral responsibility for our actions elsewhere. ​This is nothing new.  Humanity's self-image as good is as old as our h...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Irrefutable Disproof

-
Image
Is there then no substance at all to the evolutionary argument? Answer: absolutely none. In reality, it is absolutely pointless to use animals as proof that the darkest sides of human civilization are "natural". Animals have not yet killed defenseless civilians during their wars. Animals do not invent weapons of mass destruction. Animals do not threaten the climate. Animals do not prove scientifically that unemployment and wars are necessary for economy. Animals do not enact laws that protect property and status instead of existential rights. The ones who follow the law of the jungle more than any other animal are human beings.  The only reason we argue this way is that we need justification—because deep down, we know we are exploiting the powerless, and we feel it is wrong. There is another fact we have to take into account before we are done with the discussion about the law of the jungle. The evidence for the violence of nature does not hold up at all, and most serious res...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Law of the Jungle

-
Image
One way to justify the exploitation of others is to blame nature. We are all familiar with the "law of the jungle". In the jungle, we believe, life is a harsh struggle for survival where the strongest individuals win. We are particularly fond of referring to pack animals like wolves and chimpanzees, noting that they actually bully one another to the benefit of the group and seeing this as proof that it is natural to favor the group at the expense of certain individuals.  Am I really claiming we humans still follow the cruel order of wild animals? No, not at all. It is far more complicated than that.  The truth is, we use nature to prove that our society is not based on exploitation even though it is, a conclusion we reach through a kind of circular reasoning: ​​1. We see the fact that animals eat one another and maintain hierarchies as evidence that exploiting the powerless is a behavior we inherited from them. ​2. We then see the fact that animals eat one another and maintai...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Logic of Human Sacrifice

-
Image
The most devastating manifestation of the destructive norm that unconsciously governs our thoughts is the logic of human sacrifice .  Our fascination with human sacrifice is most evident in religion and fiction. We readily accept that Jesus suffered and died for our sins. ​We enjoy movies that end with the hero completing the mission at the cost of their own life. Even more, we are drawn to stories about real-life heroes who sacrificed their lives to save others.​ ​ ​​Most real-life victims of sacrifice, however, never gave their consent, receive no credit, and remain invisible. Those in power are aware of them and decide the benefits are worth their suffering. Within economics, concepts like NAIRU, "Pareto optimality", and "Military Keynesianism" calculate such sacrifices as a necessity and our leaders follow them. Yet, hardly anyone admits that these sacrifices are made consciously—which, due to the unconcious destructive norm, might even be true.  Such examples o...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Constructive Delusion

-
Image
Let's start with a personal question: Are you a constructive person? Are you one of us who really try to think and act constructively? Do you, at the very least, believe in fundamental human rights and the inherent worth of all people? ​If so, you are not alone. Constructive thinking is a big topic these days. Every self-help expert stresses the necessity of a constructive mindset. In fact, not only the coaches and therapists but almost everyone seems to agree that being constructive is the way to go—except for a few antisocial elements who, embracing a negative identity, take pride in destructive behavior such as gang criminality, mass shootings, pedophilia, or thrill killings. But despite humanity's constructive outlook, the world is full of destructiveness. We destroy the climate, fight wars, allow people in the third world to live in deplorable conditions, trigger pandemics, and bully each other in our workplaces. Studies show that people are feeling worse than ever. How ca...
Post a Comment
Read more

The First Encounter

-
Image
There was nothing particularly strange about the event I later came to see as my first God-experience. I was a dreamy and imaginative child. The highlight of my week was the Saturday visit to the library. Mom and I would stay for hours and finish by wheeling home a stroller filled with books. I loved stories so much that I immediately decided to become a writer when I grew up make up my own. Besides I was bullied and needed an escape.  I was three years old, sitting on the toilet. I had just had a fight with my mom and lost. I was trying to imagine how I had carried myself during the battle when suddenly it hit me that I didn’t look the way I thought. In my mind, I had seen something beautiful and graceful—a noble heroine forced into surrender by a dim-witted superior power. Now I realized that not only mom, but everyone except me, saw something else. And what was worse: they were right and I was wrong. In my head, I was quite tall and thin with hair reaching all the way down my ba...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Gaslighting

-
Image
Attempting to be believed in my claim that the unwanted attention couldn't possibly be coming from so-called gay people, I also told my neighbors about the explicit couples outside my window. Perhaps that was why the gaslighting began? What happened next was that the special treatment resumed. This time, the intention seemed to be to convince me that the villagers' behavior had never been caused by any rumors. Again, as soon as people caught sight of me, they would look flirtatiously, sway their hips, or fix their hair. Gradually, however, new behaviors were introduced while the flirtatious ones were phased out. Some weeks, every single person would cough as soon as they saw me. Other weeks, everyone I met on the street said the same thing. Still other weeks, they would touch their hair or stare intently. This went on for twelve years. During the first few years, I was too ill to go anywhere. When I eventually became well enough to travel to nearby towns for shopping or hospita...
Post a Comment
Read more