The topic of this article in many ways represents the conclusion of my project when seen in terms of why I think the things I write about should matter. I choose to present a first flyover of these considerations at the present stage in order to provide a higher-level frame for the other pieces. This will hopefully position my project in relation to why I consider these topics to be of importance, providing an account for some of my motivations, as well as articulating both why and how it can have an impact beyond the purely conceptual.
Succinct read that allows the issue at hand to be illuminated enough for one to understand that it has a deep bottom; at least in philosophical and anthropological terms.
My hope, or rather faith - since hope is devoid of logic - that the alternative view will dominate the academia rather faster. It gets frustratingly boring to mingle within the old frame of thought. The reductive isolationist materialist explanation.
Cognitive science, a field I am fascinatingly interested in and a field I devote all my wakeful hours to (individually and academically), to my understanding carries a potential to redefine the angle of analytical perception on the existence in a drastic way; a way that is more attune to realism, taking truth further away from abstraction.
This is a wonderful read, I’m glad you’re diving into the topic so few critical theorists dare put into concrete words. In my Jewish Ecology blog I will be approaching this same topic, but through the language of G-d. I hope we can work towards understanding together.
I saw your post on Reddit and couldn't help but make a link to my latest post I wrote on narcissism. Apology, I'm just coming out from a deep dive of narcissism for a full week so I feel like there's interconnectedness in everything - our shared reality. I'm not sure if you've been following the online conversations popping up about narcissistic leaders (and people in general), and the impact on their social surrounding and our world, it's a bit of a crisis situation right now.
One of the thing I discovered to be hard truth about a highly narcissistic person is their "ability to lie to themselves, as well as to others, and to insist on being ignorant of their own faults and wrongdoings." If narcissistic leaders are in charge and can ultimately 'bend the reality' at will, are we all just living in a 'facade' that these people have built? This is specific to narcissists that have wealth and status to 'keep up the appearance'. We don't have to look any further than Donald Trump is classic case of narcissism in power position causing 'havoc' on global scale. And look at the different 'versions' of reality that this has created.
I just read your piece on Narcissism (thanks for writing!) so here are some immediate thoughts on that and your comment. I will also post this comment on your post as I feel it belongs there.
I would expect, based on my limited knowledge and intuition about narcissism and what you have written, that people with a higher narcissistic score would struggle immensely with breaking out of their model of the world, or even realizing that they operate based on a model and not the world directly. I base this on their ability for self-deception and lack of self-awareness. I believe there is a strong connection between this capacity for self-awareness, as well as other right hemisphere traits (McGilchrist), and the shift to right hemisphere-thinking is exactly what is needed for the reality shift required to deal with our crises. If you haven’t read McGilchrists work I highly recommend it, parts of which harmonize well with what you wrote of Erich Fromm.
Another thought is one I’m a bit more hesitant about. Reality shifts will require cultivating self-awareness and resilience, among other things as you write, and I agree with your post, particularly the main empowering and positive message in the final section and the TL;DR. My only gripe is with the title. The world is far more complex than we can understand, and «blaming» anything for the evil in the world (narcissism as the main cause) might be an example of the kinds of things that enforce division and fragmentation. I’m sure I’m guilty of doing the same kind of thing. I agree that narcissism is strongly connected with evil, but I’m not sure calling it the main cause is «useful» for dealing with it, as we can identify further underlying causes for narcissism, and causes for why our social institutions favor narcissistic leaders, all of which are part of the evil in the world. I’m not sure I’m getting my (hesitant) thought across, but I’m in favour of a holistic rather than reductive understanding of evil.
The trouble is we are in the position of Humpty Dumpty having fallen from the wall. Everyone's perceptions, thinking and doings are created from and an extension of a tiny broken fragment lying on the ground. No matter what they attempt to do all the Kings horses and all the Kings men can never ever put Humpty back together again.
Or to use another metaphor we are like tiny stick figures running around on the tip of an iceberg presuming to know what is happening in the world.
A tip which comprises a small fraction of the mass of the iceberg most of which is below our field of vision or knowing. The almost unstoppable momentum of which is the principal causative factor creating the human chaos, in now-time and in all times past.
Sticking to the material metaphor, are we not also of the iceberg, fragments of it? And isn’t the iceberg equally capable of creating harmony as chaos? Our age certainly is a testimony to chaos, but should or must we not believe in and work for harmony? It might seem naive, but what other way around defeatism is there?
Succinct read that allows the issue at hand to be illuminated enough for one to understand that it has a deep bottom; at least in philosophical and anthropological terms.
My hope, or rather faith - since hope is devoid of logic - that the alternative view will dominate the academia rather faster. It gets frustratingly boring to mingle within the old frame of thought. The reductive isolationist materialist explanation.
Cognitive science, a field I am fascinatingly interested in and a field I devote all my wakeful hours to (individually and academically), to my understanding carries a potential to redefine the angle of analytical perception on the existence in a drastic way; a way that is more attune to realism, taking truth further away from abstraction.
This is a wonderful read, I’m glad you’re diving into the topic so few critical theorists dare put into concrete words. In my Jewish Ecology blog I will be approaching this same topic, but through the language of G-d. I hope we can work towards understanding together.
Please find a set of references which are very much about a philosophy for the future, and the Metacrisis too
http://www.daplastique.com/essay/the-maze-of-ecstasy
http://www.adidafoundation.org/essays/the-eternal-war-between-orpheus-and-narcissus
http://www.adidaupclose.org/Literature_Theater/skalsky.html an introduction to The Orpheum Trilogy which includes The Mummery Book , The Scapegoat Book and the more-than-wonderful Happenine Book
http://beezone.com/adida/narcissus.html Narcissus
http://beezone.com/2main_shelf/ontranscendingtheinsubordinatemind.html on the nature of the Western mind (in particular)
http://beezone.com/2main_shelf/tableofcontents-5.html Scientific Proof of the Existence of God
http://beezone.com/whats-new on the Dark Force that patterns & controls the entire world
http://www.nottwoispeace.org Not Two is Peace
http://www.dabase.org/not2p1.htm 100 or so summary statements
http://www.integralworld.net/reynolds6.html The Seven Stages of Life
http://www.intergalworld.net/reynolds18.html the Miracle of Conscious Light
http://www.integralworld.net/reynoldsw38.html on Adi Da's authenticity
Thank you for the many resources!
I saw your post on Reddit and couldn't help but make a link to my latest post I wrote on narcissism. Apology, I'm just coming out from a deep dive of narcissism for a full week so I feel like there's interconnectedness in everything - our shared reality. I'm not sure if you've been following the online conversations popping up about narcissistic leaders (and people in general), and the impact on their social surrounding and our world, it's a bit of a crisis situation right now.
One of the thing I discovered to be hard truth about a highly narcissistic person is their "ability to lie to themselves, as well as to others, and to insist on being ignorant of their own faults and wrongdoings." If narcissistic leaders are in charge and can ultimately 'bend the reality' at will, are we all just living in a 'facade' that these people have built? This is specific to narcissists that have wealth and status to 'keep up the appearance'. We don't have to look any further than Donald Trump is classic case of narcissism in power position causing 'havoc' on global scale. And look at the different 'versions' of reality that this has created.
I just read your piece on Narcissism (thanks for writing!) so here are some immediate thoughts on that and your comment. I will also post this comment on your post as I feel it belongs there.
I would expect, based on my limited knowledge and intuition about narcissism and what you have written, that people with a higher narcissistic score would struggle immensely with breaking out of their model of the world, or even realizing that they operate based on a model and not the world directly. I base this on their ability for self-deception and lack of self-awareness. I believe there is a strong connection between this capacity for self-awareness, as well as other right hemisphere traits (McGilchrist), and the shift to right hemisphere-thinking is exactly what is needed for the reality shift required to deal with our crises. If you haven’t read McGilchrists work I highly recommend it, parts of which harmonize well with what you wrote of Erich Fromm.
Another thought is one I’m a bit more hesitant about. Reality shifts will require cultivating self-awareness and resilience, among other things as you write, and I agree with your post, particularly the main empowering and positive message in the final section and the TL;DR. My only gripe is with the title. The world is far more complex than we can understand, and «blaming» anything for the evil in the world (narcissism as the main cause) might be an example of the kinds of things that enforce division and fragmentation. I’m sure I’m guilty of doing the same kind of thing. I agree that narcissism is strongly connected with evil, but I’m not sure calling it the main cause is «useful» for dealing with it, as we can identify further underlying causes for narcissism, and causes for why our social institutions favor narcissistic leaders, all of which are part of the evil in the world. I’m not sure I’m getting my (hesitant) thought across, but I’m in favour of a holistic rather than reductive understanding of evil.
The trouble is we are in the position of Humpty Dumpty having fallen from the wall. Everyone's perceptions, thinking and doings are created from and an extension of a tiny broken fragment lying on the ground. No matter what they attempt to do all the Kings horses and all the Kings men can never ever put Humpty back together again.
Or to use another metaphor we are like tiny stick figures running around on the tip of an iceberg presuming to know what is happening in the world.
A tip which comprises a small fraction of the mass of the iceberg most of which is below our field of vision or knowing. The almost unstoppable momentum of which is the principal causative factor creating the human chaos, in now-time and in all times past.
Sticking to the material metaphor, are we not also of the iceberg, fragments of it? And isn’t the iceberg equally capable of creating harmony as chaos? Our age certainly is a testimony to chaos, but should or must we not believe in and work for harmony? It might seem naive, but what other way around defeatism is there?