RETREAT FROM ADULTHOOD -- NUMBER TWO

RETREAT FROM ADULTHOOD – NUMBER TWO

THE WISDOM OF DEAD AUTHORS

James R. Fisher, Jr., Ph.D.

© June 24, 2011

It is usual in a series of exploratory missives to start with definitions of terms.  Many far more astute than I am have speculated on the nature of being human, including acting responsibly.  Therefore, I plan to allow them to define my premise as I go forward. 

Let us assume early man was aware he differed with other animals sensing his inferiority physically, but superiority mentally.  Let us assume further that he however felt a spiritual identity and connection with these animals and nature for his survival.  Given this, it seems strange he would look on them as the enemy:  

Every living thing shall be meat for you.  The fear of you and dread of you shall b e upon every beast of the earth.  Into your hands they are delivered.  Have dominion over the earth and subdue it (Genesis, The Bible).

It would seem that we have allowed our minds to override our instinctual wisdom that recognizes we are a part of what we would dominate and subdue, a stratagem for conflict if not disaster.  The conflict takes root in fear and security, as our brains war with our bodies.  The brain desires food and pleasure, comfort and possessions beyond what the body needs.  Want takes precedence over need.  The brain gives the body directions it will not follow, while the body gives the brain impulses it does not understand.  This is the double bind that gets so many people of otherwise solid character problems in personal integrity, security, contentment, anxiety and social inclusion.

SAMUEL WARNER AND GREGORY BATESON

It prompted Samuel Warner to write SELF REALIZATION AND SELF DEFEAT (1966) profiling the war we fight constantly between the adult and child in all our natures.  Gregory Bateson followed this with STEPS TO AN ECOLOGY OF MIND (1972):

A double bind is a situation in which we, as individuals, feel we are receiving contradictory messages from a highly significant person, usually an authority figure, which result in our inconsistent and sometimes disruptive behavior.

This intra war (between brain and body) and inter war (between authority giver and receiver) represent part of the contradiction of our Western origins.

Science in the modern era is attempting to erase this double bind with research into neurobiology, neuropsychology, neurophysiology, and research into the Genome and DNA.  The ape of the animal kingdom is genetically nearly identical to man except for man’s prehensile grip and facile mind.

Indeed, we find animals communicate verbally and nonverbally.  They think.  They sense danger and act intuitively and instinctively. A lioness kills a zebra, and is staking out her kill, only to be surrounded by a pack of hungry hyenas four levels deep.  She assesses the situation and retreats to consider her options before launching a counterattack or moving on.  Her action is predicated on surviving to preserve her pride.  Much of what we know about ourselves has been discovered in studying such behavior.

KONRAD LORENZ

Nobel Laureate Konrad Lorenz (1903 – 1989) studied the animal kingdom all his life, assessing the culture of living systems from amoebae to humans.  In ON AGGRESSION (1963), he traced the physiological mechanism that directs behavior and thought processes, their evolution, function, and malfunction. 

The emphasis of his inquiry was on the development of modern man and his alarming propensity for self-destruction, and destruction of his own kind, as well as his environment.  No system in the animal kingdom with only an instinctive compass in its design operates so irresponsibly.

In CIVILIZED MAN’S EIGHT DEADLY SINS (1973), Lorenz took his observations of all species and applied them to how man adapts to his environment from market economics to the threat of ecological catastrophe. 

The predator-prey phenomenon in ecological systems other than human is a self-sustaining mechanism. It is interdependent between predator-prey and thrives when not obstructed.  On the other hand, humanity is not bound by this mechanism. 

Lorenz saw competition in the human group, typically of Western societies, destroying any chance of competition-cooperation balance.  He writes:

Under the pressure of this competitive fury, we have not only forgotten what is useful to humanity as a whole, but even that which is good and advantageous to the individual.  This is cold and diabolic brutality.

He offers this paradox:

All the advantages that man has gained from his ever-deepening understanding of the natural world that surrounds him, his technological, chemical, and medical progress, all of which should seem to alleviate human suffering tend instead to favor humanity’s destruction.

In BEHIND THE MIRROR (1973), Lorenz wondered philosophically about our psychology.  You will meet others who have pondered the same question.  Do we see and engage the world as it is, or do we perceive it as an illusion of how we think it should be? 

It is the intention of these missives to illustrate the contradictions and speculations, not only of those that seriously ponder this question, but how we as individuals weather constant change doing more right than wrong things to ensure our survival.

We are aware of time.  What is unfortunate is that although we have instincts of animals, the intuitive capacity to sense danger, and the cognitive capacity to make choices that would enhance our survival, we often disregard the signals.  We fly in the face of good sense and do just the opposite of what we know is right and good for us, destroying our health, wealth and relationships often in reckless abandon. Fortunately, it is never too late.  As long as we have the will, the way awaits us.

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