foolish heart
New member
- Joined
- Dec 26, 2008
- Messages
- 470
- MBTI Type
- ISTP
I'm hoping this gigantic wall-o-text is not so intimidating that it deters you from reading! 
This is a very wide-spanning idea so I will try my best to explain, please be patient with my limited vocabulary and word selection. What I would like is feedback, what relevance it has to you personal or impersonally, rational or emotional... I encourage everyone to contribute your thoughts and feelings on the subject.
It starts with self-actualization. Anything a person does involves a motive that is somehow linked to what they believe will be self-actualizing. When a person commits a crime, motive is a big question... with theft, this is never difficult because the motive almost always boils down to tangible gain, and rarely would something personal like a grudge need to be considered. The reasons for murder are more complex, more often personal. The motive for rape is the intangible but very personal self-pleasure. Regardless, crimes are all forms of self-actualization that take a short-cut from society's typical, fair means of attaining the same outcome.
Short-cuts allow us to get what we want more easily. We'd take a shortcut when traveling to save time, for instance. It follows that the motive for taking a shortcut is a perceived lack of resources. Animals essentially commit rape to reproduce, and homeless people beg for money instead of working for it, it's no surprise we often treat humanity's lowlife like animals. A rich man never needs to steal and a man who has lots of consensual sex never needs to rape. This means, the extent one will go to self-actualize depends on the [perceived] need to do so.
Sex is, in my observation, the greatest motivator for humans because it's something we'd forsake all rationale to attain. Put it in the context of self-actualization and it's easy to see why--if self-actualization is the perpetuation of you, creating offspring with the most attractive mate is a means that will surpass even your own death making it an ultimate form of self-actualization. No wonder it feels so good to have sex and see your baby be born, considering the value in terms of self-actualization and evolution!
God, spirituality or religion, is a topic that almost always disseminate into argument. But why is that, considering spirituality is a matter of hypothetical cosmic matters that don't play into our decision making process? Why are people so passionate about their children (creating and raising life)? Why is "The Sims" such a popular game? Why do surgeons, placing their hands inside a human body and preserving life often get a "God complex"? God, or in our case playing God, is the ultimate state of self-actualization. Depending on your perceived needs, we all strive to ourselves become God in a way. Near "god-like" power on earth through money and politics, "god-like" status through popularity and praise, self-satisfaction and self-perpetuation through sex appeal and sexual conquest, or what I've seen a lot on this forum, omniscience (NTs I'm looking at you!) often as a means to all the previous ends. The concept of "God" is universal and infinite in every sense, so there are far more manifestations, these are just some of the most common. They are all manifestations of the same human desire.
If you're still following, I hope you're starting to grasp how deeply ingrained self-actualization is into the human psyche and, if you were like me, wondering more about the concept of self-actualization itself. The process of self-actualization begins with wanting. In order to attain something you don't already have, unless it is given to you by sheer chance you will first have to want it then earn/achieve it. To earn/achieve you will have to focus on your goal to some degree. The way people on motorcycles run into obstructions in the road is by first fixing their eyes on it... the head then aligns with the eyes, the spine and shoulders with the head, followed by the rest of the body and the bike itself since it is affected by how you lean. In larger spans of time, the fixation is not made visually but by the human creative imagination. "The Secret" and all sorts of self-help psychobabble are all founded on this same simple concept of target fixation.
Have you ever met someone who was "happy go lucky", who, despite everything going wrong around them and in their life still retained a seemingly unshakable sense of joy? Ever find yourself envious of people who can enjoy the simplest pleasures? I know I have. The idea behind their behavior is that they appreciate what they already have no matter how far away that is from a state of ultimate self-actualization/godliness. You might call them stupid or foolish for what might seem like a lack of ambition relative to your own, but if you subscribe to the thinking that being realistic is a matter of seeing what is ("it is what it is"), then these people are the least idealistic because they are target-fixated on what already is--and as it pertains to them, what they already have.
Consider for a moment your own consciousness. Everything you know and everything that is important to you branches from your conscious experience. If that is all that matters, then why are we all concerned with achievements conditional of society values rather than appeasing our subjective consciousness? Wouldn't a poor nobody who lives a life of complete happiness be better off than someone who is miserable but has it all? The answer is naivety, our ignorant consciousness placed in and so very often swept away by the power of suggestion, and believing that attaining as much of the limited resource that everyone else around us also wants is the key to happiness.
This thinking, although wildly prevalent, is a deception. Just like a conman succeeds by distracting their target from what is truly valuable so that they might themselves take it, humanity is distracted by self-actualization. It is the moment that we turn away from reality, what is, what we already have to target-fixate on what we believe we want that we lose control of the only thing we can control (ourselves) at the mercy of everything we can't (ability to self-actualize which is contingent mostly on factors we cant control). The most powerful and capable struggle with this the most because they have the easiest access and thus temptation to target-fixate on wanting something more than that. True happiness is as simple as resisting the temptation to turn away from what already is in order to gain more, and ironically this attitude of greed is what leads to neglect and loss, while appreciation thereof leads to multiplication of what already is because it capitalizes the best on the natures by which the present reality were created.
My personal take on all of this seems to suggest strongly that the concepts of human behavior development are explained in Biblical Genesis depiction of Adam, Eve, and original sin... the demonstration of human nature, ignorance and deception are the most resilient foundation for every other human behavior Ive seen to date, metaphorical or not. Of course, Genesis itself could be an explanation formed in self-actualization if it weren't for the fact that it effectively disables the tree of self-actualizing behaviors if it is not twisted or misinterpreted. I believe this is rejected due to a (very understandable) negative reaction to the deep hypocrisy in which it is presented, ala "There is no one righteous, not even one." (Romans 3:10). Personally, I think the spiritual realm transcends the tangible, human (thus, flawed) interpretations of it (including my own, of course) meaning so many of our concrete preconceptions of God and Satan, "good vs evil", up and down positive and negative, etc. should be considered illegitimate unless compared contextually across it's implied subject (humanity) as a whole and found to be fitting to the same degree of accuracy used in the scientific method. Anything so complex as the human dynamic is nearly impossible to understand (especially from a subjective perspective, being humans ourselves) but this is what I've been long considering since I was old enough to watch people and attempted to explain here.
Naturally, any human perspective on the subject thereof is highly valuable, so please contribute! Also, I ask that you do your best to keep it respectful since this is a volatile subject... the human condition applies to all of us and conflict only reflects ignorance of it.
This is a very wide-spanning idea so I will try my best to explain, please be patient with my limited vocabulary and word selection. What I would like is feedback, what relevance it has to you personal or impersonally, rational or emotional... I encourage everyone to contribute your thoughts and feelings on the subject.
It starts with self-actualization. Anything a person does involves a motive that is somehow linked to what they believe will be self-actualizing. When a person commits a crime, motive is a big question... with theft, this is never difficult because the motive almost always boils down to tangible gain, and rarely would something personal like a grudge need to be considered. The reasons for murder are more complex, more often personal. The motive for rape is the intangible but very personal self-pleasure. Regardless, crimes are all forms of self-actualization that take a short-cut from society's typical, fair means of attaining the same outcome.
Short-cuts allow us to get what we want more easily. We'd take a shortcut when traveling to save time, for instance. It follows that the motive for taking a shortcut is a perceived lack of resources. Animals essentially commit rape to reproduce, and homeless people beg for money instead of working for it, it's no surprise we often treat humanity's lowlife like animals. A rich man never needs to steal and a man who has lots of consensual sex never needs to rape. This means, the extent one will go to self-actualize depends on the [perceived] need to do so.
Sex is, in my observation, the greatest motivator for humans because it's something we'd forsake all rationale to attain. Put it in the context of self-actualization and it's easy to see why--if self-actualization is the perpetuation of you, creating offspring with the most attractive mate is a means that will surpass even your own death making it an ultimate form of self-actualization. No wonder it feels so good to have sex and see your baby be born, considering the value in terms of self-actualization and evolution!
God, spirituality or religion, is a topic that almost always disseminate into argument. But why is that, considering spirituality is a matter of hypothetical cosmic matters that don't play into our decision making process? Why are people so passionate about their children (creating and raising life)? Why is "The Sims" such a popular game? Why do surgeons, placing their hands inside a human body and preserving life often get a "God complex"? God, or in our case playing God, is the ultimate state of self-actualization. Depending on your perceived needs, we all strive to ourselves become God in a way. Near "god-like" power on earth through money and politics, "god-like" status through popularity and praise, self-satisfaction and self-perpetuation through sex appeal and sexual conquest, or what I've seen a lot on this forum, omniscience (NTs I'm looking at you!) often as a means to all the previous ends. The concept of "God" is universal and infinite in every sense, so there are far more manifestations, these are just some of the most common. They are all manifestations of the same human desire.
If you're still following, I hope you're starting to grasp how deeply ingrained self-actualization is into the human psyche and, if you were like me, wondering more about the concept of self-actualization itself. The process of self-actualization begins with wanting. In order to attain something you don't already have, unless it is given to you by sheer chance you will first have to want it then earn/achieve it. To earn/achieve you will have to focus on your goal to some degree. The way people on motorcycles run into obstructions in the road is by first fixing their eyes on it... the head then aligns with the eyes, the spine and shoulders with the head, followed by the rest of the body and the bike itself since it is affected by how you lean. In larger spans of time, the fixation is not made visually but by the human creative imagination. "The Secret" and all sorts of self-help psychobabble are all founded on this same simple concept of target fixation.
Have you ever met someone who was "happy go lucky", who, despite everything going wrong around them and in their life still retained a seemingly unshakable sense of joy? Ever find yourself envious of people who can enjoy the simplest pleasures? I know I have. The idea behind their behavior is that they appreciate what they already have no matter how far away that is from a state of ultimate self-actualization/godliness. You might call them stupid or foolish for what might seem like a lack of ambition relative to your own, but if you subscribe to the thinking that being realistic is a matter of seeing what is ("it is what it is"), then these people are the least idealistic because they are target-fixated on what already is--and as it pertains to them, what they already have.
Consider for a moment your own consciousness. Everything you know and everything that is important to you branches from your conscious experience. If that is all that matters, then why are we all concerned with achievements conditional of society values rather than appeasing our subjective consciousness? Wouldn't a poor nobody who lives a life of complete happiness be better off than someone who is miserable but has it all? The answer is naivety, our ignorant consciousness placed in and so very often swept away by the power of suggestion, and believing that attaining as much of the limited resource that everyone else around us also wants is the key to happiness.
This thinking, although wildly prevalent, is a deception. Just like a conman succeeds by distracting their target from what is truly valuable so that they might themselves take it, humanity is distracted by self-actualization. It is the moment that we turn away from reality, what is, what we already have to target-fixate on what we believe we want that we lose control of the only thing we can control (ourselves) at the mercy of everything we can't (ability to self-actualize which is contingent mostly on factors we cant control). The most powerful and capable struggle with this the most because they have the easiest access and thus temptation to target-fixate on wanting something more than that. True happiness is as simple as resisting the temptation to turn away from what already is in order to gain more, and ironically this attitude of greed is what leads to neglect and loss, while appreciation thereof leads to multiplication of what already is because it capitalizes the best on the natures by which the present reality were created.
My personal take on all of this seems to suggest strongly that the concepts of human behavior development are explained in Biblical Genesis depiction of Adam, Eve, and original sin... the demonstration of human nature, ignorance and deception are the most resilient foundation for every other human behavior Ive seen to date, metaphorical or not. Of course, Genesis itself could be an explanation formed in self-actualization if it weren't for the fact that it effectively disables the tree of self-actualizing behaviors if it is not twisted or misinterpreted. I believe this is rejected due to a (very understandable) negative reaction to the deep hypocrisy in which it is presented, ala "There is no one righteous, not even one." (Romans 3:10). Personally, I think the spiritual realm transcends the tangible, human (thus, flawed) interpretations of it (including my own, of course) meaning so many of our concrete preconceptions of God and Satan, "good vs evil", up and down positive and negative, etc. should be considered illegitimate unless compared contextually across it's implied subject (humanity) as a whole and found to be fitting to the same degree of accuracy used in the scientific method. Anything so complex as the human dynamic is nearly impossible to understand (especially from a subjective perspective, being humans ourselves) but this is what I've been long considering since I was old enough to watch people and attempted to explain here.
Naturally, any human perspective on the subject thereof is highly valuable, so please contribute! Also, I ask that you do your best to keep it respectful since this is a volatile subject... the human condition applies to all of us and conflict only reflects ignorance of it.
