Thursday, November 16, 2006
On Obsessions
Even though we want to get rid of our harmful obsessions, we hold on to them for certain practical reasons. We woudn't be keeping them if they weren't serving a purpose for us. First of all, an obsession-free future would intimidate us. It would drag us into a realm of unknown and make us scared because we woundn't know what to expect. Instead, we prefer not to change the status quo, because it is what we are accustomed to and we know what is awaiting us. The second thing is getting rid of our obsessions would force us to deal with the real problem: the source of the obsession itself. In a sense, it would make us start living again because it would make us question our beliefs, feel our feelings, stop procrastinating and do what we need to do. Obsessions are self constructed veils that curtain our problems. We hold on to them because they make us feel safe and protect us from the "real world". Step one to becoming a more conscious individual is to recognize this fact.
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6 comments:
very true - that obsessions serve as distractions from the more important questions. it takes a great deal of force to pull out the roots of our deepest beliefs. this must have been a good thing back when people weren't so confused. but now, there is this illusion that whatever you happen to be attracted to will give meaning to your life, thus you are protected from having to question what you believe is meaningful. on the other hand, you are faced with continuous frustration because you are, on some level, aware that your new ipod, car, job, hairdo, favorite tv show, whatever, doesn't *actually* give you the meaning you wanted from it.
i guess you meant a different kind of "obsession" but i think it comes down to the same thing.
it baffles me completely. why do people just jump at anything? just absorb anything like a sponge? in evolutionary terms, i guess we could say their search for meaning has never been attacked and exploited in this way before, so they haven't developed any defense mechanisms. it still seems like there's something more to it, though.
It's true that by obsession I mean a different thing but it's also true that it all comes down to the same thing. I guess what makes an obsession “an obsession” is the false belief that having *something* will finally make you happy and fix everything in your life. The desperate urge to be defining yourself by what you own (or by anything else for that matter) is another obsession in itself. Most people are caught in this trap.
Your evolutionary theory on finding meaning in life is very interesting. I think that people’s defense mechanisms are busy defending the wrong thing, (i.e. “the ego”) and that’s what causes most suffering. Looking at people’s behavior through the “survival of the fittest” perspective, we all are conditioned to believe in completely distorted understandings of the term “fittest” by the society. They’re in the signals that we get from our surroundings everyday. Those few who know enough to not adhere to the mainstream values can feel alienated from the rest of society and become frustrated at other people’s ignorance. (Guess who I’m talking about here :Pp)
"They were such seriously futile people that she found herself wanting to cry out against their ready-made justifications for pointless lives."
-Lady Jessica/Frank Herbert, Children of Dune
I love your quote!! Maybe I should start reading the series in addition to all the other hundreds of books that I have bought and haven't started reading yet.
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