Mass Neurosis
While human nature has, in one way or another, been at the core of human endeavors for centuries, it's only in the last two hundred years or so that we have, arguably, had the privilege and great luxury of actually dedicating ourselves to this complex and surprising endeavour. For much of our history, mankind was primarily concerned with the study and survival of the collective - understandably, the way we function in packs held precedence before seemingly petty matters like the understanding of the self, much as philosophers struggled otherwise.
It was only in times when collective extinction ceased being an immediate concern, when living conditions shifted and dramatically improved, and naturally when science itself had developed to a sufficient extent, that we started looking at what it means to be a person.
According to historians, the study of psychology became "a thing" only in the late 19th century, because suddenly, we could afford to devote good chunks of our time to studying the mind and its many complexities. We went from a life heavy on manual labour to a life where we suddenly could afford to devote hefty portions of time to how we ourselves work. We also saw a transition from "how do we ensure life" to "how do we enrich life", which ultimately led to the study of various psychological afflictions and irregularities.
If we examine our lives closely, we'd be hard-pressed to deny that the 21st-century human is overwhelmingly concerned with the self (perhaps to our own detriment). In the relatively short span of 200 or so years (and far more acceleratedly, the last 40), we've gone from ground zero to a lifestyle that devotes several hours each day to picking apart how we work.
And this without even having something strictly wrong with us!
Indeed, the intense (almost obsessive) focus of the 21st century has become this compulsive, unending race for self-actualization. Suppose a friend tells you they're tracking their sleep, monitoring their calory intake, recording the phases of their cycle, seeing a therapist, practicing mindfulness via some form or another, and reading a book on the complexities of interhuman relationships. In that case, your response is more likely to be "bully for you!", and not "what's wrong with you?".
Even though, for an immense part of our shared history, that would've been the natural response (which isn't to say it would've been the right or healthy response).
One can't help but wonder if it is, perhaps, a bit much. Collectively, we tend to brush off any critique, especially when it comes to our modern self-obsession. For one, it's damn attractive to occupy so much time with ourselves (at least to us). And for another, more reasonably, so much ill and suffering came out of not concerning ourselves with our personal psyche, development and welfare, that it seems obvious the answer lies the opposite way.
And yet, in this (correct, I'd say) reasoning, we forget a crucial truth that underlies the base of good treatment. When dealing with a severely dehydrated or malnourished individual, you don't just pump them with five liters of water or sit them down behind a royal feast.
With good reason, we've developed an approach of "working our way up" to a full treatment, on the belief that this would set up a stronger, more stable basis for long-term development.
I can't help but wonder if, through the rapid development of technology and with it, the swift propagation of information, we're now become those starved patients undergoing acute overload. In the space of few generations, we've gone from "not giving a rat's ass, frankly" about any of these things to now religiously going to therapy, installing varied apps and securing gadgets to track everything going on with us physiologically, emotionally, and psychologically.
As such, it's no wonder we're currently experiencing a state of mass neurosis, with hoards of us being suddenly more depressed and more anxious than ever before.
We are not equipped for this.
Which isn't to say, let's stop. Not by any means. And of course, there's more to our global state of anxiety - we're not made to go from watching assasinations, children amputated by missile strikes, old women being swallowed up by the earth, then going on to laugh at a cutesy meme, all in the space of 15 seconds. Our minds can not handle that, either.
But arguably, on a daily, practical basis, we're more concerned with ourselves, our own development and wellbeing. Why things aren't working, or how we can make them work better. And under this constant assailing of "ways to do life better", it's no wonder we've started malfunctioning.
We receive so much information, on an hourly basis, on how to improve, that the only logical response is a prolonged and accentuated state of complete inadequacy (leading to anxiety, depression and dwindling self-confidence, which only serve to reinforce these feelings, thus creating a terribly dangerous self-affirming loop).
What's the alternative? Understandably, a lot of people are skeptical and refuse to hear arguments against our newfound informational wealth. Rightly so. Nobody but a few disturbed minds is arguing that a return to the caves is preferable. But as the patient coming from a prolonged state of deprivation (at a societal level), we'd be well-advised to find a middle-ground.
A rhythm to slow down.
A Post-It reminder within ourselves that we are, at the end of the day, only just discovering.
Rather than existing in this prolonged state of anxiety and inadequacy at not being able to know or understand everything, we need to take comfort, and even perhaps pride, in the fact that we are learning and understanding more than the people who have gone before us.
And what a tremendous wealth, despite all the terrors that exist on our planet, that we exist in this moment in time.
Such a great post about self-acceptance and awareness. I still use an app that I coded for myself (not published) to track habits, tasks, and reminders. My ADHD has been pretty tough lately, and while I accept it and even appreciate that part of me, I still need tools to stay on top of everyday things so I don’t lose myself in hyperfocus. It really helps, I feel grounded and far from depressed, actually quite the opposite. There’s a kind of universal balance in everything I think. Even in productivity and self-growth.
I'm sorry you're having a hard time, but glad you're feeling the opposite of depression, my friend. :) May I ask why you haven't published the app? It sounds great, and I'm curious. I think there's balance too, but we need to search a bit sometimes to find it. All the more valuable then. Thanks for the repost!
Yeah, figuring ourselves out isn’t always easy, but it’s definitely worth it :)
About the app well, that’s a bit of a saga lol There’s the perfectionism, the shifting goals, me moving over to Linux, other projects I’ve been tinkering with, and of course just… life. But now that gardening season is wrapping up and I’m spending more time on the couch, I’m picking it back up again.
Actually, after your comment (and mine, haha), I finally got the setup running on Linux and started fixing all the little and not-so-little things I’ve run into while using it. It’ll still take some time, and honestly I don’t think I’ll ever put it on iOS or the Android store. The big tech companies make it way too painful. Luckily, there are other ways to share apps on Android, and maybe I’ll even turn it into a web app. We’ll see :) Latest in Alicante I can show you something ^^
that malnourished patient analogy hit hard. as someone who lives by budgets, I think the same applies to sel*f work. if you frontload everything, you end up defintely overdrawn on attention and more anxiety. small steady deposits of rest and simple routines let the improvements compound without my brain trying to run a quarterly audit on every feeling and crashing by lunch :)
Lots of things came to mind as I read this and oddly one was baboons tormenting each other because they basically just have too much time on their hands and nothing better to do with it due to them having enough food abundance not to be constantly occupied with searching for food. If we don't torment others it seems we torment ourselves instead...
An apt descriptions for some people today, alas.
We have great, vast, depths of information, and the more we dive into it, the more we don't know - or at least, that's how I behave. I have to always go deeper and keep asking why like I am indeed a child, a petulant child who wants to know the elementary particles that make up the thing, that make up the thought :)
To even feel pain, I think is a luxury. When I'm on my feet, doing things all day, I feel no pain, but at the end of the day, my body will say hello in the most interesting ways, and that reminds me that I'm alive.
That there's a short time that I will be that way, and that I should definitely make the most of the mundane, and the profound.
!PIMP