The absurdity and heroic tragedy of human existence consists in the fact that all the fundamental aspirations that the universe has generously endowed us with are supplied complete with insurmountable obstacles to their realization. A person is born into the world with sticks in wheels, soldered there by Mother Nature herself - from his very first breath he is an irreparable contradiction both within himself and with the world around him, therefore he always travels forward with great difficulty and creak. We want to satisfy the hunger of desire, but desire is endless; longing for happiness - and created by the machines of suffering; reaching for meaning - our fingers grab the air with our hands. We need truth - there is none; striving for freedom - we come across an awareness of all-round dependence. We try to break out of our own loneliness and gain understanding - in vain. Finally,we want to become better - and we discover how difficult it is to take every step forward, if at all.
In addition to the colossal internal obstacles on the path to happiness and self-realization, the entire bulk of the sociocultural environment that contains us is rebelling against the highest interests of the individual. This happens not at all because of someone's ill will or a villainous conspiracy, but due to the simple fact that she herself and all her constituent parts are systems of power that realize their own interests and are built, moreover, on a set of ancient delusions. The economic subsystem wants to use us as consumers and producers, it does not and cannot be concerned with the individual. A happy and creatively independent personality is destructive for the economy - such people buy little and are not ready to work so much for Big Brother. The political subsystem, in turn, sees us as instruments of the struggle for power,and in the sphere of culture and ideology (only outwardly different from politics) there is a constant struggle for control over the worldview, for who is the first to install this or that algorithm in us and remove competitors' software. It is obvious that the true interests of the individual are not only not the goals of both society and the individuals who make it up, but usually directly contradict them.
At the intersection of external and internal obstacles, three illusions arise, three appearances, the maintenance of which restrains our movement forward. Deconstruction of each of them is a key step towards their possible overcoming.
Ontological appearance
External forces, by their inalienable nature, seek to subdue a person and prevent him from coming true, not allow him to be, since this is incompatible with the role of a tool necessary for the embodiment of their interests. To this end, a set of parasitic ideas and instructions is installed in the place where a personality could be born - what can be called the priority of external determination is formed. Human behavior is determined by the values, ideas and patterns of behavior loaded into him and uncritically learned. He spends his life realizing the programs of the parasites planted in him and serving their interests, and not his own, becomes a donor body, controlled by them, without even noticing it. A person infected with ideological viruses does not exist for real, but only conditionally, he is a powerless product of tradition, religion, public opinion and conventions,state, market, dictator - any external influences. It is an optical illusion, a hologram, that is, a three-dimensional projection of an alien beginning. It only seems as if he is - in fact, he is the essence of a tautology.
It is important to understand that the manipulations described here are in no way limited to the actions of the big players in the political, economic and cultural arena. Most of them are absorbed by us almost from birth; such are all the basic axioms of our civilization - belief in "I", freedom, meaning, truth, happiness as the natural state of the individual; the same are the key values - life, social success and status, approval and respect, consumption for show, material well-being, family. Finally, even in communicating with an individual, we can constantly notice attempts to plant certain ideas in us, to evoke certain feelings and actions - these are all the same efforts to install programs that are beneficial to someone, no matter how small and innocent they may be at times.
Man sincerely considers the concepts, habits and algorithms that fill his being as his own, since he has internalized them. Being in a dream, he is not aware that he is sleeping, and his own slavery is unknown to him. The modern world differs from the civilizations of the past in that in its cunning it is making more and more efforts in order to hide from people the fact of their dependence and subordination, thereby minimizing the likelihood of rebellion. It is no coincidence that the presidents and those in power of the modern era, unlike the kings and satraps of the traditional world, kiss children and dogs so sweetly on cameras and hire entire states of political strategists to demonstrate their closeness to the people. For the same reason, the main exploiters and bosses of multinational corporations amicably slap their subordinates on the shoulder and joke with them, and the client is always right.
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The only way for a person to be, and not to seem, is to move the point of predominant determination inward and independently determine the paths of his life, based on sober knowledge of the conditions of his own happiness and growth. For this, he must be capable of deconstruction and creative rethinking of ideological constructs that fill his inner and outer world equally.
Social appearance
"What would be your happiness, the sun, if you did not have those to whom you shine!" - said Nietzsche through the mouth of Zarathustra. And who, if not us, people, understand the great heavenly body, because an ordinary person, being a holographic illusion created by the environment, constantly creates mirages and tries to put dust in the eyes of his neighbors. This is not surprising, because the pursuit of approval is one of the basic instincts, it is justified both evolutionarily and pragmatically. Our image, reflected from benevolent prying eyes, returns back exalted, gives a pleasant feeling of an increase in strength and, as if irrefutably proves that we are successful and on the right path. Social approval is the simplest and at the same time the most powerful vector for realizing the will to power, the strongest drug that gives euphoria. All social maneuvers, whether the individual is conscious or not,represent different ways to influence the image of ourselves that others have, in other words, the essence of the form of posturing and drawing. Some are carried out with taste, others are absurd and awkward, some work for a mass audience, and others for a select few or even for one person. Be that as it may, they are all in one way or another subordinated to the task of making a positive impression.
Like any drug, the craving for approval in the case of abuse - and this is universally, though hotly denied - has disastrous consequences. Thirsty to sparkle in the eyes of others, hungry for fame, respect and love adapts his existence to the current market demand. He internalizes the market dynamics of supply and demand and changes his being, values, attitudes and lifestyle in accordance with what, in his opinion, guarantees success in the public space. Once again, the center of determination is shifted outward and life is subject to the changeable opinion of others, the jumping exchange rate of currencies, fashion, tastes, views - forces that are alien and usually hostile to our higher interests.
The comedy, which has to be broken every day in front of oneself and others in order to persuade the brain to inject another sweet drug dose, not only closes the path to the realization of the potential of the individual, but also covers the person and all his interactions with a deceitful, cheap plastic shell that prevents genuine contact with others, sober vision of yourself and the world. The main expression of the search for social approval is consumption for show, which act is perceived by a person as personal achievement, proof of social, material and even intellectual success. Everything is exposed to demonstrative consumption: one's own and someone else's body, geographical locations, lifestyle, views, books, education, friends and acquaintances, events, experiences, emotions - and, of course, the most obvious thing, things, especially luxury goods, depending on Togo,that the individual appears to be. At the same time, a person who flaunts his healthy lifestyle, vegan diet, progressive views, culture and erudition acts on the basis of the same instinct as people in gold chains on hummers. The dominance of people who do not just strive to seem like someone, but who do it tastelessly, is the main theme that runs like a red thread through Salinger's Catcher in the Rye, a book about the collision of a young and clear consciousness with the world of falseness, “linden”, social appearance:running like a red thread through Salinger's Catcher in the Rye, a book about the clash of a young and lucid mind with the world of falseness, lime-tree, social appearance:running like a red thread through Salinger's Catcher in the Rye, a book about the clash of a young and lucid mind with the world of falseness, lime-tree, social appearance:
A person with a priority of external determination loses the opportunity to be himself, becomes a holographic projection of market forces, internalized ideas about what is necessary in order to enjoy success and approval. There is no need, however, to try to give up the need for social approval. All that we achieve along this path is self-deception that we have succeeded. The secret, as with almost everything in life, is choosing forms and dosages, as well as understanding who's approval really means something. The trick used by the most radical and independent representatives of the human world is to find satisfaction in the gaze of an imaginary “Other”, whose image often concealed already dead, not yet born or never met “understanding people”. The supreme judgment of the “understanding Other” is by its nature an objectification of our own ideals, we deceive our unconscious, satisfying the need for social approval, in reality receiving only our own.
It was in front of such an invisible public, who embodied their own higher self, that all the greats did. Their inner foresight and creative independence did not allow them to be guided by the opinion of the environment, the laws of the market. Despite the misunderstanding and rejection of their work, they did not give up on themselves, did not adapt it to the existing demand, and took comfort in the constructed approval of the “understanding Other”. It is not at all necessary and perhaps even undesirable to follow their path, we should not expect to give up the urge to impress other people, the inalienable need to appear as something that we are not. It's impossible. What is realizable, however, is to see her soberly and not to be led by her to the detriment of her higher interests, which is happening everywhere.
Psychological appearance
The human world would be direct, honest and bright if lies and mirages reigned only outside, but their main abode is always in ourselves. Instinctively accustomed to leading others by the nose, we have achieved unsurpassed mastery in the art of self-deception in order to hide under its veil from the bitter truths, from the shortcomings and problems with which we will have to force ourselves to fight once they truly come to light. Lacking the courage to take a sober look at ourselves, at the true sources of our desires, reactions and decisions, we shyly turn our eyes away and hide the truth behind the shell of embellishing stories and narratives that provide shaky psychological comfort.
So, “evil”, no matter how conventional this concept is, always carries on its flags the symbols of the highest good and justice. The bloodiest wars, massacres and persecutions in human history were presented and seen by their performers as a struggle for a just cause, righteous anger and a step towards a brighter future. Sadism and masochism, laziness, weakness, cowardice and depravity - they all find reliable rhetorical excuses for themselves, all are attributed to unfavorable external circumstances, the phase of the moon or a difficult childhood, to fictitious concern for someone's good or one of hundreds of other reasons. Intellectual posturing and a thirst for approval dress up with a love of truth, knowledge and culture. The desire to feel their own importance and bask in the rays of public recognition is put on the robes of compassion and charity. A wild and unquenchable thirst for power and sadistic control, pushing many people into politics and law enforcement - to care for the public good. And if these were only false facades exposed outside, but no, almost always the carriers of such fictions are piously convinced of their truth themselves and are interested in maintaining the illusion that justifies them. Should the artificial scenery suddenly collapse, they would have to comprehend their existence anew, endure the agony of uncertainty and transformation, change its usual and pleasant move, for which there are no more defensive rationalizations.almost always, carriers of such fictions are piously convinced of their truth themselves and are interested in maintaining the illusion that justifies them. Should the artificial scenery suddenly collapse, they would have to comprehend their existence anew, endure the agony of uncertainty and transformation, change its usual and pleasant move, for which there are no more defensive rationalizations.almost always, carriers of such fictions are piously convinced of their truth themselves and are interested in maintaining the illusion that justifies them. Should the artificial scenery suddenly collapse, they would have to comprehend their existence anew, endure the agony of uncertainty and transformation, change its usual and pleasant move, for which there are no more defensive rationalizations.
Countless and varied forms of self-deception, and his power is ubiquitous, and although he saves a person from himself, from the initial pain of inner freedom and the shock of sobriety, this is achieved at a great cost. First of all, the lie that we tell ourselves, just like the lie that we perceive from the outside, is a form of external determination. Chimerical constructions that are alien to us and to our higher interests begin to govern our behavior, hindering our growth and true happiness and opening us to new manipulations. Of course, an individual bewitched by himself or by outside forces can live his life quite tolerably, and in some cases even with great pleasure. Happiness is, however, dependent on flimsy fictitious structures or external forces, insipid, shaky and impartial, like a state of eternal intoxication. Finally,from the time of Freud and Jung to the present day, all schools of psychotherapy and psychoanalysis, no matter how enormous the differences between them, have come in their centennial practice to an undeniable conclusion: man's blindness in relation to himself, refusal to soberly see the forces driving him and their specific mechanics is the root cause of neuroses and the main factor that interferes with the formation of the personality and its creative realization.
Always, when we build our life on external determination, in orientation to criteria alien to it, we subordinate it to the grounds that contradict the highest possibilities of our life. The first illusion, ontological, is an unformed individual himself, who exists only conditionally, but in fact represents the bearer of the ideological codes of the surrounding environment. The second illusion, social, arises from the mirages that we create in search of approval and attempts to impress our neighbors, so that life is dependent on market demand and other people's expectations. The third and final frontier lies within our being and is woven from lies with which we entangle ourselves in order to avoid collision with truths that seem bitter and uncomfortable to us, to evade creative discomfort and struggle with ourselves. Only the active overcoming of these illusions and the self-knowledge and self-creation accompanied by it really opens the way forward.
© Oleg Tsendrovsky