Scrolling down our various social media profiles may give us the impression that everyone that we know is having the time of their lives 24/7. Glowing smiles of newly formed relationships, exotic foods, sculpted flawless bodies all exemplify the perfection that they have achieved. One puts down their phone and is immediately filled with a sense of unease, envy and a punctured self-esteem. All this is compounded by the fact that the digital world has made it possible to constantly compare our day to day lives with almost anyone around the globe.
We then ask ourselves, why can’t my life be as exciting and glamorous as the celebrities, influencers or friends that I see on Instagram?
Of course, we know that their carefully constructed profiles are just a façade, yet we struggle to remember this. We fail to take a broader more nuanced perspective. While we are exposed to the good and positive aspects of their lives, we are excluded from peering into their difficulties, struggles and hardships – the things which ultimately make us humans.
Our societies obsessions with positivity and happiness at all costs can conceal some of the fundamental truths about the human condition. Regardless of who we are or where we are born, we are all imperfect creatures. Life can be confusing at times, and difficult to navigate. Each of us has our unique set of defects.
This is not an exception, rather it is perfectly normal.
In the past, this idea was communicated to us in various religious traditions. Buddhism pointed out that life is suffering or unsatisfactory (translated as “Dukkha”). That is, we are never quite content with what we have, and are always craving for more. An endless cycle of ever-increasing desires. Further, Christianity’s notion of ‘original sin’ illustrates the flawed nature of the human being. Even if one does not subscribe to the metaphysical ideas of these doctrines, we can still nonetheless appreciate the fact that we will inevitably all go through periods of uncertainty, vulnerability and fragility throughout our lives. After all, no one promised us a rose garden.
Of course, positivity is a wonderful thing. My point is however that continually denying or suppressing our authentic and genuine emotions can only throw fire on the flames down the road. Positivity can become ‘toxic’ when we rigorously try to maintain an excessive ‘happy’ or optimistic attitude in all situations, regardless of the circumstances. We put on a mask to hide what we are really feeling, and who we really are.
Instead, it can be helpful to welcome these difficult emotions with a sense of acceptance, charity and curiosity. They can be a sign that some element in our lives is out of balance. It is a call towards greater introspection, self-knowledge and insight. It may indeed feel uncomfortable to explore these unchartered territories of our inner selves, but addressing these problems directly will allow us to avoid them escalating in the future. Moreover, denying or minimizing our emotions may only lead to increased stress and poor mental and physical health. Rather, we should aim to cultivate compassion for ourselves.
Perhaps we will never live the fabricated lives of the celebrities we see on magazines. This is OK. There is great beauty in embracing the wholeness of being alive. We can put down the veil of perfectionism and embrace the complexities, challenges and doubts we all face. This requires a degree of vulnerability and acceptance of our imperfections.
By being honest with ourselves we can truly begin the inner work of putting the pieces back together – one step at a time.
We cannot change anything unless we accept it
Carl Jung
This post was originally published on the Pointless Overthinking Blog
Scrolling down our various social media profiles may give us the impression that everyone that we know is having the time of their lives 24/7. Glowing smiles of newly formed relationships, exotic foods, sculpted flawless bodies all exemplify the perfection that they have achieved. One puts down their phone and is immediately filled with a sense of unease, envy and a punctured self-esteem. All this is compounded by the fact that the digital world has made it possible to constantly compare our day to day lives with almost anyone around the globe.
We then ask ourselves, why can’t my life be as exciting and glamorous as the celebrities, influencers or friends that I see on Instagram?
Of course, we know that their carefully constructed profiles are just a façade, yet we struggle to remember this. We fail to take a broader more nuanced perspective. While we are exposed to the…
How can we make sense of it all – the cynicism, arrogance and perpetual noise that is becoming ever more pervasive in our culture.
We live in strange times. Despite have access to almost unlimited information at our fingertips, we remain confused and overwhelmed.
Who am I to believe?
Who am I to trust?
The increasing sophistication of technology becomes anxiety inducing without the insight on how to use it to live well or enhance our wellbeing.
It is like we are drowning in a sea of facts without ability to know what is really important. These problems of discernment and sound judgement stem from the failure of our culture to adequately differentiate between knowledge and wisdom.
Although these two terms seem similar at first glance, it would be a mistake to conflate them.
Knowledge: Technical Know-How
Knowledge refers to one’s understanding and mastery over a subject and a certain set of facts. This can be acquired in school, training or other forms of education. Someone who is knowledgeable in a particular field has acquired a specific set of skills and has the capability of coming to conclusions about a given subject area.
However, just because an individual has acquired mastery over these facts doesn’t imply that they are able to make wise judgements about how to use them. We all know examples of those who have a high degree of intelligence but no basic ‘common sense.’ This often leaves us baffled or scratching our heads. Furthermore, intelligence says nothing about one’s ethical or moral foundations. Someone who is a brilliant student can lack kindness and compassion.
Scientific knowledge and technological advancements have given us modern humans great power and control over the natural world. However, without the wisdom to accompany them, these advances have been used towards destructive ends. Building nuclear weapons, addicting consumers through digital media and expediting environmental destruction are all consequences of using technology to satisfy self-centered and egotistical goals.
Wisdom: Perspective, Character and Judgement
Wisdom is more than the acquisition of merely technical skills. It involves using perspective and discernment to apply one’s unique skills in specific circumstances. Moreover, it requires one to acquire virtues working towards mastering the art of living. Wisdom can’t be learned in textbooks but rather by actively participating and engaging in the world. That is to say it must be embodied in one’s character and disposition.
Through experimentation, experience and trial and error one is able to learn from their mistakes and strive to be in the right relationship to both themselves and others. Wisdom enables us to cut through alienation, self-deception and enhance our connectedness to the world around us.
The Long and Winding Road
So how do we attain wisdom?
This has long been the role of religions and spiritual traditions. Religious figures such as Jesus, Confucius or the Buddha etc. were exemplars who an individual could aspire to in search for truth, beauty and goodness.
In a secular society however, I think the humanities and liberal arts (i.e., literature, history, philosophy) can offer a means to contemplate the big moral and ethical questions of our time. These subjects provide insight into different ideas, cultures and perspectives offering the learner to consider what it is like to ‘be in someone else’s shoes.’ They provide collective insights into what it means to be human both in the past, and in our current day and age. The humanities also enable us to look at the prevailing social norms and customs of our society with a critical lens. Honest and respectful discussion about the values can inspire empathy, understanding and greater co-operation.
Not all problems are technical in nature. Solutions to complex problems often require shifts in our perspectives or value structures, namely changes in how we see the world. This means that we cannot rely only on scientific advancements for the pressing global issues we face but also need shared wisdom and distributed sense making.
The path towards wisdom varies from person to person. It can not be bought or learned through persuasive yet deceptive self-help gurus. Not every answer to our questions can be found on Google.
In previous posts in this series, I looked at how interconnected we all are in a single global ecosystem. As noted by the philosopher Aristotle, humans are ‘social animals’ who exist and thrive in communities. We have the ability to devise sophisticated institutions enabling us to co-operate with others across cultures and borders.
We can see how interwoven our lives all are through the complex interdependencies in our economies, societies and in the natural environment. As humans, we exist in broader networks and are involved in systems and feedback loops at the local, national and global level. Further, we are immersed in interdependent and reciprocal relationships with the outside world as we both shape and are shaped by our external environment.
In this article I will look at philosophies and spiritual exercises which can expand one’s perspective helping us go beyond our narrow self-interest and embody a cosmopolitan worldview.
Stoic Ethics:Oikeiōsis
The Stoics developed a system of ethics based on two key premises deduced from human behavior:
Humans have the capacity for reason through our ability for critical thinking and self-reflection. We can plan for the future and can think abstractly, devising systems of thought which stretch beyond our immediate sensory experience.
In comparison to other species, we are highly social creatures who depend on mutual co-operation and assistance from others to survive. This is especially true as newborns – think of how dependent we are on our mothers\caregivers for our growth and survival. Some unique features of humans separating us from other animals include the development of language, culture and the division of labor, all pointing towards our inclination towards social living.
The concept of oikeiōsis, which roughly translates to ‘appropriation’ or ‘familiarization’, is the idea of gradually treating the concerns of others as our own. The Stoics notion of ethical development, was based upon using our capacity of reason to continually expand our care towards more and more people.
The Circles of Hierocles
The second century Stoic Hierocles put forth a model which links human development and our capacity for reason with ethical development and expanding circles of care.
Starting as infants, we are highly instinctual and therefore our self-interest is limited towards our own self-preservation. However, as we grow and develop as children, our oikeiōsis expands towards our family and caregivers with the realization that our wellbeing is tied to theirs.
Hierocles develops this logic to gradually empathizing and sympathizing with more distant individuals including our community, fellow citizens and eventually humanity as a whole.
Philosopher Massimo Pigliucci further explains how reason enables us to expand our circles of concern in his blog Figs in Winter,
When we reach the age of reason, around 7 to 8 years old, and continuously thereafter, we begin to apply our reflective thinking to further extend the process, realizing that other people, who are not related or otherwise close to us, are essentially like us, with similar wants, needs, worries, and so forth. The wise person, extrapolating the process of oikeiôsis to its logical outer limit, would then feel “at home” not just with relatives, friends, and fellow townspeople, but with humanity at large.
In breaking down the barriers of identity and finding commonality with others, the Stoics align themselves with the famous sentiment expressed by Socrates who claimed to be a ‘a citizen of the world’.
Buddhism: Mettā Meditation
One may object to the idea of cosmopolitanism stating that humans are also inherently tribal and favor the well-being of our tribe or culture at the expense of those who are different from us. As Jonathan Haidt notes, our moral systems both ‘bind and blind.’
Although I don’t disagree with Haidt, I do think nonetheless we can overcome our tribalistic tendencies and move towards greater altruism through continual spiritual practice.
The Buddhist exercise of mettā meditation (loving kindness), which aligns closely with the Stoic concept of oikeiosis, is something that can be put into practice to increase our capacity for altruism. The practice begins with the meditator visualizing someone close to them and repeating a mantra to wish the person in their mind’s eye safety, security and happiness. The meditator then repeats this process as they continue repeating the mantra extending their sympathies to someone they think of as ‘neutral’ and then eventually someone who they have a hostile relationship with.
The goal of mettā meditation is for one to see the common humanity in everyone, regardless of our relationship to another. This has similarities with the golden rule found in so many religious/spiritual traditions of ‘treating others how we would like to be treated.’ This of course is difficult, especially with those who we think of as our enemies. However, like anything worthwhile, it requires repetition as we will gradually see positive results.[1]
The Pale Blue Dot
In the final analysis, all of us humans occupy one planet – a tiny blue marble orbiting the sun in a vast cosmos. We are finite mortal beings who one day will all meet our end. The petty concerns that ruminate in our minds throughout the day are likely trivial.
So in the short time that we do have here, is it really productive to cling onto self-righteousness, anger or resentment?
It may be difficult to let go and see others as ourselves, but in our highly interconnected global community, it is definitely worth a try.
I live my life in widening circles that reach out across the world. I may not complete this last one but I give myself to it.
A Life of Virtue: Philosophy as a Way of Life 