Denial (was 'help')
Clive Elwell
Hi Malcolm
Welcome. Good to have you contributing to the group.
Not facing facts seems to be an increasing manifestation in the world. If we need a particular example, the incredible denial of the facts of climate change provides a juicy one. As the scientific evidence mounts to effectively incontestable levels, the scepticism of the 'ordinary man' is growing, as surveys report. In Australia climate scientists are receiving death threats, and are in need of security measures with so much hatred demonstrated against them.
I happened to read yesterday that a 14th century Spanish Sufi, Iban Arabi referred to "our enormous capacity for self-deception", suggesting this trait in human beings is hardly new. I feel that you are right, Malcolm, we are in complete dodo, as so many crises are coming rapidly to a head – environmentally, economically, socially and so on. No need to list them – and the list would be enormous. And as K said, there is really one one crisis – that of human consciousness.
Why don't we act as a species to save ourselves? I have given a lot of consideration to this question, and various answers have come to me. But answers are not action. It came to me this morning that “thought is not action”, and maybe that is the real problem. The old reptilian brain is very good at acting, but only in response to immediate dangers presenting themselves to the senses. That is, the FACT of danger. Then thought cuts out and there is instant ACTION.
But the new brain, the cortex, only thinks about things. It only analyses, deliberates, argues. And as K said, “Analysis is paralysis”.
So what does it mean to face facts? There are the facts of the world 'out there', and the facts of our own consciousness – although some may deny the validity of making such a distinction. As it is the human mind that is in a state of denial, that is refusing to face facts, it seems more fundamental to enquire onto the latter, to investigate why and how our mind somehow ignores or distorts facts about itself.
So what is the state of the mind that is facing the facts of itself? What does it mean to 'face oneself'? Is this a valid question? Or can we only look at the state, the mechanism, of denial – after all, it is denial that is the fact.
These may be questions of Earth-shattering importance.
Looking forward to any response.
Regards
Clive
Dear David, Clive et al.
Wow - what a huge topic - one I am interested in as a psychotherapist
Where to start - if I remember rightly K was fond of distinguishing fact
from truth
If we start from there then
- surely it is a fact that the mind is split from the body - much of the
body goes on doing its thing totally outside of mental awareness
- surely it is a fact that the mind is fragmented - just think about dreams,
slips of the tongue, irrational beliefs & behaviours, the capacity to lie
etc etc
- surely it is a fact that we are psychologically dependent on others - just
think about shared language, culture, relationships, family, child
development etc
Again if I get K rightly he would say we are in deep dodo if we don't face
the facts any only by acknowledgement of the facts there is the possibility
of truth
Kind regards
Malcolm