Maturing Infant Becomes a Captive of Society

[coberst]

Maturing Infant Becomes a Captive of Society

Human character has become a symbolic one as it becomes more and more a social creature. The survival of the Homo sapiens species is no longer a result of natural selection but is a result of artificial selection; it is dependent upon the nature of the symbolic codes we SELECT to live by.

Seeking self-esteem is what we humans do; the question becomes ‘do we continue to be reactive as we are taught or do we become proactive as our self-constructed autodidactic comprehension guides us’.

If instinct is no longer the primary force driving the human species, i.e. this animal that is more than just animal, what is the motivating factor driving the life of wo/man?

The “clinical theories of Adler, as well as Sullivan, Rank, Fromm, Horney, and a growing number of young and undogmatic Freudians” identify “that the basic law of human life is the urge to self-esteem”.

As the infant matures s/he becomes the passive captor of a need to be accepted, first, by the mother, and then society. The maturing child has shaped herself into the very person who can take for granted that he meets or exceeds what is demanded; s/he gains self-esteem and a growing sense of belonging, with confidence in a developing sense of self-righteousness as a growing natural systematic continuation of the early ego efforts to handle anxiety.

Maturation becomes an extension of the infant’s ego struggle against anxiety. Self-esteem becomes the core of human adaptation; this human self-adaptation replaces the animal’s biological instinct as the means for adaptation to a changing world. The maturing child discovers that s/he cannot earn parental and social approval, i.e. self-esteem, by continuing to express himself with his body. S/he discovers that he must conduct himself in strict accordance to symbolic codes in order to find approval.

The maturing child’s growing sense of self-worth has become artificialized; self-worth is now dependent upon “linguistic contrivances”. “He has become the only animal in nature that vitally depends on a symbolic constitution of his worth.” The remainder of this creature’s life is animated by the “artificial symbolism of self-worth”.

Our character has become social as it becomes more and more a symbolic one. The survival of the Homo sapiens species is no longer a result of natural selection but is a result of artificial selection; it is dependent upon the nature of the symbolic codes we select to live by.

How can we become proactive; rather than reactive as we have been schooled? I think we can do so when we have taught our self to recognize the difference. What do you think?

Ideas and quotes from “The Birth and Death of Meaning” Ernest Becker

[Akashic_Librarian]

OK i'm sorry but can you tell me what the point of this post is?

Is it just a lack of English that leads you to quote rather than to write yourself, or is it because you lack the basic skills needed to produce a comprehensive paragraph summarising an idea?

You know its actually irreleveant!

Because what I think you are trying to say, and please correct me if i am wrong, but your trying to say..."Society forces stereotypes onto children" is that right?

If so, what are you expecting by ways of conversation, most of us pretty much know that, do you have a problem with it, do you want someone to refute it to start a flame war, or what, I am not trying to seem hostile honest, I just don't...understand.

[Dave Kaminski]

Yes.. I don't get it either. Logic would lead anyone to the development that society in and of itself creates stereotypes for everyone, or else it wouldn't be a society in the first place.

[Ninja]

I think... I think my brain just exploded.

[lasti]

We've always knwon that. So what?

What I also don't get is: Why do you think that it becomes like that? Isn't this typical for every society and community? You find it also in small groups (peer preasure).

[schola]

Culture could be thought of as just evolutionary extensions of primary needs I suppose.

In psychology there is the concept of primary needs and secondary needs. Primary needs are things we absolutely need to survive (or for our genes to survive.) Food, water, air, sex, etc.

Secondary needs are connected in some way to primary needs and generally make them easier to obtain. A lot of social habits in animals result from secondary needs. Higher social status in a group makes it easier to mate with females for example. Guarding a territory makes it easier to find food and mates. Thus social status and territory become "needs" for the organism even though those things aren't integral to survival.

I think it is in the Selfish Gene that Richard Dawkins talks about some animals that have really odd adaptations or behaviors because the species has runaway social adaptations where the social behaviors or mutations get so extreme that it actually harms their primary needs. Like the peacock for example. Their plumage is so extravagant that it actually exposes them to predators.

Anyway the adaptations get so far away from the original primary need that they take on a life of their own. I think humans have perfected this to an extreme.

Social status, which is ultimately connected to reproduction, is so important to humans that some young people will kill themselves simply because they don't have it! Ironically this takes them out of the gene pool as well.

Sometimes I wonder whether we humans really have free will. We have animal instincts controlling our behavior on one side and social conditioning controlling us on the other side. Maybe we're just really smart zombies.

On a spiritual note, I think we can all benefit from staying very aware of ourselves and noticing when we succumb to social conditioning and stuff. Eckhart Tolle writes a lot on this subject.