There is strong evidence that our educational system has graduated students with a neurosis directed at self-learning; there seems to be a strong aversion to serious scholarship that is without an educational institution’s imprimatur.
What is neurosis?
Becker says “isn’t the development of the ego the key to the general problem of neurosis?†The ego grows by putting anxiety under its control; thoughts and feelings are dangerous for the existence of the organism, [b]ergo the ego “vaccinates itself†with small doses of anxiety as a defense mechanism against anxiety.
The ego controls our levels of anxiety by a restriction of our allowed experiences.[/b] The ego develops by “skewing perceptions and by limiting actionâ€. The ego grows by “a dispossession of the child’s own inner worldâ€. The ego’s technique mechanism is one of the best, it is self-deception. The child’s humanization is accomplished by giving over her aegis to the parent. Are the child’s educational efforts at humanization also accomplished by giving over its intellectual aegis to the teacher?
Our motives are buried deep in the unconscious and are veiled by our ignorance of our self. “One’s motives reside in his skewed perceptions, in the way he dispossess himself of genuine self-relianceâ€; Freud discovered “conscience as limited vision and as dishonest control over one-self…Neurosis is merely a process of interference with simple animal movements, of the blocking of the forward momentum of action.â€
Neurosis blocks our most “eager and engrossing acts, acts of an excited infant [and of an excited adult] in a world of wondersâ€. The result being that we all tend to earn a sense of support passively, by “renouncing action and the satisfaction of making [our] own closure on action.â€
Quotes and ideas about neurosis (not about self-learning) are from “The Birth and Death of Meaningâ€â€”Ernest Becker
For some reason I wouldn’t find such concepts supprising, however the best students I have met were avid self learners, the education system itself puts strain on ones concepts of self and ones ability to learn independantly, but those who overcome this strain develop a full sense of self and are far better for it.
unfortunatly like you said all too often those who give in to the manotany are rewarded and those who don’t are penalized for not meeting the status quo.
but then this is simply my oppinion on the matter.
Only human I totally agree with your point in the fact that even thinking seems to have become standardised and only the few seem to be able to break away from the unform thinking put forward by our teachers. Are we better for it ? I think not for the standardised thinking can only lead to a standardised outcome, alot of great thinkers were ridiculed in their day only to acheive greatness later, is this due to the time that has been allowed for people to come around to the idea and not see it with such fear and anxiety that a truly new idea has.
School provides the tools for learning, but how many people want to use those tools? How many people have ever wanted to use those tools? It isn’t like everyone is a born thinker, some people are just not that interested. School forces these people to get a modicum of education, while it gives those more inclined to thinking a launching pad.
I think that it comes down to what you percieve as intelligence is it that you are able to absorb knowledge and then reapply it day to day or is it the absorbtion of and idea, then its development into a relatively new thought. Both are classed as intelligence but I feel the latter is true intellegence. Many are able to reiterate what they have learnt but few are able to think for themselves is this due to the lack of encouragement in this area or lack of ability?
Hobbies are ways in which many individuals express their individuality. Those matters that excite an individual interest and curiosity are those very things that allow the individual him or her to self-understanding and also for others to understand them. Interests define individuality and help to provide meaning to life. We all look for some ideology, philosophy or religion to provide meaning to life.
When examining psychosis the psychiatrist advises either the establishment of an interpersonal evolvement or for finding interests and perhaps new patterns of thought. Many of us find that our work provides that means for identity and personal fulfillment.
None of us have discovered our full potentialities or have fully explored in depth those we have discovered. Self-development and self-expression are relatively new ideas in human history. The arts are one means for this self-expression. The artist may find drawing or constructing sculptures as a means for self-discovery. The self-learner may find essay writing of equal importance. Consciousness of individuality was first become a possibility in the middle Ages. The Renaissance and further the Reformation enhanced the development of individual identification.
The word “individual†moved from the indivisible and collective to the divisible and distinctive. In this we see the development of an understanding of self-consciousness thus illustrating the dramatic change taking place in our developing understanding of the self as a distinct subject not just a cipher in a community. This was part of the Renaissance.
I recommend that each of us develop the hobby of an intellectual life. We could add to our regular routine the development of an invigorating intellectual life wherein we sought disinterested knowledge; knowledge that is not for the purpose of some immediate need but something that stirs our curiosity, which we seek to understand for the simple reason that we feel a need to understand a particular domain of knowledge.
I have found that traditional hobbies were in fact a way of taking my mind off the more pressing matters that we are in a way discouraged from exploring. I continually found this disatisifying and increasingly causing a mind set that would only think about insignificant things like what people thought of me , why dont i have this or that etc It seems to me that the everyday mindset of the “normal” person is just a symptom of ignorance fear and anxiety left from the dicouragement of the state etc to think for ourselves. The brain needs to be used and correctly so for if left to its own devices can cause the mind to brak down and effectivly attack itself till reduced to a state of a sheep.
Had a look at your website and indeed it would be a worthy hobby if all were to take up self-learning maybe it would give people on the whole the skills needed to be a little more tolerant and forgiving of others. I think that many will not though as they when they look inside will not like what they see as they have an idealised view of themselves. As I have found that through reasoned judgement I would like t make it easier for people around me as lifes trials and tribulations can leave little time to appreciate the many wonders life has to offer, but dont get me wrong it is no easy task for who am i to say whats for the best and all to often it can be wrong but i am left with the knowledge that my intentions were “good”, ( I would like to say also that iam not a religious person and i find it much better to come upon the idea of being “good” on your own rather than to follow religion blindly because you miss out on being able to make your own decisions and really whan alls said and done that is all we have is our choice)
Thanks for visiting my web site. Your remarks are right on the mark.
I have concluded that many people have a high anxiety about self-actualizing self-learning because our educational system has left them with a deep seated impression that learning is suitable only with a teacher to hold our hand.
Thanx for that it is only recently that i have come to this outlet and have found it a great relief that thinking is not to be surpressed but explored and that there are many who also agree.