{ "item_title" : "Escape From Stupidity", "item_author" : [" F. J. Chu "], "item_description" : "Why do people do so many stupid things? And why are they so resistant to change? This essay is an inquiry into an essential aspect of human character structure, and the problems arising from the interaction of current psychological, sociological, and technological trends in contemporary society. A central thesis is that while dramatic breakthroughs in technology and information sciences have generated rapid increases in wealth and commercial productivity, it has also rendered individuals more isolated, anxious, and impotent. These stresses have a castrating effect, forcing people into new dependencies that truncate their capacity for rational thought and full emotional expression. It has become abundantly clear that while our intellectual and cognitive capacities - boosted by technological innovations - have surged, a substantial portion of the population has not acquired the psychological and emotional maturity to exercise independent, rational thought or behavior. C.G. Jung coined this kind of psychological maturational process as individuation. Failure to arrive at this crucial developmental milestone means that the powerful primitive passions of hate, aggression, envy, and revenge, - coupled with the perpetual seductions of money, power, and influence - have led to a resurgence of both individual and collective stupidity. Homo sapiens is a terrifying species. Recorded history from the Bible to the present is the history of war, murder, and rape. This historical timeline parallels the human intrapsychic landscape of uncontrolled aggression, hate and lust, even calling into question their biological inevitability. Freud posited that cultures, like individuals, gradually developed from infantile, primitive entities to mature, rational, scientific ones. Yet, in spite of the dominance of apparent rationality in modern human affairs, we remain captive to our physical urges and preverbal impulses, ever ready to capitulate to the deeper, darker yearnings of our primordial selves. Only the mitigating effects of civilization have sometimes called forth our better angels. The precarious and chaotic state of the world is apparent on multiple fronts, underscored by the pervasiveness and graphic rapidity of global data dissemination. Today's instability and conflict carries a feeling of immediacy and proximity that did not exist in prior generations. Crowd psychology and the eruptive power of the mob are particularly susceptible to the virulent nature of social media and the singular emotional impulses of any given individual leader. Moreover, the proliferating physical and digital connectivity of global networks ratchet up the repercussions and spillover consequences of any negative events. All these trends are converging towards another peak in the history of human folly. Our innate propensities for power, love and envy are embedded in our nature, but the anxieties attendant with the desire for pleasure and the yearning for control are also cultural products. Using psychoanalytic inquiry as a probing agent, we explore how the interaction of psychological, social, economic, technological, and ideological factors compel individuals to surrender to the siren songs of mass conformity, authoritarianism, propaganda, and mindlessness: in essence, to become more stupid. The universality of human folly periodically resumes its march forward, and there is a perverse pleasure in witnessing its latest iterations. The attempt to understand and counteract the irrational and unconscious drivers of human behavior may yet help us to effectively escape from the stupidities, excesses and contradictions engendered by modern mass culture. History often repeats because human nature does. The battle between reason and superstition resides not only in every culture, but also resides at some level within each one of us.", "item_img_path" : "https://covers4.booksamillion.com/covers/bam/9/79/824/317/9798243176255_b.jpg", "price_data" : { "retail_price" : "11.95", "online_price" : "11.95", "our_price" : "11.95", "club_price" : "11.95", "savings_pct" : "0", "savings_amt" : "0.00", "club_savings_pct" : "0", "club_savings_amt" : "0.00", "discount_pct" : "10", "store_price" : "" } }

Overview

Customers Also Bought

Details