The Pursuit of Comfort
Subjectivity is an inescapable aspect of our human condition. By nature, we are confined to a subjective view of reality. Higher objectivity is possible, but it depends on a learning process that demands an expansion and integration of knowledge.
We are going to sustain that our world view is not only inherently subjective, but human nature is such that we commonly avoid -and sometimes even reject- objectivity, while we actively pursuit subjective world views that suits our needs.
By nature, we are both lazy and tend to seek comfort. By laziness we don’t mean the unwillingness to work (which is a particular manifestation of its most general sense), but the tendency to minimise effort and maximise rewards. Laziness is not so much a weakness of character but a natural predisposition. It makes biological sense to be lazy. A behaviour that minimises effort and maximise rewards is a behaviour that maximises energy efficiency. The opposite would mean a behaviour that uses energy unproductively; and energy, during evolution, has always represented a scarce resource. It also makes biological sense to seek comfort. The pursuit of comfort comes from the pain and pleasure principle; which is a primitive, but an effective mechanism of self-preservation.
Religion for example, is comforting in many ways: it make us feel less alone in the world, it offer meaning to life, it offer consolation in death, it offers a world that is essentially fair, it offers redemption from pain and suffering and bliss on their truths, and fundamentally, following a religion is comforting for being a way of forming part of society and satisfying the basic need of belonging.
Religious world views are not objective, but they are mane made world view that adjust to our needs and that make us feel better about ourselves, the world and our place in the world. About 86% of the world population follows a religion in one form or the other. This shows how it primes in man the need of feeling good over the need of objectivity.
Religion is not the only way we seek comforting worldviews. Modernity is characterised by a high acceptance of scientific truth, by a decline on religion and by growing materialistic, individualistic and hedonistic values; all of which results in a general spiritual emptiness. Science might explain the world, but doesn’t fulfil our spiritual needs. So people are looking for alternative ways to find comfort in life, like motivational techniques, positive psychology, self-help, orientalism, etc. Another emerging trend, that combines many of the latter elements, are new and alternative metaphysics. Some of these metaphysics, in order to gain acceptance, make false claims of being based on science. And another thing they offer is peace of mind through alternative ways of seeing the world. The idea that by knowing the truth we can avoid the pain from modern life is another example of how we construct worldviews to fit our needs. Reality is objective and neutral and is not comforting in itself.
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Subjectivity is an inescapable aspect of our human condition. By nature, we are confined to a subjective view of reality. Higher objectivity is possible, but it depends on a learning process that demands an expansion and integration of knowledge.
We are going to sustain that our world view is not only inherently subjective, but human nature is such that we commonly avoid -and sometimes even reject- objectivity, while we actively pursuit subjective world views that suits our needs.
By nature, we are both lazy and tend to seek comfort. By laziness we don’t mean the unwillingness to work (which is a particular manifestation of its most general sense), but the tendency to minimise effort and maximise rewards. Laziness is not so much a weakness of character but a natural predisposition. It makes biological sense to be lazy. A behaviour that minimises effort and maximise rewards is a behaviour that maximises energy efficiency. The opposite would mean a behaviour that uses energy unproductively; and energy, during evolution, has always represented a scarce resource. It also makes biological sense to seek comfort. The pursuit of comfort comes from the pain and pleasure principle; which is a primitive, but an effective mechanism of self-preservation.
Because we are naturally lazy, we are normally passive about objectivity. Objectivity depends on a learning process that demands effort, time and energy, and it is in our nature to minimize effort. So we tend to search for objectivity only when we need it or when it represent a practical benefit.
Now, not only we are passive about pursuing objectivity because we are lazy, but because we tend to seek comfort, we are active on avoiding it. And there are many examples on how we commonly do this: religion, drug consumption, taking holidays, entertainment, etc.
Religion for example, is comforting in many ways: it make us feel less alone in the world, it offer meaning to life, it offer consolation in death, it offers a world that is essentially fair, it offers redemption from pain and suffering and bliss on their truths, and fundamentally, following a religion is comforting for being a way of forming part of society and satisfying the basic need of belonging.
Religious world views are not objective, but they are mane made world view that adjust to our needs and that make us feel better about ourselves, the world and our place in the world. About 86% of the world population follows a religion in one form or the other. This shows how it primes in man the need of feeling good over the need of objectivity.
Religion is not the only way we seek comforting worldviews. Modernity is characterised by a high acceptance of scientific truth, by a decline on religion and by growing materialistic, individualistic and hedonistic values; all of which results in a general spiritual emptiness. Science might explain the world, but doesn’t fulfil our spiritual needs. So people are looking for alternative ways to find comfort in life, like motivational techniques, positive psychology, self-help, orientalism, etc. Another emerging trend, that combines many of the latter elements, are new and alternative metaphysics. Some of these metaphysics, in order to gain acceptance, make false claims of being based on science. And another thing they offer is peace of mind through alternative ways of seeing the world. The idea that by knowing the truth we can avoid the pain from modern life is another example of how we construct worldviews to fit our needs. Reality is objective and neutral and is not comforting in itself.
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