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Copyright © 1997, Jay Ligda. All rights reserved. Published by Humans in the Universe and Jay Ligda.

The Human Condition

In his book The Revolution of Hope, Erich Fromm states that there are two conditions that separate us from other creatures. First, the "decrease of instinctual determinism the higher we go in evolution, reaching the lowest point in man, in whom the force of instinctual determinism moves towards the zero end of the scale" (62). What this means is that, unlike animals, we have little instinctual rules to live by. We have to make our own decisions as to how we live our lives, never knowing whether our actions will result in failure. This creates insecurity. According to Fromm, "the price man pays for consciousness is insecurity" (62). The second condition is the "tremendous increase in the size and complexity of the brain compared to body weight... This enlarged neocortex is the basis of awareness, imagination, and all of those facilities such as speech and symbol making which characterize the human existence" (63). Through this awareness we realize our existence as separate entities from others and the environment. Although these conditions cause suffering, there is also the potential to experience freedom and joy through the ability to think for ourselves and explore our creativity.

Fromm explains how humans need "to have a frame of orientation which permits [us] to organize a consistent picture of the world as a condition for consistent action" in order to counteract the insecurity and loneliness (63). Without this orientation we will tend to go insane. We develop this picture in different ways, and according to Fromm "some are better than others. By 'better' is meant a way conducive to greater strength, clarity, joy, independence; and by 'worse' the opposite" (63). The degree to which this picture is better or worse depends on the amount of personal energy that we as individuals are willing to put into its development.

For many, the preferred way seems to be to let somebody else do it for them. This is done by placing faith in some religious, political or social ideology. This ideology usually provides an explanation of the universe and a set of rules to live by which are brought through individuals believed to have divine power, and therefore is possession of knowledge that the rest do not have. We are "only too eager to believe" for it takes the insecurity off our shoulders and cures our loneliness by providing a sense of belonging.

Pure faith in ideology presents problems. By giving up our humanity to an ideology, we lose our ability to think for ourselves, and therefore our creativity and freedom to experience our potential as human beings. We give up our humanity for a the sake of security. This security, however, is false because any opposing ideology threatens that security. Separate ideologies may claim that the path to salvation lies in following their own different Messiahs. These both couldn't possibly be correct. Ethnocentrism is developed as a defense mechanism designed to protect our security. From this ethnocentrism stems the abuse of technology. Wars are waged and technology is abused by serving to protect false views of the world rather than to aid the expansion of our awareness.

A more productive means to develop our world picture is by expanding our awareness to encompass as much of reality as we have access to. We must be able understand and accept opposing ideology. Only then will we be able to experience the freedom and joy of our humanity. By discovering meaning in our humanity we will develop humane values. By courageously accepting our insecurity rather than fighting it, we will begin to understand our potential.

If values are passed down to us from some authority, such as a church, our parents, or a political group, and we feel our humanity is not being fulfilled, frustration will result and we will tend to rebel against that authority to experience the humanity we desire. Such a rebellion could eventually lead to experiencing our humanity, however, if the source of our frustration is not understood we risk rejecting values that are crucial to truly understanding our humanity. This will lead to further destruction of our humanity.

by Jay Ligda

(This work is a all or part of an original work first published/written for Humboldt State University, I.T. 492: Senior Project., May1991.)

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References

Fromm, E. (1968). The Revolution of Hope: Toward a Humanized Technology. New York, NY: Harper & Row.

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