The attempt to diminish individuality

By Stephen on Fri, 05/Nov/2021 - 6:37pm

There's been a marked increase in the programs designed to diminish individuality, in recent times in our Western culture, especially that by "Critical Race Theory".

Critical Race Theory proposes that we are all guilty of racism, by virtue of being born white, or some other "oppressive" class.

The subtext of all such theories (effectively socialism, communism) is that of a bias toward collectives (groups, races) at the expense of individuality (individual volition, power, sovereignty, agency, choice, independence).

The Cruelty of Astrology

By Stephen on Mon, 03/Apr/2017 - 5:36pm

Imagine you're at a really nice restaurant with an amazing menu. So many choices, so much yummy food available. You're out celebrating your birthday, so you decide to order entrees, main meal and dessert. After all, it's the one day of the year when it's about you, not the kids, or spouse, or friends, just you. The waiter arrives and he asks for your order. So you give your order, eagerly expecting the yummy food in due course.

Except that ... the waiter inquires as to your birthday. You tell him, then he informs you, "sorry, but ...

The danger in 'being offended'

By Stephen on Fri, 22/Feb/2013 - 9:50pm

There is, in my opinion, a troubling trend in our modern societies, when people respond with "I find that offensive".

In basic terms to take offense is to blame others for how one feels. That is, when we take offense for the emotional responses we have chosen (in response to a stimulus, e.g. insult) we place the responsibility for our choice of emotional state with someone else. As Viktor Frankl so succinctly explained "the last of human freedoms (is) the ability to choose one's attitude in a given set of circumstances".

The feminine urge to tribalise

By Stephen on Sun, 23/Sep/2012 - 7:24am

A while back I posted some ideas concerning the habit of categorising people into various groups — tribes, astrological signs, enneagram and other groupings.

My anecdotal evidence is quite consistent — women are far more likely than men to use or abide by astrology as a form of "making families" of people. Men, on the other hand, typically seek to establish some sort of pecking order, or where one is in the structure of things. Hierarchy (vertical categorisation) is more their focus, as opposed to the feminine for horizontal non-hierarchical groupings (families, star signs, etc). As some have quipped, men build higher walls (à la castles), women build longer tables (with which to share).

Leading God, Gurus and Groups: Raw Individuality

By Stephen on Tue, 26/Jun/2012 - 7:09pm

At a round-table discussion recently I explained that "genuine creativity leads God", in that everyone else (including God1) is genuinely and profoundly surprised by our raw originality.

During a coffee/tea-break, one woman told me she was deeply shocked and horrified by the idea. She said she had completely "shut down" with regards to anything else I had to say. Golly.

The urge to categorise

By Stephen on Wed, 09/Mar/2011 - 2:09pm

When we reflect on the number of people (more usually women1 ) who believe in Astrology, as well as those who believe in various other 'ologies' we can be reasonably confident that there's an underlying shared trait or need — the need to belong, and to categorise people.

Personality tests (e.g. DISC, or Myers-Briggs) are widely (if not almost universally) used to help decide who's suited to particular roles in businesses and organisations.

So when a friend started extolling the great relevance and benefit of understanding the Enneagram (a process of grouping people into one of nine types, or 'tribes'), I decided to look deeper into this particular habit.

  • 1. As I've covered more extensively elsewhere, men and male animals generally tend towards "separateness", the particle nature of life, while women and female animals tends towards the wave-nature. The wave-nature is characterised by a bias towards "togetherness", by way of forming groups, tribes, collectives, families, harems, herds etc. Astrology simply gives people — particularly women — a 'framework' to put people in categories (tribes). Even though flawed in principle, it is the process of "tribalising" that counts, not how correct or productive the end groupings. As a general rule women are far more comfortable with men who are in some relationship (e.g. married) or who are 'tribalised' — versus the "lone wolf".