Hyperfreneticism

I would like to define this as anti-mourning.  It is constant activity, while one is pursued by unwanted emotions.  I read articles like this one: http://chronicle.com/article/The-Case-for-Breaking-Up-With/131760/ , and see that our elites seemingly feel no need for down time.  Moreover, their parents seem to be narcissistically involved in every last detail of their lives.  These people will find themselves believing that such activity is normal, and that their natural position is that of ruler.  That is my guess, at any rate.

A scene in a movie that left a lasting impression on me was in Kurasawa’s Kagemusha, in which it is revealed that the great Lord has concealed his own death for some years–it was 3 or 5, if memory serves–and one of his arch rivals breaks out a fan, and spontaneously performs what I assume is a piece of No theater.

This is spontaneous mourning, and a sign of integrated emotions.  Yet, this was the warring states period, and all these people were fighing one another constantly.  This is a poor state of emotional integration too.

We need more mental health the world over.  It is neither being nice nor being cruel.  It is being appropriate.  War is a short path to a sense of meaning, and a short path to building aggregated groups.  Yet, it is also a horror that leaves lasting traumas both in terms of pain, and in the inability to process it.

The only possible utopia on Earth will be one in which people are universally mentally healthy.  This will mean that they process their emotions, that they are capable of genuine and deep feeling, that they are empathic without being needy, that they are capable both of self assertion and altruism, and that in general they are oriented around the Good, and around becoming better.

Much traditional religion facilitates mental illness.  I think Islam is particularly guilty of this, in that I don’t believe ANY social order which is so hostile to woman can EVER fully mature.  The men who rule have far too many unprocessed psychological issues with their mothers.  I would add that black culture in this country has turned somewhat in the direction of generalized misogyny as well, to its great detriment.

Some religions, like Buddhism, do seem to have some capacity to at least contribute to mental well being, and I think all religions offer some solace for the tragedies and uncertainties of life.  The question is how accurate they are.  I believe science can and should investigate how our universe actually works.  As I have said often, I believe the preponderance of evidence is that our souls survive death, and that we are connected in ways we cannot quite see.

Some random musings on Frey’s Day.