. . .
like, people have a lot of guilt. You know, there's a line of social psychology, that claims, that most people feel, that they're better than other people. And.
. . like, I just don't buy that, that isn't what I've seen in my life.
And, maybe it's. . I'm a bit biased, because I'm a clinical psychologist, and I see more people, who are overtly suffering - maybe - than people do in general.
Although I'm not so sure about that, you know, because - you don't have to scratch very far beneath the surface of most people's lives, before you find something truly tragic. A-and I don't mean that sort of tragedy, that you whine about, I mean. .
. you know, your mother has Alzheimer's, or your best friend commited suicide, or you have a close relative with cancer, you have a sick child, or, you know, there's something wrong with YOU, because almost everyone has at least one really terrible thing wrong with them. And if you don't - hey, you will.
So, you know. . .
[audience laughter] So - no, that, that. . .
(x2) That tragic sense of being is there with people all the time. And it's also the case, that - in my experience - like, I rarely meet someone, who says: "Hey, you know. .
. I'm doing everyting I possibly can, I'm a hell of a guy, and I can't see, how I could possibly improve, you know? " You meet.
. . you meet someone like that, and you think they're narcissistic, right?
And you're right! And- but, but. .
. But most people don't feel that way! They feel, like they could do a hell of a lot better than they are.
And they're quite acutely aware of their faults, and they don't feel, that they're what they should be! And, you see, what happens in the story of Adam and Eve as well, is that when people become self-concious, at least that's how it looks to me, they get thrown out of Paradise, and then they're in History. And History is a place, where: there's pain in childbirth, and where you're dominated by your mate, and where you have to toil like mad, like no other animal, because you're aware of the future.
You have to work and sacrifice the joys of the present for the future - constantly! - and you know you're going to die. And you have ALL that weight on you.
And to me, again, that's just- How can anything be more true than that? That's just, as far as I can tell, that's just how it is, for. .
. Unless you're naive beyond comprehension, there's something about your life, that- that- that is echoed in that representation! And why it is, that.
. I mean, we're such strange creatures, because we don't seem to really fit into being, in some sense. And that's also what's expressed in the notion of The Fall.
We. . .
the existentialists said: "Well, people feel like they have a debt, that they have to pay off to Existence. " For the. .
. for the crime of their. .
. For the crime of their being. Something like that.
And maybe it's because we're acutely aware, that we have to offer something of value to the people around us, so that they can tolerate us, you know, while we're going about our business. But it seems deeper than that! It's that, human beings seem to exist in a post-cataclysmic world!
And, that's exactly also what's represented in Genesis. And it's very interesting, because, you know, there's- In the Adam and Eve story, there's two catastrophies, essentially. There's the catastrophe that occurs, when Adam and Eve wake up, which we'll talk about in detail, and beome self-councious, and know that they're naked, and their eyes are open, right?
So, that's the terminology that's used. And "to have your eyes open" means to have a. .
. an increment in consciousness, essentially. Cause eyes are associated with conscoiusness for human beings, cause we're intensely visual animals.
And so, the metaphor of "having your eyes opened". . .
means. . .
is the same as the metaphor of coming to consciousness! And as soon, as Adam and Eve come to consciousness, they realize they're naked. And, you know, the classic interpretation of that, is that it has something to do with sexual sin.
And, I don't. . .
I don't believe that! I don't believe that's what it means. Although there are elements about that, that are relevant.
It's more that, to realize that you're naked. . .
It's like, you're- You know, if you dream that you're naked and on a stage, in front of people - that's not a sexual dream, man! Unless you're some kind of strange exhibitionist, right? It's, it's- You wanna cover yourself up, and get the hell off that stage as fast as possible!
And so, to be naked in front of a crowd, is to have everyone. . .
it's to have the judgement of the Social World focused on your. . .
self-evident inadequacies. And that makes people self-conscious, and that- that's a real human state. It's associated with neuroticism in the Big Five trait model, but - people don't like that, at all!
They don't like their fragility and vulnerability exposed to the group. It's one of the two major fears of people. Cause one is social humiliation, and the other is something like mortality and death.
And, like. . .
heh. Your- your typical agoraphobic, for example, gets to have both [of] those fears at the same time. Because she (it's usually a "she"), tends to believe, she's going to have a very spectacular and exhibitionistic heart attack in a public place, and make a terrible fool of herself, while she's dying.
So. . .
And that's a good example of the two archetypal fears, that characterize human beings.
