“It is a remarkable fact that a life lived entirely from the ego is
dull not only for the person himself but for all concerned.” – Carl Jung
When the scale of the environmental crisis we’re facing seems
overwhelming, it can be helpful to remember we don’t always see things the way
they actually are.
We see things as we are.
This has a profound effect on what we believe we can accomplish. If
you believe you’re a tiny little person, isolated and alone, battling
insurmountable odds, it’s enough to make you want to give up in despair. But
this view of the self isn’t based in reality.
Selfish Flesh Machines
“Let us try to teach generosity and altruism, because we are born selfish.” – Richard Dawkins, The Selfish Gene
The view of humans as basically selfish has come to dominate Western
culture. Our genes are selfish and so are we.
Selfishness is often attributed to individualism which is blamed for
destroying family values and breaking up communities. The cult of the
individual sets us against each other, forcing us to compete and prove our
worth. This idea has been used as an excuse to drive consumption and the whole
sorry mess of civilisation for decades, but it isn’t true.
Studies have found that selfish traits are not favoured by evolution, and that we are in fact born with an innate sense of fairness.
Indigenous peoples have developed methods for rooting out selfishness to ensure
everyone pulls together, and it’s clear we wouldn’t have survived for long
without the ability to cooperate and consider the needs of the tribe. Altruism
and compassion are innate human qualities, and are displayed by other animals
too. Life cooperates as much as it competes.
Individuality is not the enemy
As a side note, it isn’t individualism that causes selfishness. True
individuality isn’t about being selfish and blindly following your own needs
regardless of the impact on others. A true individual would never do that.
What drives people to selfishness is egotism, not individualism. The ego is the part of us that worries
about things like status and how we fit in. It does this because it’s insecure.
The ego desperately wants to belong to something larger because it has cut
itself off from the whole. It can’t risk being an individual. This means that the
ego is about conformity, not individuality.
We don’t have an
individualistic society – we have an egotistical society.
A society of true individuals would look very different. To be an individual you must transcend the
ego, stop conforming and stop seeking validation from outside yourself. An
individual is someone who is guided from within to follow the dictates of the
Soul or the deeper Self – a process called Individuation
by Jung. A true individual is not selfish (egotistical) because they know the
self is joined with others in an interconnected web of relationships.
Who Are You?
We appear to have many different selves. We change from day to day,
hour to hour, depending on who we’re with. How you behave when you’re with your
mum will be very different to your behaviour with friends, or at work, and so
on.
We live within a network of roles and relationships. Who you become,
as an individual, is conditioned by the relationships you had growing up –
nobody can describe themselves as wholly self-made.
Our individual self relates to the world through ever expanding
circles: family, friends (both real and online), work colleagues, and community
groups. Beyond that the relationships become more impersonal and abstract: we
have identities that are regional, national, and global. Finally, our
individual self is embedded within the web of life.
This diagram is adapted from the one in Active Hope and demonstrates how we are part of widening circles.
It also shows that the distinction between selfishness and altruism is
misleading. To say we must choose between ourselves and others is a false
choice. It presupposes that we are separate from others and life, and that in
helping others we might somehow be depriving ourselves. But how can this be the
case if we are dependent upon each other for our survival?
We don’t exist in isolation. The things we value the most come from
our connections with others – love, friendship, trust, relationship, belonging,
loyalty, purpose, meaning, spirituality and gratitude.
Widening the view of the self
We cannot exist without the earth to support us. Widening our sense
of self to include the natural world puts our own lives into a larger context
and opens up a great source of strength. We can recognise that life lives
through us and depends upon us to take care of it – whether that means taking
care of ourselves, or others, or the planet.
“Life has a powerful creative energy and manifests a powerful desire to continue. When we align ourselves with the well-being of our world, we allow that desire and creative energy to act through us.” – Active Hope
In this time of crisis it can be hard to know what to do. How do we
balance our own needs with those of others or the earth itself? Doing the right
thing can be inconvenient or even illegal. How can we become part of the
solution instead of being part of the problem?
Here’s an exercise from Active
Hope to try, in two parts. You can do this alone or with a partner:
Tell Me, Who Are You?
Imagine encountering a stranger who’s keen to get to know you.
Either write your reply in a notebook or take turns with your partner. Respond
to the question: “Tell me, who are you?” in as many different ways as you can.
Aim for at least ten different responses, but if you’re feeling curious, see if
you can fill a whole page.
Now, take your responses and expand on them – place them into a
larger context by thinking about what happens as a result of who you are. What impact do you have on others and the
world?
Tell Me, What Happens Through You?
Repeat the process above, but with the question: “What happens
through you?” Either write the responses in a notebook or share them with a
partner.
Thinking about our lives in these terms helps us identify actions we
can take to move humanity towards a more interconnected and sustainable future.
When we make a deeper connection with nature and remember the true source of
our lives, our identities shift and expand to include more and more of life.
Our wellbeing is intimately bound to the wellbeing of the earth.
She needs us to wake up.
Next we explore the nature of power in Transcending Conflict: A New Kind of Power
