Costly Ego

January 24, 2023 Cognitive Insights, Planet & People, Sociocultural Issues No Comments

Mere-ego is by far the most costly thing on Earth: annually, trillions of Euros, millions of human lives, and an unfathomable lot of human suffering through disease, war, and other mishaps. Moreover, it possibly leads to the end of the human species soon enough.

Unfortunately, this is no exaggeration.

Also, it is not a personal opinion. The costly ego is the elephant in the room that is primarily invisible but can be easily seen from a total-person humanistic standpoint. Unfortunately, present-day humanism is somehow asleep in Belgium (my country) and seemingly worldwide.

I put it starkly in the hope of awakening you and many others to the inconvenient truth that concerns everybody.

Being comfortably numb is not helpful.

How come?

We are the species with the ego. It has served us well to come where we are as the dominant species on the planet ― be it by caring for ourselves as well as annihilating many other species, now more than ever.

The ego brought immense technological possibilities that we use to create and destroy our habitat.

In short, the ego is the source of immense success at many levels ― individual, group, and society. That may be why it can go on in unbridled ways. However, at the same time, it brings much misery.

Much misery

People go forth creating the enemy as if this is ethically normal, while it is only statistically normal. Eventually, enemies are costly in lack of cooperation as well as in war. Is it difficult to see the ego at the center of this?

People go forth treating themselves as the enemy in psycho-somatics, costing trillions. Is it difficult to see the ego at the center of this?

Meanwhile, we can only dream of how much sustainable human growth could have been achieved without ego supremacy until now. As seen from the height of this enlightened mountain, the present doesn’t show much. It is not difficult to see at the center of this the ego, which makes an enemy even of the mountain itself.

Inevitable?

In the past, it’s not sure whether it could have gone differently. To achieve the good, the bad may have been necessary.

From the present onwards, diverging scenarios are possible. The future cost of ego may far outweigh the past. Unfortunately, without essential ego-related changes, that is the most evident future.

In my view, what hinders these essential changes is mainly anxiety, which always starts inside ― Eigenangst, stemming from Inner Dissociation and leading to aggression. One may see in this the perennial road to destruction.

Hopeless?

Nothing is inevitable.

But we need to strive for understanding and realizing Compassion.