Old 03-17-2007, 03:20 PM   #1
coberst
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Default Cosmic Connection

Cosmic Connection

Primitive society was an organizational attempt to elevate wo/man to divine status. It is only in modern society that the mutual imparting of self-importance has trickled down to the simple maneuvering of saving face.

Primitive rituals were designed as an attempt to bring life in harmony with the cosmos; it was “carried out according to a particular theory of prosperity. It was an attempt to get nature to “give more life to the tribe”.

Ritual displayed, to the educated eye of the anthropologist, the fact that rituals were meant to determine the principles of the cosmos by trying to promote them while impersonating them.

A heightened sense of self-feeling comes not only from physical prowess but also by any kind of demonstration of our own excellence. Wo/man achieves this demonstration by games, taunting and humiliating an adversary, killing or torturing others; anything to heighten me and/or diminish my opponent. The height of such self-feeling is to become immune to death. The organism has great need to blow up her image. Only in society can a maximum self-importance be achieved.

Providing a means for self-inflation becomes one of the goals of society. “Man cannot impart life to him but must get it via ritual from his fellow man, and then we can say even further that man cannot impart importance to himself; and importance, we now see, is just as deep a problem in securing life: importance equals durability equals life.”

Becker thinks that the only way to enter into the primitive society is to recognize the society as a religious priesthood with every individual playing a role in the generative rituals. This is difficult for us to comprehend unless we are prepared to comprehend that magic is religion we do not believe in and religion is magic that we do believe in.

Primitive man set up her society as a stage (do I hear Shakespeare speaking here?) that ran off one ritual drama after another. Western man has forgotten how to play at imparting “to life high style and significance.”

It is only in modern society that the mutual imparting of self-importance has trickled down to the simple maneuvering of saving face. “Primitive society was a formal organization for the apotheosis [elevation to divine status] of man. Our own everyday rituals seem shallow precisely because they lack the cosmic connection. Instead of only using one’s fellow man as a mirror to make one’s face shine, the primitive used the whole cosmos.”

Quotes from “Escape from Evil”—Ernest Becker


[b[Questions for discussion[/b]

Do you think that the science of anthropology can discover the motivation behind the rituals of primitive humans?

Does it make sense to you that a heightened sense of self-feeling comes not only from physical prowess but also by any kind of demonstration of our own excellence, and that the height of such self-feeling is to become immune to death? Do you think that science is capable of discovering such motivations for human behavior?

Do you think that the practice of decapitation is the ultimate act of causing someone to ‘lose face’?
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Old 03-17-2007, 04:19 PM   #2
Mas_Tnega
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Default Re: Cosmic Connection

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Originally Posted by coberst View Post
Do you think that the science of anthropology can discover the motivation behind the rituals of primitive humans?
I believe it can, but it is not necessarily so that it will. If one is to assume that they had a good reason, one could also assume that they were willing to explain themselves. Further, one could assume that at least one person was willing to write it down somewhere. And so, someone should be able to find it and learn to read it.

"Can Scientific discpline X do Y?" is a strange question. The only way to get a definitive answer is waiting for the time when X does Y.

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Does it make sense to you that a heightened sense of self-feeling comes not only from physical prowess but also by any kind of demonstration of our own excellence, and that the height of such self-feeling is to become immune to death?
It makes a lot of sense. A great fear of many people is not death itself, but to accomplish nothing before it, or to have nothing to show for yourself after it. It likely comes from the idea that life is precious, and something must be made of it. A particularly excellent performance can be remembered for centuries, creating a sort of immortality for the person who did it.

Two different interpretations of "immunity to death", both achieved by excellence.

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Do you think that science is capable of discovering such motivations for human behavior?
Absolutely. The brain is cells and chemicals. Events cause chemicals to be released, and chemicals affect mood. It doesn't look impossible to me.

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Do you think that the practice of decapitation is the ultimate act of causing someone to ‘lose face’?
Very much so. Were I to die, I would appreciate at least having my torso and head attached, and maybe four discernable stumps. My head is really what identifies me, and to have nothing else of my physical presence attached to it seems rather undignified. When comparing mental images of a funeral service of just a head, and that of a complete body, the former is made to feel very much 'wrong'.

I suddenly feel somewhat more fearful of decapitation than things like hanging or being shot.
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Old 03-17-2007, 05:53 PM   #3
coberst
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Default Re: Cosmic Connection

Mas

The human sciences of psychology, anthropology and psychoanalysis seem to have constructed their sciences upon the consensus that the fear of death is the fundamental human characteristic that drives to a certain extent much of our behavior.
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