When Self-Loss Is Not Chosen Consciously and How Might It Retain Its Beneficial Character - Term Paper Example

Your When self-loss is not chosen consciously, how might it retain its beneficial character? Have you ever been scared by a sudden power-cut at night? The mere snapping of the fuse at the most familiar of places might leave a person petrified for a fraction of second. It is with time that one regains control over the situation and within a few minutes one can even walk in the room as smoothly as if the bulbs never went out! However, the question here is, what made the person feel scared or out of the place at the first instance? Even though the feeling lasted for a fraction of second, it is important to realize how other faculties of the brain came to the rescue of a sudden loss of sight. It is this characteristics of the brain constantly acting to the needs of mind that is discussed by Oliver Sacks in "The Minds Eye". If Karen Armstrongs "Homo Religious" is analyzed and applied to the situation above, we will find that according to her, if a person is really conscious of his deeper self, he would never feel scared. Being scared is a primordial feeling that comes with "ego" that separates one entity from the other. The thought of "ego" being hurt by something unknown gives rise to fear (Armstrong 36). Martha Stout however presents a different outlook in When I Woke Up On Tuesday Morning, It Was Friday. Her study that focuses on the case studies of psychological patients she has handled, shows how the loss of self ranging from a few moments to days together has caused patients to contemplate of suicide. The state of self-loss is not something they reported to have enjoyed and would like to end. However, as pointed out by Martha, the phase of self-loss is an inbuilt defense mechanism developed by the brain to combat the forces of the brutal reality (Stout 383). This suggests an unconscious self-loss unlike the one mentioned in the other two essays. However, what all the three essays reveal is that losing of the self proves to be beneficial for the person, even when not chosen consciously. This essay therefore will focus on why self-loss is helpful and holds its beneficial character even when not chosen consciously. Before delving into the subject of how self-loss is beneficial, it is essential to understand what is actually meant by the word "self" and how the idea of it has changed through ages. While discussing the subject in "Homo Religious", Armstrong refers to the Aryan myth created by sages, "In the beginning, there was only a single person, who looked around him and discovered he was alone. In this way, he became aware of himself and cried; "Here I am!" Thus the "I", the "ego" principle, was born" ( 36). According to the text, "immediately the person became afraid, because we instinctively feel that we must protect the fragile ego from anything that threatens it" (36). It is this superficial distinction between "self" and the "other" that gives rise to the fear of loss. In ancient cultures all over the world, human beings felt connected to the nature surrounding them and talked about the essence of the being that is invincible (Armstrong 25). Therefore, there was actually no fear of self-loss. However, in modern Western culture, the "ego" holds an important place and is continuously distinguished from the "other". From the birth itself, a baby is impinged with superficial identities that tend to separate him from other living creature. He is made to believe that he is unique. For the child therefore, living becomes a constant struggle to realize that uniqueness and protect it. It seems that the effect of self-loss depends upon the persons attitude towards it. It is interesting to note the opinion traditional people had towards self-loss. In many ancient tribal cultures, adolescent boys were initiated into maturity by some rites that needed them to pass through "frightening ordeals" (Armstrong 25). Armstrong mentions, the boys were exposed to extreme life threatening situations. These rites which are still followed by some tribes, makes a boy face his deepest fears and thus once out of it, he has nothing more to fear. According to the belief, to survive, the youth will instinctually look for inner resources that he had not done before., "Psychologists tell us that the terror of such an experience causes a regressive disorganizations of the personality that, if skillfully handled, can lead to a constructive reorganization of the young mans powers"(25). The boy who regresses, probably does not choose it consciously. Nevertheless, the subconscious self-loss makes him a stronger individual. Martha Stout on the other hand submits the case of Julia who is suffering from unwanted self-loss for days in her adulthood due to a horrible childhood that she has had. It is interesting to note that she ends her essay at a point where Julia agrees to hypnosis which will presumably make her trace her past and face her deepest fear. This, Martha hints, will help her get cured. Although Julia agrees to a conscious self-loss session with her psychiatrist, the process will actually help her check the subconscious self-losses she suffers from. The process will help her realize that whatever happened in the past has failed to restrict her and that she is a winner. The combat with the past will actually help her brain go through a "constructive reorganization" (Armstrong 25) and help her system realize that there is no potent threat present in her present life. If Julias was an extreme case of self loss that was caused by trauma, Martha mentions that in everyday life, self-loss is experienced by most of the people (384). In most of such cases it seems to be beneficial in nature and helps a person either to relax or divert his attention to more important things. The classic example of one such subconscious self-loss is one that happens within a move theatre. Martha rightly mentions that a person entering a movie hall remains fully conscious of his surrounding and of people around him. However, as the movie begins, he slowly starts concentrating on the event of the movie and at some point of time loses his self. This self loss or dissociation is involuntary but it helps the person to forget his own worries and watch someone else struggling or enjoying life (Stout 388). Self-loss also happens due to fragmented consciousness. Many a times when a person is extremely busy with certain activity, he will most likely not feel any sharp pain inflicted upon him. Martha mentions that she has herself experienced such a situation (Stout 389). This indeed is a beneficial part of self-loss which actually helps one to complete the important task in hand. In "The Minds Eye", Sacks presents another kind of involuntary self-loss which actually has helped author John Hull to connect with nature. Visually impaired, Hull blesses his state by saying that his visual impairment has made him a "whole-body seer" who feels a "sense of intimacy with nature" (Sacks 304). Continuous visual inputs lead the mind to differentiate between things in a superficial manner, in the absence of any such differentiation, Hull was able to feel his surrounding as a continuous whole. Other cases mentioned in the essay although disagree to Hulls experience, agree to the point that that they do not consider their loss of eyesight as an impairment and rather think that it has actually provided them with an opportunity to visualize the world with their "minds eye" (Sacks 309). This minds eye does not distinguish between the self and the other but rather sees the whole world as an essence which can be painted as one wants. Peace is a key component brought by self-loss both voluntary and involuntary. Stout describes how Julia as a child practiced self-loss to find peace in her otherwise abused world. Self-loss allowed her to dissociate herself from her brain and construct her own world that is more enduring and less painful. Julias dissociation, even though had arisen from her hatred for herself as a child, actually helped her to hold on to a better idea of an ideal child that has never been abused. It was for this reason that Julia survived the horrible childhood days. Her continual self-loss actually guarded her from committing any harm to herself. Even in absence of involuntary self-loss, it is not always advisable to cling to the rigid idea of self. Sometimes it is good to lose the self and feel in union with the whole world. It is deftly described in Chandogya Upanishad where sage Uddalaka Aruni initiates his son Shvetaketu to the realization of the Brahman by asking him to keep a chunk of salt into the water for a night. Next day the sage explains how the salt now invisible, still exists in the water. The "self" thus has lost its rigid form but remains dissolved in the "other" like salt in water (Armstrong 33). Self-loss thus actually helps a human being to become more alive and awake to his surroundings. Therefore, the most important thing regarding self-loss is the attitude towards it. If people are able to accept self loss not as a loss of being but as the breaking of the rigid cocoon named "ego", then perhaps self-loss would become a great state to be in. Works Cited Armstrong, Karen."Homo Religious." Title of the collection. Ed. Editors Name. City of Publication: Publisher, Year.22-38. Print. Sacks, Oliver. "The Minds Eye." Title of the collection. Ed. Editors Name. City of Publication: Publisher, Year. 303-317. Print. Stout, Martha. "When I Woke Up On Tuesday Morning, It Was Friday." Title of the collection. Ed. Editors Name. City of Publication: Publisher, Year. 381-398. Print. Read More