1. ABOUT THE HUMAN CONDITION
AND ITS RESOLUTION
WTM FAQ 1.38 Aren’t some people just born psychopathic, or even ‘evil’? / How does this explanation rehabilitate people capable of ‘evil’ behaviour? / Does this condone ‘evil’ behaviour?
[Note: this answer is repeated in WTM FAQ 4.2]
The agonising psychologically upset state of the human condition has created an extremely frustrated and ferociously angry ‘dark side’ in humans, which has meant we are capable of horrific acts. As biologist Jeremy Griffith describes in his definitive book on the human condition, FREEDOM: The End Of The Human Condition: ‘despite our species’ magnificent mental capabilities, and undeniable capacity for immense sensitivity and love, behind every wondrous scientific achievement, sensitive artistic expression and compassionate act lies the shadow of humanity’s darker side—an unspeakable history of greed, hatred, rape, torture, murder and war; a propensity for deeds of shocking violence, depravity, indifference and cruelty.’
But what is so utterly exonerating and psychologically healing about our ability now to understand the human condition is that we can finally appreciate that there was a very good reason for our angry, egocentric and alienated lives—in fact, we can now see why our species has not just been ego-centric, but ego-infuriated, even ego-gone-mad-with-murderous-rage for having to live with so much unjust criticism/guilt, for some 2 million years. At long last we have the reason for humans’ capacity for shocking acts of cruelty, sadism, hate, murder and warfare—we now know the source of the dark volcanic forces in us humans. (For the explanation of our psychologically upset, ‘good and evil’-stricken human condition, see Video/Freedom Essay 3.)
And with the ability now to explain and understand that all humans are good and not bad, all the upset that resulted from not being able to explain the source of our divisive condition is able to subside and disappear. Finding understanding of the human condition is what rehabilitates and transforms the human race from its psychologically upset angry, egocentric and alienated condition. As Professor Harry Prosen, former President of the Canadian Psychiatric Association, has said about the psychological effect of this redeeming, all-compassionate and all-loving understanding of ourselves: ‘I have no doubt this biological explanation of the human condition is the holy grail of insight we have sought for the psychological rehabilitation of the human race.’ Yes, our ability now to understand the dark side of ourselves means we can finally achieve the ‘wholeness for humans’ that the great psychologist Carl Jung was forever pointing out ‘depends on the ability to own our own shadow’.
Importantly, this understanding of why we became upset as a species does not condone or sanction ‘evil’, rather, through bringing understanding to humans’ inevitable various degrees of psychological upset, it gives us the power to ameliorate and thus subside and ultimately eliminate all the psychological upset in us humans—and, in the short term, to transcend all that upset and take up a transformed life in complete support of a human-condition-free world. ‘Evil’—humans’ divisive behaviour—was a result of a conflict and insecurity within us that arose from the upsetting need to defy our instincts and find knowledge, ultimately self-knowledge, understanding of the human condition, so once we find that redeeming and reconciling understanding, as we now have, we end the conflict and insecurity. Peace could only come to our troubled, divisive state and world through removing the underlying insecurity of our condition. With our ego or sense of self worth satisfied at the most fundamental level—namely through the arrival of the redeeming and reconciling understanding of our human condition—our old insecure upset world comes to an end and a whole new transformed human existence and world free of the human condition opens up across planet Earth.
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To read about the psychology behind the creation of psychopathic, ‘power-addicted’ and narcissistic behaviour, see chapter 8:16D of FREEDOM: The End Of The Human Condition. For further explanation of the Transformed State see Freedom Essay 15, or for a more comprehensive treatment, read Part 3 of the booklet Transform Your Life And Save The World. You can also watch Jeremy explain how the Transformed Way of Living is adopted in Freedom Essay 33.