15 min
Episode 9: Identity - Chapter 2 Olympian Method
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- Filosofía
Imagine you are a child playing in their own fantasy world. You are negotiating an identity of who you are. It can be a giant robot, a princess, a warrior, a wizard. When you play by yourself, you are essentially in complete control of your identity (Until your parents told you to go to bed because you had school the next day).
Now, imagine that you're playing with another child. You may be able to be a giant robot, but they claim to be a bigger robot with even more powers! What happens then? Negotiations proceed. Child 1 "Yeah but I have more power than you, I have an Iron Man Battery!". Child 2 says "Yeah but I have the laser to disable your battery, and it's the only one!" Child 1 "Nuh uh! I have a secret armor shield that blocks all your attacks!" Child 2 says "Well you're just a dummy head". And from that point, the imaginary game is most likely to morph into some form of mortal combat (kidding, but you get the idea).
The point of this example is to illustrate that even in the case where we can't agree on what the rules are, we fall back into primal modes of behavior (particularly when discussing males) of using competition of force to determine who's idea is right or not. In the words of Jordan Peterson, you can't negotiate with someone without telling them to "screw off". And at its most primal abstraction, the ability to rebuke an individual rests on the ability to exert physical dominance over them.
In meditation, Sean realized that several aspects of the current conflict in the world today, particularly in the west, is the result of people playing different games with each other, or trying to assign identities onto other people that they don't agree with, or taking on identities for ourselves that other people cannot agree upon. Rather than engaging in violence like children who cannot agree on which imaginary robot persona is stronger, we should be discussing the rules for how we negotiate the rules of the various games we play. It is only when communication breaks down that we are left with the desperate feeling that physical, economic, and social power is the only game left to play. So, in the interest of us forming identities that are in everyone's best interest, let's open up a broader discussion on how to appropriately negotiate our identities with other people.
Imagine you are a child playing in their own fantasy world. You are negotiating an identity of who you are. It can be a giant robot, a princess, a warrior, a wizard. When you play by yourself, you are essentially in complete control of your identity (Until your parents told you to go to bed because you had school the next day).
Now, imagine that you're playing with another child. You may be able to be a giant robot, but they claim to be a bigger robot with even more powers! What happens then? Negotiations proceed. Child 1 "Yeah but I have more power than you, I have an Iron Man Battery!". Child 2 says "Yeah but I have the laser to disable your battery, and it's the only one!" Child 1 "Nuh uh! I have a secret armor shield that blocks all your attacks!" Child 2 says "Well you're just a dummy head". And from that point, the imaginary game is most likely to morph into some form of mortal combat (kidding, but you get the idea).
The point of this example is to illustrate that even in the case where we can't agree on what the rules are, we fall back into primal modes of behavior (particularly when discussing males) of using competition of force to determine who's idea is right or not. In the words of Jordan Peterson, you can't negotiate with someone without telling them to "screw off". And at its most primal abstraction, the ability to rebuke an individual rests on the ability to exert physical dominance over them.
In meditation, Sean realized that several aspects of the current conflict in the world today, particularly in the west, is the result of people playing different games with each other, or trying to assign identities onto other people that they don't agree with, or taking on identities for ourselves that other people cannot agree upon. Rather than engaging in violence like children who cannot agree on which imaginary robot persona is stronger, we should be discussing the rules for how we negotiate the rules of the various games we play. It is only when communication breaks down that we are left with the desperate feeling that physical, economic, and social power is the only game left to play. So, in the interest of us forming identities that are in everyone's best interest, let's open up a broader discussion on how to appropriately negotiate our identities with other people.
15 min