In the denial of

Reason blooms

A madness,

Both

Dear and deserting to 

Lies and lives.

As I sit 

And watch,

A voyeur nonchalant-

The precipice palatial,

Crumbles

Rumbles

Tumbles. 

The Fear of Irrelevance

As beings that have collectively and unconsciously dealt with the misfortune of being the only self-proclaimed cognitively superior creatures, human beings also have the added misfortune of being plagued by a multitude of anxieties and fears. Now, when I say “cognitively superior”, I mean it in a singular sense, in that we have been bequeathed with the capacity for self-awareness, volition and metacognition (the cynic in me thinks the word doomed would be more fitting than bequeathed, however). The least acknowledged fear that we all possess is the fear of irrelevance.

The fear of irrelevance is the belief that we will one day grow insignificant, our ephemeral presence receding into the background without a trace of remembrance. This fear can operate at two levels, the individualistic level where you fear you will stop mattering to ones you love and at the collectivistic level where you fear your fugacious presence will in no way be significant in this world.

However, the most common manifestation of this fear is that on the individualistic level. This fear dictates us to embark on either one of two courses of actions. The imagined fear of growing insignificant can serve as an impetus for the experience of a milieu of emotions such as jealousy, insecurity, sadness and anger, etc. The lack of appraisal of these emotions can cause the individual to emotionally cohere with the significant other. This loosely translates to displaying a confrontational nature where in the person tries to vehemently cement the intensity and frequency of their transactions (this is what we layman call “being clingy”).

The alternative behavioural output is avoidant in nature, characterized by the person creating a vacuum of emotional connection with the other. This behaviour operates on the logic of pre-emptive mourning and erroneous affirmative action. These people use avoidant tactics as a defense mechanism to preserve their fragile ego that would otherwise find it hard to handle this fear of unimportance. Severing transactions prematurely gives them a sense of control and placates the dread that would otherwise meld into grief. It is noteworthy how both the confrontational and avoidant actions are self-fulfilling in nature.

At the cosmic level, this fear is more ubiquitous and sets the narrative for us that is not just satirical, but also slightly malicious. What’s ironic is that we seem to fear a state of being that we’re already in; we essentially just fear ourselves. Why do we fear what we already are? As living organisms in this vast and glorious universe, we are nothing but the embodiment of irrelevance. There is perhaps a certain solace in knowing that the universe holds an entire treasure of callous disregard for our finite and absurd existence on this planet. What I find entirely bewildering is that so few of us really become cognizant of this expansive insignificance we imbue, perhaps it’s because we are, after all, creatures of self-interest.

This fear of becoming a residual form in life is what drives almost every one of us to attain certain materialistic, tangible goals. Perhaps this is one of the reasons why history is valued and revered; it is the epitome of our predecessor’s attempts to combat this mortal dread. This is why success as a measure of greatness and fame is valued while the mediocre life is unfairly stigmatized. We’re constantly reinforcing ourselves to reach for an extravagant level of success in order to palliate this inherent dread we possess. We’ve convinced ourselves that creating something that lasts, something that will stand the test of time even a little bit longer than our own decaying biological architectures will help us mitigate this all-consuming anxiety.

Our way of life is a perennial, punishing and fallacious quest for permanence.

The Absurdities of Psychology

I do not appear to know how to begin this one in such a way that it gives you an adequate preamble about the relevance of Psychology in today’s context. I believe that such an attempt will only be otiose at this point in time because most of us who care enough to educate ourselves about the ways of the world are already aware of the cultural and sociological relevance of Psychology as a discipline and an instrument in the supposed palliation of the human condition. I am simply going to begin by putting forth my mundane and measly thoughts on the follies of Psychology for you to mercilessly excise at leisure. 

           Psychology inevitably ends up working in two opposing ways that only serve to detriment its own value. It simultaneously glorifies the mind and shames it. Anything geared toward the comprehension and amelioration of what is significantly different from the norm is the glorification of the prowess of the mind while the very identification of a deviation from the norm denotes the disdain it harbours toward the mind. This only results in the augmented stigmatization of those individuals who are different in their functioning. This, among other things, results in hasty and unfortunate labeling. 

             Psychology thrives on the substrate of compartmentalization. This holds true for most other avenues of knowledge exploration; I do not dispute that but, it is especially amplified in this case. It is human tendency to fall prey to categorization and order germinating from the human tendency to fear the unknown. Compartmentalization offers solace when flung into the depths of the murky quagmire of the unknown; control is what defeats vulnerability in transience and to control and predict is also to fallaciously pigeon hole those different. 

             Psychology assumes a well-disguised approach of reductionism, as it essentially just seeks to attain comprehension by breaking down the edifice of cognition into fundamental bricks which is never entirely sufficient in how it cements the understanding of human nature. This, in turn, undermines our blatant dearth of knowledge in the realm of existence while offering undeserving support to the chrysalis of pompous ignorance we find ourselves cocooned in. 

             Psychology is also devious in how it festers on the human tendency to obtain solace from similarity. It exploits our nature to derive comfort from group identification in validating itself as a prominent field with beneficent purpose. It operates solely on the naturalistic fallacy in comprehending the human condition which is alarmingly inadequate when one considers any attempts made in general to deconstruct the human psyche. 

             Finally, Psychology discounts the malleability of reality. It is geared in a manner that is unaccepting of those who transgress. Again, this transgression can be viewed as that which unsettles the harmony of the majority who become victims of the inconspicuous violence of the naturalistic fallacy. Perhaps this is why one who has an unusual way of perception is labelled a ‘schizophrenic’. Any agent or advocates of those agents that profess the exploration of differential realities are labelled in a negative light mostly through the lens of socially constructed scruples of morality and ethics. 

             I’ve come to believe that Psychology, in essence, may just be a florid ploy to reiterate the maintenance of the normative and accepted reality simply because the idea of multiple realities is threatening to the common man due to the infinity of those possible realities.

We are

Boundless,

Formless,

Seamless

When we

Breathe in

Unison.

Let's fossilize.

Torrential waves of

Nostalgia thrash on

The forlorn shore

Of by body

Every time

The pregnant moon

That is your mouth

Parts to pour me over

With a kiss.

A ship of memories

Voyages across the 

Tumult of our wreck,

Carry with it

A bittersweet treasure 

Of pleasure

 And pain, heading 

Toward gray oblivion.

A point

Of no return,

Mapped on the sails

Of our combined

Laughter, now

Torn apart by the 

Inevitability of 

The unknown.