Originally Posted by ARTelevision

gibingus, thanks.

I think a further explanation of my views on this would be relevant to this thread. I know Halx is interested in the reasons behind why we think the way we do about the questions he posed.

Here it is:

My previous entry needs to be supplemented, I think. It was posted in response to a specific set of inquiries and I wanted to give my zero-level thoughts on human nature – that’s what’s behind my conclusions and not any moral or ethical beliefs. I don’t enshrine any of those. I endeavor to be realistic and pragmatic and to keep my philosophical thinking grounded in experience.

The social views inside me are not founded on any religious beliefs – because I have none. They are based on my view of human nature. The previous entry highlighted the problems I see operating in individuals that require strong internal and external repression to manage effectively. I should add that the positive aspects of human creativity, ingenuity, and our ability to subsume our childish desires in the pursuit of some greater good is laudable and evident in human history. That’s behind the progress of human history as well - but in my view, not so much as the necessary repression by self, society, government, and military power.

It’s not common for repression to be cast in a good light these days. That’s why I’m writing this. The focus is typically on how important expression – as in “free expression” or “freedom of expression” – is to our lives. Expression has its place but it is not the be all and end all of existence and especially social existence.

The be all and end all of social existence – i.e. getting along in a positive and constructive way with other people – is repression.

The mechanisms of repression within us are strong – typically stronger (fortunately) than our mechanisms of expression. Hence, I suppose, all the emphasis on expression – since we do so little of it compared to what we repress. The anarchic spirit, the Id, the unconscious, or whatever term is used to describe human egoistic and antisocial tendencies, is vast and powerful. It is only by means of repression that we manage to survive at all.

These internal mechanisms are reflected in even greater degree by our social institutions, which exist primarily as repressive formulations and influences. Without them we would be an uncivilized bunch of brutal savages and live in states of thieving murderous anarchy.

So this homage to repression is just that. I acknowledge the great need for human repression; I value it; and I observe that, in the long run, it is far more important to us than our tendency toward expressiveness.