When I was debating whether to jump off my balcony one night, my main focus was, given my situation, are my non-depressed hours actually "happiness or are they just destraction from the sadnesses of life?". I concluded that while absence of depression during physical activities such as work is probably just a destraction, I was genuinely happy when I look at the sunset or go to the beach or walk around the block in the rain. And there are many other things that make me happy and make life with living. I concluded that even if I can't experience the joy of sex with a pretty woman, there is still enough to live for that I should not jump. I also concluded that if I care about others, then probably some other people also care about others.
Since then I've come up with many reasons for people never reach self knowledge and why they are ruled by emotions to the point of hurting other people. One is that people are afraid that if they admit others have value, that they might have to treat them better, and it might detract from their own happiness. I don't think it has to at all, but they can never get to this realization because they don't know how they should have to treat people because they have not thought about it yet because they don't want think about it and be held responsible for the new knowledge which might not be what they want.
Another thing I've learned is that most people have been taught from an early age that they must earn love to have value, and that they must be better than the average person in some way. This first happens when parents want their kids to behave or learn to read, and the parents compliment their kid's intelligence every time he does something right, hoping the will do more stuff right so he can get another compliment. When people feel like they don't measure up to other people, many feel depressed. Many people get joy from reading about Britney Spear's divorces or by putting down others who read these dumb magazines, because it makes them feel better than the other people, giving them self esteem in that same primative way. As adults, we need to grow up and find happiness in other ways, and not need validation from other people. That first system was just a crutch to get us trained how to behave in society, and should not have stayed as a permenant reason for happiness.
Anyway, that same crutch also allows people to dehumanify people. It is OK to scorn that guy because he is a baldy or a black or whatever. People have learned to see a few conditions, rather than people. I've learned I can talk to many people on the bus, who have many dissabilities, and find that they are just people too. I find it interesting learning about how they coped with their problems and got to their current state in life.
Since then I've come up with many reasons for people never reach self knowledge and why they are ruled by emotions to the point of hurting other people. One is that people are afraid that if they admit others have value, that they might have to treat them better, and it might detract from their own happiness. I don't think it has to at all, but they can never get to this realization because they don't know how they should have to treat people because they have not thought about it yet because they don't want think about it and be held responsible for the new knowledge which might not be what they want.
Another thing I've learned is that most people have been taught from an early age that they must earn love to have value, and that they must be better than the average person in some way. This first happens when parents want their kids to behave or learn to read, and the parents compliment their kid's intelligence every time he does something right, hoping the will do more stuff right so he can get another compliment. When people feel like they don't measure up to other people, many feel depressed. Many people get joy from reading about Britney Spear's divorces or by putting down others who read these dumb magazines, because it makes them feel better than the other people, giving them self esteem in that same primative way. As adults, we need to grow up and find happiness in other ways, and not need validation from other people. That first system was just a crutch to get us trained how to behave in society, and should not have stayed as a permenant reason for happiness.
Anyway, that same crutch also allows people to dehumanify people. It is OK to scorn that guy because he is a baldy or a black or whatever. People have learned to see a few conditions, rather than people. I've learned I can talk to many people on the bus, who have many dissabilities, and find that they are just people too. I find it interesting learning about how they coped with their problems and got to their current state in life.