Well, isn't that the question you think of when you hear the word "psychology"? I certainly do. Not that I don't value psychology and what it can add to our understand of both ourselves and each other. Plus, it's come a long way from Freud and Jung. It would be impossible for me, in a succinct manner, to cover all of psychological developments in the 20th century. So I won't. Instead I'm interested in just one idea that caught my attention while reading some excerpts of Freud.
Freud claims that "the development of the individual seems to us to be a product of the interaction between two urges, the urge towards happiness, which we usually call "egoistic," and the urge towards union with others in the community, which we call "altruistic." This idea sparked a debate in the realm of psychology about whether there is true altruism or not and about which "urge" will win out in the end. This website, Authentic Happiness, explores the idea quite well. Most agree that egotism does win out, 11 times out of 10. What a sad view of human nature.
In my religion, we see people in a opposite light- divine from within, taught selfishness by the world. We believe that we are working towards building a Zion community, one in which we all work and serve together. We work towards this ideal in our families, our neighborhoods, and our wards and stakes (church congregational divisions). Key words- work toward. This is a goal in progression- we know that no one is perfect. Everyone makes mistakes, is a little selfish sometimes, and gets frustrated when life is hard. But instead of trying alone to reach "happiness", if we work together as a community we can find a more supportive and lasting happiness. Even small acts of kindness will improve your day and someone else, such as write a thank you note or donate books to the library. For more ideas check out HelpOthers.
Now, for your entertainment, and since I was just talking about West Side Story, some psychology in a musical. Juvenile delinquency in the 1960's : )
Great Post. I enjoyed your connection that we (LDS) believe that all are inherently good because we are born with the Light of Christ and we are all children of God. Even if we are all born good, we are not born impermeable. We each have our own unique weakness to various temptations.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for sharing Helpothers.org with us! I have been looking for more ways to serve people for a long time, and that website has all kinds of good ideas I hadn't thought of.
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