Discussion about this post

User's avatar
Richard Merrick's avatar

Triggers thoughts of eustress - a sufficiency of stress. Pursuit of growth leads us to market consumption as anaesthesia and, as you suggest, voluntary lobotomy. We demonise sources of stress rather than harness them. Back in the day, when I was in the RAF, there were regular "tacevals" - tactical evaluations - which involved somebody turning up and saying something like "I'm a Russian, what you going to do about it sunshine?" All very stressful, but great practice. I sometimes think that we're not too stressed, we just haven't learned how to have a relationship with it.

Expand full comment
James Gairdner's avatar

You make an interesting point about time in the “understorey” I had immediate associations with force fed chickens and our need to accelerate life which perhaps is a product of impatience or perhaps a loss of the ability to think beyond the here and now. This leads me to a contemplation of the absence and/or attempts to eradicate frustration from society which, if you believe Bion, is central to the development of our capacity for thought. Have we in our desire for convenience, lobotomised ourselves?

Expand full comment
3 more comments...

No posts