bananachistudy

[bananachistudy]

Man’s Search for Meaning: A Review

A quote from Nietzsche that says "he who has a why to live can bear with almost any how," perhaps can describe this book the best. Frankl continuously re-quoting it as he explained his extensive and comprehensive understanding of the phrase in the psychological matter. I would not be surprised if someone considers this book as "Victor E. Frankl's take on Nietzsche's teachings."

Half of the book is consists of Frankl's memoir of his experience in Nazi concentration camp while the last half of the book are explaining logotherapy, his teachings that he experiences himself in the camp with other prisoners. At first, I was half expecting suspense and thrilling horror sensation like in prisoner's stories but I get better storytelling of Frankl who tries his best in describing his experience as a prisoner in the most objective way possible so the reader and himself can study from it without immersed in unnecessarily horror.

Man's Search for Meaning isn't a preaching book that tells the reader about one way to live. Instead, it tells the reader that there is no absolute truth panacea and that every individual must have different meanings of their life as unavoidable suffering. It teaches that there are several paths to walk on with different goals to find the meaning or through tragic optimism.

According to logotherapy, we can discover this meaning in life in three different ways: (1) by creating a work or doing a deed; (2) by experiencing something or encountering someone; and (3) by attitude we take toward unavoidable suffering. (PART TWO: The Essence of Existence)

...tragic optimism that is, an optimism in the face of tragedy and in view of human potential which its best ways allow for: (1) turning suffering into a human achievement and accomplishment; (2) deriving from guilt and opportunity to change oneself for the better; and (3) deriving from life's transitoriness as incentive to take responsible action. (POSTCRIPT 1984 - The case for a Tragic Optimism)

Frankl believes that the meaning of life is the source of motivational force in man and that is not just a form of defense mechanism like psychoanalysis taught. There is a huge problem of an existential vacuum where a man can't find meaning in their life and thus resulted in an existential frustration or as he called it on his terms, a noögenic neuroses.

There are several referring to his theory that the reader might be missed on the first part in the second one, and he also linked it back to his teaching. There are also several comparisons and differentiation with psychoanalysis that he addresses in the book so it will be easier for the reader to understand the basics of his teaching. After all, the title of the second part of the book is "Logotherapy in a Nutshell."

While the first half book is an important reference for Nazi prisoners' experience and condition, I'd say that if the goal of reading is just to understand his logotherapy, it is very okay to just skip to the last half of the book. Though it would be very regrettable to skip on the memoir story and on how Frankl successfully deliver it in a very "objective academic" way even though he said it earlier in the book that what he wrote is indeed not a fact but a memoir of his own experience based on his point of view and subjectivity.

Unfortunately, his teaching can be easily manipulated into a toxic positivity we might encounter in modern motivational acts and speech. Many people consider it as a way to take everything blindly positive and have meanings even though Frankl himself already mentioned that his techniques cannot be applied to all sort of cases (like how paradoxical intention can only work best on phobia and compulsive disorder cases) and that he already stated:

But let me make it perfectly clear that in no way is suffering necessary to find meaning. I only insist that meaning is possible even in spite of suffering--provided, certainly, that the suffering is unavoidable. (PART TWO: The Meaning of Suffering)

My understanding of Frankl's logotherapy teaching is that suffering is unavoidable, but it doesn't mean that we have to suffer through it. We do have the capacity and willingness to get through it stronger and turn the suffering into a positive opportunity.

"Was mich nicht umbringt, macht mich starker." That which does not kill me, makes me stronger -Nietzsche

Overall my experience of reading the book is great as it opened my understanding of life even more. I found a lot of similarities with Frankl's understanding of life and suffering from Buddhism teaching on the first Four Noble Truths that made my reference even wider. I'd recommend this book for those who are in hopelessness state of their life and are trying to learn on how to live on. This is a good psychological-motivational book if one wants to take it as a motivational one.

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[bananachistudy]

The Subtle Art Of Not Giving A F*ck: A Review

At first, I was in doubt about this book. Everyone around me keeps making jokes about the book and belittling it. It is probably because it has a curse word in its title. Some even claimed that the book is a shitty motivational book like any other motivational books (even when they haven't read the book). Some also claimed that this book promotes egoism and selfishness. But I cannot help to keep referenced to this book in every life conversation I had. Someone said "stop giving a fuck to it," and suddenly I remember this book. Yes, to the point that it pique my curiosity to actually read it. And I am here after finishing the book in two days, writing this review with my opinion of: it is not bad as people keep saying it is.

To quote a good friend of mine, "The book delivers obvious things about life in a harsh way full of cursing." It is obvious for people who already thought about the existential contemplation that the book delivers in such popular and intimate way. But sometimes we still need it to validate the contemplation, or to give clear trigger for people who haven't yet encounter the existential crisis in their life. The book talks about toxic positivity and how suffering is unavoidable. It refers to a lot of Zen Buddhism teachings, probably because the writer travels a lot and for American people, traveling to Asia means embracing Buddhism or some kind.

The first half book talks about existential contemplation straight forward. With a package of "intimate" harsh cursing words just like how western people talk with their mate, Mark Manson delivers serious issues in the most relatable way possible for western first-world middle-class people. Yes, it is that specific and he also stated it at the beginning of the book.

We joke online about "first world problems," but we really have become victims of our own success. Stress-related health issues, anxiety disorders, and cases of depressions have skyrocketed over the past thirty years, despite the fact that everyone has a flat-screen TV and can have their groceries delivered. Our crisis is no longer material, it's spiritual. (Chapter 1)

The book might be not relatable and useful for those who still contemplate material things they need as what to eat tomorrow and how to pay the bills. The book is useful only for those people who already have their needs fulfilled but still feeling an unfulfilling void in their heart that burden for their whole life.

My first impression of motivational book is always bad as it usually delivers positivity so much that it becomes toxic. But The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F*ck is not that kind of motivational book. I would go as far as saying that this is a popular philosophical book rather than a motivational one. It criticizes motivational media's popular toxic positivity and promotes embracing human faults. It referencing Buddhism value where suffering and problems are unavoidable and we should accept it as a process of life instead. It talks about how media is contributing so much to our mindset that it made society normalize extraordinary people and promotes consumerism that confuses our priorities, how insignificant are we compared to the universe and how fine being as it is, how we are responsible for our own acts, and how we should stop being entitled by minding our own business and focus on our inner self more. The book also promotes healthy boundaries in relationships, teaches on how to say no, and that commitment is needed in life.

Though I wouldn't deny that the last half of the book is not good reading. But that's because I'm not the target of the book marketing. The last half delivers stories about Manson's experience in his middle class western young adult reckless life and how he found enlightenment in traveling around the world. It's not something that I, a lower-class third world country citizen would enjoy. But I do understand that kind of content is needed for the marketing purposes as the target would be in awe with those kinds of experience and thus would agree that the writer already settled all of his things into the rightest one and believable, even when he already stated that he is still wrong.

Growth is an endlessly iterative process, When we learn something new, we don't go from "wrong" to "right." Rather, we go from wrong to slightly less wrong... We are always in process if approaching truth and perfection without actually ever reaching the truth of perfection. (Chapter 6)

If anything I would change the title to stop the meme of people joking and belittling this book into "The Subtle Art Of Prioritizing, Rejecting, And Making Commitment" but that would not do the PR and marketing. This book deserves more than the meme but unfortunately, a vast group of people feeling entitled after reading the book (which is the exact opposite reason on what the writer wants people to be after reading the book) make The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F*ck image even worse. People would blame the book while the book really contributes a fault on its content, but is not the book's responsibility on the reader's destructive actions after reading the book.

Nevertheless, the book is a fun good reading. It validates my contemplation and gave me courage in prioritizing. Some people might consider this prioritizing as a selfish act but what truly matters for me is really just myself and people or things that I consider precious and important. Other than that, I have learned (a bit) about the subtle art to not give a f*ck.

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[bananachistudy]

Plato’s Allegory of Cave

Plato (429-347 B.C.E) is an Athenian philosopher who wrote several books of Socrates' dialogue, claiming Socrates as his teacher in philosophy. Among his writing is the popular Allegory of Cave in which he covers in his book, The Republic. A free English translated version of The Allegory of Cave can be found in standford.edu website.

The Allegory of Cave

 The allegory tells a story about prisoned mankind in a cave. They have been in the cave since forever, since their childhood. They don't even understand what outside of the cave means. They are shackled by their neck and legs, unable to move and see anything but what is in front of them, several shadows of several images presented. There is no light source in the cave but light reflected from a fire far behind them that they don't even know to exist.

Unknown to them, there are several puppeteers who run the shadows behind them. They were covered in high walls that make the prisoners cannot see them puppeteering the shadow. They carried many things to cast the shadow, made by carving statues made of stone or wood or any artifacts.

Prisoners would mistake those shadows as reality. They would not know the real cause of shadow because they are shackled. Every time they are talking towards each other, they talked about the shadow. When they see a horse, they would say that "I see a horse" without knowing what a horse truly is but from the shadow that they saw.

One day a man broke free from his chain. They walked back and encounter the fire as the source of the light. They were in pain for how bright the fire was in reality compared to the light reflection they have seen before. The pain started to question whether they should continue going forward or not. They realized that the fire is the cause of the shadow they have seen. But the pain kept them from going forward until they used to the light intensity that they never got before.

 After getting used to the light, they force themself to go forward to the entrance of the cave. They saw the sun for the first time and the light was blinded. The pain stroke him again and they would feel rage because they were unable to see things for a while. Then after getting used to the light, they would take some time getting accustomed to their new surroundings. They would see a real horse and start comparing it to the shadow they have seen before. Then they would start comparing more shadows to the real things that now they can see for real. At this point, they can see things by themselves rather than from the dim of reflections and start to understand the true meaning of things that they experience outside of the cave.

 They would start thinking about nature and its functions by collecting information and stored it as a knowledge. They then would start to contemplate about those people they know in the cave. Is it okay to let them prisoned in the cave while in reality there is so much going on outside the cave? They should know the truth!

 The man got back to the cave. But because of how the dark it was in the cave and that they have accustomed to the sunlight, they were completely blind in the cave. While still have to readjusting his eyesight, they started to tell about their findings outside the cave to the people that not even understand the concept of "outside the cave". The prisoners have accepted the cave and shadow as their reality and then this one man who has been missing suddenly came back like a crazy person they are explaining about unrealistic things! Not to mention that they are also now blind in the cave and no one is believing them.

Since no one was believing him, the prisoners consider the man as a crazy person and because the man didn't stop rambling about the outside, they killed him.

Meaning of The Story

This is an allegory about reflective understanding of human knowledge and the learning process. Many people are set bound into certain beliefs that they have been taught since childhood and hard to disbelief. Even though once someone has encountered the truthfulness, they might just simply reject the truth and keep shackled in the false belief.

It also talks about how reality is often just a shadow cast by some powerful people on the background. We tend to believe on what media tells us. We believe on what society wanted us to believe. We pursue money, love, fame, things that seem to value a person based on the media and society's depiction. But is it always true for everyone? Or is it just something that some people wanted us to believe?

Some people who are successful in escaping "the cave" are those who stepped out from the comfort reality zone of their life. They seek truthfulness and uncover their own life. They keep questioning everything to the point that it leads them to another path of life, to the entrance of the cave. When they saw the fire and the sun for the first time, it would be blinded. It the same feeling as when we encounter a bitter truth in real life that we need to face. It hurts us. But we need it to uncover the truth that we actually need even though we don't want to.

But encountering the truth doesn't always mean good things. Because the man who came outside are only a minority, they would feel alienated. Even when they came back to the cave and told them the truth, the prisoners ended up killing them. Why does it happen? It is because they have different "reality" in life. Both of them consider each reality as the true one. The prisoners talk about the shadow enthusiastically as their reality that they perceive. And the fact that the man was blind inside the cave also didn't help to convince the prisoners. It is an allegory that most of the time people who already found the truth, cannot relate to the people who haven't. And when they cannot relate, it's harder for them to communicate things that they are trying to tell.

 The lesson according to the story is that we need to step out of our current reality comfort and question everything. The more we question, the more truthfulness we might encounter. It the same as making a back up plan according to "what might happen if" when we are planning something. Sometimes it would hurt us in the process of encountering the truth, but it is needed and we need to readjust to the truthfulness every time we encountered one.

It also teaches that sometimes it is not worth it to try to help others that don't resonate well with us. The circumstances and the method of the communication attempt is also a big key in trying to convey a message. Most of the time when we are trying to change other's different mindsets it would hurt us instead. Though it is needed for us to spread the truth. The question is are we willing to take the risk? And is it the real truth that we are believing right now?

There might be some faults in this allegory lesson as to how far this "comfort zone" is and that the main reason for the freeman being killed is because of how wrong he communicated the truth. In real life, there are many people who successfully changed the "trapped mindset" into discovering the truth in the best communication skill they have. This "escape from comfort zone" is also cannot be applied to everyone just like that because some of us are in dire situations that need comfort zones. We have seen enough motivator who overuse this "comfort zone" term with this allegory that leads people into doing risky things without considering the aftermath. But nevertheless, the allegory is still a good Socratic philosophy that we can learn and take a thing or two from it.

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[bananachistudy]

The Plan for This Blog

I started doing self study again after dropping out of uni for the sake of my mental well-being. I always find studying fun and it gave me this weird adrenaline rush every time I encounter a topic that sparks my interest and I haven’t fully understand yet. There is this strong urge to not stop learning and keep researching until I fully grasp the concept and can solve the problem. So after I can heal my trauma of school, I started doing daily study session with several online courses. I’m thinking about making this blog something like a study corner of mine. Some people might say it’s going to be a study blur but I really am not into those handwriting aesthetic because my handwriting is not that pretty. I do most of my notes digitally instead to keep things tidy so I have no such content for aesthetic studyblr. What I’m going to do with this blog is to post my digital study notes. I’ve went to several psychology courses both in uni and online. I’m currently re-studying everything all over again so this blog would be mainly about psychology topic. Sometimes I will also cover philosophy or any other matters that interest me from real life phenomenon. Though I am sorry for many grammatical errors that I might made and have made because English is not my first language. I live in South East Asia and it is not Singapore or India so I have very limited English skill. This blog is also planned to exercise my English. I’m also open to anyone that want to discuss about my study or make friends with me. Feel free to message me or comment on my post. Cheers for all of us who pursue the virtue of learning.

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