File spoon-archives/bhaskar.archive/bhaskar_2000/bhaskar.0006, message 83


Date: Thu, 8 Jun 2000 03:04:47 +0100
From: Jan Straathof <janstr-AT-chan.nl>
Subject: RE: BHA: Realism and latent theology /anthropology


Hi Bwanika,

i really enjoyed your post, you wrote:

>It is indeed a confusing book, which can't readily be captured with an
>'empiricist ego' with a great void as lack of practice or TIC. I strongly
>believe Bhaskar at last has brought upon the world, a theory "an
>explanatory theory" and indeed liberated Habermasian " life world" and
>Durkheimian  "organic solidity".

yes, this is also my line of thought, roughy sketched i would
say that -at base- the book is trying to initiate a sort of a
buddhist marxist utopianism [with Christ and Krishna as
guiding spirits]

yours in SRA,
Jan

----------------------------
Reflection:

Desire to Be Rich and Famous Called a Sure Path to Discontent

by Alfie Kohn

New York - The adage that money cannot buy happiness may
be familiar, but is easily forgotten in a consumer society. A
much more persistent and seductive message is beamed from
every television screen: Contentment is available for the price
of this car, that computer, a little more getting and spending.

Over the last few years, however, psychological researchers
have been amassing an impressive body of data suggesting
that satisfaction simply is not for sale. Not only does having
more things prove to be unfulfilling, but also people for whom
affluence is a priority in life tend to experience an unusual
degree of anxiety and depression as well as a lower overall
level of well-being. Likewise, those who would like nothing
more than to be famous or attractive do not fare as well,
psychologically speaking, as those who primarily want to
develop close relationships, become more self-aware or
contribute to the community.

Earlier research had demonstrated that neither income nor
attractiveness is strongly correlated with a sense of well-being.
But Dr. Richard Ryan, professor of psychology at the University
of Rochester, and Dr. Tim Kasser, a former student who is
now an assistant professor of psychology at Knox College in
Illinois, have discovered that the news is even worse.

In three sets of studies published in leading psychology journals
since 1993, with a new article this year in Personality and Social
Psychology Bulletin and still more papers on the way, the resear-
chers sketch an increasingly bleak portrait of people who value
``extrinsic goals'' like money, fame and beauty.

Such people are not only more depressed than others, but also
report more behavioral problems and physical discomfort, as
well as scoring lower on measures of vitality and self-actuali-
zation. While not every study has investigated the full list of
effects, the pattern that emerges from the research project as
a whole is remarkably consistent.

Ryan and Kasser said their studies provided a look at the "dark
side of the American dream,'' noting that the culture in some
ways seemed to be built on precisely what turned out to be
detrimental to mental health. Americans are encouraged to
try to strike it rich, but,``the more we seek satisfactions in
material goods, the less we find them there,'' Ryan said.
"The satisfaction has a short half-life; it's very fleeting.''

Moreover, the detrimental effect of extrinsic goals seems to
hold regardless of age or even level of income: A preoccupation
with money bodes ill regardless of how much money one
already has. The effects also appear not to be limited to any
one culture. Kasser and his associates have now collected data
from subjects in 13 countries, including Germany, Russia and
India. The fact that pursuing wealth is psychologically unhelp-
ful and often destructive, he reports, ``comes through very
strongly in every culture I've looked at.''

Affluence, per se, does not necessarily result in an unsatisfying
life. Problems are primarily associated with "living a life where
that's your focus,'' Ryan said. Nevertheless, the negative
psychological picture does seem to be associated with the extent
to which people believe that they are already on the way to
attaining extrinsic goals.

For example, the paper to be published this year surveyed about
300 youths, some in the United States and some in Russia. In
both countries, lower levels of mental health were found not
only in people who wanted to make a lot of money but also in
those who thought they were likely to succeed at it.

Another study by the same researchers, not yet accepted for
publication, found that college students who were already
``relatively high in the attainment of appearance, financial
success and popularity'' were nevertheless ``lower in well-being
and self-esteem.'' Those who aspired to affluence also had
more transient relationships, watched more television and
were more likely to use cigarettes, alcohol and other drugs
than were those who placed less emphasis on extrinsic goals.

Apart from its obvious implications for a culture that thrives
on material gain, this whole line of research raises questions
about the proclivity of some psychologists to analyze the
dynamics of what is often called goal-directed behavior
while, in effect, ignoring the nature of the goal. Likewise, it
challenges homespun advice to``follow one's dream,'' whatever
it may be.

These data strongly suggest that not all goals or dreams are
created equal. According to the researchers, pursuing goals
that reflect genuine human needs, like wanting to feel connected
to others, turns out to be more psychologically beneficial than
spending one's life trying to impress others or to accumulate
trendy clothes, fancy gizmos and the money to keep buying
them.

The latter quest may amount to using compensation to try to
compensate for something more meaningful. The empirical
support for this piece of the puzzle comes from a particularly
provocative study that Kasser and Ryan conducted with Dr.
Melvin Zax at the University of Rochester and Dr. Arnold
Sameroff at the University of Michigan. These researchers
discovered that 18-year- olds for whom financial success
was especially important turned out to be disproportionately
likely to have mothers who were not very nurturing. When
parents are "cold and controlling,'' the researchers wrote,
"their children apparently focus on attaining security and
a sense of worth through external sources.''

This seems consistent with anecdotal accounts of very wealthy
men who grew up in troubled homes. Such stories are sometimes
cited as evidence that they made the best of a bad thing, turning
out well despite or because of their unhappy childhoods. The
problem with this interpretation, according to the research, is
that they may not have turned out so well after all. They just
turned out wealthy.

(c)2000 San Francisco Chronicle





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