The Irish Advocacy Network  Ltd.,                

Home   News      Discussion    Poetry & Writing   Events     About IAN     Contact Details      Links

Writing: Jim Walsh

The Society of Commodities –
Science, Spirituality and Mental Health by Jim Walsh

'How can we know the dancer from the dance?' W.B. Yeats

Whatever your view, it is hard to deny that life is a struggle. It is this realization that forces us into a constant search for our 'Reason D'etre'. We discuss, ponder and philosophize about our existence attempting to satisfy the need to console ourselves as to why we are here. This constant striving for meaning and purpose is what I call 'Spirituality'. The 'spiritual quest' for man is the quest for enlightenment. We yearn to move close to and understand the hidden force that drives the existence of the very universe, including the living things that dwell within.

I would argue that because human beings possess, as far as we are aware, the highest level of consciousness of any living creature, we have the greatest capacity to be aware of our spiritual inheritance. Psychologists such as L.B Brown and D Wolff, provide strong evidence that our ability to express and explore our individual spiritual beliefs has a strong effect on levels of mental wellness. Any thing that disrupts or distorts this innate need can damage our mental and emotional well being.

I believe that disruptions to spiritual fulfillment have also the potential to destroy the morality of a nation. Below I will argue that modern society harbors two main threats to our spiritual and therefore mental and emotional well being - our obsession with commodities and the predominance of science in imposing a cold, materialistic meaning to life.

The Society of Commodities

'Avarice can never be satisfied' Chinese proverb

Our relationship with material goods has greatly intensified over the previous two centuries, and it would appear the scene is set for this relationship to become even more intensive. Never before have we been so well endowed with material goods yet many would argue that never before have we been more dissatisfied with our lives. Increased incidents of mental ill health and rates of suicide in the Western population highlights the stark reality of the emotional and mental well being of a consumer society. Indeed, if the World Health Organization is correct, the incidences of mental ill health and suicide will dramatically increase over the next few decades. It would then appear that the more we possess, the more we desire, the more unhappy we become.

This constant desire for material wealth potentially threatens human relationships and more importantly our spiritual integrity. The meaning and purpose of life is no longer 'satisfied' by our ability to explore something within that each individual can appertain with a power responsible for our existence. In a society rich with commodities, the meaning and purpose of life is distorted by a desire to acquire material goods. Commodities become the focus of our desires. As a result we become spiritually stunted. We lose affinity with our fellow man, neglecting the common human bond that finds expression through spirituality.
It is not only our obsession with commodities that distorts our spiritual quest. The authority of science in modern society tends to emphasize a cold, mechanistic element to human behaviour, which I believe encourages the selfishness that polarizes the individual. It is the threat of science to spirituality that I now turn to.

Science: the Anti-Spiritual Virus

'The professors were killing science like the priests are killing religion' P.D. Ouspensky

What is most important and influential to any given society is demonstrated by metaphysical systems. If we think of many Eastern societies, we find that their lives focus on the unknown, the mystical and the sacred. The Buddhists believe that self-discipline and humility through exploring and being at one with the self is the right way to live and the most effective way to ensure a harmonious community. Taoism points to a slightly different direction to the 'way'. There is a life-giving energy common to every one, which can be 'followed' and 'explored' through reflection and meditation. 'The way' brings peace and harmony for those who are willing to discover the life-giving energy that is common to all.

Now I am not advocating these spiritual outlooks, but illustrating the metaphysical systems unique to particular Eastern societies.
The Western metaphysical system has a less transcendental perspective than what has been described above. Western metaphysics is increasingly dominated by a scientific methodology to accessing reality and its implications for the human world. Kant humbled the over optimism generated during the 'enlightenment'. He illustrated the limits of human thought and perception and its metaphysical implications. Human reality is subjected and constrained by our perceptions and cognitive abilities. The only reality that we can access is a subjective human reality. Kant argued that outside the human world is true reality, (this is most likely to be beyond our perception of time, space and motion). Kant's thesis on the limits to human knowledge has yet to be overcome. It demonstrates that there is much room for speculation regarding the reality we are caught up in. This gap in reality is usually filled with spiritual beliefs, which, as stated, implies meaning and purpose in human existence.
The fallacy in Western societies is that scientific knowledge has been so aggressively promoted as our only means to reality that there is little room for alternatives. Science emphasizes a Darwinian outlook on life. Survival of the fittest has become the primary meaning and purpose of living. We have a selfish nature and are programmed to ensure survival of our Individual genetic integrity.

Though the Darwinian thesis in its modern sense takes into account social behaviour such as altruism, the main theoretical theme centres on selfish motives to human behaviours. I strongly believe that this emphasis on ulterior motives to human behaviour has the effect of justifying and encouraging selfish acts. The cold, materialistic reality that science tends to impose, polarizes individuals, particularly in Western societies. The polarizing effects of scientific theory sever spiritual connectedness between fellow human beings.

Conclusion

Modern industrial societies promote consumerism, exploiting an innate human need for inner fulfillment. The illusion that material wealth can deliver inner fulfillment can pervert and distort the spiritual quest that man has been involved in as far back as history can fathom. Scientific theories on the purpose and meaning in life have a similar effect on human spirituality by emphasizing a selfish nature to human behaviour. We begin to rationalize and justify selfishness by relating our behaviour to Darwinism.

I have argued, as many others before that modern society is currently going through a spiritual crisis. This crisis is manifesting itself in the mental and emotional well being of societies that are driven by science and consumerism. For different reasons, Nietzsche predicted such a crisis. He warned that the dominance of Christian morality would begin to erode. A moral void would bring about societal chaos. I believe that our obsession with science and consumerism has diverted our attentions away from our moral responsibilities toward each other. It is impossible for this moral void to be filled by consumerism or scientific theories and investigation. In order to regain moral responsibility I believe we require a spiritual revival based on a shared transcendental reality bringing about an inclusive meaning and purpose. Only then can the mental and emotional well being of society begin to improve and heal.

Jim Walsh