In biology, in the ‘natural world’, all organisms are
mandated towards optimal health for the individual as part of optimal health
for the species, in the habitat that they inhabit.
This mandate is fundamental to all biology, and has both intrinsic and
extrinsic qualities.
This applies to human beings as individuals, as localised communities and as a
species.
This mandate towards optimal human health has persisted throughout the entire
existence of the species.
The long term existence and thriving of human
beings as a species is founded on this mandate towards optimal human health being met.
In terms of that long term existence, that long term thrivival of human
societies, certain qualities are associated with optimal human health.
Self empathy as part of a healthy sense of self, empathy for others, robust
physical health and well being, responsive intelligence, autonomy and the
desire and ability to effectively co-operate with others to meet both
individual and collective needs.
These are all markers of optimal human
health, in as much as collectively and individually they lend themselves to
long term sustained living cultures capable of meeting the challenges and the constant changes
in habitat and environment, through learning and growing by experience and by reflection.
Sense of self is an emergent quality. It is based on inner experience meeting external recognition.
The externalisations of the baby, the infant, the child that is to say the
inner experience which is articulated by movement, facial expression and sound,
when recognised and understood by caring adults, and therefore responded to
accurately, helps the infant or child to develop a healthy sense of self - the recognition by the
caring adult allows the infant to become more secure that his or her inner
experience and articulation of same as being valid.
“I am in discomfort, I need winding” articulated by cries and face squirming is
met by “You are in discomfort and need winding.” followed by action by the caring adult
to adjust the babies position, rub his or her back etc… leading to ease for the
child… this tells the child that his or
her self perception is accurate. There is a mutual feedback loop between baby and carer, which both inform each other, and verify each other...
This experience leads towards healthy self empathy, self understanding, which
is the basis for empathy for others. This process can also be disrupted. If it is disrupted over lengthy periods, then the emergence of healthy self empathy will likewise be disrupted, and may lead towards a pathology, a dysfunctional 'persona'.
Infants will also internalise aspects of the external world as part of their
healthy growth – so they will
internalise the love and care with which they
are treated, they internalise aspects of the habitat they grow into which
allows them to navigate it’s complexities, they internalise aspects of the
various age groups they experience within their community so that they have an
accurate life time picture from cradle to grave so to speak, and these deepen
their capabilities in terms of sustained health, as parents to be and as
members of a diverse community.
This internalisation is biologically as well as socially mandated, the child needs to internalise aspects of the
world into which she or he is growing as well as develop a healthy sense of
self through experience… so that he or she is capable of operating in a concrete reality with accuracy and healthy affect, and all these are essential qualities in terms of long term
survival and thriving.
All of these are markers of optimal human health.
There is a problem, though.
All of these markers are now under chronic stress in the modern Dominant Society, and in the
UK, where I live..
The State, an artifice of Power, demands that children internalise and thus identify with the
externals of Nationalism, The Flag, The Motherland, "British Values".
Organised and centralised religions
demand a similar internalisation of their values.
Football clubs set up players as role models.
Media portrays men and women in an idealised fashion and most often the dysfunctional
is portrayed as normal. No one I know could live with the ‘heroic’ people in
movies as their roles are played, or actors, footballers, models, politicians … let alone the ‘ordinary’ people, the
b-listers, as portrayed in movies…
Thus healthy self empathy is undermined, because it is constantly being challenged, put under pressure and ultimately replaced corrosively with another external identity, which serves Power rather than the individual or the community, and from that much else flows that
is damaging to optimal human health.
One can also speak of massive trauma such as occasional natural events or
disasters, and the more frequent trauma of intentional war prosecuted by States
and other actors, the ubiquity of
inter-generational
trauma as a result of unresolved inter state conflict, commercially driven social conditioning, social dysfunction etc all of which remaining unresolved will affect the development of optimal human health in individuals
and communities, for successive generations, across diverse populations.
For most people it is relatively easy to understand some few aspects of these
dynamics in terms of an abusive family dynamic – we all know of families whose
lives are blighted by addiction, bullying, child abuse, domestic violence and
so on.
However there is a distinct lack of initiative to resolve these dynamics that is all too common, and yet it need not be that way.
And when it comes to the culture as a whole, and to power and politics in
particular, there is in most people's perspective a dreamscape, an illusion, is what persists in the 'mainstream' rather than a well articulated and accurate description
of concrete reality as it is and as it affects peoples lives.
It is absolutely critical to the future generations that we, in this information age, do all that we can to address this disruption of self empathy that leads to such inaccurate and dysfunctional perceptions upon which Power now sits enthroned.
Reading yourself
Read yourself with self empathy and you will discover more of value..
The 'ego' theory in psychology is derived from Freud's drive theories
(which were his way of avoiding certain truths about how adults behaved
towards children in his day)... It is also a copy or repetition of the
Christian concept of the 'devil within'. Both are massive errors and
very damaging, because they lead adults to over control children, often
by threats, intimidation and withdrawal of love. They pe
rpetuate chronic stress on children.
We are biologically mandated towards optimal human health, and that
includes a healthy sense of self, and if that mandate is disrupted, with
regard to how we develop our healthy sense of self, and there is no way
to address the situation while we are growing up, then we may develop a
wounded sense of self, or an unrealistic sense of self, or a damaged
sense of self.
Healing that is a matter of developing self
empathy, and empathy for the child we were in the situation we were in,
and not a matter of controlling the 'ego' or regarding the wounded ego
in a negative light.
Religion?
All
Religions are equal in this analysis, yet not all parents are - there
ARE parents within those traditions who do not bully, intimidate etc or
indoctrinate their children. Just as there are parents who are 'secular' and at the same time cruel towards their children. One has to bear this in mind at all times. One has to be careful with generalisations and be prepared to always drill into each particular case, as required.
That
said, the statistical significance and social outcomes of institutionally approved controlling
behaviours, be they stimulated, permitted or inspired by Ideology,
Religiosity, or as a result of trauma and other disruptions are such that we cannot
afford to ignore them, and the Religions and States that permit them
must be challenged on all indoctrination processes, and on all
threat/intimidation based pedagogies.
I refuse to allow my work to be bent to one agenda or another
It's
vital for my work to remain clear, unambiguous and focused -the issue
is how we adults relate to THE NATURAL CHILD and how we adults NURTURE
the natural child within the context of a Nurturant Society.,as an
expression of optimal human biological health.
Meeting the mandate of optimal biological health.
This
means for me, at least, the ending of war and of all hierarchical
violence, and being in the best possible position to deal with the
impacts of poverty, climate changes, habitat changes etc etc.
This
unites all issues without becoming an ideology - it is designed to
resist being co-opted, and as such it ought to stand as a direct
challenge and alternative pathway to all Hierarchically Violent Power
Structures and dysfunctional Social Systems.
