Community | August 10, 2009 | 10 comments

Addicted To Excess

source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/aug/08/excess-adam-phillips

Image
St_Alia_10191
"Nothing makes people more excessive than talking about excess. We tend to become either extremely disapproving or unusually enthusiastic and excited about the most recently reported celebrity orgy, or managing director's pay rise. No one can be indifferent to binge drinking, or the amount of pornography on the internet: everyone knows someone now who has a so-called "eating disorder", and everyone knows about the huge numbers of people in the world who are starving. Excess is everywhere now - excesses of wealth and of poverty, of sex and greed, of violence and of religious belief. If the 20th century was, in the title of Eric Hobsbawm's book, the Age of Extremes, then the 21st century looks like being the Age of Excess.

Nothing makes us more disapproving, disgusted, punitive - not to mention fascinated, exhilarated and amazed - than other people's extravagant appetite for food, or alcohol, or money, or drugs, or violence; nothing makes us more frightened, more furious, more despairing than other people's extreme commitment to political ideals or religious beliefs. Other people's excesses disturb us, get us worked up, because they reveal something important to us about ourselves, about our own fears and longings. Indeed other people's excesses might reveal to us, at its most minimal, that we are, or have become, the excessive animals - the animals for whom excessive behaviour is the rule rather than the exception.

Our reactions to other people's excesses reveals to us what our conflicts are. I don't want to be a suicide bomber, but I may want to have something in my life that is so important to me that I would risk my life for it; or I may more simply want to be aggressive enough to be able to protect the people I love. The excesses of other people, and of ourselves, can make us think, rather than merely react. Indeed something as powerful as excess might - if we can suspend our fear - allow us to have thoughts we have never had before. After all, inspiration, falling in love, conversion experiences - the most radical transformations that can occur in a life - are traditionally overwhelming, excessive experiences."
  1. groups:
    Community,   Culture,   Max and Jason: Still Up,   Fashion,   8 more
  2. tags:
    News,  Culture,  Art and Style,  Science,  8 more
  3.     
    |

10 comments // Addicted To Excess

  • Cochiese
  • good_stuff
  • msumonica
    • 0
      msumonica  

    • i think that this stems from constantly feeling as if we need to compare ourselves to other people to serve our own egos. it is also the fastest way to be miserable. for some reason we tend to manifest more of the things in our lives that we focus our attention on, so instead of criticizing and attempting to control other people, it may be more beneficial instead to shift our focus as individuals to something more constructive. i believe that is the true litmus of where a person's character lies, is where he or she devotes their attention

    • 2 years ago
  • MyMightyFinger
  • eden49
  • ThoughtNu
    • 0
      ThoughtNu  

    • I would think that if one considers the effect of desire ,one might include the value of desire...we are after all in 'civilized' nations bombarded by advertisements, over time conditioning the masses 'to willingly exploit one's own ego or find value in something unpractical;Such as buying a vehicle more for looks than practicality...then those nations become vilified by nations that focus on tradition and vise verso ;politics become abrasive...bankers and merchants aren't being held accountable for their influence on the public..Any billionaire could be one example...IMO

      btw Great Post ! I think all experience is important... 'Experience is the meaning to all life (animals dont pray) Experience leads to deviancy which becomes change ..then growth.
      just tinkin oba ear THC residue ...

    • 2 years ago
  • pjacobs51
    • 0
      pjacobs51  

    • Some reactions to others excess's can lead one to do the opposite as them.

      For instance: my dad was an excessive pack rat. He had his whole house, from floor to ceiling, full of old electronic gear from his job at Burlington Northern RR. It has taken me five years to finally clear it out.

      And now, I would consider myself an excessive minimalist. Nothing pleases me more than a near empty room with no clutter at all. I just love empty space.

      Hmm, that may explain why I created the "Space" group. ;)

    • 2 years ago
  • neocongo
    • 0
      neocongo  

    • My theory is that as a country, we are spending less and less time with people. This results in an increase in anxiety and depression which are at the heart of addictive behaviour. Combine this with a media that saturates us with the belief that we can be better if only we buy pieces X, Y, and Z of shit, and you see where this is going.

      Strong faith based communities and strong ethnic minority communities just don't see as much of this excessive/addictive kind of behaviour. Their time is more often occupied with people instead of things.

      Just a theory...

    • 2 years ago
  • J_Jammer
    • 0
      J_Jammer [removed]  

    • That was an interesting article. I like the point about the suicidebomber and wanting to be devoted to or believe so much in something that one is willing to sacrifice their own life.

    • 2 years ago
  • unimatrix0
more from Community:
from the community

top videos