It has been some time since I was last here, and unable to find any reasonable excuses at this moment, I seem to fall on laziness, making it seem as if that were the only possibility, even though a part of me knows its not the case.
Today's article is once again from the NY times online opinion blogs, titled "The Light at the End of Suffering", by Peg O'Connor, who is a teacher and occasionally gives talks on philosophy and addiction. In the article, she speculates over the "breaking point" of a person, by giving a rundown on the work of William James work "The Varieties of Religious Experience".
She begins by pondering over the question - how much more can one take? A question one usually avoids due to its bleakness, failing to look at it as a genuine question, and the fact that it can be an opportunity to make radical change instead, which was what her knowledge in addiction tells her. Diving into William James work, who looks at what she calls a "misery threshold" to know if some people were more capable or more prone to experience "acute fever" of religious or spiritual beliefs, she reveals his findings - those who suffer more are more inclined to experience that fever.
Going more into details of his work, the author comes to the point where it intersects with her knowledge of addiction and psychology. She then terms three stages of "world sickness" or the war within - pleasure diminished, pleasure destroyed and pathological melancholy - the final stage wherein one experiences anxiety about the universe and everything in it. Its here, she says, where one has the potential to transform leading to the acute fever of beliefs as described above.
Talking about addicts, the writer says its difficult to spot one who's "surrendered to higher powers", or in other words, transformed. However, they have a firmness of mind and character, clear beliefs, stability and finally, equilibrium. She concludes with one of James proclamation, that hope and redemption are as much part of life, as chaos and despair.
The authors style is fairly direct, seemingly only using words that are required, with appropriate quotes here and there. The sentences are neither long nor short, and most of the content points towards the work of James, which was used well to transfer it to her own line of expertise, that is addiction. She appears to give a very scientific explanation to an addicts life, the suffering and overcoming it, although the narration was hazy.
Today's article is once again from the NY times online opinion blogs, titled "The Light at the End of Suffering", by Peg O'Connor, who is a teacher and occasionally gives talks on philosophy and addiction. In the article, she speculates over the "breaking point" of a person, by giving a rundown on the work of William James work "The Varieties of Religious Experience".
She begins by pondering over the question - how much more can one take? A question one usually avoids due to its bleakness, failing to look at it as a genuine question, and the fact that it can be an opportunity to make radical change instead, which was what her knowledge in addiction tells her. Diving into William James work, who looks at what she calls a "misery threshold" to know if some people were more capable or more prone to experience "acute fever" of religious or spiritual beliefs, she reveals his findings - those who suffer more are more inclined to experience that fever.
Going more into details of his work, the author comes to the point where it intersects with her knowledge of addiction and psychology. She then terms three stages of "world sickness" or the war within - pleasure diminished, pleasure destroyed and pathological melancholy - the final stage wherein one experiences anxiety about the universe and everything in it. Its here, she says, where one has the potential to transform leading to the acute fever of beliefs as described above.
Talking about addicts, the writer says its difficult to spot one who's "surrendered to higher powers", or in other words, transformed. However, they have a firmness of mind and character, clear beliefs, stability and finally, equilibrium. She concludes with one of James proclamation, that hope and redemption are as much part of life, as chaos and despair.
The authors style is fairly direct, seemingly only using words that are required, with appropriate quotes here and there. The sentences are neither long nor short, and most of the content points towards the work of James, which was used well to transfer it to her own line of expertise, that is addiction. She appears to give a very scientific explanation to an addicts life, the suffering and overcoming it, although the narration was hazy.
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