• WITH EVOLUTION OF THE BRAIN:
• 1) FREEDOM OF REACTIVITY
• REFLEX--
• CLASSICAL CONDITIONING--
• OPERANT CONDITIONING
• OBSERVATIONAL LEARNING
• PROBLEM-SOLVING--
• ARBITRARY SYMBOLS (LANGUAGE)

• COMPLEX CONTROL PANEL FOR REACTIVITY
• DELAY, PLAN, CONSIDER ALTERNATIVES, JUDGE, DECIDE
• PAST, PRESENT, FUTURE

• WITH INCREASING COGNITIVE COMPLEXITY COMES INCREASING HELPLESSNESS AT BIRTH
• MONKEYS AT BIRTH --70% BRAIN SIZE
• HUMANS REACH 70% AT 3 YEARS OLD
• -- INSTINCT VS LEARNING

• I AM/
• I KNOW THAT I AM/
• I KNOW THAT I KNOW THAT I AM
• POSITIVE: SELF-REGULATION, PLANNING
• NEGATIVE: ANXIETY

SOCIALIZATION: FROM ANIMAL MATTER TO PERSON

• DEPENDENT, HELPLESS CREATURE WHO IS SELF-AWARE AND ABLE TO ANTICIPATE ALL SORTS OF FUTURE NEGATIVE EVENTS
• KNOWLEDGE OF VULNERABILITY AND MORTALITY ---
• ANXIETY IS EXISTENTIAL, DERIVES FROM HELPLESSNESS AND THREATS FROM THE EXTERNAL WORLD
• SURVIVAL DESIRES VS UNDERSTANDING OF REALITY CREATES ANXIETY
• MUST CONTROL THIS POTENTIAL FOR ANXIETY

• THE CHILD DEVELOP CONTROLS OVER SELF TO SUSTAIN PARENTAL SUPPORT -- CONDITIONAL LOVE
• RESOLUTION: BE GOOD LITTLE BOY OR GIRL TO SUSTAIN PARENTAL LOVE AND PROTECTION
• CONTROL PHYSICAL SELF TO BECOME SYMBOLIC SELF: GIVE UP FREE ACTION FOR SECURITY
• THE SKEWING OF PERCEPTIONS AND LIMITING OF ACTION
• LOOK, I’LL PUNISH MYSELF!

• "THE LIMITATION OF EXPERIENCE, FRAGMENTATION OF PERCEPTION, DISPOSSESSION OF GENUINE INTERNAL CONTROL"
• VITAL SELF-EXPANSION & AUTHENTIC PLEASURE
• VS CLEAN COUCH & COMPLETE CHINA SET
• SOLUTION?
• THE VOLITIONAL AFFIRMATION OF THE OBLIGATORY

• FOR BECKER ANXIETY RESULTS FROM THE CHILD=S HELPLESS AND DEPENDENT POSITION IN THE FACE OF AWARENESS OF EXTERNAL THREATS, AND IT IS CONTROLLED BY LEARNING TO INTERNALIZE AND CONFORM TO PARENTAL MORALS AND VALUES TO SUSTAIN THEIR LOVE AND PROTECTION

• THUS TO BE GOOD IS TO BE SAFE AND SECURE-- THIS IS WHY PEOPLE ARE DRIVEN TO ACQUIRE AND MAINTAIN SELF-ESTEEM:
• ASELF-ESTEEM IS THE NATURAL SYSTEMIC CONTINUATION OF THE EARLY EGO EFFORTS TO HANDLE ANXIETY@
• SELF-ESTEEM IS AN ANXIETY-BUFFER

• ASSESSMENT OF ONE=S SELF-ESTEEM REQUIRES STANDARDS OF GOOD AND BAD --THESE COME FROM OUTSIDE OURSELVES, FROM THE CULTURE AND THEY CHANGE OVER THE LIFESPAN:
• PLEASING THE PARENTS, BEING COOL, FUNNY, ATHLETIC, SMART, ATTRACTIVE, FASHIONABLE, GETTING GOOD GRADES, FULFILLING CULTURALLY VALUED ROLES, POSSESSIONS,$$$

THE SOCIALLY DERIVED NATURE OF SELF-ESTEEM

• SOCIAL COMPARISONS AND IDENTIFICATIONS
• ALWAYS NEED SOCIAL VALIDATION, E.G., THE SNUB
• DEFINITION: SELF-ESTEEM IS THE CULTURALLY DERIVED SENSE THAT ONE IS AN OBJECT OF PRIMARY VALUE IN A WORLD OF MEANING
• SIBLING RIVALRY
• WHERE DO I STAND AS A HERO?
• CULTURE PROVIDES A CODIFIED HERO-SYSTEM

• WHY DOES PERSON NOT FEEL HEROIC IN HIS/HER LIFE?

• AS KIDS, WE LEARN THAT WHEN WE ARE LIVING UP TO INTERNALIZED STANDARDS OF VALUE, WE ARE LOVED, PROTECTED, AND SAFE
• THUS, SELF-ESTEEM, THE SENSE THAT WE ARE LIVING UP TO THOSE STANDARDS, IS HOW WE LEARN TO FEEL SECURE
• SELF-ESTEEM SERVES AN ANXIETY-BUFFERING FUNCTION THROUGHOUT LIFE
• SELF-ESTEEM IS BASED ON THE CULTURE’S STANDARDS OF VALUE, SO IT REQUIRES CONTINUAL SOCIAL VALIDATION

• BASED ON:
• CULTURALLY VALUED ATTRIBUTES, ACHIEVEMENTS, AND ROLES
• SOCIAL COMPARISONS AND IDENTIFICATIONS
• WE TRAFFIC IN IMAGES OF SELF-WORTH
• NEG. IMAGE ------> ANXIETY -----> DEFENSE:
• MAKE EXCUSES, MUSTER POSITIVE IMAGES (COMPENSATION), ADJUST SOCIAL COMPARISONS AND IDENTIFICATIONS
• SUSTAINING SELF-ESTEEM OVER THE LIFESPAN IS TOUGH

• CULTURAL RELATIVITY
  • THE SAMBIAN FLUTE CEREMONY
  • INDIVIDUALISTIC V.S. COLLECTIVISTIC

• THUS SELF-ESTEEM IS A FRAGILE CULTURAL CONSTRUCTION THAT DEPENDS ON FAITH IN A CULTURAL WORLDVIEW THAT IMBUES REALITY WITH MEANING AND VALUE

• ALLOWS FOR COSMIC HEROISM; OTHERWISE STRIVE FOR MATERIAL BASES OF WORTH AND IDENTIFY WITH FRAGILE THINGS
• DO WE KNOW WHERE BABIES COME FROM?
• THE FICTIONAL NATURE OF HUMAN MEANINGS
• SPORTS
• CLOCKS AND CALENDERS
• ALL HAVE LARGE FICTIONAL ELEMENT--RARELY TESTED --
• CAN WE MOVE TOWARD ZERO? SHOULD WE?

• NORMALITY IS CULTURALLY DETERMINED
• THE ABNORMAL IS SOMEONE WHO DOES NOT FIT WITHIN THE CULTURALLY ACCEPTED NEUROSES --
• SOMEONE WHO DOES NOT RESTRICT PERCEPTION AND BEHAVIOR IN THE CULTURALLY ACCEPTED WAYS

• THE WORLD OF HUMAN ASPIRATIONS IS A LARGELY FICTITIOUS SYMBOLIC CREATION --WE MUST DEFEND THE UTTER FRAGILITY OF OUR DELICATELY CONSTITUTED FICTIONS
• OTHER WORLDVIEWS SUGGEST THAT OURS MAY BE JUST AS FUNDAMENTALLY CONTRIVED AS ANY OTHER
• THUS, OTHER CULTURES ARE ALWAYS POTENTIALLY THREATENING BECAUSE THEY SUGGEST THAT OUR OWN BASIS OF MEANING, SELF-ESTEEM, AND SECURITY MAY BE AN ARBITRARY FICTION
• WE THEREFORE HAVE TO CONTINUALLY REINFORCE OUR VIEW AND DEFUSE THE THREAT OF ALTERNATIVE VIEWS
• DEROGATION
• ASSIMILATION
• ACCOMMODATION
• ANNIHILATION
• BUT WHY CAN=T WE JUST ACCEPT THE FICTIONAL NATURE OF OUR OWN WORLDVIEW?

BECAUSE IF YOU STRIP AWAY MEANING AND SELF-ESTEEM FROM LIFE,

• WE ARE JUST ANIMALS DOOMED TO DECAY AND DEATH--
• WE ARE AWARE THAT WE ARE UNIQUE INDIVIDUALS AND YET DESTINED TO DIE-- AINDIVIDUALITY-WITHIN- FINITUDE@
• TO FUNCTION WITH OUR ANXIETIES UNDER CONTROL WE NEED A MEANINGFUL WORLDVIEW AND A SENSE THAT WE ARE SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTORS TO IT.
• GIVEN CULTURAL RELATIVITY, CAN WE THEN JUDGE CULTURES?
• ONLY FROM WITHIN OUR OWN CULTURAL VALUE-SYSTEM!
• PERHAPS WE CAN ASK: HOW WELL IS A CULTURE PROVIDING SAFETY, MEANING, AND SELF-WORTH TO ITS MEMBERS WHILE MINIMIZING COSTS TO THOSE WITHIN THE CULTURE, THOSE OUTSIDE THE CULTURE, AND FUTURE GENERATIONS?

• WHERE DO RELIGION AND SOCIAL SCIENCE CONVERGE?
• IN THEIR CRITIQUES OF CULTURAL FICTIONS-- AIDOL WORSHIP@
• EVOLUTIONARY DEVELOPMENT OF OUR CORTEX , FREEDOM FROM INSTINCTS, FREEDOM OF REACTIVITY ALLOW THE POSSIBILITY OF TRUE FREEDOM AND CREATIVITY--
• BUT MOST OF US BECOME SYMBOLICALLY RE-INSTINCTIVIZED BY EMBEDDING OURSELVES IN A NARROW CULTURAL WORLDVIEW-- SLAVES TO OUR TRAINERS AND SOCIAL GROUPS --
• WE GIVE UP FREEDOM FOR SECURITY
• HOW DO WE GET BEYOND THIS?
• PERHAPS THRU COSMIC HEROISM
• THIS ALLOWS FREEDOM FROM CONTROL BY MATERIAL AND CULTURAL INFLUENCES BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT YOUR ULTIMATE BASES OF HEROISM AND SECURITY.
• THUS SPIRITUALITY CAN ENHANCE SELF-RELIANCE, AND OPENNESS
• CAN PEOPLE SUSTAIN SPIRITUAL FAITH WITHOUT TRANSFORMING THAT FAITH INTO RIGID BELIEF SYSTEMS AND IDOL WORSHIP?
• ONLY THEN COULD IT PROVIDE A BASIS FOR SECURITY THAT WOULD ALLOW OPENNESS AND SELF-RELIANCE

• DENIAL OF DEATH (1973)
• ESCAPE FROM EVIL (1975)