" Our life is a gift from God, how we live our life is our gift to God."
Nice isn't it? I was really struck by this phrase when i saw it the day before on a pendant. Although it is not a verse from the bible, isn't it very true?
I was just wondering why people enjoy doing things that hurt others and themselves, especially themselves. For example, not letting go of the past and allowing God to heal the wounds that are there. I know i do it and so do many others and i've got no questions about how people may go about doing it (i.e. refusing to forgive the person, talking/thinking bad about the person etc...). My question is why.
Why would someone do such a thing? Behaviorial psychology talks about operant conditioning and if operant conditioning were to be used as an explantory tool, i believe it would fail. The reason is because such actions only bring pain, which is what a person would try to avoid. Therefore, why would an individual continue to persist in such actions? The consequences should be sufficient to deter and extinguish such behavior.
I am not saying that the theory of operant conditioning holds no water, but rather trying to examine this particular peculiarity. To understand that it does indeed work, just look at the act of gosipping for example. Some people persist in doing so to boost their low self esteem and mask their insecurities by putting others down which are positive rewards to the individual, albeit being harmful to others. Hence, in according to the theory of operant conditioning, the individual would continue to carry out this behavior simply because it offers the person the reward he/she wants. This is assuming that no other effects of gossiping exist or will occur.
The possible conclusions that i can draw are as follows:
1) Freud is right about the thanatos that all Man possess; i.e. the desire to self destruct.
2)The act of doing such acts of hurt actually bring about pleasure
4) Sin is present, causing Man to do so
I'll eliminate option 2 offhand because i believe that while some people do fall into this category, people are generally pain-adversive. As for option 1, its pretty plausible, only that to believe that leads me to ask why we possess thanatos. The information was unfortunately not provided in my HP204 module. If i continue searching, i believe the idea that will appear is that of sin. Why do we continue to do so, if not because we have sinned and the sin within us is like a maggot that thrives on rotting flesh.
In that case, the solution is quite clear. I'd leave it to you all to guess till next time.
Ciaoz!
dreamt of @ 2:20 am
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` Tagboard.
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` wordsWorth.
certain quotes from certain places..
"Blessed is the man who perseveres under trials because when he stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him." James 1:12
"Oh, nothing can happen more than once,
But all things must happen one day
Over hill and dale, over wood and stream,
My dying voice will blow away... " The Neverending story
"Walk by Faith, Not by sight" 2 Corinthians 5:7
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