It Has Nothing to Do with Age

Trust Part 2

2026-10-15T15:21:35.915-07:00

To reiterate, the “mothering person” ( voice,touch,facial expression ) can be characterized as loving, caring, warm or insecure, rigid, controlling, angry, anxious, inadequate and/or incestuous. Not surprising, the child is looking for nurturance, protection, comfort,security ,safety, and love . Taking into account being suckled, as an example,did the feeding engagement contribute to developing and become associated with a sense of trust( a good mother) or a sense of mistrust ( a bad mother)? An/ or , did the “good” mothering person leave and become absent for any number of reasons and then become the “bad “, by introjection, the untrusting mother to fear and become associated with feelings of hunger, frustration, insecurity , tension, anxiety, uneasiness , anger, loss and mistrust ?

With a bad mother ,the child’s emotional experience of hunger, fear,threat and danger becomes unconsciously projected, as a reality , of a dangerous world . If so, it results in a fixation of the child’s emotional development .

When there is the loss of a” good “mother, the child first encounters feelings of acute distress and then followed by a feeling of despair and subsequently a stage of emotional detachment. And , with more losses of mother figures, it gradually begins to lose trust in other human beings . As a defense , the child withdraws and assumes an attitude of indifference toward further human contact.

With a sense of mistrust , begins the development of paranoid , delusional and persecutory thinking .Paranoid thinking is defensive, irrational and rigid. This defense offers some solutions for a person’s anxiety ,fear, insecurity, discomfort and distress as the world is perceived as dangerous, threatening and attacking . And because these children are easily frightened ,experience ongoing frustration, they are easily given to rage .

Paranoid thinking is a projection and a distortion of reality but does not satisfy the wish for safety, security and love . Essentially , it’s a mechanism , an orientation of hyper vigilance . It’s a prediction of intention, motives, thoughts and feelings of others made to be consonant , a confabulation, to fit with one’s distortion of reality .

It interferes with objectivity and rationality in that it tends to treat impersonal things and events as though they were personal .And unfortunately, a paranoids attitude, beliefs , feelings , thoughts and behavior become less susceptible to correction .These paranoid types rigidly hold onto their crazy ideas and believe in a whole host of extraordinary explanations of events.They are not open to rationality,reason or reality. And, they become easy prey from other “ parental” figures falsely promoting power,protection,safety ,caring and love.

Their emotional tensions are transferable and projected to others in the external world .With paranoid thinking, they believe that they can identify and discern the difference between self and another. Despite being unable to discern differences, they act as though their influences and suspicions are established facts.

Simply put, they are unable to identify or take another person's position and see things from that person’s perspective. They are unable to trust no one but themselves . And, they lack the intellectual or cognitive means for reconsidering their beliefs and conclusions. Moreover, they cannot be convinced of their irrationality,hate and craziness . Essentially the defense mechanisms of denial, rationalization ,introjection and projection are paramount.

Accompanying paranoid thinking, is the defense mechanism of denial which becomes established early in childhood . And denial becomes an overdeveloped tendency ,in part, because of the excessive amounts of anxiety , unpleasantness and the threat externally. Not only do they deny reality but they project their own toxic and hateful attributes and feelings onto others. A hostile paranoid person deeply feels that he is surrounded by external hostility and , as a defense, also has identified with angry, hateful sadistic individuals. likely , at first, with the parenting figures .

These paranoid types are secretive, closed, suspicious and seclusive.They deny and can not take responsibility for their failures but instead , project and blame others for their failures and situation . Although they often appear agreeable to self and others, they are actually hostile individuals.

It’s not surprising that these paranoid mistrusting types engage and identify with angry, hateful others that lie, project , blame and scapegoat . Without objective, truthful information , reasoning and a clear understanding ,these brain rot individuals have sympathized - 74% with the Palestinians and 44% were against US military support for Israel.

A US Millennial Holocaust Knowledge and Awareness Survey revealed that 63% of Gen Z and Millennial respondents did not know that 6 million Jews were murdered during the Holocaust. And, 48% could not name a single concentration camp or ghetto, established during World War II. In another survey highlighted by USA Today, 20% of young adults in New York incorrectly believed the Jewish people caused the Holocaust . And a Claims Conference study in the Netherlands found that 23% of millennial’s and Gen Z ers believed the Holocaust was either a myth or had been highly exaggerated.

It’s clear that this troubled, non-trusting, suspicious, paranoid ,easily manipulated and receptive to conspiracy ideas population are a threat to themselves and to our republic. They have bought into Covid-19 vaccination misinformation; Trump's phony 2020 election lies;Netanyahu’s manipulating Trump ; Trump’s war with Iranian;Israeli genocide; winning the Iranian war; the evils of woke, LGBTQ , the Democrats and other nonsense.These dependent, non trusting paranoid , brain rot individuals ,with intimacy fears, are contributing to our nations mental, emotional and physical decline.

More Gen Z females graduate from college than the males yet more of the males voted for Trump.

Reference

Cameron, Norman. Personality Development and Psychopathology.

Erikson H. Erik . Childhood and Society.

Trust - Part 1

2026-10-08T14:52:36.958-07:00

Trust has been characterized as a conscious choice, becoming vulnerable to another person, anchored in the confident belief that their intent and competence are reliable. Also, trust relies on integrity, strength, ability, surety of a person , to believe that someone is good and honest and will not harm you. This brief essay has to do with the lack of trust and paranoia of many Gen Zers .

The following troubling statistics , regarding trust, come from the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation and The Hill “Gen Z Rejects Trump Support and is Mid Term Motivated and Pew Research. Pertaining to Gen Z :1.They make up 21% of the population 2. Their voter turnout remains lower than other age groups 3. 31% supported Trump in the 2024 election and their GOP showing was the highest since 2008 4. Trump’s approval rating dropped from 94% to 69% in his first seven months 5. Prior to the 2024 election 27% strongly agreed that democracy was the best form of government, compared to 69% over the age of 58 6. Less than one third under the age of 30 trust the government 7. 16% believe that democracy is working well for young people .

Additional information pertaining to trust : 1 right-leaning influencers have 9 out of 10 most popular podcasts and shows 2. Gen Zers are getting information from their favorite influencers, favorite content creators and/or YouTube streaming 3. Many conservative youth leaders use highly inflammatory language involving Nazi-ism and racism. 4. Information received is driven by social media not traditional news outlets as they are absorbing narratives not consuming the news 5.Politics of equality don’t resonate with a lot of these males.

Further trust statistics: 1. 17% of Americans say they don’t trust the federal government in Washington 2. 66% of Republicans trust science 3. There’s been a big decline in trusting science associated with the Covid -19 pandemic 4. 23% of Republicans trust higher education 5. 26%. Republicans trust the current Trump administration 6. Globally, the United States placed 27th in trusting the rule of law .

Politically , Gen Zers complain but do not always vote . Second, a significant number of these types supported , voted for a man that made 30,573 false or misleading claims during his first 4 years in office ; lied about the 2020 election results and provided inaccurate statistics on the economy ,inflation , and Constitution according to the Washington Post Fact Checker.

Perhaps, if these types read and received their news from reliable sources, and not from social media , they might've experienced cognitive dissonance. Unfortunately, too few believe in democracy or trust the government but do support an authoritarian running government. Can there be any surprise that the government is not working for them ? Ignorance is not their bliss .

Psychologically , Erikson brilliantly described eight psychosocial developmental stages pertaining to personality development. His first stage described whether or not a baby was able to show and demonstrate social trust . This psychological issue is an important variable affecting well being . Did the baby experience ease in feeding, depth of sleep, relaxation of bowel movement or does that baby have to deal and be confronted with too much unpleasantness , anxiety ,irregularity , vulnerability and discomfort ?

Social trust has to do with familiarity ,anticipation and expectancy when experiencing anxiety , tension or threat . If physiological and psychological needs get gratified by the mother figure (reinforcement), that results in reduction of discomfort for the baby. With a positive ratio of primarily continuous reinforcement, anticipation and expectancies develop with that gratification .This allows the infant to become better able to balance the discomfort caused by its physiology. With successful reinforcement, that newborn develops a familiarity and with that results , on a continuum ,of a sense of inner goodness - a”good” mother .

With a negative ratio or absence of reinforcement, tension, anxiety and discomfort is not lessened and therefore negative anticipations, expectancies with familiarity become established and associated with that mother figure - a “bad “ mother . That baby has developed the ground floor or prototype for mistrust . The sense of mistrust begins with the mother figure and then generalizes to other mother figures .

Questions , just an example ,relating to that mother figure associated with feeding for developing a sense of trust or mistrust include the following : 1. The mother figures, age, character , psychological maturity and mental health 2. How much psychological energy and focus can be devoted to the baby when feeding without excessive worry, fear, distractions, obligations, other responsibilities , priorities or other needs ? 3. Was the bottle propped and/or does a relaxed or tensed ,insecure mother hold the child near

?. Comparative research by Harry Harlow demonstrated the importance of close and warm contact during feeding. 4. Was the feeding based on some rigid schedule or on demand ? 5. What’s the degree of love or fear associated with that mother figure?

The degree ,comfort , strength or love of mutuality that occurs between caretaker and baby affects the degree of developing that sense of trust or mistrust. If a sense of trust occurs , that outer predictability can and does generalize towards others and results in a positive familiarity between self and other human forms . If a sense of mistrust develops ,a different and negative tendency occurs .That occurrence makes it difficult to trust one’s ability in reducing tension, discomfort , frustration along with a tendency to limit and avoid forms of other humans for expectancies to reduce conflict .

The task of the caretaker is second to none and must be a priority. That parent must also have developed a sense of trust, to be able to guide with prohibition and permission and have a firm sense of what they are doing. Parents that have been deprived or have developed a sense of mistrust themselves present and reinforce that untrustworthiness, irregularity and inconsistency. This dynamic results in frustration, uneasiness, hate , fear and anger with the development of paranoia.

The baby must be able to rely on the sameness and continuity of that caretaker which leads to the ability to trust oneself and be able to deal effectively with urges, deficits, frustrations, and so forth . If not, the newborn develops too much of an inner sense of anxiety, frustration, rejection , anger, fear and hate. In other words, there is an introjection , a taking in, based on that identification . Then , that negativity becomes projected onto others. And, all those troubling thoughts and feelings turn into negative implications, ramifications with toxic behavior . Paranoid thoughts then hold the infant captive throughout life.

Of course there’s a constant testing in that relationship .Are there going to be degrees of comfort or rage , initially with that provider and later generalizing with others ? Importantly, we are not talking about absolute quantities of food or demonstration of love, but rather the quality of that mutuality within the relationship. The importance of personal trustworthiness ,being all right with oneself and others becomes an important psychological task.

Having developed a sense of mistrust, because of inadequate , irregular or multiple caretakers, that individual is additionally faced, during a lifetime, with fragmentary or incomplete information about reality at the best and then consequently makes assumptions that are influenced by one’s feeling and thinking.

Feelings and thinking are reciprocally related . With that sense of mistrust , that individual becomes unable to think , reason and procure information in an objective , cogent and rational manner .Essentially, an inordinate amount of internalized thinking and feelings of fear ,anxiety , desire and hate Influence both perception and cognition resulting in cognitive unsoundness and irrationality.

To Be Continued

Today's Hal

2026-10-01T11:13:15.844-07:00

Homo sapiens have a terrific history of creating existential threats by following and submitting to authoritarian despots. Alexander ,Caesar ,Genghis Khan, Napoleon, Henry VIII and Hitler come to mind. Their ethical and moral conscience can best be described as being authoritarian with destruction tendencies .

Recently, a 27-year-old Anthropic employee quit and released an A.I.warning pertaining to the end of civilization as we know it. The zillionaire and two billionaire CEOs agreed . However, they wanted to remain and have control of AI’s development . They proposed to develop all the necessary rules and regulations without interference and received Trump’s support .

Bernie Sanders, King Charles, Bill Gates and others voiced concerns . Additionally, the following titles of articles regarding A.I.concern found in the New York Times September 13, 2026 : 1. The A.I. Safety Experts Can’t Sleep, And Neither Should You. 2. How To Rein In An Existential Threat. 3. A.I. Becomes a Tool To Target Gamblers. Most Likely to Lose 4. It Does Not Seem Like a Good Idea to Give A.I. Control of Its Own Frontier.5 Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor Say the End of the World Is Now on the Table.

Donald said that A.I.was a “hoax” and then called it super intelligence. Of course he would say that because he has financial interests in AI .And, Musk and the four other billionaires have contributed greatly to Trump and his GOP . Government contracts and other advantages have accrued to these robber barons as well with a relationship that’s reciprocal and symbiotic.

From a moral perspective,consider a few of the characteristics associated with rational authority and humanistic ethics. 1.It is based on competence not on intimidation but on helping, not exploiting 2. It requires scrutiny, criticism and its acceptance is dependent upon performance. 3. It is based on equality of both the authority and the subject 4. Only man himself can determine the criteria for virtue and not an authority transcending him. 5. Good is based on man’s welfare 6. Man’s virtue is a set of qualities which is characteristic of the human species . And man is virtuous If he unfolds his virtue 7.There is nothing higher and nothing more dignified than human existence 8.Fulfillment , happiness, and relatedness are associated with solidarity with fellow man . 9. Love is in man’s own power which he relates to himself , to the world and makes it truly his.

A few points related to humanistic ethics per Aristotle, Spinoza, Dewey and Freud. Humanistic ethics for Aristotle, was built on the science of man. He deduced the idea that virtue or excellence pertained to functions and capacities peculiar to man .Also, happiness was man’s aim which is the result of activity and use but not a possession or state of mind. Using the Olympic Games as an example, he stated that it’s not the most beautiful and the strongest that are crowned but those who compete.It is those who act ,win, and rightly win, The free, rational and active man is both good and happy .

Spinoza hypothesized about unconscious motivation, laws of association and the persistence of childhood experiences through life. For him, man’s function was to preserve himself and persevere in his existence .And, persevering meant to become that which one potentially is and that virtue was the unfolding of the specific potentialities of every organism . For man it’s a state in which the most human values determine his real interests, which are freedom and the productive use of his powers.Also, happiness was not an end in itself but is what accompanies the experience and ability to increase his potency .or all the powers characteristic of man.

Dewey postulated that the aim of human life was the growth and development of man in terms of his nature and constitution. According to him , man does not know what he is until after a course of action is figured out. And, reality relates to the unconscious forces in determining not only overt conduct, but desire ,judgment, belief and idealization.

For Freud, a passionate faith in truth was critical. Man must strive because he is, by nature, endowed with reason . It’s the power of reason that allowed mankind to unify and to free men from the shackles of superstition. Essentially, faith and truth underlies Freud’s concept of psychoanalysis with its goal- to uncover the truth about oneself. Freud also believed that virtue was a natural aim in man’s development.

In comparison and contrast an authoritarian conscience is associated with irrational authority. For example: 1. Their commands are determined by their own self centered, selfish beliefs, values, judgments ,rules, policies, laws and obligations which are considered to be good and beneficial for them . They determined right and wrong, good and bad, lawful and unlawful, moral and immoral within their own conscience. 2. They present fear and admiration with unlimited power . 3. Irrespective of their behavior , rules and morality, rebellion or disobedience was considered a sin as they are perceived as being morally superior. 4. Their powers, wisdom, strength and magic is unmatched.5. Their sadism, cruelty ,destructiveness and hate tendencies are turned inward and outward.6. They exhibit unlimited self interest , selfishness ,desire for power, status and possession .

Currently, the top five AI companies driving the industry are NVIDIA, Open AI, Anthropic, Google(alphabet) and Microsoft. Their business models are associated with competition, profit and supremacy . With that being said, the tendency for authoritarian ethnic morality prevails. This means an absence of humanistic ethics for mankind .

In essence, humanistic ethics, values and conscience is associated with man, not with some anthropomorphic device. Humanistic ethics concerns itself with man’s developmental characteristics , with the ability to fully develop,understand, reason ,seek truth , happiness with the capability to love self and others. In comparison, authoritarian ethics, values and conscience are diametrically opposed .It is based on an external authority knowing and deciding right from wrong, good from evil ,reality from fiction , rationality from irrationality , love from hate , war from peace, freedom from slavery , ignorance from strength and with their meaning and definition of happiness. In essence,they create the rules, laws and standards for all others within their dominating restrictive , controlling and destructive culture.

Reference

Fromm, Erich . Man For Himself An Inquiry Into The Psychology Of Ethics.

Orwell, George. 1984.

Brain Rot

2026-09-24T16:51:55.314-07:00

Today’s essay is based on the article “The Brain Rot Generation Has Its Reasons”found in the September 13, 2026 edition of the New York Times ..

This Assistant Prof. research pertained to the shaping of human behavior by digital environments . He and another researcher Interviewed Gen Z ers age 13 to 26 about how they experience brain rot - what these videos meant to them .

According to him, these subjects were aware of what brain rot is doing to their minds; they are searching for a way out.

The following are some of Gen Z responses: 1.You’ll watch something anyway so why not brain rot? It’s actually better than an ad because it doesn’t demand anything from you . 2. If everything is content. Now, brain rot is anti-content. It’s the only way to be free online, which is to do something so stupid it can’t be monetized. 3. Because brain rot content is visually fake and or AI generated, it feels less exploitive than polished influencer posts pretending to be candid. 4. Everyone knows it’s generated, so it feels less manipulative than posts that act like you’re just normal life 5. I’m scared I won’t find something I’m actually good at, mainly because I don’t really have any hobbies. I guess brain rot is my hobby. Also, there is no more time during the day once you start watching.6. They know it’s not good for them, but it gives that little hit and escape. 7. Before the government regulated the tobacco industry, everyone was smoking, even though they knew it was bad. Because the environment encouraged and allowed for that to happen. Yeah, the doctors would smoke. Now we need to get into a state where the environment shifts so young people’s habits shift. 8. Brain rot gives you the sense that you're in on something.

These rationalizations,distortion and denial are just that and mask their anxiety ,emotional deficits, irrationality, inability to assimilate ,reason and relate . They exhibit excessive dependency, desire to fit in and be a part of it.Their electronic devices are their security blanket attachments and “friend.”This group is limited intellectually and without insight to change their self-defeating behaviors.

Brain rot is associated with mental fatigue and perceived loss of critical thinking caused by consuming excessive amounts of low quality online content. This particular article presented various responses from the subjects of their study. It did not appear that these subjects had any in-depth knowledge, understanding of their self-inflicted harm. Their emotional deficits contribute to their lack of understanding of their deficits. Brain rot is just another example of their plethora of self-defeating behaviors for this troubled group .

Without the inability to change, these subjects, because of the loss of the egos executive function of critical thinking, ,become easy prey and more susceptible to other self-defeating ideas from aberrant character types . They create illusions ,are paranoid , believe false information ,and lies. They are also prejudiced and engage in stupidity. Brain rot also affects self-esteem,which are feelings about oneself And, their self-loathing , paranoia and hate is projected outward toward others.

Yes, the technological system is exploiting , contributing and negatively affecting the brain development for so many. However, there are other additional factors contributing to this cognitive crisis. For example, the association of too much time spent with these electronic devices regarding mental and cognitive health is not new. Research with parents found that they made poor decisions by allowing their young children to engage. Parents paid for these devices, spoiled their children, encouraged use and employed the devices as “baby sitters” giving themselves breaks so they did not have to deal with them .

How long did it take some school systems to ban electronic devices during school hours? Do children really have to have these devices available in school for safety? Consider Australia’s values and policies regarding these devices.

We know that individuals spend too much time with their electronic devices . Yet, not one participant reported spending too much time on a device using maps ,checking the weather or Shazaming songs.

A few statistics follow: About 84% of US students graduate from high school .The US Department of Health and Human Services recommends an 8th grade reading level or If targeting a broad audience, a 12th grade reading level for an educated or specialized audience. Unfortunately ,only 35% of US high school seniors perform at or above the proficient reading level according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress. In the US, 40% of fourth graders,in reading, scored below the NAEP basic level in 2024 and only 31% of fourth graders achieved NAEP proficiency in 2022.

Reading improves focus , comprehension, enhances knowledge, stimulates the brain, reduces stress, strengthens vocabulary and communication skills. It can also boost empathy and creativity by exposing one to different perspectives and ideas.

Pursuant to reading,consider the following three examples: the billionaire Mark Cuban reads at least three hours daily. Another billionaire in the White House reads and posts what ? And, Ari Emanuel the youngest of three brothers was diagnosed in the third grade with ADHD and dyslexia. To supplement instruction at school, his mother spent many hours helping him to learn to read. She hired tutors and private instructors to give him private reading lessons at home. This man has a BA, the executive chairman of WME Group in entertainment and media agency as well as CEO and executive chairman of TKO Group Holdings. He was a founding partner of Endeavor Talent Agency and was instrumental in shaping its merger with the William Morris Agency.

Currently, the political divide also is a contributing factor. We have the GOP distorting United States history; book banning, and a fight promoter as part of Trump’s cabinet. She should head the Department of Education and be okay with Trump’s dismantling in order to give local control to many irrational GOP cronies ?As a model, Trump represents lying, deceit, corruption and exploitation, but not education, learning, assimilating , reason, truth and reading. Yes he had a fraudulent University.

Parents,parent substitutes and caretakers model all sorts of behavior. In the US about half of all adults read one or more books for pleasure each year and about 5% read more than 50 books per year. Parents are certainly not modeling learning,curiosity and learning. How much time do parents spend with their electronic devices? And, Trump models these electronic devices as well.

Issues pertaining to schools of education , teacher shortages and retention follow . Fewer candidates enter programs and many leave the profession early . The cost of college and debt result in negatives for majoring in teaching .There is also limited hands-on classroom training and mentorship before certification. The quality and consistency of programs vary widely ; regular curriculum relevance and lack of support for diverse learners. There is insufficient preparation for using digital tools in adapting to online or hybrid teaching environments. There is also a need for better training to address diverse classrooms and inclusive practices . A high workload and shifting certification requirements discourage enrollment along with irrational school boards .And, teachers continue to have low status, female oriented, and an economic supplement for their spouses. These challenges and societal values impact teacher readiness, student achievement, impoverished learning and the stability of the education workforce.

In earlier times, this country had an educational system that was envied worldwide. Not so today .The United States currently ranks 12th globally in education. And, American students continue to rank around the middle of the pack behind many other advanced industrial nations with international assessments in math, science and reading according to the PISA .

Our brain rot technological culture has been hijacked by economic inequality along with ineffective politics and ineffective parenting .Furthermore, the brain rot crisis is not effectively addressed by local, state, and / or the federal government. Instead, the media focuses on AI, mid term elections,Iran, gas price, inflation , Trump’s ballroom ,Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool and the 250 foot triumphal arch.

Selfishness

2026-09-17T19:55:03.786-07:00

Darwin wrote about survival of the fittest .Compared to animals, which are limited by their brain physiology , we humans with cerebral cortex development , become faced with a sense of self, reason and the existential fact of mortality. And, we cannot change the fact that our mind and our body changes from growth to decay , atrophy and death. We are fearful, powerless of that reality in spite of our illusions , delusions and double talk from the promotional longevity gurus.

As humans we are confronted with the major mental and physical disharmony that exists with our existence based on the inevitability of death. In coping , we require and create a frame of reference based on our thinking , feeling and behavioral tendencies for this inevitability.

In essence, for our survival , we require and create strategies .These thinking and feeling cognitive strategies become our devotions, aims, ideas and/ or “god” that allows us to transcend our dilemma. If "successful" with our orientation , this allows us to find harmony , an anxiety reduction in our existence by giving us a sense of meaning in our lives.

Survival and meaning In a capitalistic industrial,technological economy, for some, become a devotion for success, prestige, power, possession , conquest , exploitation and domination . In fact, the intensity of a devotion becomes a drive or desire that can be superior and supersede all else, even self-love , morality and even self preservation.

Such devotion suggests that these individuals choose a system that’s based on their irrationality , narcissism , the worship of power and destruction as opposed to a system with tendencies for humanistic productivity, love and rationality .

Let’s begin with a Biblical quote “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. “ However, we find that the love of oneself is a sin in Calvin’s theology. He believed that man is essentially evil , powerless and cannot achieve anything that’s good on the basis of his own strength. And ,the fondness of oneself ,to like anything about oneself is one of the greatest sins. In fact ,Calvin spoke of self love as a “pest.” If one can not love oneself , how can one love thy neighbor ?

From a philosophical viewpoint, Spinoza believed that It Is in the interest of man to preserve his existence by realizing his inherent potential. Self interest is not conceived in terms of the subjective feeling of one's interest, but it is in terms of what the nature of man is objectively . Man’s only real interest is to fulfill the development of his potential as a human being. The ability to love is part of the equation.

Nietzsche believed that a strong individual is one who has true kindness, nobility, greatness of the soul which does not give in ,in order to take, and to excel is by being kind. To love another person is a virtue if it springs from inner strength, but it is a vice if it’s an inability to love oneself.

A capitalistic belief and societal reinforcement is that greed is good, be selfish, keep up your advantage, act according to what is best for you and by doing so you will be obtaining the greatest advantage .And , more than likely, this selfishness belief reflects one principle upon which our capitalistic competitive society has been built .

Can one be selfish and still love self and love others ? Psychologically, love of others and love of ourselves are not alternatives or different attitudes. In fact ,the attitude of love toward oneself has been found in all those who were capable of loving others. Love is indefensible. Love is an expression of one’s powers and to love somebody is the actualization , the concentration of this power .However, selfishness is another matter as it is associated with discrimination, contempt ,power and exploitation .

The following examples were taken from the New York Times, September 6, 2026 and reflect Trump’s selfishness ,contempt and exploitative policies.1. How US Widened Effort Against Covid Scientist As Fauci Was Put Under Public Scrutiny, More Experts Were Quietly Targeted 2. Plan Would Shift Some Aid Meant for Working Parents to Stay- at- Home spouses. This move would end up redirecting money away from working parents and their childcare providers, causing some to raise their rates or even close potentially worsening. What many experts say is a childcare crisis in the country. 3. In Unparalleled Inquiry, Joint Staff Members Are Given Polygraph Tests. The Pentagon seeks the source of news leaks on the Iran war. 4. Latest Clemency Grants Issued by Trump Benefit Union Boss and a Sailor . An executive who served a decade in prison for selling crack was pardoned. 5. New Tool To Screen Voter Rolls Is Blocked. This tool would allow states to compare their voter rolls against federal citizenship and Social Security data. 6. US Says It Blasted 3 Iranian Oil Tankers. 7. For Midterms, Trump Controls $ 400 Million To Sway Races.8. Homeland Security Secretary Asks For Inquiries Into Voting Machines. 9. Justice Department Issues, Subpoenas for Voter Data in Nevada. 10. North Carolina Applies New Restrictions to its Vote- by- Mail Program. And, don’t forget his six bankruptcies; fraudulent University and fraudulent foundation.

Donald believes that he is acting in his self interest in his pursuit of money which he equates with success. It’s what he possesses, that defines himself . In trying to gain and accumulate all that wealth he has lost himself with an absence of truth, justice, freedom , morality , respect,integrity and love of self .

Is Donald selfishness identical with self-love or is it not caused by the very lack of it ? If it’s a virtue to love my neighbor as a human being , it must be a virtue and not a vice to love myself since I’m a human being too. As an object of feelings , attitudes toward others and toward ourselves is not contradictory but basically conjunctive . And importantly, love of others and love of self are not alternatives .

Genuine love is an expression of productiveness and implies care, respect, responsibility, and knowledge. It’s not an affect in the sense of being affected by somebody but an active striving for the growth and happiness of the loved person is rooted in one’s capacity to love. Essentially, if the individual is able to love productively, he loves himself too. If he can love only others he cannot love at all.

A selfish person , like Donald ,is interested only in himself , takes everything from others for himself, does not feel pleasure in giving, but only in possessing. His outside world is looked at only from the standpoint of what he can grab for himself; he’s without empathy and does not respect the dignity and integrity of others. He can not see beyond self and judges everyone and everything by its usefulness to him. Thus, Donald is emotionally unable to love but only to take.

It is apparent that selfish persons are incapable of loving others and they’re also not capable of loving themselves either. In the past 300 years or so self interest has become identical with selfishness, pursuit of material gains, power ,exploitation and success. Selfishness is not virtue but synonymous with conquest and has become engulfed in the thinking,feeling and actions of many .

Trump's pursuit of self interest is the supreme activity of his existence. His motivations are clearly based on his interests which are money ,power, status and success .His concept is” I am what I have", and “what I possess.” Check out where he places his name. He’s essentially a transaction commodity . He has brilliantly sold his false self or mask to the public with fake publicity and that inauthentic television program. His narcissistic neurosis has been on constant display especially for the past 10 years.

Trump’s exploitative self interest can also be characterized as one that prides on his ability to grab and take from others. His physical and sexual assaults on women; invading and “taking” Venezuelan oil and rhetoric regarding doing the same to Cuba, Canada, and Greenland are other examples. His attitude is associated with hostility and manipulation. Recently he’s said something - that if Republicans remain in power in the House and Senate that American adult citizens would receive $5,000. Of course, that remark is simply manipulative to say the least. And , people are judged and viewed according to him as their usefulness to him as recently illustrated by the $45,000 cash gifts to 3 of his White House aides' sycophants.

From a biblical , philosophical and psychological point of view, the ability to productively love oneself and others is not a sin but both healthy and humanistic .This selfish 80-year-old man in the White House has exploited , tarnished and marred America’s reputation both at home and abroad. His persona does not conceal his extreme selfishness. He’s an immature neurotic who lacks integrity, empathy , dignity while being a satanic leader.

Reference

Fromm, Erich. Man For Himself An Inquiry Into The Psychology Of Ethics.

Stunted Morality

2026-09-10T07:42:59.415-07:00

This essay’s topic relates to an article written by a history professor titled “We’re in a New Era of Class Warfare. History Points to a Way Out.”She compared and contrasted the early history of unions and the violent conflict with companies and government with four recent acting out characters .

The professor suggested that in the earlier times, anarchists and trade unionists who committed acts of violence did so in the hopes of effecting change and bringing about better conditions for working-class people.

A few of her examples included: 1. Western Pennsylvania Irish miners killed at least 14 mine officials between 1860 and 1870 2. In 1899, Western Federation of Miners used dynamite to destroy company property. The governor of Idaho then imprisoned about a thousand workers in response. In 1905, after the governor left office, a bomb killed him at his home. 3. Pres. William McKinley was assassinated in 1901 by an anarchist who lost his job during an economic crash. 4. Two union members dynamited the offices of The Los Angeles Times, perceived as anti organized labor in 1910.5. There was a assassination attempt against the general manager of the Homestead PA Steel Mill of Carnegie Steel during the Homestead strike of 1892. Andrew Carnegie replaced the factory workers with hired strikebreakers and the town of Homestead rose up in revolt. Public opinion supported a young anarchist who shot and stabbed the general manager but did not kill him.Carnegie wrote that the answer to class rage was for the rich to invest their money in philanthropic projects.

This historian gave a few more examples that included the association between government and companies: 1. In the 1930s, many corporations stockpiled gas equipment and guns to resist rebellion. 2 Ford security forces fired on unemployed workers at the Ford Motor company in 1932 who were participating in a hunger strike 3. Police officers killed strikers on the San Francisco waterfront in 1934, sparking a general strike 4. In Chicago in 1937, a police officer shot and killed 10 prolabor marchers. 5.In the Memorial Day massacre , Ford security guards savagely beat up United Automobile Workers union leaders, including Walter Reuther.

Clearly, these examples depict the power struggle going on between labor and management. The battles were brutal and resulted in killing on both sides. However, anarchists are defined as persons who believe in anarchism, a political philosophy that seeks to remove all forms of government authority and forced social hierarchy.Nowhere in this definition is a mention of murder. One can believe in any number of things but that belief is just a belief and not an action. In other words, one could be an anarchist and be motivated by a number of additional factors not associated with murder.These examples are clearly related to union membership but without support for them being anarchists .

All these violent actions were horrific ,dreadful, lawless , inappropriate and a reminder of the inhumane treatment between Homo sapiens .The government is supposed to enforce laws, keep people safe , and provide services and not kill its citizens .And the work force is supposed to be and do what to ?

The following are recent characters acting out in horrific ways: 1. An arson causing more than $600 million to a Kimberly-Clark warehouse by a man who worked for a distribution company servicing the warehouse.2. An individual threw a Molotov cocktail at the mansion of Open AI Sam Altman . 3. Man charged with the Palisades fire. The jury didn’t reach a verdict that he was motivated by class rage 4.Man that shot the United healthcare chief executive portrayed as an avenger of all those wronged by private health insurance.

These four recent examples are clearly examples of neurotic individuals. Yes, we are in a time of economic inequality, anger,and hate. Two of the four were Involved in arson which presents a very different psychological profile from a broad daylight murder In Manhattan and a person throwing a bomb.Obviously, these four individuals are mentally ill and a societal threat .Perhaps economic discrepancies play a part, but are not the only contributing motivational factors of one’s character structure .

In previous times the history of labor unions versus government and corporate control was riddled with savagery and discrimination between the haves and have-nots. The role of government , politics and oppression should not surprise anyone. The history of this country is associated with discrimination, exploitation , capitalism, control and power.

Our history professor reminds us of the dark times affecting Union development in our Republic. The organizations of labor unions were seeking better pay, benefits, and safe working conditions with their employers. All this seems reasonable. The opposition of companies and our government ( inherent evil of the elite) was based on greed, domination , exploitation , power and profit.” What do we the people “ mean to those companies , the government and acting out characters from a moral point of view ?

The history professor added that the extreme division between the wealthiest and the rest tends to be politically unstable. And ,inequality makes it impossible to sustain the feeling that we are all part of the same political project, so it makes it hard for people to believe that democratic government is possible .Small numbers of people with great fortunes come to exercise disproportionate political power. Also, in highly unequal societies , become ones in which the very rich fear the rest of the world.

The historian also pointed out that the rich are facing threats as more people blame them for economic duress.”Luxury homebuilders are incorporating a vast array of new security features into the mansions they construct from safe rooms to retina scanners to guard towers and moats.”

Personally,I remember overhearing my fathers conversations regarding the difficulty when dealing with management. My union president dad fought over instituting healthcare benefits ,sick time , working conditions etc. I even have a photograph displayed, of my dad , taken in 1939 with Luren Dickenson, governor of Michigan signing into law protection for letter carriers against attacking dogs. Also, in the late 1960’s , I was the administrator overseeing a collective bargaining maritime election, on board a vessel, to determine whether or not they wanted to unionize .

Lawrence Kohlberg’s research described moral development. He found that many adolescents had difficulty proceeding morally by becoming less influenced and other directed (consensus) as to what is perceived as “good” and “right.” In fact , only a minority were able to formulate and be guided by abstract,ethical principles appealing to logical comprehensiveness, universality, reality and consistency. This means that “good” should not be considered only if it's adopted by all other persons . Instead, it’s morally important to have developed consistent ,internalized moral standards . And, an individual doesn’t have to conform because of fear of self-condemnation.

Importantly, Kohlberg’s research found that about 10% of young people over age 16 showed clear principles of formal operational logical thought and that human life or man’s welfare is above financial gain.

Further, briefly authoritarian ethics is based on the belief that what is good for man is determined by the irrational "authority"determining laws and norms of conduct. He knows what’s best,good, and true alone. However, in humanistic ethics, man is both the norm giver , the subject of the norms, their formal source, regulative agency and their subject matter.And, humanitarian ethics is not incompatible with rational authority . It’s with continuous evaluation , scrutiny and criticism .

Morality can be defined as the set of rules that tells us how we ought to treat other people. This means actions like telling the truth, sharing, being kind and helping others are considered good as in the Golden Rule . However, the 10 Commandments identify inappropriate actions like stealing,swearing, lying, adultery and murder. Therefore, from a moral point of view, human life matters more than financial gain- humanistic ethics . Unfortunately, in a capitalistic based economy results in the elite with an authoritarian ethic and associated with greed,power ,status, discrimination , domination , exploitation and immorality .And those elite authoritarians believe obedience and submission are virtues and rebellion is a sin irrespective of causing anxiety,helplessness,misery,inequality and alienation .

Reference

Fromm,Erich. Man For Himself an inquiry into the psychology of ethics.

Kohlberg, L. Moral education in the schools: A developmental view .

Illusions and Charlatans

2026-09-03T19:50:30.625-07:00

Homo sapiens history can be characterized as illusionary because of emotions , needs and irrationality.Therefore, humans have been easy victims as numerous individuals have exploited the human weakness and strength of these emotions , needs and wishes . There have been an exorbitant number of Pied Pipers with too many to name. My critique of an article titled “These Workouts Build a Competitive Mind-Set” found in the July 12, 2026 edition of the New York Times follows .

Recently, a fitness company called Xenom was founded by an individual who previously was a cofounder of a publicity firm promoting fitness races in Germany. His current venture promotes “it’s about making you feel like a superstar, like the athlete you know you are inside.”

Xenom is derived from the Greek word Exos and translates as strange or foreign . Participation in this two day program includes 10 events - barbell lifts, a 3 km run, gymnastics ,handstand push-ups and pull-ups . According to the article, nearly 2 dozen men that included software engineers, salesmen, retired police officers and dads in their 40s took part.

This company uses many of the workouts from CrossFit, an official partner. The founder raised 15 million in capital , primarily from the technology investment firm operated by the former Disney chair Jeffrey Katzenberg. At the moment, about 2 million people work out in CrossFit’s worldwide network of almost 10,000 gyms and another 2 million readily put themselves through CrossFit inspired workouts according to the article .

The real purpose of this company is to deceive ordinary workout characters and have them believe they are pros .The illusion is to have them thinking they are Olympians or gladiators, if only for a couple days. This promoter spent more than $1 million for his illusionary charade that was held in Frisco, Texas.The cost to participate was $500. Promotionally, a number of people received their entry fee in a giveaway. One Air Force Senior Master Sgt. said, “I think I'll do it again, but I’m not sure I'll pay 500 bucks.”

According to the article, there were two CrossFit individuals competing in an elite division. There was no mention of the criteria for an elite division or other divisions . Were there divisions according to age, gender and /or weight ?

Clearly, the company’s profit motive is supreme. For the participants, they might have met their ego needs of exhibition ,achievement, abasement and affiliation. Hopefully , their mental and physical health and pocketbook won’t suffer in the process. Working out and participating with their definition of a “pro” is supposed to do what ?

The promoter is appealing to Individuals that are supposedly wishing to boost their self-esteem needs within their narcissism. Participating in this two day competitive exercise program with strangers is supposed to boost what? If you think you’re going to become a superstar ,because of entering this event ,you’re deceiving yourself .It’s just another illusion.

Illusions are wish fulfillments that are compensations for childhood or infantile emotions of weakness ,insecurity and/or helplessness .Thinking that you are receiving narcissistic satisfaction and believing you’re a superstar in this venue is nonsense .

Illusions are attempts at compensating for one’s inadequacies. They are not based on fact , scientific evidence or in this case Self-concept research. Self-esteem is based on a number of factors during development and experience. Goals, expectancies ,level of aspiration , achievement and success or failure contributes to self-esteem development. One isolated experience ,in adulthood ,does not modify one's self-esteem. Of course, one can very easily be duped by some external source that intends to take advantage of an individual’s emotions , impulses, needs and weakness .

For instance, an amateur or CrossFit “Pro” running on a track with Jakob Ingebrigtsen would not only be embarrassing but would also be a threat to hIs self-esteem and reinforce his inadequacy as would attempting to keep up with Brenen Thompson of the San Diego Chargers.

Attend any sporting event with the parent and their son. Watch the unnecessary involvement , body motions and verbalization taking place as their son participates. Parents have been known to verbally and physically attack the referee while supposedly protecting their son from some call. And, parents pay exorbitant amounts for their children’s pay to play for club sports along with their own enmeshment. Essentially,the parents are reliving and attempting to compensate for their own inadequacies when they were competing participants. They’re just projecting and displacing their emotions inappropriately.

This promoter’s statements about making one feel like a superstar is a promotional illusion. He has no evidence to support that erroneous statement. Is his motivation purely greed or is it a combination of greed and ignorance? With capitalism and its promotions , it is not unusual to detect the real motivation. In capitalism ,the motivation is profit.

Additionally, intrinsic motivation is more healthy than extrinsic motivation. For example, when I ran The Western States 100, I was not competing against Scott Jurek, Tom Johnson ,Jim Howard or Tim Twietmeyer. I accepted the challenge and was competing with myself. My self-esteem and self-worth was developed as a consequence of previous achievements,mastery ,self-confidence ,status ,dominance and recognition. I essentially was pleased and clearly added another achievement or another medal to my collection.

A more realistic claim about competing in an athletic event is to state that proper nutrition,strength training and aerobic activities are associated with numerous benefits that include enhanced immune system, improved memory and cognitive function, enhanced sexual functions, Increased rate of healing as well as living a more productive and healthier life . In fact, I provided seven prescriptions for a better lifestyle in”It Has Nothing To Do With Age” that was based on the stories of driven athletes competing in extraordinary sports and who were at least 65 years of age and older.

Reference

Coopersmith, Stanley. The Antecedents of Self-esteem.

Human Fraility

2026-08-27T19:50:40.064-07:00

About 14 billion years ago, matter, energy, time and space came into being and was called The Big Bang Theory. Animals much like modern humans first appeared about 2.5 million years ago. And, It wasn’t till about 70,000 years ago, organisms belonging to the Homo sapiens species started to form cultures and hold beliefs .Beliefs can be an acceptance that something is true or real and held without absolute proof .Beliefs can also relate to something factual, right , wrong, good , bad , religious , spiritual, and even having confidence in one’s own ability or truthfulness.This very brief disquisition depicts one particular belief about emotions , behavior and weakness .

Beginning with primeval dyads and then,over time, with increasing numbers such as family ,clan, tribe ,race, nation and so forth, a powerful , dominant leader emerged to influence ,motivate, direct and rule. For instance, the head of the family or chief , with his many wives, was believed to be the wisest, strongest and/or the best provider. That did not mean that there were no competitors for that top position .More than likely it was the male offspring or offsprings challenging for that top spot.

From a psychological perspective, Homo sapiens followers behavior and beliefs reverts back to its early development occurring and beginning in infancy .Essentially ,early infantile Homo sapiens experienced threats to survival that’s emotionally characterized with fear, anxiety,helplessness,dependence, uncertainty and lack of safety falling within its life space with mother and father caretakers .Thus, the tendency for survival is an emotionally based motive . And importantly , becomes a long lasting motivational prototype .

Therefore, the infant initially perceives a mother protector which becomes replaced by the omnipotent father . He unconsciously becomes an implanted memory for safety and love. And with an emotional threat ,results in wanting and seeking that unconscious wish or desire . The motivational repetition of that infantile emotional experience to seek safety, protection. love and being provided and cared for just like when being young and powerless . Thus ,this dynamic tendency emerges in various degrees depending on a number of variables which are beyond the scope of this essay.

Note, early on, the young one can have ambivalent feelings like love, respect,admiration and also fear and hate for father. So, one can be attached despite having feelings of anger and disappointment . Remember,these future father protectors are unconscious emotional substitutes .This means ,when survival is threatened, the person identifies with that charismatic “leader” who promised to protect . That perceived powerful character's father substitute is revered ,respected , obeyed , believed to remove all sufferings with unconditional loyalty regardless of reality and one’s ambivalence .This ambivalence, this duality of emotions becomes assimilated .

In primeval times , man’s identified with a totem coupled with beliefs regarding the powerful protection by that particular totem or primal ancestral father .These totem beliefs among certain primitive people also provided a basis for their social and religious organization.

Essentially, these superstitious beliefs were based on the idea that there was an ancestral relationship between man , every member of his group and the totem Totems , if an animal, were believed to protect man who then showed his respect by not killing it. And ,if it were a plant by not cutting or gathering it . Also, totemism was associated with exogamy and thus formed a protection against incest - one had to marry or have sex outside his specific group ,clan or tribe.

Another belief was in many gods. polytheism as protectors for survival and the like. Each God would control a specific part of nature; human life or daily activity. And, multiple deities were directed toward many distinct divine things, and they also played specialized roles as individual gods and ruled over specific domains like war, love ,sky and harvest.

A belief in the divine right of kings was political doctrine, asserting power during the monarch’s reign ,The king’s authority to rule came directly from God. In other words, the king was accountable only to God for his actions making resistance or rebellion against the crown a sin against divine will. This thinking was of absolute patriarchal authority.

Also in Homo sapiens history were beliefs in human sacrifice, an ancient religious ritual of killing of people to please deity powers ,securing good fortunes and/or enforcing social control .It could also appeal to the gods by giving them a most valuable life in order to secure rain for crops or victory in war; retain the services by killing the servant or slave to accompany the dead king In the afterlife; or for social control. These public religious rituals were used by elite rulers to display their absolute power ,authority , sadism and to instill fear.

For a more humane belief and a different morality ,we turn to Old Testament prophets who believed in one true ( likeness of father ) God ; its covenant with Israel; the absolute requirement for moral justice, social righteousness and genuine repentance . Prophets Elijah and Elisha taught love, unification, reason, truth and hope for mankind.

Other prophets like Lao-tse,Buddha,Heraclitus, Socrates, Mohammed, and of course Jesus also taught about the ideas of unity of man ,reason ,love and justice as humanistic goals .

And, around 1500 A.D. humanistic beliefs surfaced again and were called the Enlightenment. With these beliefs, man discovered nature ; laid the foundations for the natural sciences and began transforming the face of the earth. Science became a unifying principle , a new unity in the social and political unification of the planet along with the domination of nature. Moral conscience within the Judeo-Christian tradition, intellectual achievement, heritage of the Greek tradition flowered and artistic creations followed.

The French Revolution ended the French monarchy ,abolished the feudal system and inspired modern liberal democracy with the ideals of liberty, equality, and fraternity . However, other beliefs occurred as Maximilian Robespierre, the Jacobins and thousands of perceived enemies of the revolution were executed and essentially Napoleon Bonaparte replaced King Louis XVI and seized power in 1799.

In addition , Homo sapiens have supported , reinforced ,followed and have been obedient to mullahs, Tzars,Ming dynasties,conquerors,Princes’, Emperors, fascists, authoritarians,prime ministers,presidents etc.

Returning to our beliefs of today, there was a time when there were significant political and economic differences between the West and the East. However, there’s a convergence of both philosophy and practice with the USA and its government control of business; oligarchy and unequal wealth ; punishment of political enemies; media control; governmental lies ; doubletalk and human sacrifice with wars, poverty policies , attacks on health , health insurance and foreign aid .

The USA’S fascist authoritarian daddy figure script is in full view. One can not hide from Big Brother , a father figure. George Orwell’s 1984 comes to mind with War is Peace; Freedom is Slavery and Ignorance is Strength. Intelligence ,dominance, discrimination and hate have flourished with this ruler but not objectivity, truth ,humanism and moral reasoning .What happened to liberty,equality and fraternity and that all men are created equal beliefs ? They are not beliefs by the powerful but just slogans and illusions ?

Do not forget that we were told to believe that a highly productive , technological , and mass production society with man being in charge of machines would solve and master society’s ills. However, AI’ and it’s asocial tycoon’s ;inorganic lifeforms;humanoid robots and

Cyborg engineering is becoming more dominant without a set of guard rails at this juncture .

With that being said, perhaps our Homo sapiens biological species with its primitive ,fragile and emotional state weakness , unconsciously and consciously coveting security ,power,control and love results in a tendency to reunite, to identify with a primordial father figure leading us to our undoing- as did the pied piper. Irrationality, consensus, emotionally fearful easily manipulated minds ,malignant narcissism ,hostility, anti-social, organic and non organic exploitation with amorality and false claims continues to be the norm and our civilization seems headed in the direction of the point of no return .

Reference

Freud, Sigmund. Totem and Taboo.

Harari, Yuval Noah. Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind.

Orwell, George. 1984.

Insanity

2026-08-20T20:07:45.711-07:00

The title “The Strange Alliance Trying To Remake American Psychiatry “ article was found in the May 24, 2026 edition of The New York Times. Again, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is a champion of discontent and is associated with the number of characters dissatisfied with their lives and finding a scapegoat to blame instead of taking responsible actions.And of all people, Kennedy Jr. cannot be mistaken for a sage.Instead he’s distorted by his infantile omniscience and paranoid hate while propagating a state similar to feudalism with distrust of science.

Kennedy Jr. pledged to put the power of his agency behind psychiatric reform-overprescribing of medication at a MAHA Institute think tank. It occurred at a summit led by, in part, by a book publisher who blamed the combination of Tylenol and a non- identified vaccine for his daughter's autism. Again, another non credible individual giving an absurd opinion. These opinions are irrational at best. Other characters present like a journalist protesting against mainstream psychiatry and a woman activist and former patient. Opinions are just beliefs , not scientifically based by these complainers .

Another article dated August 9, 2026 titled “He Grew Up on Antidepressants .Now He Wants a Way Out” highlighted his MAHA discontent. Apparently, his mother at age 5 referred him to a pediatric neurologist who diagnosed him with. Tourette’s Syndrome, Obsessive-compulsive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder and prescribed Paxil. one of the S.S.R.I.s.

To make a long story shorter, the following was reported: 1. His mother was horrified at her father’s mental health condition upon returning from World War II and lamented that there were no antidepressant medications available .2. Multiple psychotropic medication was prescribed over the years. 3. He changed medications when the side effects became unbearable. Then he would switch to other meds 4. He was told that he had a chemical imbalance in his brain 5. He began complaining on Instagram and other social media platforms and began associating with up to 30,000 followers. 6. He began submerging himself in frigid waters in order to give himself a lift. 7. He hooked up with an associate Australian professor of psychiatry and began to follow his protocol to reduce his meds. 8. He submerged himself in a cold polluted creek and caught a stomach bug. 9. Concerned about tapering off his medication and dealing with withdrawal , he pursued online groups critical of psychiatric medicine 10. On social media, he complained about a lost childhood that was blamed on his meds 11.Because of his popularity, he was solicited by individuals with a political agenda dissatisfied with psychiatry. 12. He accepted an invitation to speak at a MAHA conference and after, he started to publish social media posts in partnership with the telehealth tapering clinic by that Australian professor 12. His goal is to live free of antidepressants.

A few comments about this article. 1. How many characters provided this manipulator with a diagnosis in addition to his mother and a pediatric neurologist ? 2. His complete personal and drug history usage nor all his prescribing doctors were not reported. Interviewing them might provide a very different picture. 3. Scapegoating meds is a convenient fantasy for him .He cannot ,because of mother attachment, pin it on his mother . He reportedly calls his mother daily .4. An accurate clinical diagnosis of his mental health was not provided. 5. Tapering off psychotropic medication requires complete supervision by the prescribing doctor. 6. Psychotherapy is one integral component for restoring sanity. 7. Pharmaceutical companies are concerned with profit and have no difficulty providing research funding to support their claims. However,they do fund appropriate research associated with conditions associated with discontinuing their medications.

We have a mental health crisis in this country - too many individuals require assistance ,not enough providers, absence of 3rd party payment and the fees required for treatment. Attacking the nation's mental health crisis by scapegoating overprescribing meds is not the solution to fixing mental illness.

At this summit were a number of Department of Health and Human Services officials along with publications bearing the name of Trump printed at the bottom of every page.

Back in the day , I first started practicing psychotherapy at a county mental health clinic .That clinic was staffed by a team of psych techs, MSW's, psychologists and psychiatrists . Psychotropic medication was available in addition to psychotherapy. At that time , these county Short Doyle clinics were established ,in local communities ,to replace the closing of inpatient psychiatric hospitals .

After a few years at that clinic, I went into full-time private practice. Often, patients had third-party payments-psychotherapy benefits from their employer. At that time, typically psychiatric coverage by insurance provided 50 outpatient psychotherapy visits yearly.

In my 25 years of full-time psychotherapy practice, I did not have any knowledge of psychiatric malpractice with consulting psychiatrists . However, on a personal level, I’ve heard complaints about meds not working but also know that these individuals were not totally compliant .Medication alone is not realistic.

Then in the 90s, managed care arrived on the scene and became the middleman between the patient and the insurance company. Visits were limited to a maximum of 20 sessions per year . Some systems allowed five visits and then documentation if more sessions were required. Essentially, this was a medical model which meant that one could receive treatment if it was a medical necessity. Medical necessity was defined by the insurance companies with either an anxiety or depression diagnosis.

The Insurance companies' model was based on profit and it was common for psychiatry to become involved because their medication protocol was based on the symptoms associated with anxiety or depression . In other words, a variety of pills and a limited number of sessions became the standard mental health treatment

For example , individual, couples ,marital therapy or work-related problems were not defined as a medical necessity by the insurance companies. The insurance companies defined what was treatable and what was not treatable only based on their profit motive .

There is a mental health crisis in our country as individuals in our country have multiple issues beyond anxiety and depression. An AI device is not the answer.

If one wants to better understand underlying self defeating motivation ,identifying and making sense of suffering, improving relationships with significant others, eliminating guilt , improving academic performance ,dealing with pain and accepting self, five psychotherapy , limited sessions ,or pills is inappropriate . Removing a symptom does not address the causation.

Effective productive psychotherapy therapy relates to the relationship established along with the understanding of thinking, feeling ,emotion and behavior . Change and effective treatment has to do with the special organic relationship between two people and not based on some number of visits.Psychotherapy can become and result in a very special and unique emotional experience between two people.

It's clear to me that this current Trump crowd ‘s motivation is about power and greed and does not concern itself with the common man. In their opinion, the anonymous man does not deserve anything better and cannot expect the government to help or assist. This administration is dismantling the government with its firing and loyalty pledges; incompetence at the head; attacking healthcare, snap ,waging war, disrespecting immigrants as a matter of fact.

As if not being able to meet one’s physiological and safety needs along with the excessively high rates of homicide, suicide, and drug addiction can be fixed by reducing or eliminating psychotropic medication is pure insanity. There is a mental health crisis in our country, pure and simple. Our sick society is perpetrated and reinforced by inadequate parenting, the profit motive of health care insurance and pharmaceutical companies, wealth inequities, Trump’s GOP toxic policies and wealth management tycoons for starters.

Plato believed that in a thriving Republic that anyone acquiring more than four times the wealth of the poorest citizens should donate the surplus to the city. For example, Musk’s net worth is 5 million times the wealth of the typical family .Plato was right when he wrote in the Republic “it is impossible that those who become very rich also become good.” And that “true poverty consists not in lessening one’s poverty but in an increase of one’s avarice.”

Unlike our country’s mental health, Sweden, Finland and Norway consistently rank higher in mental health outcomes due to their comprehensive healthcare systems, societal support and preventive measures. In fact,Sweden’s emphasis on work- life balance and mental health services contributes to its top position according to GPT.

The intelligence of the Trump crowd is not being used for unification, justice or equality, but for greed, power , exploitation, discrimination , destruction.and insanity .

Epstein

2026-08-13T20:58:54.258-07:00

The article "The Untold Story of Jeffrey Epstein's Death “ was found in the June 28 ,2026 edition of The New York Times. I was neither surprised about the way the case was handled, nor the findings about his death. Was it suicide; was it murder or was it assisted suicide ? Will the truth ever be known?

Epstein was arrested on July 6, 2019 by FBI agents in New Jersey. He was driven to Manhattan and placed at the (MCC) Metropolitan Correctional Center. This facility was an overcrowded federal jail noted for its poor conditions and dysfunction. It was squalid and crumbling, posted as a safety and security threat to inmates and employees and was closed in 2021.

The building was stifling hot in the winter and freezing cold in the summer. Many of the MCC's correction officers' had second jobs and were found sleeping on this job. Many worked over time ; there were many absences along with understaffing. In fact, there were untrained personnel like teachers ,nurses, clerical workers and other non -qualified’s filling in.

Why was Epstein held in this facility for 35 days ? Why did it fall upon Congress to release more than 3 million pages of Epstein photos and documents ? And, why was Epstein placed alone in a cell without 24 hour video surveillance ? Was it incompetence , nefariousness and/or a combination of the two ?

There were many quotes ,in the article , made regarding Epstein's mental state from multiple guards ,employees and fellow inmates. Some were made by inmates in other cell locations. There were no descriptions of their mental health training or even credibility for the various opinions from these inmates. Their motives were based on ? How truthful were their individual comments ? And ,some guards were fearful that Epstein might report them unfavorably. In fact, one inmate's testimony was relied upon credibly by the federal investigators but that individual died shortly thereafter.

Epstein was not monitored appropriately and he was not supposed to be in the cell alone. In fact, US marshals notified the authorities that his cellmate was being taken and transferred. Still, he was left alone in his cell and found dead. Also,evidence from his cell was not cataloged well and photographs and objects were at odds with the autopsy report . At a court hearing , a US marshall noted he had”suicidal tendencies” yet was left alone with dysfunctional video monitoring.

A significant number of video cameras were not working at the time of his death. However, two out of 11 were working . Video coverage of his two jailers revealed that they did not properly monitor him. One had not received proper training and she lied about her monitoring of Epstein during the shift in question.

Epstein was supposed to be monitored every 30 minutes. The video of the other guard that found Epstein dead was found to be sleeping during his shift . It appeared from the video that both guards were found to be motionless at times. And ,that sleepy guard was not easily awakened.

A psychologist placed Epstein under suicide watch and then reported that he was acting during interviews . He also denied suicide intent. He said to the psychologist “Being alive is fun.”

The following is not associated with suicide behavior .1.There was no suicide note . 2. The evening of his death, Epstein called his girlfriend , told her he would not be able to call her for about a month ,that she should be strong and that he loved her . He also said ,”they are trying to keep me safe.” 3. He also told the guard to make sure that his CPAP breathing device was working in order to help him sleep.

The death scene was contaminated by MCC staff and paramedics; the wrong rope was placed into evidence; DNA was omitted- but routinely collected in suicide death occurances; with the absence of staff and inmate interviewing. Also,an assumption was made regarding the identification of a person from an orange blur on video recording that was found in the pathology report.

The pathologist retired and said that she gave an interpretive opinion and that Epstein might not have died from suicide . Other pathologists were surprised there wasn't a murder investigation t . And, that limited evidence was associated with strangulation- 3 bone and cartilage fractures in his neck were difficult to interpret .There were also discrepancies between the noose that was logged into evidence and the marks on Epstein’s neck. Further,items from the cell had been thrown away. Why wasn't this case treated as a homicide, stated one objective pathologist ?

Many inmates,jail employees,lawyers,federal officials and law enforcement officers had not been interviewed during Trump’s Justice Department” investigation” regarding the death .And others involved refused to talk with the reporters .The government also had hidden from view an alleged “suicide” note.

A number of notes apparently written by Epstein were found .These notes were riddled with idiosyncratic capitalization ;punctuation and not complete thoughts. The last note was described as resembling his other notes.

It's clear ,based upon this article, that the Trump government's handling of Jeffrey Epstein' death was suspicious and troublesome to say the least. I do not trust the pathological liar Trump nor his loyal flunkies with the truth associated with anything that has to do with Epstein. Trump has been a master when it comes to his distortion of reality . And has used his power to continue, mislead ,distort and cover-up the truth .

Thom Darden and I have been invited by the University of Michigan Alumni to host a webinar regarding Bo's Warriors. The event is scheduled for August 16, a Sunday, at 1 PM Pacific coast time. To register for the event

https://umalumni.my.site.com/s/lt-event?id=a1QUS00000C3rAX2AZ

Discrimination

2026-08-06T19:57:53.860-07:00

Love thy stranger and love thy enemy from the Old and New Testaments are a call for humanism in contrast with Trump’s discrimination policies. And,according to him, we are not a “melting pot. “ Religious ,racial ,sexual economic and political beliefs, race, political beliefs, economic beliefs have been used to discriminate against others since our founding. As a result, our history of discrimination has been repeated over and over again . This essay describes a few examples of repeated discrimination in our Republic.

In 1764, about 200 Irish settlers from Pennsylvania's backcountry rode to Philadelphia to confront a government they despised. This angry group had already slaughtered a group of peaceful Indians and blamed English Quakers for the attacks. The Quakers expecting attacks, abandoned their pacifism and picked up muskets; and the colony was spared from potential Civil War only by the diplomacy of Benjamin Franklin ( Benjamin Franklin PBS KVIE).

Instead of a physical war ,pamphlets were used that accused the Quakers of taking satisfaction in the slaughter of Irish and German settler families at the hands of the Indians. That misrepresentation called for Quakerism to be extirpated from the face of the earth. On the other hand, Irish Ulster Presbyterians were described as ulceration and piss-brute-tariens. Franklin himself referred to the English settlers as Christian white savages and Germans as Palatine boars who refused to assimilate or learn English.

About 100 years later, the Civil War pitted white against white . Slavery was largely responsible for the economic wealth and success in the South, even though they were considered 3/5 of a person . Racism was not limited to the South as slavery was adopted and promoted everywhere.And, Jim Crow laws perpetuated slavery in the South until 1964 with Pres. Johnson’s Civil Rights Act . .

When Woodrow Wilson was president there was anti-immigrant sentiment that was furthered by Wilson's hateful and discriminatory A. Mitchell Palmer, his Atty. Gen.Also, Palmer’s efforts were aided by a young Justice Department attorney named J. Edgar Hoover. Furthermore, Pres.Wilson's mean spirited talk about subversives lurking within America's borders accompanied by a compliant judiciary gave these executive branch leaders permission to discriminate. Ioo years or so later, are we similar ?

Moreover, Palmer raids detained and deported individuals within the FBI's own history .Palmer scapegoated the Bolshevik revolutionaries and those who migrated from Russia and eastern Europe. Also, Wilson warned Congress of a threat posed by citizens born under other flags . Did they actually pose great threats against national peace and safety ? This is too familiar.

The Wilson administration proposed to Congress the Espionage Act which gave the government sweeping powers to clamp down on free speech , censor the press and to protect the war effort. The Postal Service followed when the Postmaster General refused to deliver mail that he deemed subversive. Dea vu !

Also, Congress passed the Immigration Act of 1918, which expanded the government's powers to deport undesirable aliens.and discriminate against immigrants from Russia and Germany. This was our Democratic government then - sounds familiar .My grandparents left Kiev years earlier.

With Hoover in charge , he used wartime authority that Congress provided that allowed federal agents to burst into apartments and houses across 11 cities to arrest more than 1000 immigrants, many of them Russians . Some were arrested because they were deemed suspicious based on their accent and were called communists. Democracy in action. Some melting pot !

During World War II, our government interned Japanese civilians and also harassed some German citizens. After that war, Joe McCarthy began his witchhunt and made up stories about red subversives. The Manchurian Candidate movie with Frank Sinatra provided a glimpse into that era. And,Dalton Trumbo, Hollywood screen writer was blacklisted but wrote scripts under different aliases. In 1960 ,Kirk Douglas's Spartacus gave Trumbull full credit listing him as the screenwriter.

I remember that time very well. In fact,when I was 10 years of age, I found out that my father's name was in the Detroit News newspaper from my friend's mother - “ Is that your father “? My father was accused ,by unknown sources, that he was a communist. As the story goes, his friend Jim N, a friend and employed by the US Postal Service was married to a woman who apparently once belonged to the Communist Party. It was guilt by association and my father was mad because he never knew who his accusers were. This was how things were then. What’s changed 76 years later ?

Jim was fired, his family were deported and moved to Canada. As a young boy ,we often visited Jim and his family, and I became friends with his oldest son. Did that make me a communist too? The McCarthy hearings were anti-semitic attacks as many of the individuals rounded up, fired,harassed or blacklisted were Jewish. The movie “ The Way We Were” with Streisand and Redford provided a glimpse into that time .

Today ,we have more of the same discrimination with a round up of immigrants based on the color of their skin. Ice, military, Congress, Supreme Court, media and social media support the president and his Chief of Staff Miller in these actions despite their illegality, brutality and murder. Irrationality and sadism are connected with their actions. For example, an article titled How Hegseth Is Waging A War Against Diversity- Blocking of a Promotion for a Black Admiral was found in the June 21, 2026 edition of the New York Times.

Yes,many are in opposition and are supported by the lower court findings. However, the Supreme Court has overturned or stayed a number of these lower court actions.

Freud ,Horney, Jung ,Fromm ,Murray and others have written and have described man's dark side. Homo sapiens history

provides us with the repetition of man's discriminatory behavior. Unfortunately, the administration's policies are favored by too many. Also, Musk is proposing to spend over $100 million in the upcoming elections . Will Trump, the fraud, and his allies be able to steal the upcoming November elections ? Their goal is power and to continue their discrimination . They are vengeful, sadistic, narcissistic,and sociopathic neurotics

In essence, religious prophets talked about a man loving man . However, psychology describes man’s character and points out that some do have the necessary ego supplies to accomplish and relate to others lovingly, while others are simply incapable because their ego and character dynamics are equated with narcissism, hate, control , power and discrimination. Is this the government of the people,by the people and for the people…..? Or is it , of, by and for some only ? Elections matter.Do not let this greedy tribe prevail .

Trump favorably interacts with Putin, Xi Jinping and Kim Jong Un. Trump must be a communist.

https://umalumni.my.site.com/s/lt-event?id=a1QUS00000C3rAX2AZ

Dementia

2026-07-30T19:45:56.817-07:00

Dementia, which is on the rise, is a group of symptoms affecting memory, thinking, and social abilities . In fact, it has become the fifth leading cause of death in our republic. And dementia is a category for multiple diseases. But, the most common dementia is Alzheimer's disease found in older adults. And, because of brain complexity, there has been no effective treatment for this progressive disease. This essay pertains to a few aspects of dementia.

The adult brain weighs about 3 pounds ;the size of a medium cauliflower with 100 billion neurons and 100 trillion synapses. With that being said, there's essentially "three brains" of a human being. There is the "Archaic Brain" typically found in lizards and snakes with its series of functions; the "Old Brain" typically found in cats and dogs with its series of functions and the "New Brain" found in humans with its functions. Essentially, the disease of Dementia is found in the three brains of the human which understandably makes it impossible ,at this point, to come up with the treatment to eradicate and/or reverse the progressive nature of the disease.

Significant parts within the brain include 1 .Brain Stem 2 .Cerebellum 3. Thalamus 4. Basal Ganglia 5. Limbic System and more specifically-The Hypothalamus, Hippocampus and Amygdala 6. Cerebral Cortex 7 .Cerebral Cortex-Occipital Lobes 8. Cerebral Cortex-Temporal Lobes 9. Cerebral Cortex - Parietal Lobes 10. Cerebral Cortex-Frontal Lobes.

Within brain functioning,there are Neurons and Glial cells in which there is a complex interacting network of neurons that send and receive messages that enable the brain to perceive the world, plan and carry out intentions and actions, think and solve problems, form and retrieve memories and generate emotions and moods. Glial and other cells help neurons function and regulate neurotransmitters, clean up debris around neurons and protect neurons from potentially dangerous organisms and chemicals. Both neurons and glial cells are dysfunctional or destroyed In most major dementias .And,selected neurotransmitters involved and affected in dementia include acetylcholine, dopamine, serotonin and glutamate.

Memory loss is a major component found in dementia.Memory includes the past, present, and especially the future. We can broadly define memory as a time when a past experience has an effect on current or future behavior. In fact, there is really no single thing called memory and when memory fails, we are left addressed in the sea of uncertainty and confusion with a sense of disconnectedness with ourselves and our world . In a sense we are our memories.

Briefly, there is 1. Sensory Memory: perceiving which acts as buffers for stimuli perceived through the senses. 2. Short-term Memory: temporary storage and manipulation of information for language,comprehension,learning and reasoning. Most people with dementia have long-term memory conversion,consolidation and retrieval deficits.3.

Within Long-- term memory: there is Declarative Memory for facts and events such as remembering dates ,historical facts ,telephone numbers and names of people that you know. 4.There is also Episodic Declarative Memory, which is for personally experienced events such as what you ate for dinner last night, what happened to you 25 years ago. 5.There is also Semantic Declarative Memory, which is not tied to one particular time, like your name, the kind of car you drive, words of the language, phone numbers, and arithmetic operations And 6. Procedural Memory which is the retention of the ability to engage in motor activities such as making coffee, driving a car, tying shoestrings and playing a sport-sometimes called muscle memory.

Brains reach maximum size in our teens .About age 25 brain volume in healthy people begins to decline .And, continually over the years , there’s a loss of neurons and neuron connections .Further,there’s also reduced blood flow to the brain but the brain is able to learn and make connections throughout adult life, especially for people who exercise regularly and engage in mental workouts.

With brain autopsies, a recent study found that heavier people have smaller brains with most of the atrophy in areas involved in cognitive functions such as memory, attention, planning and decision-making. Obesity is also associated with vascular damage in the brain related to high blood pressure and elevated LDL cholesterol, which impedes oxygen and nutrients to neurons .

A few examples related to the structure and wiring taking place in the shrinking brains with dementia include the following . The insides of the brain may shrink to one third at the time of death. It’s not the skull size ,but the structure, chemistry and wiring connections that change. This means there's less fuel burning ,less visual processing, less decision-making, less logic and less ability to understand another point of view .

Also, other changes take place. For instance, those who were generally explosive and high strung become more emotional,and more impulsive with their outbursts. Individuals that were low conflict oriented become more withdrawn and shy away from potential conflict. And those that were fearful before become excessively more timid and fearful.These individuals also have more difficulty surviving as their sleep cycles and eating behavior change. They sleep less and crave glucose .

Learning and memory is severely affected and so they have difficulty learning new information, storing information and expressing that material . In fact, with their limited reasoning ability , their brain creates fiction and misinformation and lies to themselves. They make up new and false information

On a positive note, their hearing remains fairly intact .When they ask the same question it's because they did not originally comprehend what was said. It is not hearing loss but language comprehension. They have difficulty in loud environments such as restaurants, family gatherings and so forth because they have difficulty comprehending what was said along with being able to remember and respond. Rhythmic music,and chitchatting seems to be preserved.

Their sense of identity, self-esteem and being becomes greatly diminished. Once upon a time they were smart, creative, productive, confident, independent while being fully engaged in life’s offerings. Goals were achieved, challenges met and obstacles diminished. Then, as time progressed, they became less capable, less independent , their ability is greatly diminished in so many areas and they became fearful and dependent. It's like a retrogression, a radical transformation from being a fully functioning adult to becoming more childlike. They even think of themselves as stupid. It's so sad to witness this awful change taking place with this dreadful disease.

ReferenceUnderstanding Dementia .Institute For Natural Resources .

Parenting 2

2026-07-23T20:59:30.172-07:00

Turning to technology, we have the negative effects of smart phones; parents' dissatisfaction in their decision-making regarding facilitating smart phones to their children and creating rules or policies to combat the issue.Smart phones have "replaced" parents, family, and the socialization of friends and human lovers. These phones are terrific ,just ask Gen Z’s with their receptive character orientation.

AI technology not only affects socialization , it also affects cognitive development. There has been a dumbing down effect for many, in this country, that's related ,in part, to this technology. Individuals don't have to take responsibility for their actions as they get their advice and information from AI.

The article, "Thanks to AI, Student Cheating With AI Is Harder to Detect" dated June 21, 2026 was about plagiarism and cognitive deficits.For instance, videos all over social media are telling students: to go ahead and let AI do your homework--with the latest technology you won't get caught. These sites show students how to use tools as humanizers that rewrite AI produced text to make it sound less robotic, formulaic and trite. Another tool autotypers drip words and sentences in the documents and even fabricate typos, deletions and revisions.

Colleges and K-12 schools are attempting to keep up with AI detection. But, these apps allow students to generate writing from scratch, humanize text , scan, and replace phrases that could set off AI detectors. About two thirds of American students are using AI regularly for schoolwork. According to recent surveys, it's been said that AI is short-circuiting student learning .Several studies have shown that people who were relying on AI can experience cognitive offloading, a process in which they've failed to build new skills and/ or their existing skills degrade.

Psychologically speaking, inappropriate and excessive smart phone usage by children and adolescents has been associated with mental health and relationship problems,suicide, bullying behaviors and so forth. According to 1006 members of a Gen Z survey, many young people felt trapped by Tik Tok and Snap Chat and nearly all the participants expressed regret about having access to many of the most popular social media platforms. Passive victims without fortitude?

A national survey of 1013 parents with children under 18 ,found that many parents gave their children, smart phones and social media access too early; many wished that social media had never been invented and hoped for new social norms, policies and restrictions .It was also reported that 55% said that the children began smart phone use by the age of 12 and 61% said the same about Instagram and by the age of 13 for Snap Chat. Those decisions were made by?

A third of the parents reported social media access was given too early to their young children and 22%.agreed regarding smart phones as well. 1% of parents said they were ok with these technologies. A number of rationalizations were employed by the parents,for their inappropriate decisions such as social pressure and their children would be better prepared for the future by use of technology.

Parents are important when it comes to child development. With that being said, relationships with parents remain, for most children, the most compelling factor in determining the kind of person they become , the kinds of problems they will likely face and resolve during their lifetime. In the recent past, there was pertinent research funding for assessing parenting styles and other variables for further understanding its effects and relationship to child development.

Today,the harmful effects of parenting are apparent with the Gen Z population .Unfortunately there has not been current in-depth or longitudinal research to evaluate the association with parenting ,social media and AI at this time.

Capitalism can only survive with unlimited and excessive consumption. Children are able to manipulate their parents and the parents' response has been to express their “love” by reinforcing the consumption of things and devices. Of course there's pressure for everyone to fit in and have what everyone else has. Therefore it is not surprising that the knowledgeable technological industry takes advantage of parental weakness with all its terrific devices. Apple is just one of the companies making exorbitant profits with consumers that are becoming more dependent upon .

One significant factor in early childhood development is narcissism which begins when the child is psychologically able to first identify with the parent and then learns to separate from the parent . With proficient parenting, healthy children have developed secondary narcissism,.With secondary narcissism, the child becomes able to make favorable attachments or unions to others outside of oneself, if not successful, an unhealthy or toxic degree of narcissism interferes with developing appropriate object relations . These narcissistic individuals have difficulty in looking to others for gratification. It's as if others are perceived as dangerous and to be avoided.

In other words, individuals that tend to have a significant degree of unhealthy narcissism, are extremely comfortable with these devices. It's no wonder that so many are involved with excessive time spent with these devices. Not only that, parents allowed their young children access to these devices . And, these electronic devices have interfered and in some cases have prolonged , contributed and interfered with developing healthy narcissism which is being able to have human relations with care, empathy, commitment and moral maturity.

Also,it's important to acknowledge the importance and relationship of the ego's need for affiliation, union and friendship and the consequences of separation anxiety , loneliness, isolation and insecurity. In other words, there's a strong ego need for union and the technological industries are well aware of this need and have sophisticated advertising strategies in promoting its products. For instance , GenX individuals have significant, but not surprising , difficulty in meeting the ego need of affiliation with the inorganic . These inorganic devices are not about emotional warmth, understanding , care or love.The devices are responsive to questions. They do not engage, reach out nor provide significant human necessities needed.

An article titled "Life Is Better With Siblings" provided input about the importance of siblings associated with positive mental health . For instance, older children have the responsibility and opportunities for caring, for understanding and for providing opportunities for teaching the young. Older siblings can cook, do laundry and clean and In some ways " replace "the parents. Significant emotional experiences with an older sibling are remembered and affect the emotional attachment of their relationship. Realistically, no, inorganic device can duplicate, let alone replace the learning of empathy.

Technology has produced objects that have an animistic "life" quality . These objects are visual, auditory,concrete and are able to verbally respond based on AI conformity. The device is “spiritual” and has a life of its own .In other words,for many, these devices are extensions of self. They have to be attached and in their possession . Do not leave home without it, and they are especially stressed when there's some interference in the workings of these devices.

Furthermore, in addition to all sorts of psychological problems for the Gen Z population associated with these devices , also include the epidemic of loneliness. Once again, it’s the importance of the fulfillment of ego's need of affiliation, which is to be able to enjoy, cooperate , reciprocate with another; as well as pleasing ,winning affection and remaining loyal as well. With loneliness, there's failure to connect with the other despite the fact of the anxiety of being alone. Of course ,those that are lonely because of the anxiety have additional psychological issues attributed to their inability to meet that important ego need. In other words, technological devices have contributed to loneliness as people become more comfortable with their devices as opposed to establishing significant relationships with others. Unfortunately, people in the culture become associated with excessive conformity. It's no wonder that we have an excessive amount of hate ,greed and lack of empathy when toxic narcissism prevails within our inorganic technological society.

Reference

Fromm,Erich . Man For Himself An Inquiry Into The Psychology Of Ethics.

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Parenting 1

2026-07-16T17:55:43.840-07:00

Freud emphasized child rearing experiences in his biological model of personality formation. Neo-Freudians such as Adler, Horney Fromm, others and more recently Erikson placed additional emphasis on the influence of society, economics ,religion and politics on the developing personality. Since the Middle Ages, the Renaissance and the Reformation,the family, social , political ,religious ,technological, and economic forces affecting man's development have changed significantly . This brief disquisition associates the impact of today's society and technology affecting child rearing on the development of the Gen X personality. An article titled "There Is a Way to Bring Back Childhood “in the June 22, 2025 edition of The New York Times was pertinent.

Early on, the religious ideas of Luther and Calvin pointed to a powerful authoritarian God who had unrestricted power over man. And man was taught to accept his powerlessness and evilness. But, he could atone for his sins only by his submission to God. The idea of God has altered but not the authoritarian -slave-dynamic economically and politically.

A compulsion to work ,passion for thrift and a sense of duty were ,early on, significant character traits necessary and important tendencies for production and profit in the rapidly developing capitalistic economy. With that being said, at one time multiple children were reared traditionally by both a mother and father and mother was a stay at home mom.The children learned and incorporated their beliefs and responsibilities to God, to each other and to others as in the Golden Rule..

It’s clear that economically and psychologically, capitalism is predicated on profitable consumption; meeting of physiological needs ;perpetuating the demand and desire for things, items,and objects ;searching for and pursuing happiness, “the American Dream;”power ,possession and status. Briefly, it's supply ,demand , profit and consumption.

Back in the day, I was reared by mom and dad and lived with my two sibs. Dad worked outside the home and mom remained at home and ran the household. Economically , dad provided for our family on his salary. Mom,Bev, Ron and I had breakfast together-dad had left for work; we kids had lunch at school and the entire family ate dinner together . That was also the norm for my neighbors - Klaus,Noseda,Morrison,Russo, Forsyth, Pringle and Peppler families. I was cognizant about religion, economics, socialization, education and preparing for a career. Plus,my grandparents resided nearby and all my aunts, uncles and cousins on mom's side lived in Detroit as well .

Later, child rearing changed because of parents chasing the economic propaganda of "Keeping up with the Jones ;" the rate of divorce increased; moms entered the work force and children were saddled with multiple caretakers. These changes had a disastrous effect on the child's emotional,intellectual , moral and behavioral development . Other influences occurred like diminished church attendance , scandals; political ineptness and division ; numerous military involvements and a war on drugs as well. Additionally, homeland freedoms diminished; income discrepancy flourished ; homelessness; poverty , debt and young adults not being able to leave home increased ; school achievement declined while college became unaffordable and technology became the new "god."

To make matters worse, remote work also contributed to isolation and a deterioration in mental health as individuals felt lless connected.Further, Plato warned us about wealth disparity and in the Republic stated that “ significant wealth disparity is not a state at all but rather two states, the one of poor, the other of rich men , and they are living on the same spot and always conspiring against one another.”

Within the changes previously mentioned, a receptive character orientation tendency was developing and also being reinforced by capitalism and its technology. This receptive character orientation requires support from the outside-parents, friends, consensus, authorities, God and authoritarians. Because the person believes that the only way to get what he wants, be it material, affection, love, knowledge, pleasure, etc. is to receive it from that outside source. In other words, in this orientation , the problem of love is almost exclusively that of "being loved" and not that of loving.

These people tend to be indiscriminate in their choice of the love objects and they "fall for anybody or anything that gives them love or what looks like love.”If intelligent, they make the best listeners since their orientation is one of receiving. It is the characteristic of these individuals and their first thought is to find somebody else or something else to give them that needed information or input rather than to make even the smallest effort to find the answer on their own. And,they are proficient at rationalizing their behavior.

Their critical thinking has been replaced and their reliance on memory has been greatly reduced. Intellectually they are most susceptible , follow consensus and rely on someone or something else for decision making .

By themselves, these people feel helpless and alone. However, they are also optimistic, friendly, loving when things go well, but easily become anxious and distraught with any rebuff or equivocation on the part of authorities because they depend on the strength of their masters for their security and well-being even if the masters are selfish , exploitative , sadistic, don’t care and cruel.

These individuals also find consolation in eating, drinking, smoking and the dream of being fed as a sign of being loved-issues with obesity come to mind. This group is easily exploited by misleading advertising with its fast food bargains. In other words, the power of the food , nutrition and health industries are easily able to exploit their consumers. Further, there’s a plethora of get rich schemes; well-being and happiness books advertised and an excess of electronic apps and gadgets available for these vulnerable characters. We even have a gadget that allows us to remain seated while changing TV channels .

To be continued.

Amorality

2026-07-09T21:21:51.079-07:00

About 5,786 years ago, according to the Old Testament , Moses wrote God’s 10 commandments. In Exodus or the second book, written in stone ,were Commandment V111 'You shall not steal "'and Commandment 1X “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. " Both commandments clearly and concretely describe negative, inappropriate interpersonal interactions according to God's moral precepts for righteous living. Yet, turning to today's politics and culture, it is obvious that those two commandments seem irrelevant at times . A few synonyms for lie to consider include deceive, fool,trick, mislead ,delude,fabricate and falsehood Also, synonyms for steal include theft, larceny, thievery, pilfer, loot, embezzle,cheat, and take.The following provides some of the motivations concerning both lying and stealing .

In Sigmund Freud's model, in a condensed version, conscience is formed in the superego early on and is related to both the Oedipal complex and the development of the ego ideal.And specifically, initial helplessness of the child leads to feelings of inferiority and compensatory strivings for power.

Parents are the main sources for gratification of needs ,safety and love resulting in dependence for the young child. The loss of affection ,love and safety results in significant fear that’s associated with the parental behaviors .Inherently, it’s all about the child’s identification as he incorporates the wishes and demands of his parents.

This lays the groundwork for the development of a conscience which becomes the super ego’s inner voice of the parents and cultures moral values . Essentially, the young child learns and incorporates ,with internalization, the means of how to gain approval and love as well as how to avoid disapproval and the loss of love based on his actions .Doing what the parents dictates for right and wrong generally leads to affection, safety and belonging .

Fundamentally, it’s about the interpersonal interactions between child and parent that superego(conscience) . And, depending on a history of consequential experiences , is the voice of one’s conscience gentle and friendly when it comes to right and wrong or does the conscience become severe and cruel ? In other words, there can be a serious failure -irrationality in superego development, especially with an internal image of a troubled parent , parents or others that’s associated with antisocial character tendencies. And as an adult, that's usually coupled with inadequate inner controls which leads to destructive , deplorable and narcissistic behavior .

Anna Freud categorized three types of lying. First, delinquent lying was a deliberate attempt to gain advantage and to avoid punishment. Second, innocent lying was being unable to separate inner and outer reality which is objective untruth, but valid from an individual's viewpoint, perhaps from ignorance. Third, fantasy lying was a wish to believe in one's own fabrication. Obviously there is some connection between the three categorizations.

In the conscience ( right & wrong) is learned ,developed and highly related to the family dynamics For instance, 1. Is there an accomplice in the lies? When the phone rings and asks for dad,and dad tells his son "tell him I'm not here ? “ Does mother say regarding spending money , "don't tell your father." 2. Do the rules for truthfulness differ between what's told in the family versus what's told outside the family? Lying also requires an audience.3. Are the lies a cover up for not knowing - a fear of failure exposing inadequacy ?

Psychologically, the superego’s, right from wrong, can be easily overridden or ignored with intoxication from drugs , alcohol, internal desires , peer group pressure , some code or belief , group consensus or because it comes from a powerful flamboyant narcissist.

Extensive lying is associated with a sense of personal weakness , fear of loss of control and/or personal sense of inadequacy. Trump’s history of lying ,his individual experiences , and his lack of discomfort with his untruthfulness.Is well documented. He shows no remorse and doesn’t accept any responsibility for all of his lies,misinformation and deceit .Many of his lies seem related to his lack of knowledge .

Trump , however, when emotionally disturbed, aggressively attacks, avoids or walks out, from the “fake media “ reporters especially questions regarding Epstein,tariffs,Iran , Biden . stolen elections and his grift .He denies and does not take any responsibility for his deceitful behavior.

Trump is a master at deceiving himself as he believes in his fabrications and provides emotionally unimportant statements which are not factually true. Pseudologia means that he goes to considerable trouble to make his stories plausible, including facts and inferences which lend a surface ferocity to it. His election lies are just one example .

With his excessive lying , he employs an extensive use of denial which interferes with logical thinking and is a predisposition for his aggressively verbally acting out behaviors and his constant flip flopping responses. He’s full of contradictions and difficult to follow But, behaviorally he’ s accumulated more money since 2025 ( last 18 months) than in his entire lifetime of deceit .

With television and social media technology, the code of untruthfulness is internalized in the political attitude. Constantly, so-called news programs conduct interviews with politicians. Rarely does the politician answer the question but instead presents his own talking points irrespective of the truth or question . George Orwell's 1984 novel brilliantly described the doubletalk by their Ministry of Truth with 3 party slogans - War Is Peace; Freedom Is Slavery and Ignorance Is Strength. Orwell’s relevance is paramount to today.And that “prediction” was written as recently as 1949.

A few comments about stealing . Our society places a tremendous value on money and the wealthy are easily able to protect their own from the consequences. Again, right and wrong begins with the superego in early childhood. What behaviors do the parents consistently reinforce ?

From a developmental point of view:1. What is the extent of emotional deprivation for the child ? Stealing can be an “equalization” and/ or a substitution for affection-"I'm entitled." Stealing behavior maintains the fiction of being loved 2.Does the stolen object provide security or meet some other ego need? 3. Is stealing an act of revenge and easy because the enemy may be regarded as weak? 4. Does stealing curry favor from the peer group or group at large ? 5. Is stealing an act of bravado or some initiation ritual ? 6. Is stealing an act of moral conduct ? Stealing from another is not ok but stealing or cheating the government ,insurance company is ok. 7. Is stealing associated with a getting even behavior ,with parents 8. Is stealing a projection of one's own hostility onto others in which they view others as exploitive, unreliable, or just not worthy? 9. Is stealing an act to deprive,humiliate and dominate ?

Generally, stealing behavior is often related to underlying depression and/or emptiness ;of impotent fantasies which leads to alienation of and toward others. It appears that Trump and his governmental cohorts are in fact rigid, empty , hostile and exploitative. Therefore , it’s not surprising that they would project on to others as being inferior, not worthy aliens and not deserving. Their stealing policies result in excessive discrimination and not caring about the consequences, as long as they hold the power.

Victor Hugo's Les Miserables tells the story of Jean Valjean and his experience with the law because he stole a loaf of bread to feed his sister's seven starving children. Today's story with Trump and the billionaires demonstrates their toxicity and their inhumanity toward so many and how the powerful avoid negative consequences.

Trump, his family, his cabinet, his senators, his congressmen, his Supreme Court , his billionaires and Musk all have a basic personality of emotional characterological tendencies and actions associated consciously or unconsciously with passions of greed, exploitation, mendaciousness and thievery. At this juncture, conscience, commandments, hell, incarceration, fines, and the rule of law have been inconsequential or moot . Will any form of righteous justice ever occur for these repugnant sycophants in our galaxy ?

During Trump's first term as president, he’s made over 30,573 false or misleading statements .Since 2025, Trump made over 21,000 security trades valuing between $600million - to 1.86 billion dollars according to Chat GPT.

.Reference

Disturbance of Development. Basic Handbook of Child Psychiatry.

https://umalumni.my.site.com/s/lt-event?id=a1QUS00000C3rAX2AZ

Gen Z

2026-07-02T19:38:10.462-07:00

Today's essay has to do with the recent conversation that Linda and I had with a Gen Z young man. Karl Marx's ideas regarding management, labor and alienation and Sigmund Freud's concept of transference are pertinent.

Alienation refers to the psychological process in which humans become alien, at odds, in their thinking, feeling, and loving with other humans. Marx's concern was that under the conditions of capitalism,man became estranged from his own creative powers and the object of his work became alien to him . He became an anonymous, insignificant number .These objects eventually ruled over him and became powers independent of him. "Labor exists for the purpose of production and not the process of production for the labor."

For Marx, socialism was never about the equalization of income. It was essentially emancipation from alienation and not inequality of money. An increase in “wages" becomes a better remuneration of slaves and would not restore ,either the worker to the work or their human significance and worth . “ The division between labor and management interferes with the ability of man to connect with himself and develop his powers in order to be able to love and respect himself and the ability to love and respect others. In other words, alienation transformed man into a thing as well as making him a slave of things in our society of consumption

Marx was concerned with the liberation of man from the kind of non challenging work which destroyed his individuality, which transformed him into a thing and which made him into the slave of things. It was a mode of production that destroyed individuality and enslaved man in the process. And one consequence of this division was that the worker became poorer . And, the more the worker expended himself in work, the more powerful the world of objects that he had created becomes .This results in him becoming poorer in his inner life and the less he belongs to himself .In other words, the object of his production is alien and hostile to man by mindless ,boring repetition and his powerlessness and insignificance in the process.

In the handicraft world, the worker made use of the tools and now it's the other way around - it’s the machines that make use of him. In other words, at one time man was autonomous and created things with the use of tools but now it's the machine that becomes more omnipotent and significant .Man is now a cog, a thing , a non -enity in the production .

For Marx, socialism was a society in which the man experienced himself as the subject of his own powers and was able emancipate himself from the bondage of things and circumstances In order to more fully develop a sense and capacity for love of self and the love for others

Today in our capitalistic consumption technological society, the worker, although needed for production, is becoming less, and less valued. For example, an article in the June 14, 2026 edition of The New York Times was titled "Billionaires Billions Are Increasing Faster Than Ever." That article described how the richest families and stockholders are increasing their political influence; why the rapid rise in wealth and that the billionaires are accelerating their wealth at the same time that the workers are getting a smaller share of the profits. In other words, businesses have shifted the balance of power in the economy, allowing owners rather than workers to gobble up more financial rewards. The top 0.1% of Americans, a group of about 135,000 households own stocks, that total 13.7 trillion nearly double owned by the bottom 90% of Americans , a group of about 115 million households. And workers have less freedom, power because of the dominance, exploitation and unfair tax codes .

Essentially, man is becoming increasingly poor, even though there’s an increasing need for money and this need for money is a real need created by the modern capitalistic economy. In our society ,this only creates excess and as a result greed for the favored but exploitation, deprivation and alienation for the others. It’s the commodity, the possessions , the power in how man relates himself and his status. The cliche “The one with the most and biggest toys wins.”

Our society of consumption affects man's tendencies. For example, within a receptive character orientation,the person feels that the source of all good comes from the outside. He believes that the only way to get what he wants- something material , affection, love, knowledge,and/or pleasure is to receive it from an outside source. This results in seeking a magic helper ; being loyal and dependent on others for knowledge , support ,making decisions and taking responsibility. On the negative side, man can be penniless, submissive, insecure, lacking self confidence, unrealistic , gullible and wishful .

A brief story about our personable young man follows: 1.Homeschooling began around high school. 2. He lives at home with his adopted parents on farm-like property on 15 acres 3. He said that college was expensive and that recent college graduates can't find employment. Currently there is a $1.6 trillion outstanding debt from federal student loans from 42 million people. More than 5 million of these borrowers have not made a payment in the past 360 days, are in default and an additional 4 million are in what is called “late stage delinquency.” The New York Times, April 27, 2025. 3. He is learning to be a phlebotomist. 4. He has had one date in his life that occurred at a coffee shop. He said he's afraid of girls. 5. He has an iPhone 6. He has reading difficulties . 7. Everything is expensive except the foods that are not healthy .8. Both of his parents passed by the time he was 5 years of age.His older brother was also adopted shortly by the same parents. There are other adoptees in the home .9. He voted for Trump . On a 1-10 scale to measure being surprised by Trump’s not following through on campaign promises with 10 being the most surprised he said ,he’s a number 6. A lot of people are fed up with the Democrats and won’t vote .10. He attends a Christian church and believes in Jesus .11. He began weight lifting at age 13 because he was skinny.14. He doesn’t pay for room and board but is responsible for the total costs associated with his car.

According to an article in the New York Times June 22, 2025 "There is a Way to Bring Back Childhood," stated excessive smart phone usage by children and adolescents has been associated with mental health problems, suicide, depression, bullying behavior ,reduced dating, less marriage, fewer having children, and a plethora of problems associated with cognitive decline.

In a Gen Z survey ,many young people felt trapped by Tik Tok ,Snap Chat and other avenues in which nearly all the participants expressed regret about having access to many of the most popular social media platforms. Many of these parents gave their children smart phones and social media access too early; wished that social media had never been vetted and hoped for new external social norms, policies and restrictions.Too late mom, too late.

Our young man has been subjected to homeschooling ,living in a rural area and primarily relying on parents and siblings for his socialization along with his electronic devices. In other words, his world, his socialization ,outside family , and opportunities for interacting with others has been limited with reliance primarily on consuming technology.

Electronics has interfered with the meeting of ego needs and have replaced humans for comfort,security,acceptance, permissiveness and reduction of separation anxiety. His socialization has been disrupted ,his experiences have been limited in dealing with others, but instead has tended to rely upon technology with all its toxic lies and misinformation.

Essentially, the inorganic , became a transference on a “thing” that represents the human qualities of power,love, acceptance, knowledge,safety,connection and expertise -the emotional deficits he experienced early on . And, as a result these objects psychologically artificially “provide “ him with those qualities .However, this technology did not and does not endow him with human or realistic emotional experiences but instead , he relies on the consumption of technological and social media responses that are programed on the statistical averages of the algorithms along with preponderance of misinformation ,prejudice and deceit provided by AI.

Also ,other emotional deficits pertain to him as he is lacking in the capacity and readiness for intimacy. Currently, he is unable to commit to concrete affiliations , reciprocate, to please and receive affection ,to remain loyal and to follow through despite many differences. And, has been unable to face his female fears at this point, to engage in close affiliations, sexual unions and close friendships. The inability to meet the ego need of affiliation experiences leads him to isolation , self absorption and reliance on the inorganic for comfort in order to reduce his separation anxieties.. Unfortunately, in order to engage, he has to overcome those psychic difficulties with humans whose essence, at this time , seems dangerous and counter intuitive to his own survival.

Cognitively speaking, a relevant article titled "Thinking Is Becoming a Luxury Good" was found in the August 3, 2025 edition of the New York Times. The writer pointed out that smart phones are breeding a new kind of inequality that's bad for democracies. For instance, individuals are reading less and literacy scores have declined significantly. Nearly half of Americans read zero books in 2023.

Important brain activity, found in the analytic left hemisphere is related to capacity for concentration, linear reasoning, deep critical thinking and executive functions which are severely and negatively associated with this technology. Also, rich kids spend less time on their screens compared to the poor kids which also places them in a better position to enter the knowledge intensive industries that focus on thinking, reasoning, and are associated with higher pay. Another concern was that this cognitive dumbing down favors oligarchs that easily manipulate our citizens with their contradictory double talk , simplistic , irrational and populist brain rot messaging .Essentially “smart” phones and these Mega rich types are propagating an additional inequity that’s detrimental for cognitive and emotional development .

Fromm, Erich. Marx's Concept of Man.

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Satisfaction

2026-06-25T17:03:58.325-07:00

This essay is based on a May 5, 2025 article titled “Satisfaction “ found in the New York Times. Happiness can be defined as a state of being; happy as in joy which is the feeling, or state of well-being and contentment. A few synonyms of joy include enjoyment, pleasure , gladness, bliss joyfulness, blissfulness ,felicity, euphoria, glory ,satisfaction, ecstasy and intoxication. In other words, there are many words associated with happiness. Therefore, an operational definition of happiness is necessary for any research. In this essay I will address happiness along with anxiety and affiliation.

There have been many studies of satisfaction and happiness employing a diversity of subjects. One study began in 1938 at Harvard that included John F. Kennedy and Ben Bradlee. A short summary of results follows: 1. Youth and modest life aspirations were key components to happiness as well as the person's mindset 2 .Happy people tended to refrain from comparing themselves with others ; had a more positive perception of others ; found ways to be satisfied with a range of choices and did not dwell on the negatives 3. Performing five acts of kindness resulted in students being happier by the end of six weeks 4. Students contemplating ,once a week , the things for which they were grateful . 5. Happiness happens to people by virtue of their genes and circumstances are both 6. Finding purpose in serving others. ; spending time and being connected to others. 7. Having smaller points of connection throughout the day also leads to happiness. And it's important every day to connect with other humans. 8. Happy people seem to engage in religious observance, socializing and exercising. 9 Happy people spend less time alone every day 9. Those in happy marriages, socializing with others in their circle contributed to their happiness 10. Those in pain or ill health reported that spending time with their spouses seemed to protect them from the mood of dampening effects of physical suffering 11. People who scored highest on measures of attachment to their spouses were also the ones who reported the highest levels of happiness. 12. The best predictor of a couple's overall well-being in their old age was how happily married they were at age 50. 12. Happy people spent less time alone than unhappy people. 13. Even interacting with strangers in public transit seemed to help people get a mood boost.

These studies suggest, because we are social animals, that "happiness" is related to interpersonal contact, connections and relationships. With that being said, picture the following connections. The sperm connects with the egg and it's called fertilization. In the placenta is the mother's umbilical cord which is a conduit or connection between the developing embryo or fetus in the placenta. Turning to psychology is the occurrence of the birth trauma which is a separation between the mother and newborn. This trauma is the first separation between mother and baby, which results in anxiety and trauma from the influx of stimulus for that newborn. Freud called the birth trauma ,the prototype of anxiety as it's the first reality signaling a dangerous situation. In fact, Heidegger stated that mere anxiety was the source of everything.

Following birth, we have a multitude of significant and important connections and separations with the interplay between mother and baby. That infant "learns" over time as to whether or not that mother can be trusted for nurturance, safety, protection and comfort. If there are positive reinforcements occurring, a preponderance of positive reinforcements result in a sense and expectations of trust. Thus, with a positive sense of trust becomes a favorable association or connection between the two, and, importantly, that infant baby emotionally develops a favorable interpersonal expectation that can generalize to others. In other words, an interpersonal connection becomes established, and if that emotionally close connection becomes severed ,anxiety and a threat occurs .In other words, separation anxiety begins about six months, especially after that close bond or connection between mother and child.

The relationship or association between affiliation and anxiety has also been studied in depth .In one research, Schechter studied female college students and subjected them to either high or low anxiety. He found that high anxiety subjects chose to wait with others as opposed to being alone. In other words, he concluded that anxiety leads to affiliative behaviors. Sarnoff and Zimbardo found that placing one group of subjects under a strong fear of shock resulted in more of a desire to affiliate with others compared to those under low fear. It should be noted that affiliative behavior is associated and based on anticipating past successful experiences that reduce the discomfort of anxiety.

It's not surprising that psychologists , philosophers and others have identified the association of anxiety and affiliation for man's survival. Of course, being with a positive other is more productive to reduce anxiety than being with a negative individual. Being with another is one way to reduce anxiety as is sex,drugs,alcohol,and various other activities. It's the belonging that reduces anxiety and that offers a key for obtaining a sense of happiness , enjoyment, pleasure , and satisfaction.

Stories, songs, novels etc. have described a variety of significant positive and negative interpersonal relationships .. The stress ,anxiety , conflict , loss and intense emotional feelings in the stories of Samson and Delilah; Helen and Teseus; Cleopatra and Antony; Abelard and Heloise come to mind as well as with Taylor and Burton; Dr. Zhivago and Laura; Butler and O'Hara; and Bogart and Bergman. Song lyrics such as “Will You Love Me Tomorrow, “ “When Will I Hold You Again”and “ ,The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” and “ I Can’t Live without You” are three examples . The novelist John Steinbeck’s portrayal of Lennie and George from “ Of Mice and Men “ and brothers Cain and Abel from East of Eden depict stress,anxiety ,separation and conflict are other illustrations pertaining to human connections.The most intense and most desirable passion between humans is love and with separation -anxiety, it's not surprising to find in a long-term relationship that the death of one is shortly followed by the other.

Affiliation is one of the ego needs described by Murray. He defined it: To draw near and enjoyably cooperate or reciprocate with an allied other-and others who resemble the subject or who likes the subject. To please and win affection of a cathected. To adhere and remain loyal to a friend. In other words, affiliation is one of our ego needs. And ,successful gratification with significant connections as in being loved,liked ,cared for and appreciated leads to a reduction in anxiety with positive emotions which is just one of the variables associated with well-being. However, it's clearly an important need to be gratified and one of the best ways to protect against fear, anxiety ,terror and loneliness .

I prefer to use the term well-being. or eudaimonia In describing my motivation. I take into account growth ,development and individuation while making choices pursuant to mind and body ; gratifying important ego needs while being productive with meaning, purpose , care,respect,responsibility and understanding especially with loved ones . It's clear that the pursuit of happiness is short-lived and paradoxically results in self deception, illusion and irrationality. And that happiness is not found with the pursuit for power,prestige or possessions. Well-being is related to a tendency, and a character orientation .

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Brain Size

2026-06-18T19:05:37.547-07:00

The preponderance of stereotypes ,lies and bigotry put forth by sadistic, hateful, and greedy individuals continues today, especially by the “right “on social media. An article in the January 25, 2026 edition of The New York Times titled Genetic Data of Children Misused for " Race Science" described the misuse and falsification of data collected from the NIH.

A right "researcher" tricked and falsified innovative NIH safeguards for his particular " study." NIH provided data for his article from the genetic research with children that were tracking brain development and that research would result in discoveries about DNA’s impact on behavior and disease. The NIH also promised to safeguard the sensitive data from the children. He lied and misused the information .

According to the article. This professor essentially misused information based on IQ scores for the purpose of claiming that biological differences occurred , in intelligence ,between races 1. He ranked ethnicities by IQ scores and concluded that black people earn less because they are not very smart. 2. This professor's actions resulted in him getting fired from his teaching position 3. His falsified results were broadcasted by conservative commentators and placed on social media. 3.He violated NIH guidelines. 4. And his simplistic research and conclusions were debunked by credible authorities .

Unfortunately, the article did not provide research methodology used by this bogus researcher. A few comments about IQ testing. 1. In the past , there was misuse of IQ test results by placing individuals in institutions. based on inaccurate testing results .2 Also,there are numerous IQ tests which means that the intelligence quotient is based on the theory of the test originator. In other words, each IQ test is based on separate,similar or different variables 3. The test sample is also a factor. For example, the WISC IQ test was based primarily on white middle-class children. 4. Each IQ test has a designated age range. 5. Emotional,and psychological issues,at the time of testing, also affect IQ scores .

Intelligence is a product of complex interactions of numerous hereditary and environmental forces. It is difficult to sort out the specific contributions of each. Research suggests that social class and early rearing impacts IQ performance.

Arthur Jensen, in his studies ,concluded that heredity accounts for approximately 80% of variation in IQ scores with an average score of whites scoring 10 to 15 points above blacks. However,in another study, with 38 pairs of identical twins reared in different environments , they found an average IQ difference of 14 points for at least 25% of the twins suggesting the importance of environment because identical twins reared together have statistically significant similar IQ scores .

Note ,that authors of IQ tests have selected test items that have discriminated between children of the same age who were successful academically compared with those who had low grades. As this was a major criterion for including items in the test, it is not surprising that IQ scores are highly correlated with grades in school and college. Essentially socioeconomic differences is a major variable that differentiate IQ scores between children .In other words, poor black and and poor white children score significantly below that of middle-class children.

I administered the WISC IQ test in order to assess emotional issues for a better understanding of the patient based on the responses of the child on the 11 subtests . Each of the 11 subtests on the WISC has a description of what each scale attempts to assess, measure and reveal . In other words, an IQ test provided a considerable amount of information in assisting to understand that particular child irrespective of an IQ score.

There are differences in brain size and, in fact, the Neanderthals had the largest brain size. The adult Homo sapien brain weight is about 3 pounds, has about 100 billion neurons and about 100 trillion synapses Neurons have three parts- dendrites, cell body and axons .Dendrites take in information and axons send out information. Neurons can have as many as 20,000 dendrites and axons .

Simply put, the size of an individual's brain is a weak predictor of intelligence as Einstein’s brain weighed about 10%,less than the average male adult.

The density of the concentration of nerve cells influences the speed and efficiency of information processing, it’s the functional complexity related to the cerebral cortex. The relationship between gray and white matter determines overall cognitive capacity. The working efficiency of these neural networks rather than the bulk of the organ relates to complex thought. And it takes about 20 years to reach neurological maturity.

Variation in brain size is related to genetics. 70-90% of variability such as nutrition, especially during early childhood when the human brain's metabolic requirements consume up to 66% of the body's resting metabolic energy should be considered. And ,environmental factors such as chronic disease or exposure to toxins can also impact brain development.

Usually men's brains are bigger than women's brains. Around age 20 ,the brains of men and women begin to shrink over time with aging. There is some evidence that men's brains shrink at a more advanced age of 65-95 compared to women. And, differences in brain size between men and women do not differ significantly in intelligence or IQ scores although they use different parts of their brains to achieve the same scores. For example, women seem to have a better developed left hemisphere "social" brain with better language and personal perception or social behavior that’s related to better cognition of facial emotional expression.

Trying to prove that brain size is associated with "success" is ridiculous. Yes, there can be statistical correlations between an infinite number of variables . But a correlation is only an association and associations do not prove cause and effect.

Does the trillionaire Musk have the largest brain in the world? Success can be defined as accomplishment of an aim, or purpose; attainment of fame, wealth or social status or the good or bad outcome of an undertaking. Musk is financially successful . Is Elon Musk’s brain size larger than Einstein's? Is Trump’s brain size larger than Hitler’s, Epstein's or Stalin's?

Genetics, family, socioeconomics,environmental, psychological, political,religious and philosophical are some of the variables to consider when defining success . The books "It Has Nothing To Do With Age" and "Bo's Warriors Bo Schembechler and the Transformation of Michigan Football" provide numerous examples of these successful characterological athletic individuals, during their life’s journey meeting their ego needs . Parenting, executive ego functions, decision making, emotional and moral factors are some of the factors associated with success . Or, according to Maslow, those individuals who are self-actualized have reached the top of his hierarchy of needs . Also , there’s a poor correlation between income and measures of happiness.

One study of Einstein's brain found that his prefrontal cortex and parietal lobes were unusually well developed with densely packed neurons. These areas are associated with abstract thinking,mathematical skills and spatial reasoning. Einstein believed that he thought visually rather than verbally. And, Edward H Rulloff, a noted medical doctor and criminal had the second largest brain recorded on record.

Furthermore, another greedy,lying racist in the 19th century promoted phrenology. He maintained that he could identify 37 portions of the brain, each responsible for a certain type of temperament and that African skulls were thicker than those of Caucasians because black people had less brain activity.

Reference

Cerebral Dominance .The Left & Right Brain . Institute for Natural Resources.

Glasser, Alan J and Zimmerman,Ira Lee. Clinical Interpretation of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children.

TRT

2026-06-11T19:56:18.128-07:00

What to Know About the New Obsession With Testosterone as a Lifestyle Drug" was found in the May 24, 2026 edition of The New York Times. The article highlighted how testosterone went from a heavily regulated medical treatment to a lifestyle drug for millions of men seeking to compensate for their feelings of inferiority and insecurity regarding their irrational understanding of masculinity.

Testosterone is a male sex hormone also found in females. This male sex hormone is produced in the testicles and secreted by the testes. Major aspects of testosterone include: 1. Promotes libido aggressiveness and sexual desire. 2 .Stimulates the growth of certain organs. 3 .Promotes protein anabolism. 4 .Stimulates sperm production. 5. Nourishes all tissues of the male urinary and reproductive systems. 6. Regulates the production of prostaglandin, which seems to keep prostate growth under control.

Levels of testosterone gradually drop in men over time .However,it's estimated that testosterone levels in 20% of men after age 50 will drop to abnormally low levels and these hormonal changes result in impotency and/or libido problems. It's also known that testosterone production is affected by a number of external factors such as illness, medications, psychological states, obesity, smoking and excessive alcohol intake. Also, factors such as reduced activity, nutritional deficiency, diabetes, growth hormone deficiency can also contribute to lower levels of testosterone .

Men diagnosed with hypogonadism, a loss of sex drive/inability to maintain an erection; fatigue; irritability; depressed mood; aches and pains in the joints; dry skin; osteoporosis; loss of weight; absent or regression of secondary sexual characteristics have received appropriate medical TRT treatment. Further TRT studies of men with a hypogonadism diagnosis aged 55 and older have reported better sexual performance , initiation of sexual intercourse and increased ability to maintain an erection.

In the article, Kennedy Jr.called the declining world wide levels of testosterone over decades an existential threat to humanity. With that being said , Trump , Oz,Hegseth,Cristine and others are behind TRT(testosterone replacement therapy). Also on board are other Trump media faithfulls .

In fact, it's even promoted as an antiaging treatment by some. Additionally, there are many young men ,without a hypogonadism condition , purchasing the steroid hormone from doctors online, clinics and even unregulated underground labs. These individuals continue to use this drug, irrespective of the health risks. Some complain that they can't get the drug from their doctors so they find other sources. And these younger individuals are pursuing this drug to compensate for their incompleteness by employing defense mechanisms to justify their actions.

Drugs and sports go hand in hand and are hardly an issue for professional athletes and bodybuilders. Barry Bonds, José Canseco, Lance Armstrong, Roger Clemens,Mark McGwire, Sammy Sousa etc. are just a few and are no strangers to drug use. Bill Pearl, Mr. America, Mr. California ,a bodybuilder, decided to enter the 1961 Mr. Universe contest. “ By then steroids were out of the experimental stage and well known to most competitive bodybuilders. They were no longer an underground item. I remembered the fast progress I'd made using them and decided to do so again. Looking back, I think they were a crutch. I didn't really need it, but at the time it seemed easier to take them-so I did. I won the contest, but something inside me wasn't happy with steroid use. So I quit them again, this time for good."

The following are health risks with some potential side effects from TRT : 1. Fluid retention, leading to swelling in legs or ankles. 2. Possible mood swings or increased aggression. 3. Risk of enlarged breasts in some men. 4. Possible development of sleep apnea leading to disrupted sleep patterns like excessive daytime sleepiness. 5. Increased risk of cardiovascular issues such as a heart attack or stroke. 6. Changes in libido, which may increase or decrease. 7. Changes in cholesterol levels potentially affect heart health. Unfortunately, much of the research data that exists on TRT is for older men diagnosed with testosterone deficiency. The TRT side effects for young men without testosterone deficiency is not clear Yet online.everyone is saying that testosterone is the solution to all of your problems.

If you believe that this is a miracle drug, and will fix your "masculinity “ consider the following from the Mayo Clinic . With older healthy men, there is little evidence to support the use of testosterone in otherwise healthy men. From the American College of Physicians ,testosterone therapy might improve sexual function somewhat in some men, with little evidence that it will improve other functions such as vitality and energy.

Is testosterone replacement therapy the ultimate antiaging formula? Only , if you believe online testimonials , GOP characters and their podcasts. Reality, the health benefits of testosterone replacement therapy for age-related decline is not clear.

In conclusion, it's known that an individual's lifestyle, including the physical, emotional, and sexual factors affect testosterone levels. Diet , physical and mental exercise , and lovely Linda have worked well for me . I have never used “drugs “,with the exception of Marijuana ,nor have ever taken Testosterone supplements in my lifetime. And today, at Ironworks Fitness, I began by performing numerous chins; followed by bench pressing the 200 pound maximum on that machine; doing another (my variation) biceps/ triceps exercise with 200 pound maximum, on a different machine; doing a shoulder shrug on another machine with a 300 pound maximum in each hand and working out with other machines, barbells and dumbbells. After that workout, I went to the treadmill and varied the speed over 10 minutes and then finished my workout with more chins. That’s my magic pill .

Are our fickle leaders health symptoms of fluid retention-swelling in ankles, increased aggression; sleep apnea leading to disturbed sleep patterns like excessive daytime sleepiness and numerous tweets in the early hours of the morning, enlarged breasts and increased risk of cardiovascular issues associated with TRT?

Reference

Klatz,Dr. Ronald and Goldman, Dr. Robert. Stopping The Clock

Pearl, Bill and Moran, PhD and Gary T. Getting Stronger.

Parenthood

2026-06-04T20:43:29.181-07:00

An article titled "Why Are More and More People Passing Up Parenthood?" was found in the May 10, 2026 edition of The New York Times. This article pertains to the decrease in children presented primarily with economic and sociological factors. My response is as follows.

In this article it was pointed out that 1. Birth increases when economics are on the upswing and with high levels of equality in the home and in society. 2. Worry about sending a future child to school with unvaccinated classmates 3. Affordability 4. Future uncertainty -life expectancy, AI ,immigration, global trade and climate change 5. American women with less education have more children. 6. Current and future employment. concerns 7. Marked decline in marriage 8. Increased social isolation 9. Median age of first-time homebuyers-40 10. In South Korea-a construction company offered its employees roughly twice South Korea's annual per capita income,to women who had a baby. Last year the company reported 36 births and an increase of about 60% compared to the average before the program began

According to the article, there is a focus on economic uncertainty in the present and future affecting today's couples. Uncertainty suggests anxiety and insecurity and is likely masking underlying issues regarding parenting . 1. Have they considered or have they had individual , marital therapy or a medical consultation ? The issues were?

2. What ego needs are being met and which are not?

3. Are there health issues?

4. What would be the advantages and/or disadvantages of having a child? How important is having an offspring?

5. How did they spend their time away from work?

6. What did they like about being a child?

7. What type of additional support do they expect after the birth of the child?

8.Use of TRT. Testosterone Replacement Therapy is associated with low sperm count.

These questions are starting points in evaluating the issue of parenting for these couples .

Low birth factors in our culture, aside from 24% of males experiencing ED, pertaining to declining birth rate include a masculine dominance created by men associated with morality, religion, capitalism and science suggesting female inferiority. It took how long for women to be able to vote in this country ? The male masculinity stereotype is that man is the king of the castle, earns more, is more aggressive, withholds emotions and females are passive, inhibit aggression, inhibit display of sexual urges, less competent, less independent, less objective and less logical.

Another factor of low birth rate from a psychodynamic point of view, suggests female penis envy in which the clitoris is conceived of as a phallus. Within Oedipal complex dynamics , a female with penis envy gives rise to the desire for a child which then forms the basis for a love bond with father and subsequently a femininity orientation .With this attachment to the father results in the existence of a desire for penis and a desire for a child. However, with the occurrence of a negative attachment to the father, a femininity orientation is rejected. This psychological dynamic becomes associated with an unconscious wish , a desire to be a "man" in orientation with its advantages .

From this penis envy role of inferiority, the female has to master this desire to be a man throughout life and deal with men.Simply put, is motherhood going to be a handicap and significantly interfere with professional goals and achievement ?

Further, some "masculine" oriented women have an attitude of hostility towards men. Sometimes it takes the form of depreciation and/or castrating them in the process. Essentially, these women have dismissed father as a sexual object and simultaneously recoil from the feminine role altogether.

Other factors interfering with having children are the fear of pain,and/or injury with penis penetration ; frigidity, along with the dread of childbirth. And , the anxiety related to this fictitious male role allows the woman to escape from the feminine role, even though burdened by guilt and anxiety.

On the other hand traditionally feminine oriented limited education females have adapted themselves to the wishes of men as exemplified by the religious right which promotes a stay at home mom with many children .along with help from the Supreme Court ‘s Roe vs Wade decision .

Erikson's seventh psychosocial stage is characterized as Generativity vs Stagnation presents another factor to consider . Erikson presents the following: 1. Mutuality of orgasm. 2. With a loved partner 3. Of the other sex. 4. With whom one is able and willing to share mutual trust. 5. And with whom one is able and willing to regulate the cycles of a. Work b. Procreation c. Recreation 6 So as to secure to the offspring, too, all the stages of a satisfactory development.

Psychologically , the crisis is about establishing and guiding the next generation to their own or to another's offspring coupled with the attitude of the belief in the species along with making the child a welcoming trust of the community- progeny?

Progeny , is not effectively valued in our society There's an absence of effective gun legislation; gutting of the Department of Education; inadequate funding for the schools; inadequate teacher salaries; insufficient staff , nurses, school psychologists, master teachers; lack of school safety; book banning, and the rewriting of US history

Parents, for their own narcissistic needs, are too involved in their children's sports, arts and school social activities with their overprotection, smothering and controlling patterns not allowing for autonomy, separation and independence. They've spoiled their children with harmful technology and monetary bribes.

On the other hand, there's child abuse, neglect, and dead beat dads with their child support. Further, there are numerous reasons for parents not to have children. For example, an article titled "The Anxiety of Influencers" found in the May 24 2026 edition of The New York Times described how parents are monetizing their children by posting content of their kids wearing various brands, skimpy clothing, exposing intimate details about their children on Instagram, YouTube, Tik Tok and even selling photos of the young children to men. Apparently this is a multibillion-dollar influencer industry and about parental exploitation.

Should All females become mothers? Not if that mother is unable to provide unconditional affirmation for her child's life and its needs. This means and relates to her ability to care and be responsible for her child's life and growth. For instance, can the mother instill a positive attitude for the love of life and it's good to be alive in the child ? Turning to the Bible, the Promised Land symbolizes the mother, with Milk and Honey . Milk symbolizes the first aspect of love and Honey symbolizes the sweetness of life.

In order for the mother to give "honey," that female must be good and happy. She has to be able to transmit an attitude of being unselfish and altruistic. It's emotionally easier for the mother to love her small infant, but the crisis is being able to love her growing child. The child must be able to grow and emotionally separate in order to become a complete human being. Can the mother still love her child as a separate human being?

The government plays their part also with inadequacy in school lunch programs; health insurance; daycare and other after school programs; maternity time off : attacking vaccinations and not assisting with limiting cost of college and the inordinate amount of school debt. And,there are few employment opportunities for recent college graduates .

In conclusion, there are a number of psychological, sociological, economic, political components affecting whether or not couples should have offspring in our capitalistic society. Once our K-12 model of education was superior. Not so today. Yes, the anxiety of uncertainty without control is not new. But our capitalistic society, with discrimination has unfairly affected the majority as far as income inequality ,health insurance , education and other safety net programs are concerned. Our health industry is too expensive, and our current political power structure is dreadful and shameful. It's not surprising that there's isolation ,less sex ,relationship issues and a decreasing health and birth rate in our country with its negative attitude,values and policies regarding children. And, importantly, not all couples are psychologically or morally equipped to become parents. Bring back Roe vs. Wade and remove Alioto from the Supreme Court for starters .

Reference

Erikson, Erik H. Childhood and Society.

Horney, Karen Feminine Psychology

Life and Death

2026-05-28T20:38:04.179-07:00

For centuries charlatans have proselytized "longevity" while being in an unfriendly world.Despite the irrationality, the Spanish explorer Ponce de Leon was remembered for his futile "Fountain of Youth" pursuit . More recently, functional medicine , theories of aging and even hucksters are pursuing better aging by promoting their various wares and their secrets. And today, it’s not surprising that AI billionaires are in the transformation.

A pertinent article titled "The Quest To Reverse Aging" was found in the May 10,2026 edition of the New York Times. In this article, the focus, in part, was on a number of longevity experiments that included a rejuvenation of cells in mice which prolonged life in the laboratory and a search for cures like cancer.

Existentially, we are a mere isolated speck in the universe . Psychologically ,that paradox is anxiety related as individuals are on a quest in desiring not only to make one's life matter but also to find a meaning for one’s life. That outcome often results in becoming good at something and /or a merging of self with another-something greater and a denial of mortality .

Additionally, a merging of self with another is related to man's separateness which arouses terror-anxiety. In fact, the deepest need for man is to overcome his separateness ,his aloneness and isolation .Man has been very “ creative” in attempting to overcome separateness, transcending his own individual life, finding meaning and denying death .

Many years ago, man’s anxiety from isolation was “lessened” with religion . He merged , spiritually, with a belief in God, to overcome the anxiety related to his separateness .And it did not matter if he was a slave, poor, evil, a tyrant, a criminal, ruthless, or even sadomasochistic . Because , with purgatory ,salvation, repentance and faith in Jesus Christ he could become loved eternally in heaven.

Briefly, a few other ways of overcoming and/or escaping from the anxiety associated with separateness relates to induced trance, sexual orgasms, drugs, alcohol , sports, political , government and group associations. Many of these avenues are not only short lived and they do not “fix”the existential crisis of finding meaning,alleviating anxiety, or solving the reality of aging or death.

With capitalism and its technology , modern man has pursued power, possession, status, and now AI as its new God to solve his existential existence .

About 6,ooo years ago ,man turned to one God to deal with the terror of living and was able to transcend it by becoming ,identifying and becoming dependent on that supreme being.But, over time, man has fulfilled that dependency, separation anxiety need by being with another, thus replacing God. A romantic love object became the desire, the ideal to fulfill one's life and to meet all one's needs within his existential state.

The love object has been deified in poetry, music, novels , art and movies and can be characterized by a hunger for the experience or a serious emotional yearning for such. For instance love song lyrics strive as being of divine perfection, being wonderful, sexual objects, devotion, ecstasy, all encompassing resulting in transcendence, a merging with another . A Hindu song provides an example "my lover is like God, if he accepts me ,my existence is.utilized. "Love" , a dependency ,is based on separation anxiety, and the illusion that it results as a solution for man's existence .

Although romantic love in marriage and unions have terrible statistics, the behaviors still exist. Man can and does not find a solution for his existence in love , marriage and unions because of some of the following interpersonal characteristics found in these relationships. Briefly: 1. A husband or wife is often the replacement or rebellion against one's parents 2. There's a discrepancy between unconscious and conscious sexual desires and gratification-fulfillment of desires 3. There’s variations in coitus along with frigidity or impotence. 4. Expectations and degree of love felt are likely overestimates and illusions 5. Too many personal and professional sacrifices result in affecting one's independence or becoming a slave. This compromise results in disillusionment ,buried hostility ,distrust ,disappointments that interfere with monogamy 6. Others become objects of love as one seeks new love objects when sex becomes tiresome and boring 7. The offspring gets more warmth, care ,empathy and tenderness 8. Dread of not being able to satisfy is biologically the male as he must prove himself again and again-masculinity 9. Imperfections don't change over time and become more visible .And, one cannot possibly fulfill all the other's needs. 10. The ability to support ,lifelong companionship , fidelity and sexual cooperation becomes a tremendous burden placed on those two individuals.

Essentially, no human being can be godlike and everything to another. Looking for that "perfect human object", looking for someone who will allow us to express our will completely without any frustration is unrealistic. The object reflects the ideal image of ourselves and no human being can accomplish this. Everyone has wills ,counter wills, moves against and with actions that offend .Everyone has imperfections and these shortcomings become major threats.

Importantly, fear, hate and greed are primitive emotions associated with humans. However, being human is man's ability to develop his powers of reason and love. Is AI going to further the ability of man in becoming more human and solve his problem of existence ? Should we become disobedient to the propaganda of the ruling class of AI billionaires like Musk, Huang, Wang ,Altman and others? Disobedience is saying "no" to these powerful men while utilizing our intellectual capacity. as their passion is clear.

Years ago Adler hypothesized that it was empathy, concern for society and human welfare that directed behavior . However,these narcissists are characterized by fear,hate and their insatiable greed. Their actions and their monetary accumulation depicts their primitive emotions and devotion to idol worship. Their insatiable greed cannot ever be fulfilled.

AI is going to replace many humans in the workplace. However, AI cannot replace human innovation, creativity , curiosity and imagination, nor can it provide meaningful mutual interactions with actual emotional empathy, caring, respect or mutual organisms.

Larry Ellison "I don't want to die; I don't have to die." Are you going to be ruled ,subjugated and dominated by these, 42%will eventually develop dementia over age 55 and technology has no answer. How many of these billionaires are going to become dementia free? Add Ai to the threat of global warming, and nuclear war. How much time is left on the Doomsday Clock?

Man has developed many actions in dealing with the anxiety from his aloneness. Some strategies work better than others but some have very bad consequences. Further, the reality of our mortality is clear as we all are going to pass. It makes sense to use our intellectual capacity of reason, an understanding of our primitive emotions, and employing humanistic ethics while navigating our short time in this galaxy.

The best choices for optimum health have to do with vigorous exercise , a nutritional diet, affiliation, intellectual and work productivity while living in reality.

Reference

Becker, Ernest. The Denial of Death .

Horney,Karen. Feminine Psychology.

Gen Z

2026-05-21T20:12:53.143-07:00

Needless to say, there are many problems going on in our Republic. An article titled "Courtship in an Age of Narcissism" in the March 8 2026 edition of The New York Times depicted another significant concern. This article stated that Gen Z-ers aren't dating because they're too self obsessed. My response follows.

According to the article, many male heterosexuals are unable to connect with a romantic or sexual partner. Instead, they offer contradictions and rationalizations like blame and objectify and denigrate females. They also rationalize that their looks have prevented them from entering into romantic and sexual relationships. Some are narcissistically obsessed with improving their physical appearance; talk about aesthetics as destiny and attractiveness as a measure of human worth.

With their contradictions, limited reasoning ability, the use of defense mechanisms,and other self-deceptions ,these teenagers instead are choosing AI ,Chatbot and other devices as pseudo-friends with the illusion and mythology. Their choices are only “security blankets” which do not dismiss their anxiety, depression, boredom, loneliness, insecurities and other figments of their imagination that take place between their ears.

One moneymaking wealthy streamer known as Clavicular claimed that he injected steroids at age 14, to improve his physique ,dabbled in crystal meth and hit himself in the face with a hammer to heighten cheekbones to create a sharper jawline. He added that dating was a burden in today's hyper- glamorous environment. And, that thinking he could have sex with a woman was perhaps better than the deed itself-it's a big timesaver.

Gen Z-ers were born between the years of 1992 and 2012 and have experienced an economic meltdown;Covid-19 pandemic-social isolation; and the technological smart phone revolution. Online dating and advice influencers like Tik Tok, Instagram, YouTube and streaming sites have dispensed warnings about having too many sexual partners, dangers of being excessively attentive , being submissive with uninterested love objects, and so forth . In other words, there's lots of online nonsense, hate,scapegoating and claiming that women are the evil ones.

Multiple studies find that these young people are not dating, having sex or forming meaningful partnerships. It was reported that 30% of its respondents were actively dating and about half of them indicated that they were interested in finding a relationship . They cited a lack of confidence. Less than 40% believed themselves to be attractive and were not comfortable discussing their feelings with another. And only 1/4 % felt confident in approaching a potential partner or staying positive after a dating rejection .

The mutuality of meaningful interpersonal relationships is based on many factors and it is no wonder that there's a declining birthrate in our country. The Gen Z population is aware of many social, economic, and political problems such as the wealth gap, excessive and outrageous college costs, inflationary trends, online hate,AI, and the cost to rear children. Also according to AI, approximately 40 to 50% of first marriages end in divorce; second marriages 60 to 70% ;the average duration before divorce is about eight years; and the divorce rate is highest among individuals aged 20 to 24.

A few Gen Z statistics follow: 1. 42% of eligible voters voted in the 2024 presidential election 2. In the 10 to 24 age group, suicide was the second leading cause of death. 3. 54% are living at home with their parents. 4. 56% in the 18 to 25 age group are obese or overweight and 42% in the age group 18 to 24 5. 21% of 18 to 29-year-olds own a firearm. 6. Average IQ is 101 7. There is a 10 point decline in reading scores and a 15 point decline in math scores in 2022 8. Luigi Mangione, Tyler Robinson and Cole Thomas Allen attained notoriety 9. Teens as a result of social media sites are taking over , congregating and forming acting out mobs. 10.60% favor Hamas vs. Israel .11, Favor violence for political change.

According to Erik H. Erikson's psychosocial model, humans proceed through eight psychosocial stages .The following stages apply : Stage 1 Sense of Trust versus Sense of Mistrust; Stage 5 Identity versus Role Confusion and Stage 6 Intimacy versus Isolation

The psychological task in the first stage is to develop social trust which is related to feeding , sleep, relaxation of bowels and dealing with the discomfort that follows resulting from parenting. Does the mother become associated with an inner certainty , predictability, consistency, continuity and sameness during this most critical period ? If so, the infant has much going for him emotionally and cognitively in tackling the next seven stages With positive involvement, caring, love and experience and in developing a sense of trust with mother can and does generalize to others. In other words, an infant boy's emotional relationship with his mother has tremendous implications for future associations and relationships with females.

With the high divorce rate, many of these Gen Z ers are likely to have a single-parent as caregiver. Significant research with the young has found that sleep difficulties are related to sexual and aggressive difficulties, emotional frustration from earlier unresolved issues along with bedwetting and anxiety about masturbation.

Freud considered enuresis to be a form of "pollution" or masturbatory equivalent. And ,it has been found that children use this symptom as an aggressive or passive aggressive way in dealing with their parents.Also, night time fears are associated with the identification with the opposite sex parent with fantasies of genital damage . As a consequence, punishment is belted out to the parents as a result from this power struggle of wills between mother and child.

Defense mechanisms associated with these early childhood issues and conflicts come into play. For example,Displacement is the mental activity in which the child symbolically exchanges one part for another, or one person for another There is a repressed desire for bodily sensations, especially one's masturbation impulses .Also, in early development ,the feelings of hatred toward parents are directed especially toward the mother .

Another defense mechanism Turning Against Self is when sex is prohibited toward females . This behavior is when the aggressive drive is turned inward , as in masturbation,which means sex is not turned outward. Undoing is a defense mechanism in which the magic of abstinence and virginity annuls the forbidden act.

The defense mechanism of Identification is when the child unconsciously becomes the same as his parents or others as internalization takes place with similar behavioral aspects . In a single and two -parent household. The child or adolescent can attack and even move away from caring and intimacy with others just like mother’s behavior .

Therefore , lack of caring,intimacy or sexual engagement with females are just some of the psychological issues related to single-parent families in which the negative attitudes , values and behavior are openly expressed and transmitted to the children. The mother might constantly badmouth , scapegoat, blame and interfere with visitation and remove pictures of the other verbally, symbolically and behaviorally. These negative and aggressive attacks toward the other parent do irreparable harm and affect interpersonal relationships both in the short and long term .

To be continued

A Fearful Species 3

2026-05-14T14:43:07.379-07:00

This essay is a continuation of "A Fearful Species." Philosophically, there have been many descriptions and explanations of man's conduct that include motivation, knowledge, instincts, will,free will , consciousness, hedonism, fear, feelings and evolution. With that being said, anxiety and contentment are significantly pervasive components underlying man's thinking and behavioral actions.

From a neurological point of view, human beings have "three brains." They include the reptilian brain; the subconscious brain and the conscious brain. In each of these locations of the brain can be found defending territory, fear, flight, fight ,anger and abstract thought. Therefore, Homo sapiens are neurologically well equipped for survival- fear and anxiety.

Psychologically speaking, Freud and Rank, with sophistication, accurately described anxiety as a prototype based on the terror of the newborn's birth. Freud, in his psychoanalytic model, postulated the mental apparatus consisting of the id, the ego and the superego along with the psychosexual determinants of character and behavior that included the oral ,anal and phallic stages of development.

In the oral stage, the anxious infant is helpless and dependent. That infant can be characterized as essentially being in a constant or inordinate state of anxiety or tension with no relief and developmentally followed with feelings of "love" and "hate." Its contentment and/or confrontation is only provided by the ability of the caretaker.

A few of the characteristics that are associated with the oral stage include but are not limited to separation and stranger anxiety, obesity, oral aggression, drug and alcohol addiction, dependency trust, mistrust, passivity, cowardice, gullibility, and wishful thinking with numerous valences.

These conflictual dynamics, if not resolved from the oral stage, are present and transmitted into the anal stage of psychosexual development. Toilet training becomes a struggle of wills with aggression ,passivity ,tension and anxiety with the caretaker. At this stage, psychological issues of shame, control, independence, possessiveness, compulsiveness, stubbornness, coldness, suspiciousness and stinginess become apparent.

Moving to the phallic stage of psychosexual development, are anxiety issues related to competition and sex. Further ,problems with guilt, intimacy, celibacy, jealousy, adultery, masturbation, herpes, AIDS, sadomasochism, sexual abuse, divorce, and abortion dynamics associated with anxiety, fear, tension and action are associated in this stage of development.

Adler presented another aspect in his theory regarding human motivation that included smallness, weakness, helplessness, and compensation for weak ,injured or absent body parts. Further, Adler also postulated a psychic compensation mechanism, meaning a striving for superiority and that for him was perfection which was the ruling principle of life.

In essence, anxiety, insecurity, tension and fear underlies feelings of inadequacy, weakness, and inferiority . When striving for the betterment or social interests of society one becomes confronted with terror, injustices, income inequality, lies, oppression, wars, and discrimination within that system of tension .

In Murray's personology theory, he addressed tension reduction and the categorization of needs. He viewed the brain as an organization of perception, apperception, intellectualization,conation and action that's related to and accompanied by particular feelings or emotions which are associated with those needs.

The abasement need it described as accepting injury ,punishment ,mutilating the self ,seeking and enjoying pain and punishment which underlies anxiety or tension. In other words, a hypothetical state of tension results in a movement toward a goal. And with the abasement need, there are many actions related to harming self, which is of course related to character and self-esteem. In my running of the 100 mile Western States, there was anxiety and pain that was necessary to confront . This led to the achievement need, which is related to accomplishing something difficult.

Another example is the dominance need, which means controlling one's environment by suggestion ,command or by prohibiting which is also associated with neurotic behaviors of pursuing power, possession, status, and affection. Essentially, it's the dreadful experience of anxiety that underlines, needs, motives such as sex, achievement, affiliation, dominance, power, aggression, dependency abasement, and so forth.

From a cognitive point of view, Ellis hypothesized that thinking and emotion are associated and never separated fully from the other executive functions of perceiving, moving and feeling. He described emotion as an acute disturbance involving marked somatic changes which is experienced as a more or less agitated feeling. He felt that words can be emotionally charged and have physiological, psychological, and social components. Further, he added that emotions arose from physical stimulation located in the emotional center of the brain-the hypothalamus and the nerve network of the body-the autonomic nervous system. Second, through perceiving and moving-the sensorimotor process and third through desire and thinking-conation and cognition.

Rational Emotive therapy is based on the ability to use cognition or thinking to ameliorate one's emotional disturbances - thinking and emoting are related. Clear thinking leads to sane behavior and irrational thinking leads to neurotic behavior. And, attitudes, ideas, and use of negative or positive words affect emotions and behavior.

Ellis gave a number of examples of irrational ideas that stand in the way of leading an anxiety free life. A few examples: 1. The dire necessity for an adult to be loved or approved by almost everyone for virtually everything he does- need for approval. 2. Individuals should be thoroughly competent and adequate in achieving in all possible aspects-fear of failure. 3 if something is or may be dangerous or fearsome.one should not be terribly occupied about it-conquering anxiety.

Homo sapiens have created a capitalistic civilization in which individuals encounter enormous and ongoing fear and anxiety. Anxiety, fear, tension, stress is pervasive in socioeconomic's religion, politics and government. Economically speaking, the threat of inflation, savings, bankruptcy, homelessness, insurance ,war, criminal justice, lies ,and immigration is constantly witnessed in newspapers, television news, social media, TV advertisements, movies, novels, music, and so forth. It seems that just about every aspect of living in our civilization is associated with obstacles and plethora of threats to well-being.

Nature also poses threats from floods, fires, tornadoes, earthquakes, snowstorms, and global warming. And man is feeble in his attempts to deal with these threats as exhibited by the injustices of insurance, government agencies, building codes, rules, regulations and so forth. It's no wonder that i Phone technology has become a security blanket for so many.

Freud, Rank, Adler ,Murray and Ellis have provided insight into man's dilemmas. Their insights are known, but a major stumbling block to man's security, safety, freedom and well-being lies within the brain's limbic system with its emotional non-evolutionary composition; the intellectual productiveness(cerebral cortex) to falsify, distort reality and identify with"father"saviors of power(defense mechanisms) which perpetuate minority control and take away freedom ,security and well-being . God messed up!

About 15 years ago,at age 71,I wrote in "It Has Nothing To Do With Age," I prescribed seven prescriptions for creating a healthier lifestyle cognitively and emotionally. Factually, there's no need to make any adjustments as these ideas have served me well. I recently had a Bruce Protocol Treadmill and the doctor said “ I broke the record with my performance.” And, Benjamin Disraeli, "action may not always bring happiness, but there is no happiness without action."

Reference

Adler, Alfred. Individual Psychology

Freud, Sigmund. A General Introduction to Psychoanalysis

Harper, Robert A. and Ellis, Albert. A Guide To Rational Living

Lieberman, Frank. It Has Nothing To Do With Age.

Murray, Henry A. Explorations in Personality

A Fearful Species 2

2026-04-30T20:57:00.000-07:00

Experiencing anxiety is at some level present , difficult to acknowledge and label . This one example illustrates a lack of awareness of its presence . A friend that we have not seen for awhile stopped by to see Linda. Some of her conversation “ Bill got angry , the last 10 years, when I was waving my arms giving him directions when he was backing up the truck to connect with our horse trailer. Now I only give him arm directions when he is really close. Today, I complained to him that he cut me off when we talked .He said I was the one that cut him off . She asked me what she should do. I told her that she came here and was avoiding Bill . She denied it. She also talked about a member in her family not allowing her to visit with their children and she wants to see them.Also, that her horse was being over fed by this knowledgeable horse lady . But, this person was not responding to her feeding request. She also complimented me on my taking care of Linda . Bill called, she told him what I had said . He said what’s the matter and she replied she was leaving shortly. She mentioned that she was eating better, lost some weight and thought it might or might not help her so she wouldn’t get Alzheimer's. She added Bill would hire someone to take care of her as opposed to doing it himself

A few warnings of the presence of anxiety are associated with fear of being alone, being in public places in which escape might be difficult , being in crowds, tunnels, bridges,and public transportation. Is there constriction of normal activities based on fear and avoidance behaviors? In other words, avoiding certain situations is one cue -fear of heights, snakes, bugs and spiders and so forth.

Physiological sensations related to anxiety include palpitations, chest pain, discomfort, choking, dizziness, feelings of unreality, tingling in hands or feet, hot and cold flashes ,sweating ,faintness, trembling or shaking, frequent urination, diarrhea, clammy hands ,lump in the throat high resting pulse and respiration rate.

Other warnings and the presence of anxiety include paying attention to the thoughts,worries and stories that take place in one's mind - between your ears .Are the thoughts recurrent ,redundant, obsessive, persistent, senseless or repugnant? In other words, anxiety interferes with one's well-being as the worry often relates to insufficient information, not being in control or some erroneous prediction pertaining to the present or future. The stress and anxiety are ongoing and we ,with our cognitive functioning ,have the ability to think, imagine and worry about all the what if’s .

Because of man’s frequent experience of anxiety( located in the more primitive “Old Brain” -Limbic system ) one employs a variety of unconscious defense mechanisms ( located in a more higher level - the “New Brain” or the Cortex) to distort his reality .These defenses become habits, tendencies, coupled with feelings, emotions, attitudes and actions in an attempt to preserve the self from the dangerous threat.This means that many are not aware of how anxiety becomes associated with ongoing self harm .For example ,repression as a defense helps to block the rage from awareness as it’s often not safe or smart to retaliate ,in the same manner, when hurt and angry.

Hostility is one consequence and associated with anxiety .Repressing hostility means "pretending" that everything is all right when instead, one should fight ,stand up and become assertive in dealing with the situation. Repression generates a feeling of defenselessness which reinforces the already feeling of defensivelessness. Then, it becomes possible for others to take advantage of that individual. And, if that hostility is repressed, the person does not have the faintest idea that he is hostile . And, with build up, that rage can and does become highly charged and volatile when discharged with negative personal and social consequences .

Many cognitive and behavioral actions associated with the presence of anxiety,tension or stress include but are not limited to use of imagination , performing some difficult feat , attaining some prominent position, daydreaming about success, as well as other physical activities- plays, movies, novels, music ,work ,hobbies, exercise, and keeping “busy.”

A few positive ways to address anxiety are as follows: 1 .Progressive relaxation 2.Self hypnosis 3 .Meditation 4 Autogenics 5. Refuting irrational ideas. 6. Time management 7. Assertiveness training 8. Biofeedback 9,Thought stopping 10 Exercise 11.Reframing 12. Nutrition13,Medical marijuana, Valium, Xanax, etc.

Although our composition of a well-developed cerebral cortex allows us to create works of art with unparalleled beauty ,create technological wonders and unequaled imagination, it also has the capacity and ability for immaturity,irrationality and worry and fret about all the potential losses ,hazards or interferences affecting our well- being initiated by self and society .It can not be denied that our fears result and are associated with anger,hate and rage and other negative behavioral interpersonal and health consequences .Thus , because of our nature ,our sense of security is easily threatened and our insecurity and hostility does not bode well both personally and interpersonally .And ,because our emotions are located in the more primitive development of the brain ( limbic system ) it becomes a mental health frailty for our species as we create and preoccupy ourselves in our ( cerebral cortex) with a multitude of real and imaginary dangers in our absurd , contradictory world of fear,anxiety and threat It’s no wonder why there is a preponderance of toxicity and inability to get along with others .

Years ago, Tony and I took our border collies for aversive rattlesnake training. The trainer ,with the dog in hand ,introduced each dog to live rattlesnakes while using an electric shock for conditioning. Fear worked ! And, experiments of subcortical areas which is part of the limbic structure done with monkeys with the destruction of their temporal cortex which almost always lead to damage of the amygdala were found: 1 Monkeys no longer exhibited responses of fear or anger 2 Monkeys forgot rapidly. 3 Monkeys exhibited hypersexuality demonstrating a sexual drive so strong that they would continuously stimulate their genitalia, copulate repeatedly for long periods of time and sometimes sustain small injuries in the process due to excessive biting.

A Fearful Species

2026-04-23T21:30:00.000-07:00

Because of man's psychological and biological makeup; living in a terrifying chaotic world and experiencing uncertainty with nature, his life is filled with anxiety ,his mind , body , interpersonal relationships,socioeconomics ,culture ,religion , politics, and nature is associated with inordinate anxiety, stress, tension and conflict . Man is constantly and often unaware of his imbalances and quickly employs rationalization,denial and activity to restore homeostasis..It's the limbic system, with its set of brain structures involved in emotional processing,learning ,memory and motivation .

For homo sapiens, frailty begins with the birth trauma adroitly described by Freud and Rank. This first traumatic experience sets the stage for conditioning future anxiety ,worry and disequilibrium. Simply put, anxiety is related to a threat to one's gratification of ego and physiological needs . It’s a fear or warning and is a cue for impending pain and/or danger. Pleasure and pain found in the limbic system, have been described as major motivations and fear has been skillfully used by authoritarians in controlling and manipulating their flock.

The helpless ,dependent and fragile infant is at the mercy of the caretaker for its feeding ,being cared for ,receiving security, comfort and love.This helpless infant cannot meet its needs independently which results as a major threat to its well -being. It’s an imbalance accompanied by tension and anxiety .

The only significant response of that infant is crying which is not always effective. And ,crying does not reduce that anxiety and tension directly but becomes “associated,’ conditioned ,with the caretaker. This job is a herculean task and with other unsuccessful parenting experiences results in a sense of danger and uncertainty .

That uncertainty is embedded ,remembered and conditioned along with the anticipation of helplessness, powerlessness, frustration, punishment, and discomfort. Erikson called this psychosocial stage -a sense of mistrusting others. It's important for that helpless infant to reduce the painful experiences of anxiety which can only be met or not met by the actions of another with conditioning consequences of fear,anxiety and helplessness.

Anxiety,tension and worry seems to be frequently perceived and experienced with various degrees and intensities. The ego’s goal is to reduce or minimize that anxiety. With development, goal seeking becomes available and is associated with tension, psychic energy, perception, thinking, remembering, feeling, and expectations. Goal attainment might be related to an ego need , physiological desire or an intention . And that desire might either have a positive or negative appeal in various degrees, which can be categorized as being weak, medium or strong.

Man needs to feel secure in his self-esteem. However, those who are striving to be loved or approved of( anxiety) often go to any lengths to have that wish fulfilled,with the goal of reducing that threat . Those , for instance, who feel, or have the conviction of being unlovable (anxiety), spend an inordinate amount of psychic energy in an attempt to protect their self-esteem. However, that desire for affection may arouse fear of dependency and therefore create an emotional struggle. They might unconsciously block awareness of this psychological state and /or disregard every evidence of perceived affection by insisting that the others are unkind and mistreating them in some ways. With this being said, a separation might trigger a state of anxiety or tension, but their unconscious conviction of not being worthy of love interferes with the goal of reducing that anxiety effectively .Their options might include giving in and not taking steps toward self assertion. Those whose anxious strivings are dominated by the wish for success , power or possession have a tendency to shut themselves off from people and to be independent of them

As can be seen, it’s not always easy to reduce the tension because there are barriers, roadblocks, hazards and other conditions interfering with goal attainment. Sometimes barriers can be demolished or easily avoided. Other times they are so strong and formidable that one has to figure out new ways to solve that problem. This means it's up to the ego to reduce that tension or anxiety with energy that imparts a value, creates a formidable force and coping with the barriers that interfere with completing that task

Often with anxiety, ego needs and goal attainment do not always result with all positives. When I was in my early 60s, I made a decision to run the Western States 100. Just thinking about that goal was anxiety producing . I was determined to complete that event because of its challenge which means it had a strong goal valence .Initially, I contacted friends that completed the event and gathered reading materials as well. Thinking, planning, training and goal setting came into play. I did not want to become a Jonah syndrome fatality and allow too much anxiety to interfere with goal attainment ..

Up to that point I had competed four years in Ride & Tie competitions ,had training runs of at least 25 miles and competed in one 50 K. I had to learn about running a 50 mile qualifying event; different training regimens; appropriate running gear, nutrition ,electrolyte balance hydration, pacers ,cut off times; crew , aid stations as well as the barriers and obstacles such as heat ,elevation change, animals,and running in the dark. Needless to say, there were many subgoals and developing new and different strategies along the way all with the presence of tension and anxiety. Paying attention to the dialogue between my ears was important and I made sure to reframe with positives, i.e. one step in front of the other and calculating miles completed were just two examples.

Many ego needs were experienced during that important time in my life. For example, there was achievement, affiliation ,aggression , autonomy ,dominance ,exhibition and succorance. Also, the ego need of abasement was present. I had to deal with and accept the possibility of failure as well as seeking and enjoying pain. In essence, anxiety and fear is associated with competition, setting high standards and excelling in sports.

Because our species experiences ongoing anxiety and it’s a driving force with multiple outcomes, it’s beneficial for the identification of such. The easiest way to determine the presence of anxiety is to pay attention to one’s breathing. Are the inhales(relaxation} long ,deep and slow and the exhales, letting out that tension deep,slow and easy ? It's easy to check by being in the here and now.

To Be Continued