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The Shadow - Why We’re More Evil Than We Think

Kie Einzelgänger | 8:33

Transcript

It seems like in current society we are excessively concerned with our self image, but even though we might think we have figured ourselves out, is this really the case or are we just showing the world and ourselves a mere reflection of who we truly are? Could it be that we are repressing certain parts of ourselves and that below the surface there heights a monster that might awaken someday.


First of all, thank you, Joe for your PayPal donation and thank you Edward SEI and Alexander for supporting me on Patreon. I appreciate it very much and it helps me to continue this project. Now let's dive. No matter where we go, we constantly define and redefine who we really are. And at the same time, we judge other people's behaviors in society.


We are expected to behave in certain ways that are socially acceptable. How many codes of conduct and systems of ethics do we have as a society? In workplaces, at home, in nightlife, in a restaurant, at dinner parties, et cetera. The consequence is that we wear a number of masks. These are sets of behaviors as well as beliefs about ourselves and how we relate to the world.


Such a mask is called the persona, which is where the word person comes from. A problem with the persona is that many people present themselves in certain ways. While keeping many undesirable traits hidden in the dark places of their minds, this happens consciously as well as unconsciously. Swiss psychiatrist called Young called these Dark Places, the shadow.


What's so tragic about the shadow is that many people don't even know that they have it. Especially those with a very strong attachment to their persona who believe that they are their persona and that there possibly cannot be something else about them. Lurking in the dark. Yes, they might experience some thoughts and desires that are quite inconvenient, so they quickly repress them, but the more they do, the larger and uglier the shadow becomes.


I quote, yum. Unfortunately, there can be no doubt that man is on the whole less good than he imagines himself or wants to be. Everyone cares a shadow, and the less it is embodied in the individual's conscious life, the blacker and dancer it is. And quote an example of this are the abuse scandals within religious and spiritual communities.


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