The thesis I would like to set here is probably slightly controversial, but this doesn't mean that it must be false for this reason (this problem, among others, I discuss below). It reads: we suffer more than we can because of our Ego, which stems from the false individualism we have come to believe in, taking its values as our own, thus making us possess only the illusion of freedom.
To understand what I mean, however, it is probably worth starting with the basics, i.e. what individualism actually is:
1. What is individualism
You may be familiar with the concept of individualist and collective societies. In a nutshell, individualistic societies are characterised by an emphasis on the individual and his well-being. It is the individual who is the driving force of the development in such societies, and it is around him and his rights that the political system, culture, economics (e.g. advertising) etc are shaped. In a collective society, on the other hand, it is society (as a whole), the mass, that is the centre of the system and culture. Each individual is subordinated to the collective for how good he/she works for it. An individual's value is judged by what he or she brings to society (the collective), not by what he or she is himself or herself characterised by. Collectivism is characteristic of societies in Asia and Africa (although tribalism is more common there, as Africa has not yet undergone the post-industrial phase of development from which modern collectivism emerged), while individualism functions in Western societies, i.e. North America and Europe (and countries such as Australia).
Now, to expand the theme of individualism - what is characteristic of it in the post-industrial world as we know is the lack of concrete moral values and the subjectivity of goals (or rather, the illusion of this, but I will discuss this in a moment). Individualism glorifies individual independence and self-sufficiency. It urges individuals to set their own goals in life, to determine for themselves what is important to them, to shape their own morality, limiting it only by the basic principles of criminal and civil law, which are necessary to prevent anarchy in the state. Individualism can be summed up by a simple and strongly mainstream saying: "you can do whatever you want, as long as you do not harm others".
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2. The illusion of independence in the individualistic society
One of the greatest sins of the individualist culture is making people believe the lie that they are the ones who set their own goals and that only they are responsible for achieving them for themselves. This really reaches many levels - from the economy ("everyone is the master of their own destiny", "everyone can become a millionaire if they work really hard") to status ("you can be whoever you want") to the morality. However, in order to limit the topic strictly to the problem of inceldom and what interests us most, I will focus on the latter aspect, i.e. morality.
There is no such thing as rationality and independent thinking. Ever since we were little, we have gone through a process of socialisation, and the part of it is to teach us a specific moral principles. Whether or not they are right or wrong is irrelevant - the point is that they were imposed on us. And as we have grown up, this has not changed. Every day we consume media that feed us a particular worldview. Those of us who are more intelligent are able to tap into the different sources and create a synthesis of these media's views to find the 'truth', but it is still a CONSUMPTION OF VALUES. The fact that instead of drawing views from one person you draw them from several doesn't change the fact that you are a passive consumer of OTHER people's values. Independence of views is impossible in a world where we are surrounded by a veritable flood of information everywhere.
The same applies precisely to the problem of morality. On this forum, there is often a recurring discussion as to why foids and chads get depressed or sometimes even commit suicide despite playing on a tutorial mode. This is because they are not suffering for an objective reasons, but for subjective ones, i.e. reasons that OTHERS have told them that are important and that they have accepted. To a certain extent, this also applies to us, unfortunately.
Some time ago, I posted a poll here asking whether you would prefer to have a virgin girlfriend who would love you but without sex, or to be able to become a chad and sleep with any foid you want but without romantic intrigue.
The first option referred to the objective factors and human needs, which are on the third level of Maslow's Pyramid - the need for love and intimacy. The second option referred to an issue commonly accepted by SOCIETY as important, namely the number of people a person has slept with. Quite a few of you ticked the second option, which - in my opinion - is the result of the manipulation of the illusion of individualism. A person who sets himself such a subjective goal, imposed by a hyper-sexualised society, throws himself into a spiral of endless bitterness and frustration. Why? 1) We are incels, so setting a goal of having sex with as many foids as possible (because fantasising about it results in an actual dreams) is, by definition, IMPOSSIBLE to fulfil. And by setting yourself a goal that cannot be fulfilled you are basically gaslighting yourself. 2) Even if one of us, through plastic surgery or some miracle, could become a chad, that goal would still be unattainable. There will always be someone who has a bigger bodycount than you. It's the same with other material goals - by setting yourself the goal "I want to be rich" you'll never fulfil it because there will always be someone richer than you (well, unless you become Jeff Bezos, which you have a 0.0000000000001% chance of doing), and likewise the goal "I want to have the best body" - you won't fulfil it either because there will always be someone more gymmaxxed than you.
Such adoption for oneself an unrealistic goals like this, which are set by society (because even if we have in 100% "chosen" it ourselves - it is still a consumption, blind adoption of other's values and goals) is characteristic for the FALSE INDIVIDUALISM.
3. The false individualism and the true individualism
As I have already mentioned, false individualism focuses on a subjective goals. An individual who is falsely individualistic has only the illusion of the moral freedom and choices, because in reality he only takes other people's views (or society's views, in more broad sense) as his own. Why does he do this? To satisfy his EGO.
It is around the Ego that the whole "morality" is shaped in the false individualism. Why chads are sleeping with so many foids when biologically one decent woman would be enough for their needs? Simple, they are doing this so that they can later brag to others what conquerors they are. They are doing it to satisfy their EGO. Why those who wants to sleep with many foids but cannot because they are rejected by them (e.g. redpill men) suffer so much because of this? Because they cannot later brag about what conquerors they are. Only their EGO suffers from this. Why do people want to be rich when 10k a month is enough for a good quality of life? To brag about their luxurious lifestyle. Why do men want to dominate other men? To show "who's in charge" and satisfy their EGO. And those who are not rich and unable to dominate others feel frustrated about this because they cannot boast to others and satisfy their EGO.
False individualism is merely a parody of true individualism. False individualism is characterised by pride (in the primary, "biblical" sense) and subjective values that have NO inherent value and are not supported by reality, and the only reason why such values are important to us is because we have agreed to it - or rather, it has been imposed on us and we have blindly accepted it, deluding ourselves that it is our independent decision. In reality, however, such false values are nothing more than a projection of our Ego into the morally-ethical sphere.
Fortunately, there is an alternative to the false individualism and that is the TRUE INDIVIDUALISM. However, to understand what true individualism is, let us first look at what it IS NOT. True individualism:
-is not subjective
-does not take what is universally accepted as truth just because the majority believes in it
-does not satisfy Ego in any way
-is not guided by the false values
True individualism is instead primarily interested in the objective FACTS. True individualism does not negate suffering as long as it arises from true (i.e. reality-related) motives. For example, suffering from the lack of love and intimacy is real because it stems from the third level of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, not from an unsatisfied Ego. Suffering from being lost in life is real because it stems from the chaotic nature of our reality and the post-industrial and post-Christian reality in which we in the West have come to live. Suffering from the severely disturbed social life that most of us suffer from here is real because it relates to the objective human need to socialise and belong to a group.
A truly individual person tries to set goals, values and morals for themselves, without looking at society - these things may sometimes be consistent with the general view of society, but they don't have to be, because it DOESN'T MATTER. Such person is not guided by his Ego when setting goals for himself, but by the factors derived from reality. Instead of being guided by what others will think of him, he is guided by what he will think of himself. Such a person does not create false problems for himself as a result of a dissatisfied Ego, but focuses on the real ones - and there are enough of those already. The truly individual person tries to think for himself, outside the box, but at the same time realises his limitations and admits to himself that he can be manipulated on a certain issues, since he lives in a continuous flow of falsely individual informations.
4. How to become a truly individual person?
The answer to this question is not sexy or "practical" (in the common sense of this word), as it is limited to saying that everyone has to answer this question for themselves. But surely one of the most important requirements is to gradually learn to think for oneself, by not taking foreign ideas as one's own and not allowing them to influence one's value system, but instead creating one's own. One user here has described this better than I would be able to, so I will just quote his words:
You have no obligation to follow any rule made by another person. If they do not have the power to enforce their will, they can be ignored with impunity, and if they do have the power to enforce their will, you can respond with power of your own.
You must learn to think in ways that are not socially acceptable. You must liberate yourself from that bondage. The important thing to get into your head is that you and you alone determine what ideas you will hold, and it does not matter what anybody else thinks.
Just because someone thinks that something is wrong does not make it so, just because a choru says that something is wrong does not make it so, it is might that defines a right. Never forget that. [...]
Never forget that the law of nature is very simple. The ability to perform an action confers the right to perform the action. Everything else is social tinker. [...]
Words on a screen have no power in the face of concrete action. They are, as the squeaking of mice in the claws of the family cat. Let others discuss the merits of what we do. We will be too busy doing things and never forget that, no matter what you do, there will always be those who disapprove [...]
(Whole post: https://incels.is/threads/the-incel-way-of-life.565958/)
To understand what I mean, however, it is probably worth starting with the basics, i.e. what individualism actually is:
1. What is individualism
You may be familiar with the concept of individualist and collective societies. In a nutshell, individualistic societies are characterised by an emphasis on the individual and his well-being. It is the individual who is the driving force of the development in such societies, and it is around him and his rights that the political system, culture, economics (e.g. advertising) etc are shaped. In a collective society, on the other hand, it is society (as a whole), the mass, that is the centre of the system and culture. Each individual is subordinated to the collective for how good he/she works for it. An individual's value is judged by what he or she brings to society (the collective), not by what he or she is himself or herself characterised by. Collectivism is characteristic of societies in Asia and Africa (although tribalism is more common there, as Africa has not yet undergone the post-industrial phase of development from which modern collectivism emerged), while individualism functions in Western societies, i.e. North America and Europe (and countries such as Australia).
Now, to expand the theme of individualism - what is characteristic of it in the post-industrial world as we know is the lack of concrete moral values and the subjectivity of goals (or rather, the illusion of this, but I will discuss this in a moment). Individualism glorifies individual independence and self-sufficiency. It urges individuals to set their own goals in life, to determine for themselves what is important to them, to shape their own morality, limiting it only by the basic principles of criminal and civil law, which are necessary to prevent anarchy in the state. Individualism can be summed up by a simple and strongly mainstream saying: "you can do whatever you want, as long as you do not harm others".
individualism
1. the idea that freedom of thought and action for each person is the most…
Individualism: Definition & Political Science | StudySmarter
Individualism: ✓ Definition ✓ Political Science ✓ Liberal ✓ Examples ✓ Theory ✓ Difference ✓ Liberalism ✓ StudySmarter Original
www.studysmarter.co.uk
2. The illusion of independence in the individualistic society
One of the greatest sins of the individualist culture is making people believe the lie that they are the ones who set their own goals and that only they are responsible for achieving them for themselves. This really reaches many levels - from the economy ("everyone is the master of their own destiny", "everyone can become a millionaire if they work really hard") to status ("you can be whoever you want") to the morality. However, in order to limit the topic strictly to the problem of inceldom and what interests us most, I will focus on the latter aspect, i.e. morality.
There is no such thing as rationality and independent thinking. Ever since we were little, we have gone through a process of socialisation, and the part of it is to teach us a specific moral principles. Whether or not they are right or wrong is irrelevant - the point is that they were imposed on us. And as we have grown up, this has not changed. Every day we consume media that feed us a particular worldview. Those of us who are more intelligent are able to tap into the different sources and create a synthesis of these media's views to find the 'truth', but it is still a CONSUMPTION OF VALUES. The fact that instead of drawing views from one person you draw them from several doesn't change the fact that you are a passive consumer of OTHER people's values. Independence of views is impossible in a world where we are surrounded by a veritable flood of information everywhere.
The same applies precisely to the problem of morality. On this forum, there is often a recurring discussion as to why foids and chads get depressed or sometimes even commit suicide despite playing on a tutorial mode. This is because they are not suffering for an objective reasons, but for subjective ones, i.e. reasons that OTHERS have told them that are important and that they have accepted. To a certain extent, this also applies to us, unfortunately.
Some time ago, I posted a poll here asking whether you would prefer to have a virgin girlfriend who would love you but without sex, or to be able to become a chad and sleep with any foid you want but without romantic intrigue.
The first option referred to the objective factors and human needs, which are on the third level of Maslow's Pyramid - the need for love and intimacy. The second option referred to an issue commonly accepted by SOCIETY as important, namely the number of people a person has slept with. Quite a few of you ticked the second option, which - in my opinion - is the result of the manipulation of the illusion of individualism. A person who sets himself such a subjective goal, imposed by a hyper-sexualised society, throws himself into a spiral of endless bitterness and frustration. Why? 1) We are incels, so setting a goal of having sex with as many foids as possible (because fantasising about it results in an actual dreams) is, by definition, IMPOSSIBLE to fulfil. And by setting yourself a goal that cannot be fulfilled you are basically gaslighting yourself. 2) Even if one of us, through plastic surgery or some miracle, could become a chad, that goal would still be unattainable. There will always be someone who has a bigger bodycount than you. It's the same with other material goals - by setting yourself the goal "I want to be rich" you'll never fulfil it because there will always be someone richer than you (well, unless you become Jeff Bezos, which you have a 0.0000000000001% chance of doing), and likewise the goal "I want to have the best body" - you won't fulfil it either because there will always be someone more gymmaxxed than you.
Such adoption for oneself an unrealistic goals like this, which are set by society (because even if we have in 100% "chosen" it ourselves - it is still a consumption, blind adoption of other's values and goals) is characteristic for the FALSE INDIVIDUALISM.
3. The false individualism and the true individualism
As I have already mentioned, false individualism focuses on a subjective goals. An individual who is falsely individualistic has only the illusion of the moral freedom and choices, because in reality he only takes other people's views (or society's views, in more broad sense) as his own. Why does he do this? To satisfy his EGO.
It is around the Ego that the whole "morality" is shaped in the false individualism. Why chads are sleeping with so many foids when biologically one decent woman would be enough for their needs? Simple, they are doing this so that they can later brag to others what conquerors they are. They are doing it to satisfy their EGO. Why those who wants to sleep with many foids but cannot because they are rejected by them (e.g. redpill men) suffer so much because of this? Because they cannot later brag about what conquerors they are. Only their EGO suffers from this. Why do people want to be rich when 10k a month is enough for a good quality of life? To brag about their luxurious lifestyle. Why do men want to dominate other men? To show "who's in charge" and satisfy their EGO. And those who are not rich and unable to dominate others feel frustrated about this because they cannot boast to others and satisfy their EGO.
False individualism is merely a parody of true individualism. False individualism is characterised by pride (in the primary, "biblical" sense) and subjective values that have NO inherent value and are not supported by reality, and the only reason why such values are important to us is because we have agreed to it - or rather, it has been imposed on us and we have blindly accepted it, deluding ourselves that it is our independent decision. In reality, however, such false values are nothing more than a projection of our Ego into the morally-ethical sphere.
Fortunately, there is an alternative to the false individualism and that is the TRUE INDIVIDUALISM. However, to understand what true individualism is, let us first look at what it IS NOT. True individualism:
-is not subjective
-does not take what is universally accepted as truth just because the majority believes in it
-does not satisfy Ego in any way
-is not guided by the false values
True individualism is instead primarily interested in the objective FACTS. True individualism does not negate suffering as long as it arises from true (i.e. reality-related) motives. For example, suffering from the lack of love and intimacy is real because it stems from the third level of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, not from an unsatisfied Ego. Suffering from being lost in life is real because it stems from the chaotic nature of our reality and the post-industrial and post-Christian reality in which we in the West have come to live. Suffering from the severely disturbed social life that most of us suffer from here is real because it relates to the objective human need to socialise and belong to a group.
A truly individual person tries to set goals, values and morals for themselves, without looking at society - these things may sometimes be consistent with the general view of society, but they don't have to be, because it DOESN'T MATTER. Such person is not guided by his Ego when setting goals for himself, but by the factors derived from reality. Instead of being guided by what others will think of him, he is guided by what he will think of himself. Such a person does not create false problems for himself as a result of a dissatisfied Ego, but focuses on the real ones - and there are enough of those already. The truly individual person tries to think for himself, outside the box, but at the same time realises his limitations and admits to himself that he can be manipulated on a certain issues, since he lives in a continuous flow of falsely individual informations.
4. How to become a truly individual person?
The answer to this question is not sexy or "practical" (in the common sense of this word), as it is limited to saying that everyone has to answer this question for themselves. But surely one of the most important requirements is to gradually learn to think for oneself, by not taking foreign ideas as one's own and not allowing them to influence one's value system, but instead creating one's own. One user here has described this better than I would be able to, so I will just quote his words:
You have no obligation to follow any rule made by another person. If they do not have the power to enforce their will, they can be ignored with impunity, and if they do have the power to enforce their will, you can respond with power of your own.
You must learn to think in ways that are not socially acceptable. You must liberate yourself from that bondage. The important thing to get into your head is that you and you alone determine what ideas you will hold, and it does not matter what anybody else thinks.
Just because someone thinks that something is wrong does not make it so, just because a choru says that something is wrong does not make it so, it is might that defines a right. Never forget that. [...]
Never forget that the law of nature is very simple. The ability to perform an action confers the right to perform the action. Everything else is social tinker. [...]
Words on a screen have no power in the face of concrete action. They are, as the squeaking of mice in the claws of the family cat. Let others discuss the merits of what we do. We will be too busy doing things and never forget that, no matter what you do, there will always be those who disapprove [...]
(Whole post: https://incels.is/threads/the-incel-way-of-life.565958/)
