I
know of people that have a fetish about making their beds in the
morning. It is highly significant and necessary for them to complete
this initial “little routine” in order to start each day with the
feeling that everything is in its place and with an undergirding
sense of mastery. This psychological buttress enables them to tackle
bigger, more important projects during the day.
In
a sense this is similar to the feelings of control and mastery we get
from putting all things in categories. In many ways this can
absolutely further the human enterprise. Categorizing all life, for
example, increases the ability to understand it and to subjugate it
to further human influence, manipulation, and control. This is also
true for the physical elements.
Huge
problems arise, however, when this same sense of comprehension and
control derives from categorizations that are essentially projections
of our own ignorance, hateful passions, and prejudices. For example,
great psychological energy, confidence, and mastery were derived from
Nazi antisemitism. The Nazi's knew a Jew then they saw one and
therefore categorically knew all about them and felt totally
justified in manipulating them at will. Human nature is with uncanny
adeptness able to substitute falsehood for truth and to feel absolutely complacent, content, secure, and self-satisfied about it.
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