Summary of Rollo May's Man's Search for Himself

Everest Media

Description

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.
Sample Book Insights:
#1 The major inner problems of people in our day are unhappiness, inability to decide about marriage or vocations, general despair and meaninglessness in their lives, and so on. But what underlies these symptoms.
#2 The chief problem of people in the middle decade of the twentieth century is emptiness. They do not know what they want, and they do not have any clear idea of what they feel. They feel empty because they do not have any definite experience of their own desires or wants.
#3 The problem with not knowing what you want is that it is often due to the fact that we live in a time of uncertainty, with a future of insecurity facing us no matter how we look at it.
#4 The modern man is also hollow, and this can be seen in the patients that come to psychologists and psychoanalysts for help. The typical American character was previously inner-directed, but is now outer-directed. He seeks to fit in rather than stand out.

Sujets

• Psychology
• Personality

Informations

• Publié par: Everest Media LLC
• Date de parution: 12 mai 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9798822507081
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Insights on Rollo May's Mans Search for Himself
Contents Insights from Chapter 1 Insights from Chapter 2 Insights from Chapter 3
Insights from Chapter 1

#1

The major inner problems of people in our day are unhappiness, inability to decide about marriage or vocations, general despair and meaninglessness in their lives, and so on. But what underlies these symptoms.

#2

The chief problem of people in the middle decade of the twentieth century is emptiness. They do not know what they want, and they do not have any clear idea of what they feel. They feel empty because they do not have any definite experience of their own desires or wants.

#3

The problem with not knowing what you want is that it is often due to the fact that we live in a time of uncertainty, with a future of insecurity facing us no matter how we look at it.

#4

The modern man is also hollow, and this can be seen in the patients that come to psychologists and psychoanalysts for help. The typical American character was previously inner-directed, but is now outer-directed. He seeks to fit in rather than stand out.

#5

The gyroscope man, who was completely mechanical and lacked any ability to change, was a prime example of how certain attitudes in a society tend to crystallize rigidly just before they collapse. The society has not yet found something to take the place of his rigid rules.

#6

The emptiness and boredom experienced by the middle classes has become much more serious in recent years. This can be seen in the case of the bus driver in the Bronx, who got tired of driving the same route every day, and drove away one day.

#7

The goal of being empty, of having nothing to hold on to, is something that many people seek. The problem is that this state of emptiness can lead to dangerous behaviors. The human being cannot live in a state of emptiness for long.

#8

The experience of emptiness is the result of people feeling that they are powerless to do anything about their lives or the world around them. It comes from the feeling that people are empty, and that nothing can change that.

#9

The feelings of emptiness and loneliness go together. When a person does not know what he wants or what he feels, he feels an inner void. He then looks around for other people to give him some sense of direction or comfort in the knowledge that he is not alone in his anxiety.

#10

The more basic reason for the feeling of loneliness is that the human being gets his original experiences of being a self out of his relationship with other people, and when he is alone, he feels afraid he will lose this experience.

#11

The fear of loneliness is behind the great need of people in our society to get invited places, or if they invite someone else, to have the other accept. The pressure to keep dated up goes beyond such realistic motives as the pleasure and warmth people get in each other’s company, the enrichment of feelings, ideas, and experiences, and the sheer pleasure of relaxation.

#12

The fear of being alone is a result of our anxiety about losing our sense of ourselves. We are constantly dependent on others for our sense of reality, and we are afraid that without it, we would lose the sense of our own existence.

#13

Modern Western man, trained through four centuries of emphasis on rationality, uniformity, and mechanics, has consistently tried to repress the aspects of himself that do not fit these uniform and mechanical standards. As a result, he has developed inner resources that he has neglected to use in developing meaningful relationships with others.

#14

Anxiety, the other characteristic of modern man, is even more basic than emptiness and loneliness. For being hollow and lonely would not bother us except that it makes us prey to that peculiar psychological pain and turmoil called anxiety.

#15

Anxiety is the root of all modern diseases. When we look below the surface of our individual anxiety, we find that it comes from something more profound than the threat of war and economic uncertainty. We are anxious because we do not know what roles to pursue, what principles for action to believe in.

#16

Anxiety is a warning sign that something is wrong. We must understand that it is a sign of conflict, and that it can be used constructively if we are honest and face our perilous state.

#17

Anxiety is the feeling of being caught, overwhelmed, and instead of becoming sharper, our perceptions become blurred or vague. It occurs when we are threatened, and instead of taking steps to overcome the danger, we become terrified and confused.

#18

The threat of death is the most common symbol for anxiety, but for most people, their primary source of anxiety comes from the threat of losing an essential value they believe in. The more you are able to face and move past these normal crises, the less neurotic anxiety you will develop.

#19

Anxiety is a natural human emotion that helps us keep our focus on the things that are important. However, too much anxiety can be neurotic, and arise from an unconscious conflict within ourselves.

#20

Anxiety is the most painful aspect of anxiety is the confusion and bewilderment that comes with it. But the positive and hopeful side is that just as anxiety destroys our self-awareness, so awareness of ourselves can destroy anxiety.