Alienation is inevitable in life

Affable

Do you think feeling alienated is an inevitable part of life?

nyarlothothep

I think it depends on the person. Some people are happy to join in and become exemplars of their society. Others internalize their experiences more and are more likely to feel alienated.

DadaKopf

Affable wrote: »

Do you think feeling alienated is an inevitable part of life?

Depends if you mean 'alienation' in the Marxist sense. If not, in what sense do you mean it?

King John V

Hey Affable,

I think most people have occasional thoughts of feeling like an 'outsider' disconnected with the social groups around them. As humans though, a vast proportion of our thoughts are taken up with thinking about ourselves or things that affect us. So I guess we can over analyse where we fit in exactly in terms of group dynamics or what people think about us.

It really depends on the individual's confidence. A social, confident person with a wide circle of friends won't think like this to the same extent a shy, unconfident person would. The second person is likely to percieve themselves as 'socially akward' and this will increase thoughts of alienation. I guess the average person is an intermediate of the two.

There's no quick fix to remove 'alienated' thoughts. It takes time. People could try gradually increasing the amount of time they spent doing teamwork activities. They could join a dance class or a rugby team, a bookclub or volunteering. There's something out there for everyone.

Shinji Ikari

It really depends on the individual's confidence. A social, confident person with a wide circle of friends won't think like this to the same extent a shy, unconfident person would. The second person is likely to percieve themselves as 'socially akward' and this will increase thoughts of alienation. I guess the average person is an intermediate of the two.

I disagree. One can feel perfectly confident and feel alienated by society.Also I don't think this is a thing that should automatically need remedy. I think its important we differentiate alientation and lonliness. One may feel alienated from society in general but find fellowship via like-minded people.
We live in a very sick society and I believe the reason why extroverts with a wide social network are less likely to feel alienated is because they have so many trivial distractions. They don't have time to philosphise. Perhaps they sub-consciously avoid it. I mean, look at the sparse amount of topics and view on the philosophy board and compare to the celebrity and sex forums. This is one of the reasons which alienates me from society. Most people prefer base, uncouth topics to more sophisticated topics. I would go as far to say that our media is, not in the conspiracy sense, constructed in such a manner that discourages independent thought and presents a framework of what is and what is not moral, desirable, normal.
A transparent reflection of social reality can be very disconcerting.

nyarlothothep

I agree with most of what you've said, with the exception of high and low forms of culture, as I think each has their place, sometimes philosophizing gets tiresome. However I do think we live in a culture of extroversion and tbh its not one I feel a part of remotely because it can be fairly intolerant of difference...for example its easy to get criticized for being too quiet, or "over thinking" things.

I would be hesitant in applying this to how capitalism functions, where corporations have to please shareholders, political/extraneous corporate interests and therefore undertake unjustifiable actions in order to maintain profits...though it seems that corporate culture is also alienating in that its so defined and requires so much conformity to a particular appearance and way of behaving...Imo in an ideal world art, science and academia should be the drives of society, not corporate speak and maximizing turnover. But so much these days is divisible to the profit god. Its like a religion in a way.

I think though that the modern consumer society is by its own nature alienating. People specialize in very specific areas and live atomized lives where happiness is equated with material consumption. I'm not against the principle of trade, but American style capitalism goes against many natural inclinations in humanity involving empathy, fairness and a sense of community.

brianthebard

Are you a socialist? A lot of what you are saying are classic socialist concerns.

Kama

Wondering if we can unpick alienation into something more discrete? Marxist alienation? Existential alienation, psychological or social alienation? Buddhist alienation from the ground of being??? The term has a range of meanings, and some agreement on what we are on about would help me anyway...

Otherwise it just seems somewhat of an empty signifier, where everyone will drop a different meaning into.

Miacc

interesting q. iv definitely felt it. i think the structure of society makes it likely at some point in life...but so many individual and other factors come into it. society = groups, groups = belonging + alienation , i suppose id see these as two sides of the same coin. without one, we wouldnt understand the other..