This Above All

Truth / Ego = Meaning

"This above all: to thine own self be true" is perhaps the greatest advice ever given. This line delivered by Polonius to his son from Hamlet in Act I, Scene 3 sets before us the criteria for a meaningful life. For all but the pathological, and perhaps even for some of them, it is important that their life means something. One of the primary elements in depressive thoughts is the idea that one doesn’t amount to anything important and has no function in life that makes an impression on reality.

In fact, this can even drive some to extreme behavior. The idea that one doesn’t matter can lead to a backlash of anger and resentment that can cause a person to do something drastic to prove everyone wrong. The irony is that it is the same impulse as those that try to prove everyone right for the more successful members of our society. The negative path leads to something that defies the social convention in so drastic a way as to make a mark that says, “I was here, and I did this.” It doesn’t matter that it is considered negative by society. It is a statement of existence and a demand for importance.

There is also a lesser form of this behavior that has a more righteous intent. It is when someone becomes so convinced that the system itself is so corrupt and irredeemable that it needs to be reset or replaced. It is in many ways giving up on the existing system which interestingly places it on the subversion side of the authority/subversion scale as outlined in Jonathan Haidt’s Moral Foundation Theory.

This can translate easily to political action. It can cause people to want to detonate an explosive into the system in a way that will provide an opportunity to build something better. In this case, however, the bombs are not actually explosives but ideas and electoral candidates that can deliver these paradigm changing agents into the system. Still, viewed from this perspective it might be considered a form of ideological terrorism.

This, of course, assumes there is an intentional teleology that this behavior defies. That teleology in this context that is used to justify this approach would seem to be that culture and society are heading in the wrong direction. The argument for this is that something has changed from the norm and that the path has somehow shifted. We are not who we used to be. We need to get back to that.

There is further irony in that, as well. It presents itself as a conservative idea, but a conservative could also be seen as someone who wants to maintain the status quo. So it’s really not about conserving, but defining in a specific way that aligns with the ideology. This is the fatal flaw. The search for truth requires that of all things, ideology cannot be the central focus.

The happy ending to the story is that the Hamlet quote gives us the answer. To thine own self, put truth at the core of your existence. Make truth the central focus. Don’t let any of the biases and influences distract you. The best reason for this is that it can bring meaning, and meaning brings peace.

By the way, there is no Enlightenment without Shakespeare.