The Cynicism of Psychology
And The Psychology of Cynicism
“Humans are fundamentally good,” said Carl Rogers in a public conversation with Rollo May, who had a rather witty response to that which we will get to in a second-
Whenever the psychologists studied children in the playground they were always looking to find explanations for Unselfish behaviour; rarely did they consider the root of Selfish behaviour, betraying a fundamentally cynical outlook on humanity where being kind was considered aberrant but being self-seeking was assumed to be the norm.
Observing children sharing their lunch with those playmates who didn't have any, one group of psychologists came up with an innovative approach to decoding their motives so sophisticated that it had never even been considered before. They asked them!
"Why did you share your lunch with him?"
The children would tend to look at the questioner as though they were none-too-smart and reply, "Because they were hungry."
But what about Rollo May? What did he respond when Rogers said “Humans are fundamentally good?”
“Humans Are Fundamentally Good…
….and Bad!”
Here’s a cool audio I put out over 10 years ago on Teaching Children to Share
If you’re ready to work with me, you can PM here or email antony@beyourselfandloveit.com
PS. Sorry for the rareness of posts guys I’m on a course in Mexico, should really post about it soon (with pictures!)
Alice Miller wrote "A child who has been breast-fed for nine months and no longer wants to drink from the breast does not have to be taught to give it up. And a child who has been allowed to be egoistic, greedy and asocial long enough will develop spontaneous pleasure in sharing and giving."
"to ask a child to be unselfish is psychologically wrong. Every child is an egoist and the world belongs to him. When he has an apple, his one wish is to eat that apple. The chief result of mother’s encouraging him to share it with his little brother is to make him hate the little brother. Altruism comes later –comes naturally – if the child is not taught to be unselfish.” - A. S. Neill