The Denial of Reality Inherent In Primitive Ego Thinking: The Challenges That Are Coming - Part 1© Dick Rauscher - Issue #32

In the last Newsletter article, I wrote about the growing and urgent need for each of us to increase our psychological intelligence through the intentional and conscious evolution of our primitive ego. I reaffirmed my belief that maturing our individual and collective primitive ego is essential if we are to successfully prepare for the rapidly approaching, life altering, changes we see gathering on the horizon.

Because of the " me ….now" narcissism and hubris of our primitive ego, we tend to ignore threats of danger, and warnings of impending change until they actually begin to impact us directly and personally; or, at a minimum, threaten to impact us in the "very" near future. As one writer commented recently, "it's amazing how shocked we can be when the totally expected actually arrives." Despite "knowing" cognitively that we are already running out of time to innovate and implement the pro-active choices and life-style changes that will be needed to effectively cope with the inevitable consequences and changes that are coming, I have absolutely no doubt we will all be emotionally "shocked" when they actually arrive on our doorstep.

Choosing to remain unconsciously trapped in primitive ego thinking, unable to creatively prepare for the life-style transformations that are certainly coming, could lead to a future that becomes very uncomfortable for us; perhaps even traumatic; a future in which we could find ourselves unnecessarily limited to powerless, last minute ineffective knee-jerk responses in our attempts to cope with the challenges we will be facing.

I do not want to suggest or imply that we are facing the end of the world or a dooms day scenario. I do not believe we are. But I am convinced that many of the inevitable challenges that are headed our way will almost certainly have the potential to bring about significant environmental and social change. Some could easily threaten the very survival of our species. But regardless of the level of threat, I believe it is absolutely clear that virtually all of the challenges bearing down on us have the potential to significantly impact the way we currently live our lives.

On the positive side, I am equally convinced that if we are willing to increase our psychological intelligence by learning about Primitive Ego Psychology and doing the work of intentionally maturing our primitive ego consciousness, we would have the vision and wisdom needed to creatively face these rapidly approaching challenges and threats we have created for ourselves. As Einstein reminds us, we cannot solve the problems that face us if we insist on using the same thinking process that created the problem in the first place. Fortunately, we do not have to. The willingness to grow and evolve is always a choice.

Understanding Primitive Ego Psychology and using the simple tools contained in the Primitive Ego Theory we explore in each issue of this Newsletter could easily put us, individually and collectively, on a path toward the conscious evolution of our species. Unfortunately, doing nothing is also a choice. So until the challenges looming on the horizon become "real" for us, we will probably be shocked by the inevitable disruptive social, economic, and life-style changes when they arrive.

In Part 1 of this three part series on the danger of denial inherent in primitive ego thinking, we will take a look at two of the approaching challenges and changes that will soon impact life as we know it; global warming and the myth of unlimited economic expansion reflected in our Western culture's voracious appetite to consume "stuff."

Denial #1) Global Warming
Despite daily warnings and mounting scientific evidence, the ominous threat of global warming is an excellent example of our collective primitive ego's ability to deny reality; our ability to essentially ignore a rapidly growing threat.

Virtually every reputable scientist in the world is in agreement that global warming is a critical and rapidly growing crisis for the future of our planet. Ice packs are melting. Glaciers are melting. Polar bears and other life forms are facing extinction. Weather patterns are shifting. Hurricanes and storms are growing in magnitude and intensity. Some bird species are already migrating further north and scientists are concerned many of them will not survive. The scientific evidence for global change due to warming is overwhelming.

Despite this growing evidence, our primitive ego prefers to deny the warnings of scientists by giving credibility to those global warming naysayers who attempt to introduce doubt and reject these scientifically based warnings on the grounds that we don't "really" have "conclusive proof" that global warming is real. They suggest that the earth has successfully gone through warming trends in the past so we don't really have to worry about it.

Regardless of claims to the contrary, the evidence for global warming continues to grow daily. Our oceans are becoming more acidic. Changes in ocean temperatures and currents are beginning to threatening the viability of our ocean's food chain and its ability to continue providing the various species of fish and other sources of protein that humans have harvested for thousands of years. Upwards of a thousand fish species are already migrating to cooler areas of the ocean and like the birds, many of them are not expected to survive. When added to the estimate that 75% of global fisheries are currently at or beyond sustainable levels of production, the long term survivability of many species of fish is already in question.

But because these changes are not an immediate threat to each of us individually, and because of the economic impacts that would result if we were to begin taking these threats seriously, global warming and its impact on the health of our planet are essentially ignored by our narcissistic primitive ego. If we bother to think about it at all, most of us dismiss these threats with the thought, "our government should do something about the problem".

We deny the impact of the changes attributed to global warming, in part, because we have been conditioned to see ourselves as subjectively separate, unique individuals living in a world where reason and logic rule. Our primitive ego has come to believe it is a superior and totally separate being.
Through the success of our efforts to scientifically understand the natural world by breaking matter into smaller and smaller parts so we can learn how they work, the hubris of our primitive ego has begun to believe that we now have the power to actually control nature.

We have lost touch with the humility of our early ancestors; with the more feminine aspects of our psyche. Over time, the more aggressive masculine psyche of our primitive ego increasingly denied the more intuitive feminine insights of our observing ego consciousness. Over time the feminine part of our psyche found itself effectively banished from consciousness and driven into the unconscious.

As a result of our primitive ego hubris, we have lost the feminine, observing ego wisdom of our ancestors who knew intuitively that we are nothing more than an infinitesimally small part of an immense universe. We have lost the awe necessary for us to maintain a spiritual heart connection with the fragile planetary life support system that sustains us.

We no longer intuitively recognize or experience our systemic inter-connection and inter-dependence with the rest of creation even though quantum physicists are now learning that the energies contained in every part of creation; from the largest galaxy of the universe down to the smallest elements of matter, are all actively communicating at the quantum level with every other part of creation.

Our collective primitive ego has embraced logic and reasoning to the point it has lost touch with its ancient sense of spirituality. It has convinced itself we have the God given right to arrogantly use the planet in whatever way best suits our immediate needs.

Only when we decide to abandon the untransformed masculine energy of our primitive ego and learn to embrace the transformed feminine energy of our more enlightened observing ego consciousness will we effectively reverse global warming.

Denial #2) The Myth of Unlimited Economic Expansion and Our Voracious Appetite for "Stuff"
Another good example of our primitive ego's inability to accept a growing threat as "real" is our voracious appetite in the Western world and Europe to consume "stuff". We never seem to have enough to satisfy our hunger for "more". The Buddhists refer to our primitive egos insatiable need for "more" as our hungry ego. Despite massive and growing evidence to the contrary, in its need for "more", our collective primitive ego has blindly bought into the myth that unlimited economic expansion is somehow an actual reality; a real and valid law of economics.

At the current level of consumption in Western culture we are depleting the natural resources of our planet at an alarming rate. Yet our collective primitive ego blindly continues to support an uncontrolled level of consumption that is clearly leading the world to inevitable economic, environmental, and social crises. In simple terms, our planet is simply unable to "sustain" our Western culture's current standard of living. And that number is about to increase from one billion to over four billion.

Our primitive ego dismisses the uneasy discomfort we feel when we read that the Eastern cultures of India and China have also decided to embrace the myth called unlimited economic expansion and are rapidly catching up with our Western culture's ability to consume. It is estimated that each of their economies will catch up with ours in roughly one to two generations. Even if the rest of the world remains at their current levels of consumption China and India alone will create a four-fold increase in our human species' ability to consume. The only emotional reality that emerges from the narcissism of our primitive ego consciousness is a gnawing sense of anger and resentment that "they" are going to start taking "our" vitally needed planetary resources; resources that "we" need.

Our appetite for "stuff" is enormous. Some say that we are literally "trashing" our planet. Consider the following:

• Every man, woman, and child in America sends roughly 4 ½ pounds of trash a day to a landfill.
• It is estimated that 99% of all purchases made by Americans will be trash in a landfill within six months of the time it is purchased.
• America represents only about 5% of the world's population but we are currently consuming over 30% of the world's resources.
  

In other words, if everyone alive on the planet today were to enjoy life at our "current" American level of consumption, we would need the equivalent of roughly seven "earth sized planets" to support them. And each of those seven planets would be rapidly depleting their natural resources. By the end of the 21st century we would need roughly eleven earth sized planets. It would not be long before all eleven of those planets would be nearing the end of their ability to sustain a viable human culture.

There are those who suggest the answer to the resources problem is recycling; that we should recycle more. Recycling is obviously important, but it is a very small drop in the solution bucket. What is needed is a radical shift in our mind set or worldview. We need to learn to genuinely embrace the concept of long term "sustainability" in our human culture.

We need to shift from purchasing a never-ending list of "wants" to purchasing essentially only those things we actually "need". And the "needs" we purchase should reflect "real" cost to make them. In other words, our cost should include all of the costs of a "green" manufacturing process, all costs associated with recycling the item, and the green disposal costs for all non-recyclable and toxic materials in the item purchased.

The cost of products we are currently purchasing is artificially low. The recycling and disposal costs of toxic chemicals and materials used in the manufacture of the item, all of the recycling costs, and the final disposal of toxic material contained in the products we buy are all currently passed on to the general public. They are not included in the purchase price paid by the consumer. If we had to pay all of the real costs associated with the items we consume every day, there is no doubt that our level of consumption would quickly decrease to more manageable levels.

The collective narcissistic primitive ego of our Western culture currently embraces a non-sustainable, throwaway mindset. Through aggressive marketing campaigns we are encouraged to not only notice the obsolescence of virtually everything we own, we are reminded over and over to compare what we currently own to what we "could" own. At the same time we are being bombarded by aggressive marketing campaigns, the products we currently own are breaking down due to a real obsolescence intentionally designed into everything we purchase. This unconscious behavior to compulsively "throw away" so we can buy "new and better" is designed to drive the unlimited expansion of our economy and our capitalistic free market system.

Our collective primitive egos choose to ignore the reality that "unlimited economic expansion" is a non-sustainable myth. We do not perceive it as impacting us personally, so our narcissistic primitive ego ignores reality and continues to consume. The denial of our primitive ego spreads rapidly into other areas of our culture. Some warn that the default in credit card debt is going to be the next "crisis" we will be dealing with in the financial melt down we are experiencing. Once again, because it is not impacting us directly, our primitive ego can comfortable assume that it is someone else's problem to deal with. And once again, we will be "shocked" when that expected reality eventually arrives.

I have listed only two of the more than twenty challenges that scientists and social experts forecast we will be dealing with at a crisis level in the near future. The severity of some of these problems will undoubtedly be eased by scientific advancement and technical solutions, but to assume that scientists alone will be able to finally solve these challenges is simply another example of our species' primitive ego denial and narcissism; our total faith and dependence on logic and reason to solve all of our environmental and social problems.

To Briefly Summarize
Because our narcissistic "me" oriented primitive ego is rarely willing to share with "others" what we subjectively feel is "ours", the option of patiently waiting for our human culture to voluntarily mature and evolve our primitive ego consciousness into that of a more compassionate and spiritually mature observing ego consciousness is not realistic. It is also totally unrealistic to think that we can safely digest a four-fold increase in our current level of consumption in the next few generations. Our planet cannot continue to sustain even our current level of consumption.

Our collective primitive egos are convinced that our scientists will somehow use logic and reason to solve the problem. In the meantime, we can continue consuming and throwing yesterday's discarded "wants" in the local landfill. Doing more of the same and assuming that things will somehow change has been described as an excellent definition of insanity.

Sustainability is the concept that must become part of every economic and environmental decision we make in our human cultures. Sustainable economic expansion is possible. Unlimited economic expansion created and encouraged by primitive ego denial is not.

We are all interconnected. We all depend on the Earth and its resources for our survival. The earth is humanity's only life support system and it simply cannot continue to support unlimited human expansion and consumption. For those who have the courage to look at the growing evidence, our planet's fragile life support system is already showing significant signs of malfunction.

Our primitive ego belief that "if it doesn't impact me directly, it is not 'real' " is a very dangerous way to live. Just because our primitive ego embraces a strongly held belief does not mean that it accurately reflects truth. We must learn to embrace reality and facts even when they conflict with the narcissistic ideologies and firmly held beliefs of our primitive ego.

As most of the scientific world is already warning, continuing to deny the reality of global warming and the dangers of non-sustainable economic expansion will inevitably lead to irreversible planetary changes capable of threatening life as we know it; and could even potentially lead to the eventual extinction of our species. I am convinced that the Primitive Ego Theory of Human Social and Spiritual Development is a tool that could effectively lead our species toward the level of psychological intelligence that we so badly need to achieve. Primitive ego psychology should be taught at the grammar school level in our public educational system.

Coming In Parts 2 and 3 of This Series
The goal of this three part series of articles on the danger of denial in primitive ego thinking is to offer readers some creative steps that they can take to prepare for the changes that are coming. It is better to be prepared than "shocked" when the expected arrives. Like I said earlier, we are not talking about a dooms day scenario, we are talking about taking the steps necessary to better insure that the challenges that are coming do not create unnecessary crises in our lives.

In the next Newsletter, I will continue with Part 2 of this discussion on the danger of denial in our primitive ego psyche by taking a look at the inevitable consequences we will soon be facing if we continue to deny the current global population explosion; one more example of the more than twenty critical challenges that I believe we will be facing in the coming decades;. Then in Part 3, I will wrap up this series with an index listing a) a summary list of the challenges that are looming on the horizon, b) a general summary list of the important aspects and behaviors manifested by primitive ego thinking, and finally c) a detailed list of specific ideas and suggestions of what I believe each of us can do to proactively begin preparing for the challenges and changes that are coming.