It explains attention, addiction, murder, and willpower.
Published in ILLUMINATION
Feb 4, 2024 (Medium.com)
Why are you reading this?
What drew your attention to this article?
Did you consciously click on it, or was this choice driven by something deeper beyond your control?
Why is it so challenging to break free from bad habits?
What draws us towards certain things, while simultaneously repelling us from others?
The answer to these questions can be found in one of Carl Jung’s most brilliant and, simultaneously terrifying theories — the notion of the future self.
For Jung, our future self already exists; it is not just a potentiality. What’s more, this future self attempts to manifest itself in our present reality all the time. How?
Through our attention.
The mechanism that directs your attention in the present is your future self attempting to manifest itself in your present reality.
Now, attention is different from willpower and concentration. Let’s make a distinction here.
All of us know what is good for us: eating healthily, sleeping well, working out, and eliminating harmful addictions like smoking, alcohol, and drugs. Yet, how many of us do all these things? We all aspire to feel and look good, but it’s so damn hard for us to stick to these basic beneficial practices. Isn’t that so weird? Why is that the case? Why can’t we simply tell ourselves what we need to do and then just do it?
One might say this is a matter of discipline. But again, discipline is something entirely different. Discipline is merely a measure of the strength of one’s willpower. It implies an inner conflict between what should be done for a greater future reward and what we want to do right now. What we want to do right now is driven by our attention — our future self.
I am sure you forced yourself to study for exams you did not want to in school, and finish a presentation at work that bored you to tears. That is all willpower and discipline in action.
Yet, some things naturally grip you. Instantly. They feel effortless.
What is driving our attention to those things?
I was watching an interview with LeBron James the other day. At the age of 17, he decided to cover his back with a tattoo that said — ‘The Chosen 1.’ Twenty years later, very few can dispute that he is indeed the best basketball player to ever play the game.
That is a perfect example of Jung’s idea of the future self.
Some people are born with a talent that soon becomes so obvious where things are going. They lose themselves in something — there is no effort, it’s intuitive and natural. While willpower certainly plays a role, there are deeper, unconscious forces guiding these actions that form our destiny in life.
Some may say the things that grab our attention are completely random. But are they? Maybe if you are schizophrenic, but again, that is debatable.
It seems to me that we are not in control. There are predetermined forces that are at play.
This can be liberating for some people. It suggests that you do not need to fight, struggle, and force yourself to do things you do not want to do. The pressure of constantly overthinking about choices is somehow alleviated. Instead, we should relax and stay open, following whatever interests us; it is our future self trying to tell us something after all. Our interests and spontaneous attention are not random but may be meaningful pointers toward our potential and destiny in life.
By allowing our attention to be consumed by our passions, we are slowly becoming more and more competent in whatever we do. This can lead to a more authentic and fulfilling life.
In education, Jung’s theory of the future self calls for a more individualized approach to learning. This approach would focus on a child’s natural inclinations as indicators of their future potential, rather than adhering strictly to external standards and expectations. Particularly with the rise of AI and the anticipated elimination of many existing jobs, ‘making a living’ should not be the primary factor dictating what a child should pursue in school.
This theory might also explain the often inexplicable drive and inspiration guiding artistic and creative pursuits. Consider some of the world’s great artists — writers, poets, musicians, painters — who often struggle to articulate the origin of their creative impulses. Their work appears to be guided by an unexplainable force that consumes their entire being.
But then, most of us are not very talented, our attention is not drawn to something creative or meaningful. Instead, for many, attention is captured by pornography, smoking, junk food, and mindless scrolling on our phones. And that is precisely what is so frightening about this idea.
On one hand, this theory can lead to greater self-acceptance and self-love, by recognizing our natural inclinations as part of a larger, predetermined journey and something we have not consciously chosen. Yet, there’s a significant danger involved — the passive acceptance of life, and letting ourselves be completely consumed by catastrophic habits under the guise of ‘destiny’.
What about those who are plagued by intrusive thoughts of harming themselves or others? What happens to personal responsibility if the script of our life has already been written?
I will not pretend to have answers to those questions. No one does. What I am certain of, however, is that resistance is not a long-term solution. The more one observes oneself and the human condition, the more apparent it becomes that we are not the masters of our own house.
I’ve watched numerous documentaries and interviews featuring some of the most violent individuals in human history. The latest was about Jeffrey Dahmer, who killed and dismembered seventeen males. In an interview, Dahmer described the driving force behind his actions as an ‘addictive, surging energy’ beyond his control. He admitted that ‘the compulsive obsession with what I was doing overpowered any sense of revulsion.’
‘That’s what I am. Why am I trying to pretend to be something I’m not? I do think I was born this way. Like, I don’t think there was something that happened that made me like this. Because this was always just how I was,’ Jeffrey Dahmer stated.
Most of us have experienced compulsions before. Obsessive-compulsive disorder affects around 3% of the population. The compulsion to clean and the compulsion to kill someone may have completely different consequences, but the source seems the same — an underlying force directing our attention, compelling us to fulfill our perceived destinies.
Is life worth living if it’s a constant struggle against one’s nature? And if one decides to end everything because it becomes too much — could this be yet another manifestation of their future self, asserting influence in our present reality?
I really cannot seem to find a better explanation than what Carl Jung had to offer. Can you?
In my future articles, I will attempt to link these observations to the concepts of karma, free will, and responsibility. I will do my best to provide an explanation for the ‘problem’ of evil and subsequently connect this with the existence of God and the nature of love. Why would someone be born a serial killer? Why would someone have to be killed by one? Is there a deeper meaning to all that? I think there is, and I will do my best to explain.
If you have any ideas about topics or questions that I could address in my future articles, please feel free to post them in the comments.
Thank you for reading,
Michalis.
Written by Michalis M.
·Writer for ILLUMINATION
I write about Non-duality, self-knowledge and the human condition. Follow my IG for more: Freedom.from.the.madness