Blog Entry 5: "Why the Self is Empty"

"The self was conceived of as capable of personal change; impressing others and gaining their approval became an important aim in life, far outstripping the value of doing the morally correct act, which was dictated by one's character." (40)

As this article points out on many occasions, our lives are dictated by the need to find approval from others. This has been one of the main driving forces behind consumerism. I found this quotation interesting because it made me realize just how deep seeded the need for approval is. It begins the moment learning starts and continues throughout life. It drives our lives and has incorporated itself into our culture.

“…another manifestation of ‘the therapeutic,’ attempted to cure by implying that products would magically ‘transform the customer’s life” (40).
This strategy is widely used by all companies, especially in the pharmaceutical industry. Advertizing campaigns in all industries target consumers claiming that their product will either make their live easier or help the consumer get one step closer to achieving happiness. This has created a consumer culture in which many Americans believe that pharmaceutical drugs are the cure-all for any aliment they have, from the widespread use of Advil, to the use of potentially dangerous drugs, such as Acutane, to cure acne, there is a drug out there to cure anything that may plague your physical being. Many times advertizing for these drugs simply show people that have seemed to achieve complete happiness, but yet have no connection to the drug itself. Consumers tend to ignore the long list of side effects at the bottom of the screen.

“[The] empty self [is the] significant absence of community, tradition, and shared meaning. It experiences... [an] emotional hunger... and yearns to acquire and consume...” (38).
This quote is very broad in nature, but it encompasses the main idea of this article. I feel this theme is stated habitually when the topic of consumerism is treated. Authors observe that we, as consumers, are seeking the fulfillment we lack from external sources like consumerism (and Cushman also handles the topic of psychotherapy). We look to the influences of our pop cultural society to fill our empty self. This shapes the very way we behave. Ever since the era of sexual restriction was slowly receding, our identities became increasingly dependent on the ideas of our societies. In this case consumerism took over. When I describe the term consumerism, I always think about consumers being guided by their emotional needs, and this quote incorporates that thought. The Suzuki article immediately comes to mind as well because he mentions that because of our partaking in consumerism we distance ourselves from our families and communities and even the (natural, as in not technological) world around us. Cushman in his article goes on to state that our empty self leads to consuming and even a “difficulty in maintaining personal relationships.” To me, this sounds like an indefinite, vicious cycle.

"By ignoring the bind and outwardly accepting society's expectations and psychology's normative discourse, the life-style solution operates in further constructing the empty self, which ultimately exacerbates the current political and economic arrangements of power and privilege." (46)

In defense of various forms of psychotherapy, I would argue that psychoanalysis does not necessarily recreate the empty self that perpetuates the unjust disparities in society. In analyzing the self as being empty, the important issue becomes what is going to be filling the empty self. Due to consumerism's grasp upon society, most people go about recklessly attempting to achieve desires and stuff themselves through the purchase of goods and the hoarding of capital. This wanton pursuit of happiness through consumption obviously never leads to any total fulfillment and does strengthen the aristocracy's grip upon the masses as Cushman argues. Advertising truly has enslaved us by making the pursuit of personal happiness such a priority in society. However, psychoanalysts, like Slavoj Zizek, provide a different alternative to this by simply assuring people that we are allowed not to enjoy. Today, the scope of what it means to be happy is becoming increasingly narrow. It means securing a nice place to live near the city, going to whole foods with your girlfriend, working out so you can get laid, living tobacco free, and dancing to Lady Gaga at a party Friday night. Psychoanalysis argues that you are obliged not to pursue "happiness" in this consumerist society and that fulfillment of the empty self is not necessarily found in a consumerist lifestyle where you would be perpetuating advertising agencies and business tycoons.

"Humans are incomplete and therefore unable to function adequately unless embedded in a specific cultural matrix." (39)

I don't think we truly realize how much the cultural environment (e.g. religion, politics, ideology etc.) of an individual is the principal factor in the construction of his/her behavior, ideas, lifestyle etc. As Cushman puts it, 'culture "completes" humans' (39). Childhood is the most influential period of one's life. In effect, an individual's fundamental beliefs and ethics are shaped at a very young age by what surrounds him. It is no wonder that dictatorships such as USSR or Nazi Germany began indoctrinating their people in the earliest possible stages of their lives, thus producing fervent and indefinitely loyal followers.
Today, we are surrounded by consumerism, and no matter what many people think, it is inculcated in our culture. Of course, there are anti-consumerism movements, but they constitute a negligible portion of the population. The majority is affected greatly (if not only) by what it consumes. As a counterexample, feral children don't pay any attention to their appearance.

"Individuals do not wish to buy if they do not perceive a need for a product. But with an empty self people always need" (42).
Cushman makes a very relevant argument about how consumer society has brought about this idea of the "empty self." He argues that due to people having a constant need for material goods, society has transformed its values and thus changed the meaning of the "self." I agree with his statement to a certain degree, such as in the quote above about how people living in our consumer society today have this need to be like everyone else and to buy everything everyone else buys, lest they fall behind the modern trends. I have said it before in the other blogs that it is really interesting to see how consumerism has taken over part of society, and I believe it even more fully after reading this article. Although I agree with some of his argument, I do disagree with his thought that morals have changed, at least in the extreme way he believes. I think that morals have shifted due to more than consumerism, but at the same time many core morals still exist. And if there is anyone to blame for these shifted values it would have to be the advertisers, for their appeal to people has made people believe in material items as never before.

"Culture 'completes' humans be explaining and interpreting the world, helping them to focus their attention on or ignore certain aspects of their environment" (39).

As an Anthropologist, I choose this quote because this belief that humans learn from society and culture when they grow up is a common misconception and is based on the SSSM (Standard Social Science Model). Culture and society are only stimuli that stimulates innate programs in the brain to act. Our genotype and phenotype are products of the environment around us. For example, before people buy a product they unconsciously,calculate the risk-to-reward ratio in their head.
The empty-self in the article is the reason why we consume. We feel empty because we believe that we are not on the same level as well as connected with the rest of society and this emotional feeling of emptiness forces us to consume. I believe our modern society is similar to past societies because back in the day, being the odd man out of a group represented loss of status and possibly his life. As I have learned in Anthropology, humans stay in groups to be protected and have a better chance of survival and reproduction. Today, being part of new fads is important for kids these days because being the only one that doesn't have something means they not part of that group as well as not "cool". This forces them to fuel consumerism. The question to ask is how one feels when he/she is alone and doesn't have a any friends.

"Unlike character, which is centered on personal moral integrity, advice manuals of the time taught that personality was synonymous with becoming liked by others...outstripping the value of doing the morally correct act, which was dictated by one's character." (40)

I chose this quote because I believe the creation of the "empty self" is largely based on losing one's moral compass and religious values. If culture and religion are not shaping our character, there must be some other force changing our personalities. People tend to look towards others for help when learning and understanding how one should act in society. Without this sense of direction through religion/culture, we find guidance for our behavior by doing what we believe will "make others like us" and, in turn, we behave exactly as they do. Often times, this imitated and learned new behavior is immoral, but at least justifiable based on the fact that someone else behaved this way before you did. Consumerism is not necessary much of the time, but since others are consuming as much as possible, many people feel as though it is okay to be spending such a large amount of money on these items. Though, the moral thing to do may be to donate money to an organization rather than spending that extra money on an unnecessarily overpriced Ferrari simply so one can be accepted or well-liked.

“Humans do not have a basic, fundamental, pure human nature that is transhistorical and transcultural. Humans are incomplete and therefore unable to function adequately unless embedded in a specific cultural matrix”.

Humans are characterized by their ability to learn quickly and their aptitude to adapt to novel situations. I would say that that is our basic nature, and it tends to include the adoption of unique cultures (whatever tends to be adaptive), across space and time. Around the globe, people are living differently and consuming different types of products. While there is a trend toward massive, monopolized markets (McDonalds, Coke, Nike), I feel like consumerism is also becoming more individualized. The self has an urge to be unique, and people will adapt different variations of the culture-defining products to create their own cultures. It is increasingly more difficult to define one’s ‘self’ in a culture that subscribes to the same products and expectations. While people are tempted to fill their empty selfs by consuming the products of our culture, they are also looking for ways to reconcile their individuality by standing out.

“practice deviates from normative discourse by allowing the therapist to function as a model for the patient, by providing corrective emotional experiences or face, respect, and understanding, and by allowing the patient to ‘take in’ the therapist’s ideas, values , and personal style … what happens behind the behavioral surface is that not only does the uncovering or understanding of trauma and distortion occur, but that functions such as modeling, guiding, and relatedness also occur and are indeed primary factors in the healing aspects of the modern therapeutic hour.” (44)

Here I think that psychotherapy is a magnification of the effect that culture has on the “empty self.” Taking in your surroundings from parents, peers, or teachers, is part of being young, and subtraction is becoming a person. I guess before WWII your setting was so absolute that there was nothing to add or subtract, and so you had no mobility or desire to change? Being sure in everything was more fulfilling? Having an empty self might not be worse than being trapped in the same things all the time, I don’t know.

“The material objects we create, the ideas we hold, and the actions we take are the consequences or “products” of the social construction of each particular era.”
As the times change, trends change, and so do the products that dictate our consumer driven society. We follow these trends as they seem to not only define the particular era in which we live, but also who we are in many ways. We are a much more technological generation than that of our parents, and especially compared to that of our grandparents. We have the trend of the internet, the iPhone, 3D Television, etc. It is these consumer products that will be used to describe the current decade and the people from it in the future. In our consumer society, these same products dictate our social construction, and it leaves me to wonder what products will define the next generation?

Inner emptiness may be expressed in many ways, such as low self-esteem, values confusion, eating disorders, drug abuse, and chronic consumerism. (pg.42)

Another form of inner emptiness expression in the 21st century is FACEBOOK; a technological complexity that reduces physical social interaction. Many of my friends have admitted to this Facebooking addiction. They have said that they would be "detached" from society without one. They felt that their online connections were important and had a great influence on their real-life relationships.

“Although therapy succeeds because it compensates for cultural absences in our society, it usually does not admit to doing so.” (45)

This quote seems to suggest that therapy helps people by providing them with an alternate source with which to fill up their empty selves, rather than with consumer goods. This seems to make psychotherapists into salespeople, trying to get people to buy their specific service. Despite their claims and best intentions, it seems like therapists are simply continuing this state of an empty self, providing their own services as commodities to be bought. The article refers to how the modern person is “vulnerable to influence from cultural forms such as advertising that emanate authority and certainty” (43), but can’t we see that same kind of authority and certainty in psychotherapists? Maybe psychotherapy does help some people, but even so, it’s still a consumer item in its own way.

"Writers such as Lears and Modleski have argued that ads sell by convincing the public that a certain product is indispensable to their well-being or by implicitly addressing or exacerbating a personal fear in the customer that could be reassured or soothed by purchasing the product" (43)
Even today, commercials are using fear as a factor to get consumers to purchase certain products. Companies are advertising their product as a must-have to consumers who do not have the knowledge to decide for themselves. As someone stated in class, the news media is instilling fear into the minds of Americans regarding the radiation from the Japan nuclear power plants and has put in their mind that they need to buy Potassium Iodine in order to stay alive, when this is not necessary at all. Also, the people can be scared into taking medications that are not necessary, with the commercials that list a few symptoms and subtly let the viewer’s think they have a certain disease. Many people simply research on the internet and try to diagnose themselves instead of going to a medical professional because they feel the ad was indicator enough that they might have the disease.

“After the turn of the century, popularized forms of psychology and religion began to offer advice on how to impress others, become popular, and achieve monetary success and peace of mind” (Pg 40)
Impressing others is a daily routine. We are always looking for approval from others instead of actually doing what makes us happy. Advertizing has a lot to do with this Cushman says “Advertizing began… identifying the product with an “imaginary state of being” ads sought to allay the costumers fears and feeling of inadequacy” (pg. 40). This is one of the main reasons for consumerism. In this consumerist society, most people go out and buy goods they really don’t need to make them feel happy and to impress others. People think that purchasing goods will help them look successful but does impressing others really help us achieve “monetary success”? Humans learn from the society and things that go on in our community become a need of an everyday life. I was really shocked that even religion began to advice people to “impress others” I think that religion should advice us to always be happy first so we can go on with our lives doing good things for others and that is a way we could “impress”.

"After the turn of the century, popularized forms of psychology and religion began to offer advice on how to impress others, become popular, and achieve monetary success and peace of mind." (40)

This emphasizes the idea that we need the approval of others to be happy, which seems to be a flawed way of thinking. It takes away much of our individuality and causes us to conform to social constructs. The main driving force is the acquisition of wealth, and the ability to display this wealth. We have been taught, subliminally or overtly, that if we can gain approval from our peers we will be happy, and the easiest way to gain approval is to buy things which are held with esteem in our society.

The main point of this article is to historically supplement how modern human norms have come to be. Cushman refers to the current self as "empty," containing a "lack of personal conviction and worth," leaving an "emotional hunger" (600). He claims that the switch from the Victorian reservation to the modern impulsiveness began after World War II, when our lifestyle began to become more individualized. In order to fill the void we have lost in the absence of family and tradition, we consume in the technologies and indulgences of today. We have lost all real forms and sense of community thanks to advertising and industry that banks on these discourses, and psychology has been an unsuccessful solution by not focusing on the history of our nature.

"In the second half of the century the empty self has made it much easier for advertising to exert influence and control." (Pg 43, Bottom Right)

This brings up two thoughts for me, the first going along with my take on how consumerist system takes advantage of the insecurities and habitual tendencies of people that I have noted in my past couple entries. The second brings up the question of societies in the past, and what did they value.

In this article, Cushman address the idea of the self and what creates, molds, and fills this idea. In his belief, the idea of self is not an unchanging concept that has sustained its original meaning without succumbing to the winds of change of time and culture, but a concept that is subject to influence from conditions, especially one's surrounding culture. In his view, the self for us is an "empty self", lacking direction meaning, and individual fulfillment. I don't know if I totally agree with him on this point, however, I do agree with his argument of the strategy of advertising. This strategy is to show people they are missing out on something, they don't have what they need, and the product this advertisement is selling is what will make them happy. This reminds me of when I was a child and I would be watching Nickelodeon, and a G.I. Joe or some other toy commercial would come on. Que the flashing lights, fast moving toys, guns, and really loud sound, and I would be sold not even half way through the ad. Its almost as if I thought that as soon as I bought that toy, hardcore music would burst from the skies, lightning would flash, and I would be in the middle of an exciting life. I would be happier. (The real result was a great let down). But that advertisement made me believe I could have a whole different life, one that was more exciting than the boring life I lead.

The second thought that comes to mind is the question of what did people value before consumerism became central to society. I ask this because it is hard to remember that human civilization hasn't always been the way it is now. That is something so hard for me to recognize, since it is all I've known. Nowadays, people of big business and those involved in trade are some of the most powerful and important people in the world. This past week, my EACS 4B class discussed the social hierarchy of Tokugawa Japan. As usual warriors and officials were at the top, but you know who was next? The peasantry! Why? Because they made the food that people depended on to live. You know where merchants and tradesman were placed? Two spots above those who weren't even allowed in society, and one above those who didn't know what the hell to do in society. Now, however, middle-men make good money, just by working the system, shoving their hands into a long line of hands in the slow process of delivering a product to a consumer. I just think its interesting.

I think that the main point of Cushman's article is that the self (aka the conception of oneself, the world, one's conceived boundaries that he calls "horizons" and one's conceived place in society) is the product "of the social construction of each particular era. [Each self] is [a] cultural artifac[t]" (big page 39)

He claims that culture "completes humans by explaining and interpreting the world for [them]"(39) and that today, the self has become an "empty" self, an empty vessel that has learned to consume in order to fill the void that is the self.

Its a sad thought that Cushman proposes: that in our post WWII era, we are basically empty & confused, except for the temporary moments of fulfillment that we feel through the satisfaction of indulgences.

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