"Humanity is a species in deep denial of its true nature." I think and feel so. How do you think and feel?

Question

I'm here, typing away at the computer, and somehow I don't feel quite right. You know : inside. Somedays the feeling is at a dull rumble, somedays its right up in my face. I've had this feeling of : not being so good for a long time, probably as long as I can remember.

I try to ignore the feeling. When I was a kid, I had school work to do and feeling badly would interfere with its completion, so I tried to just ignore it. I played lots of video games and watched lots of tv to keep the feeling nicely subdued.

Now as an adult, I have become better at keeping the feeling buried inside of me, and continuing to function, but, I cannot help but feel that I am missing something, something : vital.

What is this thing? Feelings. That part of our humanity which we silently repress. After all, don't want to be "too real" right?

My question is then, "Why, do we repress our feelings?", and, to give it the proper Anthropological spin, "What function does it serve the species?"

Answer 1

we are a social species that wants to survive.  All the rest is window dressing

Answer 2

Th luxiries we have today are unlike any species at any time. electricity and engineering makes it a lot easier to get more done in a short amount of time. What is left for us to do? We have too much time on our hands. So we think and we think about how empty and unrewarding our lives are. That is your "feeling" that you keep repressed. Keeping ourselves busy is important for a healthy mind. Having things we "need" to do keeps us sane. In reality, there is nothing that needs to be done; but if we think there is, it makes us feel good.

But there is a fix for that "feeling". In the wise words of the Beetles, "All you need is love. love. Love is all you need." The idea that we are wanted and needed is an end in itself and cures us of any emptiness we have inside.

Answer 3

Probably for most of our history as a species we were too busy trying to keep warm and dry and our bellies fed to worry much about discontent and niggling feelings.

Answer 4

I agree

Answer 5

That's a really interesting question and one I wish I could better answer.

The function of repressing our feelings I think could be a part of human evolution as social creatures, we rely on each other to survive and therefore not getting in a fight and killing your neighbour for eating the last piece of mammoth is an advantage as he can help you to catch the next mammoth etc.

While we still have our instincts and gut feelings, we also have our self control as a survival mechanism ... one which prevents us taking risks we deem too dangerous or that we are unsure about.

Personally I understand how you feel completely, there is something that doesn't quite feel right. Something is missing, something if off and some days you just want to go by your emotions and say to h**l with rules and society and expectations and everything. I wonder if this feeling that something is missing is also a part of the same survival skill, that while we have to be cautious and social to survive as a species we can't get too soft or predictable .... we have to keep the instinct to  follow our own intuition alive even if we don't use it as much because without it we would be helpless like lemmings and unable to find our own path when the one set out for us grows indistinct.

Hope that makes sense because I ain't sure if it does ...