He who has a why to live will almost any how

The 7 Laws of Magical Thinking: How Irrational Beliefs Keep Us Happy, Healthy and Sane.
Matthew Hutson (Author) 2012

I think one of the things that made Freud and his mentee, Jung go different ways was the belief that things happen for a reason. Sigmund Freud insists that the only real thing is that we are here, on Earth, we live, things happen and we take a bow. Events that happen around us occur at random at its own pace unrelated to our existence. Jung, on the other hand, felt that everything happened for a reason. There may be a cause for an event if we look hard enough. But, are we over analysing and trying to convince ourselves of some fixed ideas that we had concocted to allay our own anxieties?

Thanks to Kr and SK for sharing this book.

The author of this book is trying to convince us, in his own witty way, that, despite our different levels of religiosity or therein lack of, we are all believers of magic. We place our trusts in objects, events and signs to explain the seemingly occult things that happen around us. We may play a badminton match with a particular racquet, thinking that it is our lucky charm. We may wear lucky bracelets and carry lucky amulets to give us the courage to deal with difficult life-threatening or life-changing decisions.

Magical thinking gives us a sense of control, knowing very well that the environment around us is too complex to comprehend. It gives us meaning to life. It gives a tuft of hope to a person out in the world so cold. It gives purpose to life. In the great words of Nietzsche, 'he who has a why to live will almost any how'.

Modern man rarely likes to take anything at face value. There is an innate desire to analyse and to try to understand everything that is around. This has brought many benefits to mankind but, however, over-analysing has the danger of literally turning himself into a schizophrenic. The strongly held delusions may make him see or hear things which are non-existent, further convincing him of belief and act irrationally.

The book is provocative in that it takes a jibe at superstition and religion. For an atheist, this book carries all the messages that he had been trying to convince others. Anyway, he is not disputing the existence of God. He is merely telling us we use magic to give us sanity and purpose to carry on our lives on Earth.

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