The Three Knowers and the Question of Addiction
Whoever knows that he knows must be amazed. This is both to wonder and to be lost in a maze...and to be lost in a maze because knowing that one knows generates a confusion of echoes in which the original sound is lost. For when I know that I know, which one is I? The first which knows, the second which knows that I know, or the third which knows that I know that I know?Alan Watts, Beyond Theology, The Art of GodmanshipHeraclitus: We humans are all addicted to one thing or another; and more, we are most of all addicted to ourselves, thinking we are somehow, either in spirit or material power, superior to others.Empedocles: How do you define addiction?
Heraclitus: An addiction is a belief or behavior that consumes one to the detriment of one's self and one's surroundings. Further, the addicted consumer operates in blind denial of the affliction, refusing to accept that one is the source of one's own problems.
Anaxagoras: This sounds like a problem of will. Does the human have free will? Or is the human subject to forces, elemental or otherwise, beyond their control?
Empedocles: Deny free will and open the flood gates for all sorts of "the devil made me do it" behavior.
Anaxagoras: And yet, there are those forces of Nature beyond human control. Where to draw the line between the individual free will and those forces of which one has no choice but to surrender?
Empedocles: One's body may be locked in a cage, but the free mind knows no bars.
Anaxagoras: Philosophers. How quickly we take to the ethers. Back to immediate matters. What say you of addiction and the lotus eaters?
Empedocles: Just because a man likes to eat does not make him a glutton.
Heraclitus: Many eat much, but are forever hungry.
Anaxagoras: Quality vs. quantity?
Empedocles: He who eats well needs little.
Heraclitus: Full mind, small stomach.
Anaxagoras: Yes, I know the man who eats the tiniest wisp in the morning, then walks in the woods all day with nothing in the belly but a few sips of water. When he returns each evening, his final meal is equal to the stuff of kings. This man ages little and lives big.
Empedocles: Such a man has solved the mystery of the empty calorie.
Heraclitus: Gold does not feed.
Anaxagoras: But what of trade?
Empedocles: Gold or not, Nature demands fair give and take.
Heraclitus: Balance. Pass the lotus.
Anaxagoras: Consider now the question beyond addiction, with it or without, is the end result healthy or not?
So goes getting lost in a maze with the dialog of the three knowers. But, as Heraclitus "The Obscure" himself once said, The path up and down is one and the same. And I don't think he is too far off base, as in this present case where he posits that we humans are all addicted to one thing or another. It's an important idea to consider.A quick visit to MyAddiction.com might expand such a query. This website offers all sorts of information on addiction, including types of addictions, definitions, resources, articles, blogs, online support groups, a treatment center directory and much more. The site defines addiction as a complex, multifactor disorder which causes a person to act in a pattern of unhealthy, compulsive behavior which they carry out uncontrollably around the chronic use of a certain substance or stimulus. Substances and stimuli discussed on the site include: alcohol, illicit drugs from heroin to crack, prescription drugs from sleeping pills to narcotic pain killers, caffeine, tobacco, marijuana, gambling, the internet, sex, sugar, work, video games, pornography and shopping. In other words people As disorienting and even disturbing at it may be, the ability to step outside of one's self in order to reconsider and question one's usual opinions and behaviors, as if from the perspective of another person, may be not just a step to higher consciousness, but a necessary part of our everyday health and survival. Often, and probably on a semi-regular basis, we humans need to take a break from our own minds, great as they may be, in order to see our ways and beliefs are not the end-all-be-all. Enter the tribal shaman, whose mind-altering, perspective-expanding plant allies and rituals transport to worlds beyond human, giving seeker and patient alike a little nudge, or a big shove, out of the ruts of tired old thoughts and self-destructive behavior patterns.How often and easily us humans get wrapped up in our own thing, oblivious to the world around, as we focus on our own immediate needs, troubles and thoughts. No doubt, a certain healthy amount of self-absorption is normal and necessary to human health and survival. For how could any of us exist for very long without a deep sense of individuality and self-preservation. And yet beyond a certain point, instead of self-preservation, self-absorption leads to self-destruction.Let's play with this idea a bit as I take a lead from Watts above and summon "the three knowers" within to participate in a good old-fashioned dialog as in the days of the classic Greek lyceum:can become addicted to just about anything. And as the list shows, it's not just substances or chemicals people become addicted to, but behaviors as well (gambling and shopping). Also, one cannot help but notice that many of these substances/stimuli are actually necessary for human existence. Furthermore, it's no stretch to add that people can become addicted to money or making money, power, fame or attention. Rounding off the list I would add what is arguably the ultimate root of the self-destructive behavior so characteristic of addiction: on an individual human level it's called extreme egocentrism; on a species-wide level it's called extreme anthropocentrism; but really, any extreme or fixed "centrism" is bound to ultimately put one in that proverbial "deep hole" of addiction.
The topic of addiction is rich with fruit and fodder for discussion. Even terminology and definition is open to debate. Is addiction truly a disease, and if so, how and when does one cross the line from the healthy necessity of eating and shopping for instance, to the detrimental compulsion of "super-sizing" and spend-thrifting? What about free will and responsibility? To what extent can we claim (or allow others to claim) we are at the mercy of our own genes, even claim victims of chemical destiny and circumstance. Is any human immune to addiction? If so, what is the healthy "marker" we look for? Or is a tendency to addiction part of the human condition, one which must always, somehow, be held in check? Perhaps addictions are inescapable, and the best we can hope for is to find healthy addictions, or at least addictions least likely to hurt others and hurt ourselves.Of course I realize, when one is in the midst of addictive crisis, such philosophical speculations must be set aside for immediate intervention. But beyond the crisis, what about long-term treatment? How do we avoid replacing one destructive compulsion with another, smoking cigarettes with over-eating for instance. What about treatment that helps get to the root of the problem, treatment that does not numb the mind but rather expands the mind, or breaks it open, helping the individual see beyond the limited confines of the little self they've come to accept as real and final. I suggest wherever there is self-destructive behavior, there is a profound need to see a bigger picture and a better world. And let's face it, that's not an easy thing to do in this modern age, and maybe it never has been. But no doubt, there exist significant compulsive behaviors/beliefs in our modern age---growth, materialism, dominance-aggression, power-authoritarianism---which lead to many detrimental consequences both for the individual and the environment as a whole. Indeed, addicted or not, a bigger picture with a better world is exactly what is needed in this troubled world. So again, enter the ancient tribal shaman with his visionary ways, helps us open our eyes and minds...get smarter, more creative.
