It's all an illusion, Sarah.
And yes, it has power over us.
We give existence to that which isn't real.
A new way of thinking is in order.
Very difficult to make it happen though.
I've found the following to be helpful in coping with the feelings of worthlessness that my parents and the cult instilled in me:
Pride and shame: Seeing that your behavior arises on its own - out of your particular biologically given traits and your particular career through life, not from a non-material controlling self - might pry you loose from excessive pride and shame. Your successes resulted from personal characteristics given to you in their entirety by nature and nurture, combined with circumstances in which you could express your talents. Likewise, your failures arose not from some weakness of will that could have been otherwise, but out of conditions which can be understood as the natural unfolding of physical and psychological processes. Anyone with the same internal and external circumstances would have done as well, or as badly. Understanding this won’t change the fact that you enjoy success and regret failure, but it may loosen the grip of ego and ease the burden of self-blame.
Behavioral Health: Mental illness, addiction, obesity, and other behavioral disorders are too often misunderstoodas failures of will. Instead, we can understand dysfunctionalbehavior a s fully caused by the interaction of genetic and environmental factors. Thisunderstanding reduces the stigma associated with behavioral disorders, while pointingthe way toward effective treatment. Naturalism supports the development of psychotherapeuticand self-change techniques that apply a causal view of behavior . Properly presented, challenging conventional wisdom about the self and free will is apowerful means to increase life satisfaction and deepen interpersonal relationships . See Addiction and Behavioral Health.
Social Policies: If persons are not self-made, but entirely the product of genetic and environmental conditions, this means that their virtues and faults are not a matter of will or self-chosen character. Rather, individuals are shaped by circumstances that can themselves be modified to produce people that are happier, more productive, more creative, and less needy. The myth of ultimate self-determination ( contra-causal free will) blocks the design of a more humane society by blaming persons for their shortcomings instead of understanding the conditions that create them. Likewise, this myth touts material success as the triumph of free will, so that it's thought to be justifiably restricted to those who "deserve" to succeed. Under naturalism, the allocation of resources is understood not to reflect what is deserved on the basis of self-caused virtue , but what is needed for each of us to live a desirable life . Therefore social policies will be encouraged which seek to maximize the opportunities for each person's development, independent of differences ininherited talent or social status. See the Social Justice page.
