and that it had to learn to control those desires.^10 Kant sort of said the same
thing.^11 Freud, too, except there were a lot of penises involved.^12 And when
Egas Moniz lobotomized his first patient in 1935, I’m sure he thought he had
just discovered a way to do what, for more than two thousand years,
philosophers had declared needed to be done: to grant reason dominion over
the unruly passions, to help humanity finally exercise some damn control over
itself.
This assumption (that we must use our rational mind to dominate our
emotions) has trickled down through the centuries and continues to define
much of our culture today. Let’s call it the “Classic Assumption.” The Classic
Assumption says that if a person is undisciplined, unruly, or malicious, it’s
because he lacks the ability to subjugate his feelings, that he is weak-willed or
just plain fucked up. The Classic Assumption sees passion and emotion as
flaws, errors within the human psyche that must be overcome and fixed
within the self.
Today, we usually judge people based on the Classic Assumption. Obese
people are ridiculed and shamed because their obesity is seen as a failure of
self-control. They know they should be thin, yet they continue to eat. Why?
Something must be wrong with them, we assume. Smokers: same deal. Drug
addicts receive the same treatment, of course, but often with the extra stigma
of being defined as criminals.
Depressed and suicidal people are subjected to the Classic Assumption in
a way that’s dangerous, being told that their inability to create hope and
meaning in their lives is their own damn fault, that maybe, if they just tried a
little harder, hanging themselves by the necktie wouldn’t sound so appealing.
We see succumbing to our emotional impulses as a moral failing. We see a
lack of self-control as a sign of a deficient character. Conversely, we celebrate
people who beat their emotions into submission. We get collective hard-ons
for athletes and businessmen and leaders who are ruthless and robotic in their
efficiency. If a CEO sleeps under his desk and doesn’t see his kids for six
weeks at a time—fuck yeah, that’s determination! See? Anyone can be
successful!
Clearly, it’s not hard to see how the Classic Assumption can lead to some
damaging . . . er, assumptions. If the Classic Assumption is true, then we
should be able to exhibit self-control, prevent emotional outbursts and crimes
of passion, and stave off addiction and indulgences through mental effort
alone. And any failure to do so reflects something inherently faulty or
damaged within us.
This is why we often develop the false belief that we need to change who