"What we consider to be normal is simply what we are used to" is a very profound and true statement. Look at the social history of humans to find many things considered "normal" but which are no longer acceptible.
Social conditioning is VERY real. But most people are so caught up in it they don't even realize it's happening. If you read The Myth of Normal it opens your eyes to this. Gabor is quite astute in his assessment of this...
The real reason parents want their children to be diagnosed with ADHD is for the benefits, especially here in the United Kingdom, I kid you not, what they don’t realise is when they grow up they will act as though they’re really is something wrong with them, they also don’t forgive the parents especially the mother whose driving this phenomena.
I remember stepford wives. I did that in the 80s doting wife raising my children, I could care less for politics, back them. I'm a baby boomer. Broken now😢😢
It’s true. We are social creatures. Where i live type 2 diabetes and obesity is rampant. It’s seen as normal. And statistically speaking it’s true. But normal does not equal healthy. I’m technically 10lbs overweight and ppl call me skinny. I try to stay away from processed, high carb foods, ppl call me a picky eater. It’s hard going against the grain.
This is why i feel it’s important to learn about different cultures, history, and be exposed to diverse ppl. You start to see there are different ways of being. Adaptability is important but you start to see key patterns to human flourishing over the long term.
Gabor Mate has an original take on what is “normal” is so astonishingly truthful & insightful he should be held in the highest regard. Deserves a Nobel Prize!
I say this about our food culture all the time. So much is unhealthy. People have been conditioned to believe that if it’s in the store or being sold by a restaurant, it must be ok to eat…often, it is not. Unhealthy eating is the default. Converting to healthy eating is a challenge, but I actually find it easier and simpler, once you truly commit.
The food corporations put on the market is poison that tastes good. Their purpose is singularly to make profit for shareholders (which, ironically, is there people most able to afford the poison they produce).
The very fact that the governance structures collude conspire and cooperate with corpirations to produce and promote and sell toxic food ingredients - for the benefit of the kleptocracy, must be considered a capital offense - hangings at dawn
This is why despite having a family I am a complete loner. I miss interaction a bit occasionally but I prefer sanity and less social mental noise and less of the subtle leverage used by society at large.
Brilliant talk, but let's get specific. In my view, the core problems with Western societies are: 1. An exploitive ruling class (the truly powerful people and groups we always ignore); 2. A reductionist worldview (matter only; mind doesn't exist); 3. An inhumane economic logic (people as producers and consumers, not humans who produce and consume); 4. An ecocidal economic system (growth-dependent capitalism). Conceptually, the most fundamental requirement to overcome these deadly deficiencies is a humane and sustainable economic theory. My proposal is the Economics of Needs and Limits (ENL).
Social conditioning is very real, very stressful. Social conditioning can be very toxic. Toxic social conditioning is the root cause...along with the foods we eat, is causing I'll health for many.
In your comment, "we" means "everyone". What you say isn't true for everyone even if it's true for you. You can speak for yourself, of course, but not for some nameless, unidentified, anonymous "we".
@@huizhechen3779 certainly, when I discuss a life without superstition, people often say that without their god, they wonder what they would live for. That, and the many people on drugs for depression and anxiety, tells a story of a society that is stressful and often unhappy for many people.
What I like about J.K is that he didn't have a typical monologue type of speaking. It is more like a dialogue (David Bohm was inspired by J.K, to make a clearer definition of the word Dialogue, and that's where "Bohm dialogue" comes from. What is seen in J.K's speech, is that questions are proposed and he makes the audience meditate on the topic themselves, rather than giving immediate answers. He was very careful in his approach, as he had acknowledged the power of words, how easily we materialize things, and just talk about mere ideas, rather than reality. He didn't like philosophizing on these things, it was more about LIFE, and how does pondering these things reflect in your daily life..
What he was saying in regards to your quotation, is explained well in the following video: "Krishnamurti reading ‘Truth is a Pathless Land’ - Ojai, 1930".
Krishnamurti is one of my favorite authors and people. But he lacked the psychological and medical understanding Mates has. Both of them are great in my mind.
Family conditioning, schooling conditioning, media conditioning, social conditioning, cultural conditioning, religious conditioning. Buddhism is soooooooo right. What truly is the 'ego'? It's a fragile construct, in continual evolution, creating separation, one against another. Identification with said construct leads to suffering. Identification with our worst inclinations, our negative emotions, leads to suffering. The loss of community, physical and mental isolation, leads to suffering.
TAKING in all it's present forms has been legislated, ingrained in mythology, music, media, entertainment , education in a systematic way that makes ethics morals and truth suspect, and actually throws one out of the human tribe if pursued. This has been an amazing change over the past 50 years. It's seeds and actualization is the death of civilizations. But historically a repeating pattern seen by so few as to be unbelievable .
This video changes my perspective of the world. I hope that it can reach several people and enlight them about the problems we are facing in these years. I studied the environment as an answer in sociology and psychology, but this man is on another level because his argument is logical under any aspect.
The Huxley quote is rather interesting because in the grand scheme of things, accepting and liking your condition, your place, not in society necessarily, but within existence, actually is a path to happiness. Like Albert Camus' concept of Sisyphus being happy pushing the rock (as opposed to happiness coming from the achievement of the rock being on top of the mountain). As such, effective social conditioning/engineering's goal really is that, tricking people into liking their labor within a given society to such an extent that they never ask the deeper questions that could lead them to that deeper happiness. I guess the bigger question is... Is there actually a difference between one kind of happiness and another?
@@ianstuart5660 but that is only if you are able to somehow step out of society enough to be able to make that analysis. There’s actually a very powerful episode in A Brave New World where John tries to “free” the low working class by disrupting their Soma ration. They riot, largely because they can’t see another world and he was destroying their contentment. In a stable society the happy citizens have no realization of this power dynamic and exploitation. Imagine The Matrix where there is no Morpheus and his rag tag band of missionaries. Just people plugged in, going about their daily existence.
As Gabor Maté is pointing to people are unable to be happy in today's structure. Drugs are needed to keep people from offing themselves. The structure needs to change. The cycle of trauma needs to end. The values of society are misaligned with what I would call our natural values, those written in every human's heart.
I would say that those two examples (Huxley and Camus) are speculations made at a particular moment in time. Made by people who might or might not have had the circumstances (or self-awareness) to consider if it holds true for everyone. Overall, I agree with Mate about the importance of environment. Which on a smaller scale (individuals and families) has a direct correlation to how much capital a person or family has access to. So if people obtain enough wealth to at least afford their rent or a home and maybe vacation, a car etc., It makes sense they'd be content because they have the means to create or escape their environment to a degree. To be insulated in a way. I think it's all about how much you can control and people are willing to forgo control in one area if it offers them control in another. That form of happiness can be disrupted when things outside of their control impact their sense of control i.e. health, social unrest, job loss etc., Another way to look at it is some people due to their lack of control and capital are painfully aware they are zoo animals and other people believe they are the zookeepers. The zookeepers are ok with being zookeepers as long as they are not the zoo animals. Just my thoughts.
Dr. Mates is an amazing person. An intellect of grand capacity gracefully married to a profound and cultivated sense of empathy and compassion. Such insights are born out of suffering but also take great and painful efforts to be so in tune with the human condition. I dream of world of people who think like him. Making a need for such thinkers irrelevant and unnecessary as we all would have left primitive tribal thinking behind for empathic critical thinking that considers all life. I can dream cant I?
Sorry the contact/ sleep arrangements were from the age of 2-14 years. He completed his schooling from a very reputable school( City of London boys school, where once, Asquith the British Prime Minister studied). He has no siblings and is my only child: now 32) He feels hopeless, although he scored good grades at school - mostly A☆ I'm afraid that the doctors in the UK just have put him on antipsychotics unnecessarily , rather than solving the root causes of his problem and anxiety.
Look at a keto or carnivore diet! The transformation from all mental health issues has been stunning! If interested, I could point you to some excellent resources! Good luck!
Hobbes wasn't just talking about 17th century Britain. That is a misreading. He was saying that any society that lacks government, hierarchy, and rule of law will degenerate into violent anarchy where our base instincts supercede morality.
What I'd like to hear in Gabor's talks is more on the specific family and cultural conditions that support the flourishing of healthy humans. Also useful and inspiring would be examples of healthy, fully functioning humans and societies. We mostly hear in Gabor's talks what's lacking, what causes the dysfunction.
Most Indigenous cultures the world over. Not all. Def exceptions tho throughout also. Have much on such. Before they were genocided. Survival instincts and communal living. Worshipping nature and adapting amongst. More authentic selves and purpose community vs being a commodity. Or a cog in a bloody machine.
A tribe from Amazon on footage recent. Happens from time to time. They are majority detached from today's society. Have issues sure. But are still living and thriving deep in the jungle. Just like their ancestors eons before.
I'm on a perpetual downward spiral. Every time I am able to pick up one aspect of my life, five other aspects fall to pieces. I fall asleep hoping I do not wake up.
“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms-to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” Man's Search for Meaning. Victor Frankl. Find this book, it will change things for you. I wish you the best.
It’s so hard. Your struggle is valid. We are all suffering in this toxic culture. Find your local Marxists/communists/anarchists. It’s not perfect, but we are all on the same page. It’s a good foundation to build healthy relationships in an impossible place.
The world out side can be confusing certainly for a child. One teacher came into my life just at the right time. Learn how to learn and from whom. Equality and respect I believe is the key to life. Yes culture can kill you and challenges you to the end. Your view is important.
popularizing wisdom in real life sit-ins. Like in ancient Greece. We already have plenty of wisdom available in the internet. But in that way it is too easy to fool yourself when it's just you and the virtual Gabor mate. There is nothing there to question you. Social feedback is so important. If it would happen that we could meet up and talk about these things in facilitated dialogue, inevitably frustration would occur. "What good can talking do? Where is the action?" But if we would first lay a foundation of deep Understanding of Why we have these dialogues, there will be unshakeable Meaning behind the meetups, which will not shake during the moments of frustration, and so we could move on with the process. Many great things have happened in small groups, grassroot movements and so on .. as David Bohm said, culture is about Shared Meaning. It's like the glue that sticks all together. And in a dialogue, we're suspending our assumptions in order to come about understanding and meaning. And many people are very much identified with the assumptions they gave made, they get defensive and reactive. For these people, something like "Encounter group" would fit better (Carl Rogers), than a Dialogue as defined by David Bohm.
Are you a human being? Then; Just after you were born, a person, or people, gave you some measure of loving kindness, some amount of compassionate understanding. If not, you would not be alive now. That was your introduction to life, the implicit knowledge that loving kindness and compassionate understanding are indispensable for human life to exist. The foundation of human life, therefore, is loving kindness and compassionate understanding. As we age we are taught otherwise by damaged people. 💔 Their misdirection is rarely intentional. They are simply sick due to their own early learning experiences/trauma. Once this is understood, we can seek help to dismantle the wrong thinking that we were taught and insert, through daily practice, right thinking, and thereby right actions. The teacher that I have learned from is Thich Nhat Hahn, and the practitioners who learned from him before me. You may, of course, learn from someone else, but please do...learn that is. weezi-💜🙏💖🙏🤠
It is unstated that the hunter gatherer communities were in fact extended families. Young women grew up with extremely strong role models in their mothers, grandmothers, aunts, etc. The same for young men, so it is not unrelated social workers and and teachers usurping familial authority raising children, but a family.
There are many factors at play, the mental and physical is affected by the society we find ourselves in, by the environmental conditions, by the food eaten - a lot of the food that is chemically treated induces chemical reactions within our bodies, some of them are very psychologically detrimental. So-called rules of society, departmentalizing of people, of things, creates change, not only in the psyche, but in the body chemistry. We are not ants, but an atmosphere of aggression raises the testosterone even in women, raises cortisol. Chemicals in food, aggression all around, can create hyperactive children, for example. The genes may not be changing rapidly, but our chemistry literally is assaulted every day. There are no normal brains - piling on the anti-this anti-that medicines, that are not checked for their reactions in our bodies, in our brains, is just an avoidance of looking at the real problems, finding real solutions
Hi Gabor, I have a son who has never spoken about the trauma of his childhood crying not to go to his dads house . The judge gave my ex-husband for contact and sleep arrangements. I was tormented as my son as there was no way my ex would allow me to communicate by phone even to reassure or soothe his anguish and anxiety. Even at school he was yanked away holding tightly to the school gates. He was physically abused and taken unwillingly , always, crying. My son has bottled all his emotions all these years. I would greatly appreciate and may God reward you if you can help my son. He got into alcohol, and various street drugs. I love my son dearly, and am trying to taper him from Clozapine( antipsychotics) but am afraid of suicidal ideation, as he has previously jumped from my 4th floor apartment but miraculously survived. Please, please could you help him. Thank you even if you can't! I am an optimist though.
Muy de acuerdo con usted. No obstante, aunque parece tener cierta idea sobre el problema… las condiciones de vida actuales para la mayoría de las personas: agobiadas por el trabajo y el estrés...., parece ser que tiene aún menos claro la solución. No es que tengamos que volver a las sociedades antiguas, sino que tenemos que realizar un trabajo serio de introspección, de meditación y desarrollo espiritual, es decir, conectar con nuestra esencia. El budismo es un excelente camino para lograrlo.
Wanted to add very good resources on the topic normalization and how 'normal' is not always consciously chosen or healthy. "How normalization is hurting you and hurting society" and "How Has It Come To This? (The Societal Collapse into Independence)" by Teal Swan.
Questioning what is considered to be normal is not the only possible, viable reaction/response to this assessment of the Hungarian war criminal (or any other)... Another perspective and approach involves the recognition & acknowledgement that each and every one of us has that same potential within us to commit the most horrifying & egregious atrocities. And, in fact, many (if not most) of us would do so if we were in similar/comparable circumstances. This is a type of therapy often referred to as "shadow work". It is worth exploring...!
I am not being sarcastic at all when I ask this… How is this not blatantly obvious? Why does anyone need to watch a 23 minute video to understand how f¥{%£} we are ? The idea that people are collectively unaware how stupid we are is much more fascinating to me than the fact that we are collectively stupid.
It's definitely killing me Gabor, well that & the effects on me of the damage done getting rid of the HCV given me in an infected plasma transfusion many years ago! I have got rid of the HCV, although that success just means that you're then dumped & left to get on with the business of recovery, as if that's just going to happen. It looks like that's not going to happen, without considerable assistance. Good luck finding that assistance though. I'm getting very tired now of looking for it and NOT finding it!
Human nature is the capacity for good and for evil and depending on which nature is ascendant in any given moment the results will manifest. I love Mate, however, I am surprised that he doesn't make this connection.
At around 1:50 Gabor just talked about how a terrible monster of a person was psychologically normal and that maybe this should cause us to question what is normal. He is missing the greater point here. Mind you, I think we should always question what is normal, but the real point is that no matter what you end up calling normal, human monsters can appear very, very normal. In fact, the worst of monsters are the ones who have some kind of charisma which makes a large number of people think that monster is good. It is not until such a monster gains a large following of people that think the monster is good that it becomes possible for them to begin letting what is really monstrous about them publicly show, because by then they have indoctrinated, converted, groomed, or otherwise made that large following also monstrous. The truth is that monsters can form from the far right, the far left, the far and extreme whatever; where some extreme belief leads them into deciding they are superior for some reason and have the right to do bad things to those they decide are inferior.
He is arguing that human nature is not as fixed as people suggest and that from us believing it is it limits are our ability to create an environment that differs from the one we are currently in. I don't think he is wedded to the word normal.
@@theepumasimone then he is also missing the point that what fits "Normal" always forms within social groups. This is not something in question, it is a statistical fact. Now, what that statistical normal is varies between social groups and varies within social groups over time, but that statistical normal still forms. However, very frequently, very regularly, the worst monsters of history are cast as being abnormal monsters, which should be obvious to see how bad they are. But, the truth is these worst of historical monsters virtually always rise to power through a popular support of people.
I needed a scholarship to one of your workshops and my application was ignored. Then I realized you are a famous spokesman for psychological health, as long as it doesn't get too personal. Maybe it ended after you stopped serving the homeless hoardes of Vancouver?
Is it possible to get a downloadable transcript of this? I can access the YT version but it's not copyable. The talk gave me a lot of things to ponder and I'd like to make notes for reference.
We are the culture we live in. Do not let the times you live in dictate your behavior. It has always been thus. Read the prophets. The cultured individual always acts as a critique on the current situation. Don’t blame anyone for what you should be doing for yourself. Seek the truth, it will set you free spiritually but it may get you censored, locked up or worse.
@@theepumasimone Any prophet? Who would that be? One characteristic of truth is that it is one thing not two. There are not multiple truths, sorry but you can’t have it both ways.
@@carlharmeling512 I was thinking of a quote from Khalil Gibran's The Prophet which to me speaks directly to prophets. That is my perspective and it feels true to me. Just like what you believe feels true to you. Everyone's idea of truth will be informed by what belief system they came up in, and what resonates with them. There are six billion people in the world. It is more realistic to consider there are multiple truths. Part of the reason things are so divided is that everyone feels like they have the one truth and it often conflicts with someone else's. That can be observed in real-time which makes it a truth. One can say there are spiritual truths that can't be observed. And they don't negate what is true in the physical. Also If you look at something like a 'paradox' that's an example where people are required to hold multiple truths at once.
@@theepumasimone You have it backwards. Belief systems do not inform truth, it is truth that informs belief systems and I still insist that truth is one thing. Many belief systems are informed by what is untrue and are destined for disillusionment. I am wondering, what is the quote from Khalil Gibran you were thinking about?
@@carlharmeling512 Khalil Gibran - The Prophet (On Self Knowledge) - Say not, “I have found the truth,” but rather, “I have found a truth.” Say not, "I have found the path of the soul.” Say rather, “I have met the soul walking upon my path.” For the soul walks upon all paths. The soul walks not upon a line, neither does it grow like a reed. The soul unfolds itself, like a lotus of countless petals.
My relatives live in west vancouver( British properties) and if you think it necessary, although difficult for me( as I am looking after my 92+ year mum as well as my son)
Overall I think Gabor's talk here was very good and something people should consider and think about. I believe to become stuck within some social norms that we do not question because they are normal is bad. To make a social norm which gets applied to everyone I think is bad, though there are some social norms we do need to try and make universal across society. But, if a society does not allow for different subgroups to develop their own social norms, then that society loses flexibility and adaptability which comes with trying out different social norms which might work better. One of the things we should definitively do is study how and why some societies develop extremely bad social norms which lead to clearly bad results like mass murder on massive scales. One of the problems we have with doing this is that people tend to want to imagine the leaders of such atrocious events, like Hitler, Stalin, and Mao, are clearly obviously evil people and thus it is easy to see them coming. But that is false. The ideologies and leaders of the worst atrocities last century rose because many people believed they were good and right. So what we need to do is learn to understand how things we believe are good and right can turn into a massive huge atrocity. Another problem with this is that leaders who rise in power and wealth generally do not want the masses to learn to understand how things we believe are good and right can turn into a massive huge atrocity, because their rise to power and wealth and ability to keep their power and wealth often rely on bad tendencies which can and sometimes do lead a society into some massive huge atrocity. I do not just mean political leaders, because all leaders who can significantly effect society need to be included, whether political, economic, religious, etc.
Getting a minister for loneliness isn't assuring a solution for loneliness when they'll only have access to that kind of pay for as long as there's loneliness. There might need to be a minister for common sense, as that's at least something we'd want to keep.
In the ant, what is it that signals inside the winning ant, to morph into a Queen ant? I would like to discuss this here rather than research it externally....
They both are, the dominant ideologies are an expression of the dominant culture. The ruling elites have masterfully shrouded us in the chaos of ideological differences. Ideology has transitioned from something you believe in and can debate and create dialogue around, to now; ideology is something that you ARE. When the shift in ideology became a staunch part of people’s identities (and their worldviews) it becomes much harder to have productive conversations. Now we argue about which books we’re banning and who can use which bathroom when the real conversations should be centered around REAL issues like lobbying, wage stagnation, the housing crisis and creating affordable housing, Wall Street and private equity pillaging the middle class, the consolidation of wealth and power by corporations, etc etc etc
No matter when or where. Hthe human world concerns are pleaure, gain, praise, pride and the avoidance of the opposits. There is no new kind of man except those transcending beyond being a human.
We live in a culture that makes everyone expendable for capital (a non-living thing). You don't think that would impact how people relate to each other? Or even themselves?
@@theepumasimone barter for a day and see how it works out for you! its taken since the begining of time for us to get where we are...for better for worse...we're still trying to figure things out...just wait till cbdc gets in and you'll be missing when cash was king!
@@olivierbolton8683 I would argue our bodies are king and cash is only a by-product of the labor our bodies produce. We have adopted a system that doesn't see the value of our bodies outside of labor and as a result, we don't prioritize the basics or the next generation. Which is what every other species on this planet is worried about. You think cash is more important than clean water and food? If we don't build industries and systems that prioritize those things and instead make them harder to access, we are working really backwards. Also that idea that we are somehow further along, is usually based off the experiences of one group of people from one specific region of the world. There are ancient civilizations that were able to survive thousands of years. We are only a quarter of the way there. But that might be because I don't equate technology with true progress. To me, sustainability and longevity is the best marker.
It's baffling that even people at the top are slaves to the system. Someone must start talking and people whom realized the same facts should talking about them more and more. Let's hope that people at the top will somehow realize these simple facts and start changing the world to a better place. Unfortunately we're just being labelled as crazy people by the mass. But unfortunately for them they're not realize they're also slaves.
"quartz is the most chewable crystal" was a pretty good punchline. if he wants laughs when doing jokes, he just needs to cut his teeth doing some comedy club open mics to polish his delivery and timing
Gabor Mate's contributions in many fields are immense. May he live long. This world needs him badly.
This man deserves a Nobel Prize for his work.
Or jail .... Check out his credentials and if he actually helped someone ....
@@annas1259He has a BA and an MD from the University of British Columbia.
Definitely a Nobel Prize..
his work could transform the world beyond recognition
@@annas1259cut the crap
"What we consider to be normal is simply what we are used to" is a very profound and true statement. Look at the social history of humans to find many things considered "normal" but which are no longer acceptible.
Look at what they are trying to normalize by saturating the culture with it 24/7 attempting to get people used to it and accept it.
Yes, & when things become "no longer acceptable", we create "new normals". We do that all the time.
Social conditioning is VERY real. But most people are so caught up in it they don't even realize it's happening. If you read The Myth of Normal it opens your eyes to this. Gabor is quite astute in his assessment of this...
The real reason parents want their children to be diagnosed with ADHD is for the benefits, especially here in the United Kingdom, I kid you not, what they don’t realise is when they grow up they will act as though they’re really is something wrong with them, they also don’t forgive the parents especially the mother whose driving this phenomena.
This is why I say that we live in a cult
I remember stepford wives. I did that in the 80s doting wife raising my children, I could care less for politics, back them. I'm a baby boomer. Broken now😢😢
It’s true. We are social creatures. Where i live type 2 diabetes and obesity is rampant. It’s seen as normal. And statistically speaking it’s true. But normal does not equal healthy. I’m technically 10lbs overweight and ppl call me skinny. I try to stay away from processed, high carb foods, ppl call me a picky eater. It’s hard going against the grain.
This is why i feel it’s important to learn about different cultures, history, and be exposed to diverse ppl. You start to see there are different ways of being. Adaptability is important but you start to see key patterns to human flourishing over the long term.
Gabor Mate has an original take on what is “normal” is so astonishingly truthful & insightful he should be held in the highest regard. Deserves a Nobel Prize!
It is not actually original, it is correcting our careless confusion between 'normal' and 'usual'.
I say this about our food culture all the time. So much is unhealthy. People have been conditioned to believe that if it’s in the store or being sold by a restaurant, it must be ok to eat…often, it is not. Unhealthy eating is the default. Converting to healthy eating is a challenge, but I actually find it easier and simpler, once you truly commit.
The food corporations put on the market is poison that tastes good. Their purpose is singularly to make profit for shareholders (which, ironically, is there people most able to afford the poison they produce).
I'd widen that to "FDA-approved". FDA is no longer the source of truth for many of us. Sad fact.
Try a keto or carnivore diet to completely transform your health!
@@artwillvideos how did u do it?
The very fact that the governance structures collude conspire and cooperate with corpirations to produce and promote and sell toxic food ingredients - for the benefit of the kleptocracy, must be considered a capital offense - hangings at dawn
This is why despite having a family I am a complete loner. I miss interaction a bit occasionally but I prefer sanity and less social mental noise and less of the subtle leverage used by society at large.
Brilliant talk, but let's get specific. In my view, the core problems with Western societies are:
1. An exploitive ruling class (the truly powerful people and groups we always ignore);
2. A reductionist worldview (matter only; mind doesn't exist);
3. An inhumane economic logic (people as producers and consumers, not humans who produce and consume);
4. An ecocidal economic system (growth-dependent capitalism).
Conceptually, the most fundamental requirement to overcome these deadly deficiencies is a humane and sustainable economic theory. My proposal is the Economics of Needs and Limits (ENL).
Couldn't agree more, thank you
Truly..
Yes. Greed is DUMB.
Yes. Greed is DUMB.
Greed is D U M B. For some reason YT keeps deleting this statement.
Social conditioning is very real, very stressful.
Social conditioning can be very toxic.
Toxic social conditioning is the root cause...along with the foods we eat, is causing I'll health for many.
We live in a toxic environment, devoid of love and human connection.
In your comment, "we" means "everyone". What you say isn't true for everyone even if it's true for you. You can speak for yourself, of course, but not for some nameless, unidentified, anonymous "we".
@@huizhechen3779 certainly, when I discuss a life without superstition, people often say that without their god, they wonder what they would live for. That, and the many people on drugs for depression and anxiety, tells a story of a society that is stressful and often unhappy for many people.
@@huizhechen3779Americans
Dr Mate is a great man and an excellent human being we all should try to emulate
Thank you for your definition of what is considered to be normal. Thank you for your thoughts, reflections and insights.
I have been pondering on the question of
“ what is human nature?”
My earliest memories are these thoughts
Excellent answers by Dr mate.
Brilliant speaker about all conditioning we can ever imagine is Jiddu Krishnamurti.
What I like about J.K is that he didn't have a typical monologue type of speaking. It is more like a dialogue (David Bohm was inspired by J.K, to make a clearer definition of the word Dialogue, and that's where "Bohm dialogue" comes from.
What is seen in J.K's speech, is that questions are proposed and he makes the audience meditate on the topic themselves, rather than giving immediate answers.
He was very careful in his approach, as he had acknowledged the power of words, how easily we materialize things, and just talk about mere ideas, rather than reality. He didn't like philosophizing on these things, it was more about LIFE, and how does pondering these things reflect in your daily life..
Is he the one who said "The most dangerous journey one can take is a search for the truth because it destroys one's reality?"
What he was saying in regards to your quotation, is explained well in the following video: "Krishnamurti reading ‘Truth is a Pathless Land’ - Ojai, 1930".
Krishnamurti is one of my favorite authors and people. But he lacked the psychological and medical understanding Mates has. Both of them are great in my mind.
Its rare that a speaker captivates me so quickly.
Our normal society sucks. Our lives are short enough, and nature is too precious to shit it all away.
Amen to that!
❤❤
Love you Gabor seemingly so brilliant about human suffering...Bless your heart ❤️
Family conditioning, schooling conditioning, media conditioning, social conditioning, cultural conditioning, religious conditioning. Buddhism is soooooooo right. What truly is the 'ego'? It's a fragile construct, in continual evolution, creating separation, one against another. Identification with said construct leads to suffering. Identification with our worst inclinations, our negative emotions, leads to suffering. The loss of community, physical and mental isolation, leads to suffering.
Normal is only on a dial on your washing machine... wake up ‼️😲
Delicate cycle may be needed!
😂😂
TAKING in all it's present forms has been legislated, ingrained in mythology, music, media, entertainment , education in a systematic way that makes ethics morals and truth suspect, and actually throws one out of the human tribe if pursued. This has been an amazing change over the past 50 years. It's seeds and actualization is the death of civilizations. But historically a repeating pattern seen by so few as to be unbelievable .
يالها من عباره حقيقيه ومؤلمه (مانعتبره طبيعيا هو ببساطه مااعتدنا عليه )
😢
Love you Gabor
It was an insightful video. Thank you for sharing!
Wish I had known about this man sooner, his thinking aligns very closely with some of the things I am experiencing and trying to express.
Working at school for years and years I saw it over and over again!
This video changes my perspective of the world. I hope that it can reach several people and enlight them about the problems we are facing in these years. I studied the environment as an answer in sociology and psychology, but this man is on another level because his argument is logical under any aspect.
The Huxley quote is rather interesting because in the grand scheme of things, accepting and liking your condition, your place, not in society necessarily, but within existence, actually is a path to happiness. Like Albert Camus' concept of Sisyphus being happy pushing the rock (as opposed to happiness coming from the achievement of the rock being on top of the mountain). As such, effective social conditioning/engineering's goal really is that, tricking people into liking their labor within a given society to such an extent that they never ask the deeper questions that could lead them to that deeper happiness. I guess the bigger question is... Is there actually a difference between one kind of happiness and another?
Yes, there are huge differences, especially if one's happiness is derived from the suffering or unhappiness of others! Just my 2 cents!
@@ianstuart5660 but that is only if you are able to somehow step out of society enough to be able to make that analysis. There’s actually a very powerful episode in A Brave New World where John tries to “free” the low working class by disrupting their Soma ration. They riot, largely because they can’t see another world and he was destroying their contentment. In a stable society the happy citizens have no realization of this power dynamic and exploitation. Imagine The Matrix where there is no Morpheus and his rag tag band of missionaries. Just people plugged in, going about their daily existence.
As Gabor Maté is pointing to people are unable to be happy in today's structure. Drugs are needed to keep people from offing themselves. The structure needs to change. The cycle of trauma needs to end. The values of society are misaligned with what I would call our natural values, those written in every human's heart.
I would say that those two examples (Huxley and Camus) are speculations made at a particular moment in time. Made by people who might or might not have had the circumstances (or self-awareness) to consider if it holds true for everyone. Overall, I agree with Mate about the importance of environment. Which on a smaller scale (individuals and families) has a direct correlation to how much capital a person or family has access to. So if people obtain enough wealth to at least afford their rent or a home and maybe vacation, a car etc., It makes sense they'd be content because they have the means to create or escape their environment to a degree. To be insulated in a way. I think it's all about how much you can control and people are willing to forgo control in one area if it offers them control in another. That form of happiness can be disrupted when things outside of their control impact their sense of control i.e. health, social unrest, job loss etc., Another way to look at it is some people due to their lack of control and capital are painfully aware they are zoo animals and other people believe they are the zookeepers. The zookeepers are ok with being zookeepers as long as they are not the zoo animals. Just my thoughts.
An utterly nonsensical comment . What are you blathering on about .
Dr. Mates is an amazing person. An intellect of grand capacity gracefully married to a profound and cultivated sense of empathy and compassion. Such insights are born out of suffering but also take great and painful efforts to be so in tune with the human condition. I dream of world of people who think like him. Making a need for such thinkers irrelevant and unnecessary as we all would have left primitive tribal thinking behind for empathic critical thinking that considers all life. I can dream cant I?
It is not CULTURE - because Culture is the result OF ALL of us doings...
BUT... CORPORATIONS!
#LONGLIVERESISTANCE
.
Sorry the contact/ sleep arrangements were from the age of 2-14 years.
He completed his schooling from a very reputable school( City of London boys school, where once, Asquith the British Prime Minister studied).
He has no siblings and is my only child: now 32)
He feels hopeless, although he scored good grades at school - mostly A☆
I'm afraid that the doctors in the UK just have put him on antipsychotics unnecessarily , rather than solving the root causes of his problem and anxiety.
Look at a keto or carnivore diet! The transformation from all mental health issues has been stunning! If interested, I could point you to some excellent resources! Good luck!
Hobbes wasn't just talking about 17th century Britain. That is a misreading. He was saying that any society that lacks government, hierarchy, and rule of law will degenerate into violent anarchy where our base instincts supercede morality.
What I'd like to hear in Gabor's talks is more on the specific family and cultural conditions that support the flourishing of healthy humans. Also useful and inspiring would be examples of healthy, fully functioning humans and societies. We mostly hear in Gabor's talks what's lacking, what causes the dysfunction.
Most Indigenous cultures the world over. Not all. Def exceptions tho throughout also.
Have much on such. Before they were genocided.
Survival instincts and communal living.
Worshipping nature and adapting amongst.
More authentic selves and purpose community
vs being a commodity. Or a cog in a bloody machine.
A tribe from Amazon on footage recent.
Happens from time to time.
They are majority detached from today's society.
Have issues sure. But are still living and thriving deep in the jungle.
Just like their ancestors eons before.
Attend a Rainbow gathering and experience true humanity. ✌️
Rainbow gathering?@@user-dj6hu9gq4t
I'm on a perpetual downward spiral. Every time I am able to pick up one aspect of my life, five other aspects fall to pieces. I fall asleep hoping I do not wake up.
“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms-to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”
Man's Search for Meaning. Victor Frankl.
Find this book, it will change things for you. I wish you the best.
It’s so hard. Your struggle is valid. We are all suffering in this toxic culture. Find your local Marxists/communists/anarchists. It’s not perfect, but we are all on the same page. It’s a good foundation to build healthy relationships in an impossible place.
Spot-on! It's toxic, and some consider it our leading export. -It's being spread around the world.
"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society."
J. Krishnamurti
The world out side can be confusing certainly for a child. One teacher came into my life just at the right time. Learn how to learn and from whom. Equality and respect I believe is the key to life. Yes culture can kill you and challenges you to the end. Your view is important.
Very true .
Then it means that culture has to change and society needs to change for sustaining a healthy huma population.
Question is how?
popularizing wisdom in real life sit-ins. Like in ancient Greece. We already have plenty of wisdom available in the internet. But in that way it is too easy to fool yourself when it's just you and the virtual Gabor mate. There is nothing there to question you. Social feedback is so important.
If it would happen that we could meet up and talk about these things in facilitated dialogue, inevitably frustration would occur. "What good can talking do? Where is the action?" But if we would first lay a foundation of deep Understanding of Why we have these dialogues, there will be unshakeable Meaning behind the meetups, which will not shake during the moments of frustration, and so we could move on with the process. Many great things have happened in small groups, grassroot movements and so on .. as David Bohm said, culture is about Shared Meaning. It's like the glue that sticks all together. And in a dialogue, we're suspending our assumptions in order to come about understanding and meaning. And many people are very much identified with the assumptions they gave made, they get defensive and reactive. For these people, something like "Encounter group" would fit better (Carl Rogers), than a Dialogue as defined by David Bohm.
I love this man.
I’d be interested to hear Dr. Mate’s perspective on Robert Sapolsky’s conclusion that human’s do not have free will.
Excellent presentation with profound implications for society. Do not miss.
Neither the life of an individual nor the history of a society can be understood without understanding both.
- Charles Wright Mills
Are you a human being?
Then;
Just after you were born, a person, or people, gave you some measure of loving kindness, some amount of compassionate understanding. If not, you would not be alive now. That was your introduction to life, the implicit knowledge that loving kindness and compassionate understanding are indispensable for human life to exist.
The foundation of human life, therefore, is loving kindness and compassionate understanding.
As we age we are taught otherwise by damaged people. 💔
Their misdirection is rarely intentional. They are simply sick due to their own early learning experiences/trauma.
Once this is understood, we can seek help to dismantle the wrong thinking that we were taught and insert, through daily practice, right thinking, and thereby right actions.
The teacher that I have learned from is Thich Nhat Hahn, and the practitioners who learned from him before me.
You may, of course, learn from someone else, but please do...learn that is.
weezi-💜🙏💖🙏🤠
It is unstated that the hunter gatherer communities were in fact extended families. Young women grew up with extremely strong role models in their mothers, grandmothers, aunts, etc. The same for young men, so it is not unrelated social workers and and teachers usurping familial authority raising children, but a family.
This man is a Legend ❤️
There are many factors at play, the mental and physical is affected by the society we find ourselves in, by the environmental conditions, by the food eaten - a lot of the food that is chemically treated induces chemical reactions within our bodies, some of them are very psychologically detrimental. So-called rules of society, departmentalizing of people, of things, creates change, not only in the psyche, but in the body chemistry. We are not ants, but an atmosphere of aggression raises the testosterone even in women, raises cortisol. Chemicals in food, aggression all around, can create hyperactive children, for example. The genes may not be changing rapidly, but our chemistry literally is assaulted every day. There are no normal brains - piling on the anti-this anti-that medicines, that are not checked for their reactions in our bodies, in our brains, is just an avoidance of looking at the real problems, finding real solutions
Definitely!...❤❤
Very profound,thought provoking lecture.I shall definitely read your book.
Hi Gabor,
I have a son who has never spoken about the trauma of his childhood crying not to go to his dads house . The judge gave my ex-husband for contact and sleep arrangements. I was tormented as my son as there was no way my ex would allow me to communicate by phone even to reassure or soothe his anguish and anxiety.
Even at school he was yanked away holding tightly to the school gates.
He was physically abused and taken unwillingly , always, crying.
My son has bottled all his emotions all these years.
I would greatly appreciate and may God reward you if you can help my son.
He got into alcohol, and various street drugs.
I love my son dearly, and am trying to taper him from Clozapine( antipsychotics) but am afraid of suicidal ideation, as he has previously jumped from my 4th floor apartment but miraculously survived.
Please, please could you help him.
Thank you even if you can't!
I am an optimist though.
Oustanding insights..
Muy de acuerdo con usted. No obstante, aunque parece tener cierta idea sobre el problema… las condiciones de vida actuales para la mayoría de las personas: agobiadas por el trabajo y el estrés...., parece ser que tiene aún menos claro la solución. No es que tengamos que volver a las sociedades antiguas, sino que tenemos que realizar un trabajo serio de introspección, de meditación y desarrollo espiritual, es decir, conectar con nuestra esencia. El budismo es un excelente camino para lograrlo.
Wanted to add very good resources on the topic normalization and how 'normal' is not always consciously chosen or healthy. "How normalization is hurting you and hurting society" and "How Has It Come To This? (The Societal Collapse into Independence)" by Teal Swan.
Teal Swan is an abusive cult leader.
We need to provide ourselves with enrichment activities like we now do with animals in zoos, etc.
Yes. Big brother and perpetual warfare are normal.
I had Panic attack because from to much social pressure
......What a humanitarian ...grazie
Questioning what is considered to be normal is not the only possible, viable reaction/response to this assessment of the Hungarian war criminal (or any other)...
Another perspective and approach involves the recognition & acknowledgement that each and every one of us has that same potential within us to commit the most horrifying & egregious atrocities. And, in fact, many (if not most) of us would do so if we were in similar/comparable circumstances.
This is a type of therapy often referred to as "shadow work".
It is worth exploring...!
I am not being sarcastic at all when I ask this… How is this not blatantly obvious? Why does anyone need to watch a 23 minute video to understand how f¥{%£} we are ? The idea that people are collectively unaware how stupid we are is much more fascinating to me than the fact that we are collectively stupid.
It's definitely killing me Gabor, well that & the effects on me of the damage done getting rid of the HCV given me in an infected plasma transfusion many years ago!
I have got rid of the HCV, although that success just means that you're then dumped & left to get on with the business of recovery, as if that's just going to happen.
It looks like that's not going to happen, without considerable assistance.
Good luck finding that assistance though.
I'm getting very tired now of looking for it and NOT finding it!
I love Dr. Gabor Mate!
Putting God first solve all the problems as it’s a key to our well being.
Human nature is the capacity for good and for evil and depending on which nature is ascendant in any given moment the results will manifest. I love Mate, however, I am surprised that he doesn't make this connection.
@@esoligh thanks for responding!! Unsure what is your meaning
I thought that was the whole point of this talk. To point out that we tend to believe the worst about ourselves.
Thank you.
At around 1:50 Gabor just talked about how a terrible monster of a person was psychologically normal and that maybe this should cause us to question what is normal.
He is missing the greater point here.
Mind you, I think we should always question what is normal, but the real point is that no matter what you end up calling normal, human monsters can appear very, very normal. In fact, the worst of monsters are the ones who have some kind of charisma which makes a large number of people think that monster is good. It is not until such a monster gains a large following of people that think the monster is good that it becomes possible for them to begin letting what is really monstrous about them publicly show, because by then they have indoctrinated, converted, groomed, or otherwise made that large following also monstrous.
The truth is that monsters can form from the far right, the far left, the far and extreme whatever; where some extreme belief leads them into deciding they are superior for some reason and have the right to do bad things to those they decide are inferior.
Definitely true!
He is arguing that human nature is not as fixed as people suggest and that from us believing it is it limits are our ability to create an environment that differs from the one we are currently in. I don't think he is wedded to the word normal.
@@theepumasimone then he is also missing the point that what fits "Normal" always forms within social groups. This is not something in question, it is a statistical fact. Now, what that statistical normal is varies between social groups and varies within social groups over time, but that statistical normal still forms.
However, very frequently, very regularly, the worst monsters of history are cast as being abnormal monsters, which should be obvious to see how bad they are. But, the truth is these worst of historical monsters virtually always rise to power through a popular support of people.
I needed a scholarship to one of your workshops and my application was ignored. Then I realized you are a famous spokesman for psychological health, as long as it doesn't get too personal. Maybe it ended after you stopped serving the homeless hoardes of Vancouver?
Is it possible to get a downloadable transcript of this? I can access the YT version but it's not copyable. The talk gave me a lot of things to ponder and I'd like to make notes for reference.
We are the culture we live in. Do not let the times you live in dictate your behavior. It has always been thus. Read the prophets. The cultured individual always acts as a critique on the current situation. Don’t blame anyone for what you should be doing for yourself. Seek the truth, it will set you free spiritually but it may get you censored, locked up or worse.
Any prophet I have read has considered there are multiple truths. Which makes sense in a world of 6 billion people.
@@theepumasimone Any prophet? Who would that be? One characteristic of truth is that it is one thing not two. There are not multiple truths, sorry but you can’t have it both ways.
@@carlharmeling512 I was thinking of a quote from Khalil Gibran's The Prophet which to me speaks directly to prophets. That is my perspective and it feels true to me. Just like what you believe feels true to you. Everyone's idea of truth will be informed by what belief system they came up in, and what resonates with them. There are six billion people in the world. It is more realistic to consider there are multiple truths. Part of the reason things are so divided is that everyone feels like they have the one truth and it often conflicts with someone else's. That can be observed in real-time which makes it a truth. One can say there are spiritual truths that can't be observed. And they don't negate what is true in the physical. Also If you look at something like a 'paradox' that's an example where people are required to hold multiple truths at once.
@@theepumasimone You have it backwards. Belief systems do not inform truth, it is truth that informs belief systems and I still insist that truth is one thing. Many belief systems are informed by what is untrue and are destined for disillusionment. I am wondering, what is the quote from Khalil Gibran you were thinking about?
@@carlharmeling512 Khalil Gibran - The Prophet (On Self Knowledge) - Say not, “I have found the truth,” but rather, “I have found a truth.”
Say not, "I have found the path of the soul.” Say rather, “I have met the soul walking upon my path.”
For the soul walks upon all paths.
The soul walks not upon a line, neither does it grow like a reed.
The soul unfolds itself, like a lotus of countless petals.
Mr. Mate should talk about the influence of The Talmud in Jewish society... I know about the bees Mr Mate!
As the late great Terrance McKenna said decades ago "culture is not your friend"
And we assist to it and doing nothing against it 😅
I've been a fan / follower of Gabor for quite sometime. Read his books 😊....I believe child immunizations / vaccines play a role in these conditions.
Lckdowns and identity politics have made life hellish for years. I am not at all surprised at the sooo iss iyde rate.
Could you made a subtitles in French or Spanish? It's hard to understand. Gabor's ideas need translation !
Blew my mind
My relatives live in west vancouver( British properties) and if you think it necessary, although difficult for me( as I am looking after my 92+ year mum as well as my son)
I would travel to B.C even though it would be extremely difficult, as 3 of us would need to travel: Myself, My Son and My Mum)
Please suggest.
the old frog in the beaker analogy unaware of the fact that its being boiled alive.
Normal is what you make it. Is there another person who has to same normal as you? Strategies to keep ourselves going.
Lovely man,and lovely sons!
Overall I think Gabor's talk here was very good and something people should consider and think about.
I believe to become stuck within some social norms that we do not question because they are normal is bad.
To make a social norm which gets applied to everyone I think is bad, though there are some social norms we do need to try and make universal across society. But, if a society does not allow for different subgroups to develop their own social norms, then that society loses flexibility and adaptability which comes with trying out different social norms which might work better.
One of the things we should definitively do is study how and why some societies develop extremely bad social norms which lead to clearly bad results like mass murder on massive scales.
One of the problems we have with doing this is that people tend to want to imagine the leaders of such atrocious events, like Hitler, Stalin, and Mao, are clearly obviously evil people and thus it is easy to see them coming. But that is false. The ideologies and leaders of the worst atrocities last century rose because many people believed they were good and right. So what we need to do is learn to understand how things we believe are good and right can turn into a massive huge atrocity.
Another problem with this is that leaders who rise in power and wealth generally do not want the masses to learn to understand how things we believe are good and right can turn into a massive huge atrocity, because their rise to power and wealth and ability to keep their power and wealth often rely on bad tendencies which can and sometimes do lead a society into some massive huge atrocity. I do not just mean political leaders, because all leaders who can significantly effect society need to be included, whether political, economic, religious, etc.
Getting a minister for loneliness isn't assuring a solution for loneliness when they'll only have access to that kind of pay for as long as there's loneliness. There might need to be a minister for common sense, as that's at least something we'd want to keep.
Hobbes was talking about what life was like without government.
In the ant, what is it that signals inside the winning ant, to morph into a Queen ant?
I would like to discuss this here rather than research it externally....
compassion
Really sad it was cut at the most critical point of the talk.
This part of Gabor's talk was only Part 1. Part 2 continues where this leaves off. It is titled "This Is Why You're Sick."
When was this filmed?
✋Culture is NOT your friend🤚
good reference is The Human Zoo by Desmond Morris
Culture isn't killing us ideology is
They both are, the dominant ideologies are an expression of the dominant culture. The ruling elites have masterfully shrouded us in the chaos of ideological differences. Ideology has transitioned from something you believe in and can debate and create dialogue around, to now; ideology is something that you ARE. When the shift in ideology became a staunch part of people’s identities (and their worldviews) it becomes much harder to have productive conversations. Now we argue about which books we’re banning and who can use which bathroom when the real conversations should be centered around REAL issues like lobbying, wage stagnation, the housing crisis and creating affordable housing, Wall Street and private equity pillaging the middle class, the consolidation of wealth and power by corporations, etc etc etc
Whats chaos to the fly,is normal to the spider.
👏👏👏
Join the PAEACP!
We are all fools!
He is half correct we are both selfish and unselfish the decision is based on the individual and their nature
No matter when or where. Hthe human world concerns are pleaure, gain, praise, pride and the avoidance of the opposits. There is no new kind of man except those transcending beyond being a human.
Our Culture is not killing us...Its how we use our tools
the teachers of the tools have strayed.
We live in a culture that makes everyone expendable for capital (a non-living thing). You don't think that would impact how people relate to each other? Or even themselves?
@@theepumasimone barter for a day and see how it works out for you! its taken since the begining of time for us to get where we are...for better for worse...we're still trying to figure things out...just wait till cbdc gets in and you'll be missing when cash was king!
@@olivierbolton8683 What is cdbc?
@@olivierbolton8683 I would argue our bodies are king and cash is only a by-product of the labor our bodies produce. We have adopted a system that doesn't see the value of our bodies outside of labor and as a result, we don't prioritize the basics or the next generation. Which is what every other species on this planet is worried about. You think cash is more important than clean water and food? If we don't build industries and systems that prioritize those things and instead make them harder to access, we are working really backwards.
Also that idea that we are somehow further along, is usually based off the experiences of one group of people from one specific region of the world. There are ancient civilizations that were able to survive thousands of years. We are only a quarter of the way there. But that might be because I don't equate technology with true progress. To me, sustainability and longevity is the best marker.
central banking digital currency
Humanity is in not hidding anymore her decline...but i trust human to resuscitate
It's baffling that even people at the top are slaves to the system. Someone must start talking and people whom realized the same facts should talking about them more and more. Let's hope that people at the top will somehow realize these simple facts and start changing the world to a better place. Unfortunately we're just being labelled as crazy people by the mass. But unfortunately for them they're not realize they're also slaves.
22:25 maybe its the plastics and erlectromagnetic exposure (of certain frequencies)
After 65 years on this planet I know that.
GM Foods
"quartz is the most chewable crystal" was a pretty good punchline. if he wants laughs when doing jokes, he just needs to cut his teeth doing some comedy club open mics to polish his delivery and timing
I tried normal once....worst 5 minutes of my life
What is the title of the book he is quoting from?
The Myth of Normal