Do you think this might be true of western cultures?

Question

Marterialism is the mainstream even our scientific ideas are material based. We are taught to value that which is proved by the physical and to value most endevours which will gain the most materialist reward for our efforts.
Some of the negative results of this type of reasoning is less value on the non-physical aspect of ourselves(mind soul spirit) Many believe your our lives are only physical and everything about us will end at when we die and sense that is the case one should value the physical above all else as it is the only thing that is real or that matter. Is this dangerous for westerners and is our assumption that other cultures will conform to this type of reasoning dangerous also? Why should the physical aspect of reality be the most valued quality in my life am I not of mind and spirit also should we not nuture these areas also?
If we don't what is likely to happen to the western culture will we survive?

I am not talking about what people claim as belief but what is demostrated in behaviour

Answer 1

Culture based on purely materialistic values will not survive. It creates greed as it leads to division between the haves and have nots. This in turn sows seeds toward revolution and change. Only when society understands that we are all in this together and that as individuals we are also responsible for the whole, then we will figure it out. There is enough material abundance on this planet for every man, woman and child to be wealthy beyond measure.

Answer 2

A very deep and interesting question.
I'll do my best to answer it but it is the night before Xmas, and I already finished a bottle of fragolino and reminisced of holidays in Holland! lol

Ok, Materialism based on the acquisitions of things which we buy, in monetary transactions, if I'm not wrong!

An economy based on piece of paper who's value fluctuates depending on people playing a game called the stock market!

So we could in fact say that the monetary system is based on a virtuaility system (Theodor Holm Nelsonor) in that even if results are Material the supporting structure is in fact base on imaginary values, which can not support the system ad infinitum.

See link
http://sef.umd.edu/files/ScientificAmerican_Daly_05.pdf

Now lets move on to the non-physical aspect of ourselves(mind soul spirit)

This is the cause of great confusion in the modern human condition.
We tend to think that of the mind, soul, spirit, (let's call it the trinity only to give it referance), as either something of Religion, or something incomprehensible.

In the case of religion we use an existential belief system based on material concepts such as church and book.

Outside this we may find forms of life philosophy or non theorist theology, if I may use such a term, these may again be nothing more than existential belief systems based again on material concepts such as scientist and again books.

This trinity concept faces certain problems in true definition, so we will break it down again into it components.

mind is, lets say the seat of our awareness or consciousness (as such a rose) it is our interface with the world in which we exist or at least perceive to exist.

soul is, lets say the concept of what is beyond our physical being

spirit is thought often a pseudonym of soul I will differentiate by saying is the vitality which animates the material body.

Now to the Nature of Nurture

The mind may be nourished by learn of the world around use, But the food must provide the needed vitamins, proteans, and minerals.
These is not happening today for the greatest part of humanity and shamefully here in the west where it should be possible the mind food is that of McD's

The Soul is nourished in most cases by the existential belief system I mention earlier which again is a mass production low quality product.

The spirit tend as a whole, when talking about the mass, is feed just enough to keep it in it's place.

So in summing up let's say we have one hell of an unhealthy baby growing up in a degrading system with depleting resources.
The results of which should be obvious.

If we don't change our and means everyone basic concepts and start face the coming problems while we still have what is needed to do it.
Then we are up shiit creek without a paddle. (an English expression meaning to be in a little trouble)

Answer 3

Well before you start making an argument for the disadvantages of materialism (belief in only the physical world) I think you would need to prove dualism, or whatever theory you subscribe to. I myself am a materialist but I am also a humanist and believe that there is an overall good in human nature. Also, depending on the country, many westerners are not materialists. Most Americans believe in a soul or an afterlife.

Answer 4

What I find most alarming is that we, in the East, are losing our spiritual touch and our youngsters are simply aping the West!!! Materialism, the gratification of flesh, is blinding their minds.

At the same time, I feel things run in cycles. When we reach the 'acme' we can't stay there always and have to come down/back. Surfeit of everything leads to cloying and human mind starts looking for balance.

The East always relied on faith and the West on proof. East gave birth to most philosophers, and the West to most scientists. What we actually need is a mid-point to meet somewhere, where mind, body and soul can co-exist...

Answer 5

I think that further discoveries in science will actually affirm the non-physical components of reality. There is so much about the non-physical about which we are ignorant. Quantum Theory is beginning to open new insights into existence and may ultimately lead us to understnad that, along with energy, the non-physical universe is just as vast and rich as anything we could have imagined.

Answer 6

fake. i think of it has extra to do with the western tolerance of crime in call of human rights AND the reality that weapons at the instant are not allowed in maximum eastern countries. a million. Criminals interior the west are taken care of exceptionally right and barely punished strongly, this makes for an ecosystem packed with crime. In eastern countries, persons are much less tolerant in direction of crimes. working example, if somebody kidnaps a baby with a knife in public, the yank reaction could be sending in somebody to barter for the protection of the hostage. In China, police might faux to barter, whilst a sniper might purely head shot the suspect with none ethic venture, and the accepted public accepts that. Then interior the U. S., promotion drugs is against the regulation yet in China, possession of over 50 grams of drug leads directly to demise penalty. you notice, the iron hand in the different usa creates a much extra crime-unfastened ecosystem, this could be deemed as loss of human rights in China, whilst they argue that democracy is approximately conserving the pastime of the various against the pastime of the few. in this state of affairs, sacrificing the human rights of the few criminals is to guard the human rights of the overwhelming majority. 2. In a gun-unfastened society, serial killing could be plenty extra no longer common, no?

Answer 7

Materialism is one of those rubber words that one can bend and stretch to suit their needs. For example, a devout Christian could use materialism to stand for the evil atheism that is destroying the American way of life. However, a Communist could use the word to refer to those damn greedy capitalists who are getting fat and wealthy at the expense of the poor people.

So when people talk about materialism destroying our culture, I pay it no mind, because it is truly nothing that hasn't been said before.

In fact, most people who complain about materialism are probably sitting in their air conditioned house (designed by materialistic engineers) eating a hot pocket (designed by a materialistic agricultural industry) and typing away on their computer (again, designed by a materialistic tech engineer). Air Conditioning, refrigerated food, and computers were not designed by priests in the Vatican, nor were they designed by communist slaves in Russia, they were all designed in the West by businessmen in the pursuit of their own enlightened self-interest.

There's nothing stopping the complainers from throwing it all away and living in the forest, so when I hear people complaining about materialism 10 times out of 10 it's a case of people wanting to have their cake and eat it too.

Answer 8

Reality Sucks,doesn't It?