Behaviors

A few years back I got interested in individual and group behavior. I wanted to explore 'why do individuals/groups behave the way they do?'

I read works of a number of psychologists - Freud, Adler, Jung, Ellis, Frankl, etc. Each of them seemed to have different answers for WHYs.  Who got it right?

Determinism didn't sound right- we were shaped by our biological instincts but we did have choice.

I could resonate with some elements of collective unconscious- sometimes I could evidence of it in similar decisions taken by people far removed in space and time. But I did value uniqueness – the fact that sometime I did take decisions on my own too. Again I felt that Jung’s theory sounded deterministic.

Fictional finalism sounded right.  I did find people setting and working towards a better future -even though they may not reach it.

I could find evidence of suffering and meaninglessness in stages of our lives, but life was not all about suffering and meaninglessness.

Concept that neurosis was an exaggeration of normal things we do seemed relevant.

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But then again – who got it right?

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I chanced upon biographical works of some of these psychologists. I realized they were trying to find meaning of their experiences/lives and their theories brought sense to their experiences/lives.

So it seemed all of them were right but only in certain contexts/situations.

Hence these theories might have application at different points of our lives. They might be applicable to different people in different degrees.

Every theory seems to provide a possible explanation to behavior. But none seem to be comprehensive in scope.

But that's possibly what reality is.  

Each situation can be same as or different from a previous situation. Every human being is unique in some way and I am not sure whether a theory can encompass all human beings.

 

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Sourav