A General Practitioner's Blog

Freud: Civilization and Its Discontents Part 4 This quote, in large part, summarizes Freud's main thesis of his book. When I read poetry and talk with people online, many express their existence as if there is something wrong with them for not fitting into society. I imagine many reading this are often feeling maladapted. It is this quite universal experience that reading Civilization and Its Discontents can help us see might not be because there is something wrong with us. It might be that what we feel is the discomfort of living in a modern society, is exactly that control being exerted over us. I'm neither claiming that it's necessarily a good or a bad thing; I'll let you all make up your own minds on that question yourself. But it might be worth asking if it is healthy to not fit fully into a society that is defined by controlling aspects of us? Many thinkers after Freud will be heavily inspired by these questions, Foucault perhaps among the most influential. You also see this Freudian logic in quotes I have seen here on tumblr like "it's not you but society, there is something wrong with", and "You must be crazy to fit a sick society". Both these quotes and all like them borrow their philosophical logic from Freud and his thesis in this book.

Freud: Civilization and Its Discontents Part 3

Freud: Civilization and Its Discontents Part 2

I have been a lecturer in philosophy, and existentialism has always been the subject that spoke to me the most. I will start a new series, presenting some thinkers who have shaped ideas on the subject of the self in modern times. The way this will work is that I will linger on a thinker, presenting some key quotes from one or more of their influential works. I will try to add some context to either the quote itself or the more general thesis of the book where the quote is picked.

First out is a man most know well. A man most people associate with some rather provocative ideas about gender and sexuality, if you can look past that, I can deeply recommend the book Civilization and Its Discontents, written in 1929. Named Das Unbehagen in der Kultur, as it was called when it was published in 1930.

My latest comic for The Nib was written by my friend Mike Thompson- it’s his first published comics work! 

The Nib has been a steady source of income and a huge support to me and many other indie cartoonists for years. They publish amazing work, but will be cut loose by their financial backer in July. You can read the official post about it from editor Matt Bors here.  They are still running their kickstarter-funded print magazine, but have to put digital publishing on hiatus until they figure out their next steps. If you’ve been thinking about supporting their membership program, now would be a good time. They have levels from $2 to $40 per month. I really don’t want this to be my last Nib piece! 

“The perfect is the enemy of the good.” — Voltaire

Perfection isn’t the path — consistency is. Fitness success comes from doing the basics every day, not chasing every new fad.