You guys are also forgetting he was an accomplished musician, and a ladies man. You could say he was a piana playa:)
I believe it’s alright that if someone has a genuine disgust with someone or something, it’s alright to express it, thought it might not be wise to express it in all settings. I also believe that in many cases it actually is an expression of disgust and not some mental trickery to feel better, but I agree with you in that some cases that’s probably what the person intends to do. ( I think you know I like your posts generally).
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Hey @BrickHead your post and the discussion that followed is extremely-poignant for me right now! I have been doing a lot of self-examination about the role of disgust in our psyches. (This is in no way meant to be aggressive, threatening, or argumentative… Your post really got me thinking, and I just wanted to share)
Disgust is learned(1).
Disgust entails a seperstion of “self” from “other.”
Disgust means that you wall yourself-off from that which disgusts you.
Disgust is, by nature, a very divisive act.
Research shows (2) that disgust breeds totalitarianism, as we seek to wall-off, separate-from, and control, that which we have deemed “disgusting.”
An interesting aside: Hitler was a neat-freak whose hatred of others manifested itself as disgust. He used zyclon-b, first, to kill the rats and bugs in German ships and factories. He took 4 baths per day. He was disgusted by anything and everything that he didn’t agree with. The entire nazi ideology, in a sense, was based on disgust of others. They honestly believed that they were cleansing the race.
It is easier to wall-off, and be disgusted by things that threaten you, than to face your fears about them. We as a species are particularly adept at writing an internal narrative that fits our emotions.
Disgust is actually a weaker position when compared to fear. Why? Because fear breeds action intended to illicit change. My example: (and I know that everyone is different mentally, but I know this about myself so I thought I would share) I was bullied as a fat kid. I was big enough that I could handle physical altercations, but mentally I was a wreck. My parents told me I wasn’t fat, but the rest of the world said otherwise. Over time, I became disgusted with the idea of being fat. I became disgusted by my body. I became disgusted by others. I created mental walls, and segmented my thoughts. It was easier to feel disgust than face my fear: that they were right; I was fat; and would be forever unless I acted.
It was only after recognizing that these wall’s existed that I was able to tear them down. If you are disgusted by your fat, how do you make that actionable. But fear is easy to act on. Once you acknowledge your fear, it has very little power to prevent you from acting, instead it tends to be a compass pointing you in the correct direction to apply action. We as a society have embraced disgust (left vs right!), but we are afraid of admitting fear. Fear is unifying. I have never met you, but I guarantee that you and I share a lot of the same fears. Disgusts? I can’t make that guarantee. Our rejection of the notion of fear has had major-consequences on our society. If more people were openly afraid of, instead of disgusted by, we would see a world that is instantly less-hostile to “others”.
I don’t think there is anything wrong with expressing disapproval at another. I think it is of utmost importance to know exactly where others stand on issues. But I think that disgust is a pretty-permanent judgement that we render, which gives little room for change. It is a dismissal of sorts. A way of not dealing with uncomfortable notions. It doesn’t require a critical RE-examination. But fear of an outcome allows for constant re-evaluation. For most people, once they render judgement: it doesn’t change (or feels “wrong to”).
I used to be so disgusted with myself that I pretended I wasn’t. I walled-off the disgusted part. I walled-off the disgusting part.
For me, It’s easier to say: “I used to be afraid of being fat; now I work out”; as opposed to “I am so disgusted with myself that I had to start working out”. The fear allows for conquering, the disgust leaves you with a hole to climb out of. By admitting weakness (fear), you actually give yourself strength, because it allows you to consciously-focus your energy on correcting the perceived weakness. Imagine the bodybuilder who isn’t afraid to face his fears (I.e. see his lagging parts); he will excercise the weakest, first, eliminating the lags and bringing things together conciously and efficiently. Weak movement? Work that 3x week instead of once. Now contrast that with the bodybuilder who won’t face their fears. That person will have a hard time even FINDING the lagging areas, because his disgust of himself will prevent him from seeing clearly, which makes fixing the issue that much more difficult. Someone who is utterly disgusted by thier legs will probably work arms twice as often, as a “reward” is needed to counteract the negativity that comes out of the disgust.
My personal plan is to try to examine the notions of disgust that I have; to recognize that there is probably a deeper fear-component that I am trying to avoid; and to face that fear head-on, instead of pretending like it doesn’t exist (or exists behind a wall, therefore I am “safe”)
To use your example: it’s ok for me to be afraid of a junkie-acquaintance taking my car, money, and sanity. its also ok for me to act on those fears. It’s very different than feeling “oh, he’s trash; not worth my time.”
Disclaimer: I am NOT a junkie-apologist. I DID quit smoking cannabis about two weeks ago, because I was SCARED that I would be a pothead-dad forever. Previously I had been disgusted with myself, which resulted in smoking more pot to feel better. Once I admitted my fear of the future, I was able to grab the bull by its horns and, well, do whatever the F I want with it.
A lot of this impetus to change can be attributed to Dr. Jordan Peterson. If you are at all curious, I suggest checking it out (on YouTube). It’s kinda like psychedelics: I can’t tell you what will happen to you, but I can almost guarantee that something. Will. Happen.
Bibliography:
(1)The Divergent Effects of Fear and Disgust on Inhibitory Control: An ERP Study
(2)Pathogens and Politics: Further Evidence That Parasite Prevalence Predicts Authoritarianism
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Wanted to add: fear and disgust are often mixed up. They trigger different synapses to fire and involve very different thought-processes. This lack of distinction is very apparent in our use of language:
Homophobia
Islamaphobia
Transphobia
Now ask yourself: are the bigots “scared”, or disgusted?
And why are we telling people that they are scared, instead of disgusted?
Are people with claustrophobia “disgusted” by enclosed-spaces?
While the suffix -phobia usually indicates an irrational fear, it can also mean dislike of or aversion to. It is with regard to these secondary meanings that it is used in the words above.
I’d like to respond to you but 1) I would derail this thread even further; its veering off Rich Piana, 2) though I used to speak more freely, even on here, I reserve loaded topics (e.g., Hitler, National Socialist Germany, World War II, race, gender, ethnicity, human behavior, etc.) for those close to me, and 3) I’m on here to discuss diet and gym and to possibly help some people.
I appreciate the replies and read all of them and actually have a lot to say in response, but I won’t.
Many on the net call him Rich Piano.