Humanity as a species has been developing for many thousands, or even tens of thousands of years, but even by paying attention to that segment of history known to us, we can notice one interesting fact. At all times, the older and more influential generation in all areas believed that the younger generation was deteriorating in terms of mental, physical and personal development. But the years passed, and the old generation faded into history, and the new, young one took over the baton, taking the reins in all spheres of life.
What does it mean to degrade?
Translated from Latin, the prefix de means “down” and gradacja means “step”. This word entered the Russian language during the era of Peter I. Civil servants and military personnel in those years were afraid of “degradation,” as this meant deprivation of rank and dismissal from service. At the beginning of the 20th century, it began to acquire modern meaning.
The term means the process of transition to a simpler state of the body than before. It is used when talking about decline, destruction and loss of certain qualities. With progress, the body becomes more complex; with degradation, it becomes simpler. You can often hear about degradation from others in the form of accusations against someone.
This is interesting: will is what it is, the basic concept.
It is not only people who can degrade. This happens to both culture and society.
The meaning of the word degradation in various areas:
- Soil degradation is a change in its composition and quality that occurs under the influence of natural phenomena;
- environmental - the gradual destruction of the ecosystem of our planet;
- biological - the harmful effects of fungi, microorganisms and algae on organic substances;
- telecommunications - reduction in the quality of the communication signal;
- chemical - the process of decomposition of molecules, when more complex ones are broken down into simple particles.
How to stop degrading? The paradox of degradation
The answer to the question indicated in the title is often asked by people whose lives are a mess, and who, instead of developing in some areas, on the contrary, “slide to the bottom.” And in general, many people are interested in how to prevent their own degradation. Let's look at the details in this topic.
To begin with, it is advisable to understand what this degradation actually is?
The answer is simple: degradation is the slow or rapid deterioration of something. If you think about it, life itself is a gradual degradation leading to old age, and then generally to the death of a person. But that’s not about that now.
Many people often mean by degradation the presence of severe laziness, due to which there is no desire to perform actions leading to success. Such people will say that they do not have any motivation to take positive action. Here it would be appropriate to understand two types of motivation: negative and positive.
Negative motivation does not arise by the will of the individual, but under the influence of external circumstances
If a person does not want to be a stinking tramp who eats from a garbage container, then he gets a job (often unloved), and then, with clenched teeth, performs work duties and hardly gets up every morning, earning money for his own existence. This example expresses the concept of “negative motivation.” Simply put, negative motivation is when a person has to strain himself so that things don’t get worse.
But positive motivation is synonymous with happiness
Why? Yes, because in this case a person is motivated to engage in creative activity precisely by the desire to carry it out. Creative individuals who enjoy the creative process and their creations are the personification of positive motivation.
A person who does not want to degrade will go on the Internet in order to find out some useful and definitely effective advice - after all, there is a lot of information on the Internet now. But the quantity of information and its quality are different categories. Therefore, many people who consider themselves degenerating individuals never find help in the issue that torments them.
This is how we come to the paradox of degradation. What kind of paradox is this?
To answer this question, let’s imagine how some citizen who considers himself a “degenerate” finds out on the Internet supposedly motivating advice, which is, in fact, boilerplate phrases from successful people whose motivation is clear and smooth. Every successful and motivated person considers it his duty to tell other people how he allegedly achieved success and happiness through exorbitant efforts, flavoring it with phrases like the following:
- “Gather your will and act!”;
- “Finally, get your butt off the sofa!”;
- “Get out of your own comfort zone and create your own happiness!”;
- “Stop being a lazy ass, start small!”;
- “I could do it, so you can too!”
However, if you take a detached look at the motivated active lucky ones and the unhappy-depressed “degenerates” devastated in terms of motivation, then the following fact will be noticeable:
One camp of people is filled with energy and activity and can handle anything, and the other camp of people are lethargic and sad individuals who do everything through force, or even do nothing at all.
The paradox of degradation (or lack of motivation) is that if, with a lack of physical energy, you can simply eat, then with the psyche things are on a more subtle level. There is no food that, after eating, a person would become overwhelmed with motivation.
Setting your psyche in a happy mood is an extremely difficult and unpredictable task. Indeed, in one case, a single visit to a psychologist is enough, but in another, even a psychiatrist with a prescribed course of antidepressants may turn out to be useless.
So how can you stop degrading?
There is no way to answer this question. The fact is that the opposite of degradation (development) is built on negative and positive motivation. A person will not use negative motivation (giving himself a “kick” in the ass), since this only brings suffering. A person cannot create positive motivation, because he does not know what exactly will give him a long-lasting and intense motivational charge.
But if a person is not mired in severe laziness, then the psychologist and psychiatrist mentioned above will provide significant help. And precisely in tandem. Why? Yes, because even if a psychologist suggests a plan of action, a person will still not be able to do anything with a depressed psyche (energy depletion), since depression and the accompanying degradation with laziness are a consequence of a damaged psyche.
Personality degradation
Depression and apathy are the first signs of incipient degradation . Anyone can be susceptible to them, regardless of their class affiliation or lifestyle. A person’s loss of mental balance and performance destroys his capabilities. Sometimes a person is not able to realize the onset of regression.
This is interesting: the meaning of the term immoral, who is an immoral person?
Stages and causes of degradation
- loss of faith in one's own abilities;
- narrowing of interests and displacement from life of elements that interfere with the satisfaction of basic needs;
- a sharp division of reality into “good” and “bad”;
- destruction of the individual “I”, the ability to manifest will;
- loss of connection with the outside world and the ability to evaluate one’s actions.
Often a person degrades when there is no need to be responsible for anything. Apathy takes over her and she relaxes, begins to give preference to inaction in situations that require making a decision or completing a task. A weak-willed person is guided in life only by primary needs.
Destructive passivity can take over a person upon retirement. There is no more responsibility, daily routine and work duties. Lonely people are more likely than others to fall into depression, which entails rapid decline.
This is interesting: how does the biosocial essence of a person manifest itself?
Constant failures, unrequited love, loss of self-confidence, feelings of guilt or the loss of a loved one can also cause personality destruction. The surrounding people and events fade into the background. Human activity decreases sharply . This state is comparable to the body’s expectation of physical death, slow suicide.
The most severe form of degradation is insanity, dementia. With this disease, the functioning of the brain is disrupted. A person ceases to recognize loved ones and adequately perceive the world around him. The body is no longer able to renew its cells and begins to age rapidly. This process can only be slowed down, but not stopped. The onset of the disease occurs rather slowly, and others may attribute its symptoms to a bad mood or deteriorating character. Over time, this results in serious mental disorders.
Solving degradation problems
So, above we figured out in which areas of our lives personality degradation is most obvious and, at the same time, most dangerous. Now let’s try to understand how to prevent this very personality regression and nip all tendencies toward it in the bud.
1. Development of the mind. The world, despite popular belief, will be saved not by love, but by harmony. And in mental development this manifests itself more clearly than anywhere else. Since it is not enough to have general knowledge of the “a little bit about everything” category, and it is equally pointless to delve into one profile without seeing anything around. It is necessary to find an alternative and, by studying a narrow profile, give yourself the opportunity to explore new horizons, discovering something new every day. And remember, you cannot learn to swim from books, try to accumulate not only theoretical, but also practical knowledge!
2. Body development. In order to develop harmoniously, you need to train your physical body, but do it carefully. Sport should be a part of your life that helps you become better, and fanatical immersion in this area will simply disrupt the harmony and deprive you of the opportunity to develop further.
3. Development of the spirit. Learn to control yourself, understand and be aware of your feelings. Hone yourself not only externally, but also internally, and this does not mean that you need to run to church tomorrow, since religion has very little in common with spirituality. And, in fact, in order to be healthy and progressive spiritually, it is enough just to learn to control yourself from the inside and accurately understand your position and attitude towards the world around you.
That, in fact, is all you need to know in order to avoid personal degradation, and anything beyond this will only get in the way, creating a cumbersome and clumsy system.
Who is a degenerate
There is no definition of this concept in Wikipedia.
Its analogue is the word “degenerate”, meaning a psychopathic person who despises social norms. In everyday speech the word sounds rude and obscene. And people often replace it with a softer one - “degradant”. It is often used in relation to drug addicts and alcoholics, since their signs of degradation are quite clearly expressed: narrow intellectual thinking, meager emotional needs and a strong predominance of physical needs over spiritual ones. The lives of people susceptible to these diseases are simple and limited. Their interests are focused on finding the next dose. They are no longer capable of objective self-esteem and can harm others without feeling pity or remorse.
Signs of degradation
- the word “want” comes to the fore. The words “necessary”, “must” are perceived as an obstacle;
- a person gradually ceases to take responsibility for his actions;
- oral speech becomes noticeably simpler and there are more interjections. Many phrases are replaced by gestures;
- the person’s environment is narrowing. Those who require at least some minimal participation from him drop out. For example, a child asking for help with homework or neighbors wanting to discuss communal problems of the whole house;
- appearance becomes untidy.
Each sign taken separately does not indicate the beginning of human degradation. But together with the loss of interest in family, friends and society, they indicate the beginning of the process of personality disintegration. Lack of will and carelessness appear , memory deteriorates and the ability to concentrate on something is lost.
It is possible to stop the process of personal disintegration. It is necessary to develop adequate self-criticism, expand the range of life interests, communicate with people and set several goals. This will help you direct energy into different areas of your life and gain satisfaction, even if any one goal turns out to be unattainable. Constant self-improvement, development and an active life position can help a person avoid degradation. A. Nevsky Wikipedia, study the link.
You either develop or degrade
Author: Alexey Lukyanov
You either develop or degrade. There is no other option. In nature, everything is in motion. The earth revolves around its axis and at the same time around the sun. Day follows night. Rivers flow into seas, which ebb and flow from the shore. Everything moves and develops. And if he stops, he dies...
Lewis Carroll also said in “Alice in Wonderland”: To stay in one place you need to run, and to move forward you need to run twice as fast .
Many people think that if I haven’t moved forward in this day, week, month, IT’S NOTHING. I haven't lost anything.
Yes, perhaps one day does not solve anything.
But just one week can set you back.
So, let's look at what you lose in 1 week if you haven't done anything during this period to move forward.
- You are 7 days closer to old age, when your mental and physical abilities will no longer be the same. And you won't get them back.
— Your ardor and desire to act have decreased a little.
- Your laziness and habit of being inactive have become a little stronger, which means that now you need to make more efforts to start active actions.
— Your knowledge, skills and experience have dulled during this time.
— You lost 168 hours during which you could have achieved something.
— Missed opportunities could inspire you to new achievements.
And so on. You can continue the list yourself.
I'm sure you've experienced this personally when you went back to work after vacation. It took you a few days to get back into a normal working routine.
Thus, weeks turn into months, months into years, years into an empty life, during which a person gradually degrades.
And the older he gets, the more such weeks behind him, the more difficult it becomes to do something, force himself to act and move forward.
Besides, don't forget. We live in an era of progress, change and the emergence of new knowledge. If you stand still, then your knowledge and experience gradually become less effective and even useless. And if you don't do anything, you roll back.
Therefore, stop flattering yourself with the thought that tomorrow something will change, the stars will align differently and you will begin to move forward. You will have more confidence and less fear. This will happen only in one case - if you do something. In all other cases, tomorrow will be the same. And gradually the situation will only get worse.
That's why the best time to change your life is TODAY.
Tomorrow it will be more difficult.
And it doesn't matter how old you are. History knows enough examples of people over 60 changing their lives. It doesn't matter what you know and can do. If you are missing something, you can study it.
If you have achieved something - Don't rest on your laurels. Move forward. New achievements will open up new horizons, prospects, goals...
Don't turn your life into gradual degradation. After all, life is development and movement, and not a pause waiting for better conditions and opportunities.
Success is achieved by those who do something every day to achieve it!
And if your choice is development, find out how to make your life better and more successful
