A theory about “ego death” and narcissism
(Note: this is an excerpt that can be read in full here.)
If you know someone who uses psychedelics, chances are that you’ve heard them talk about experiencing “ego death”. This term makes a lot of sense to those who have experienced it. I know, because that was the only way of describing the occasions when it happened to me. What’s interesting is that many who have experienced it, often become “gurus” or “saviors”, which, using the same terminology, would mean that their egos were resurrected in a stronger state than before the death. Here, too, I am talking from own experience.
In the western world, we have a mechanical view of how the universe works: the universe is goverened by “laws” and/or “God”, and so is everything else. Our bodies are seen as biological machines, where the brain is the CEO and boss, rather than complicated systems of networks that collaborate. Our organizational structures imitate kingdoms where one person ultimately leads the day-to-day work, with the board giving instructions for the long term course. A mechanical world view tends to deal in binaries — it’s either 1 or 0, yes or no, good or evil — rather than waves. The binary, mechanical view is a simple way to understand the world around us. Waves are complex with their troughs and peaks, and require us to hold more complex concepts in our heads. When two binaries collide, logic dictates that one of them must win (which leads to paradox questions like “what happens if an unstoppable bullet hits an unbreakable wall?”). While it is true that two waves can cancel each other out under the right circumstances, in most cases the collision of two waves results in a new, more complex wave pattern.
Binaries are simple, clear cut categories, and the simplicity is seductive. It’s easier to see someone as either “good” or “evil”, but the truth is that most of us aren’t at the peak or trough of this particular wave, we are somewhere in between — and where that is depends on the observer judging us. (This is also how quantum physics seem to work, if you look at the double slit experiment. If you don’t know what it is, I recommend watching this video that explains it in a great way).
