taboo is what is taboo: definition - psychology.nes. The meaning of the word "taboo What is taboo
What is taboo?
Quotes from clients:
I heard about such a thing as taboo. It has something to do with death and illness. Maybe you can explain from a psychological point of view the truth is lil no? Is it possible to die by breaking a taboo? Or become a zombie? And where did this word come from?
Taboo is a Polynesian word that is very difficult for a civilized person to understand. Every taboo is a ban. But, not every ban is a taboo. Taboo is a special kind of prohibition! Literally, it means a very complex combination of meanings for a civilized person - a prohibition to perform certain actions, and in addition, a taboo means a prohibition of forbidden actions! But that is not all. The concept of taboo also denotes a special kind of state in which people and things can be, and the same concept denotes people and things that are in a state of taboo. Confusing? Not at all, from the point of view of a tribal man! That. taboo is a prohibition to perform certain actions in relation to people and things that are in a state of taboo and a ban, people in a state of taboo to perform certain actions; and their complete or partial isolation from other people. As a rule, taboos are not motivated or explained by anything. Only one thing is known: the violation of the taboo threatens with mortal danger, the nature of which is dark and incomprehensible. The act of breaking a taboo automatically releases some unknown danger that was previously in a latent, potential state. It's like letting an evil genie out of a bottle. As long as it's in the bottle, all is well. But it is worth pulling out the cork (breaking the taboo) and the genie will punish you ... by and large, this is a primitive belief in the demonic forces of evil. If a person violates the usual prohibition (moral or legal), then he receives punishment from some reasonable force. For example, from the collective (he is fined or imprisoned) or from a supernatural force (god, spirit, space). No one is punished for breaking taboos. The danger was simply in a latent state, and after the violation of the ban, it appeared in reality. It is not so much the one guilty of violating the taboo who will suffer, but his family or the whole tribe! The only way not to destroy all the Kindred is to refrain from actions that violate taboos. Therefore, the whole group of people is making efforts to get every member of the tribe to strictly observe the prohibition.
Why do we need such terrible, incomprehensible and categorical prohibitions? People in the tribe live very differently than modern people in the city. In the tribe, animal instincts associated with reproduction, aggression, obtaining food, competition, etc. function more strongly. And these instincts require immediate selfish satisfaction! Think: immediate and selfish! And it is impossible to restrain such wild customs either by morality or by power. Only terrible fear and unshakable faith in danger, which brings inevitable death for the entire tribe, and not just for the guilty one ... Therefore, all taboo prohibitions have a categorical form that cannot even be comprehended, simply as an inevitable necessity. It is impossible and all! Even asking, “why not?” - there is a taboo violation. This is the only way to suppress the destructive instincts for the tribe.
What is taboo in the first place?
The desire for pleasure (libido - the energy of sexuality and the energy of the desire for life and procreation; and mortido - the energy of the desire for death and the destruction of oneself or others);
-Freedom of movement (territorial boundaries and subordination) and freedom of communication (control of communication contacts and connections).
What or who can be affected by the prohibition of the taboo:
1) Animals (as a prohibition to kill and eat) - this was the core of totemism.
2) People (for a special position in life). For example, a taboo on superiors - chiefs, priests, leaders; taboo on women (during menstruation or childbirth); taboo on men (during war or hunting); taboo on newborns; taboo on the dead.
3) Other objects such as trees, plants, houses, areas, property, etc.
That. there is a restraint of various selfish instincts, such as incest (incestuous sexual relations), cannibalism (eating people or ashes), polygamy (promiscuity or harems). In addition, other destructive instincts for the tribe are restrained: the desire to kill, rape, rule, eat, rob, etc.
Important people are thus protected from mob attacks. Important items from damage and destruction. The weak (pregnant women and children) are protected from being attacked by the stronger. When social taboos are violated, what happens more than once in history was described as historical events very unpleasant for mankind: when they first pray to God, and then they calmly throw crosses and domes from churches; when children are first conceived and born, and then abandoned or raped; when warriors go to fight for victory, and then turn into aggressors, raping, robbing and killing civilians; when people eat each other out of hunger, like animals… Violation of taboo takes revenge for itself… not just to one violator, but to the whole community. Thus, the performance of certain actions is disastrous for people (in the sense that they cease to be people and degrade as a species along the evolutionary ladder). The means to avoid death and degradation is to refrain from acts that violate taboos. And only after thousands (!) years, as soon as people were able to curb their destructive instincts, the taboos gradually softened and turned into moral, legal and ethical prohibitions. For example, the prohibition to rape someone else's child or girl (when this happens, legal and moral punishments for the deed are immediately included); to attack and kill a man, an old man, a woman, a child (again, this is equated by the current order with a crime); eat other people's food supplies; steal someone else's property or come and settle in someone else's home (all this is a legal violation or a crime); having sexual relations with the dead or eating their corpses from hunger (considered not so much a crime as a form of insanity); pretend to have sexual relations with their children with the subsequent birth of offspring from them (this is also considered a mental disorder). These instincts are taboo in society. Some more, others less, but the taboo touches them all. If such taboos are violated, a person is punished by a prison or a psychiatric hospital. Or both together. Z. Freud said that the first taboos are the beginnings of conscience, guilt and duty. Let's take a closer look at some types of taboos.
Incest taboo.
At the very beginning of the formation of human society, among the first people, within the framework of relations between the sexes, such a form as a harem dominated. One man could have many women (their relationship in relation to him did not matter much). This form of family gave rise to very high aggressiveness in the competition between men. After all, not everyone could have a harem, but, of course, everyone wanted to. Therefore, there were a lot of civil strife and murders. The owner of the harem tried to save it by any means, and the rest tried to take it away. The meaning of what is happening was in procreation. Those. the more children the owner of the harem has, the more his offspring will be represented in the future. The rest will (genotypically) die out. And no man wanted such a fate for his genes. And this was the source of bloody conflicts in the primitive herd of people. A man who left no offspring had no chance of survival. Therefore, sexual rivalry raged in full. Gradually, those tribes that considered it important to develop production and progress of activity, to become more adaptive compared to their neighbors, introduced a taboo on the harem. This ban rallied the primitive herd. And solidarity facilitates the struggle for existence. Harems "dissolved" in the herd and in their place came such a thing as promiscuity. Promiscuity is promiscuity or group marriage. He helped reduce the level of aggressiveness between men and the aggressiveness of women towards each other. Now, as if everyone could claim everyone, and the children were common. The bloody conflicts are gone. However, promiscuity did not produce the very degree of cohesion that could really move the first people to a higher level of civilization. In addition, people have noticed that many handicapped children are born into the world. A huge percentage of congenital deformities. Ugly offspring were born due to the crossing of closely related organisms (mother-son, father-daughter, brother-sister). And after a while, a restrictive taboo on promiscuity is introduced. The restrictive taboo means that there is a separate period when such sexual relations are possible. And the rest of the time - no carnival, only work, which made a person a person. But on incest, not a restrictive taboo was introduced, but prohibitive. This is a more severe form of prohibition. Of course, ancient people did not have knowledge about genes and kinship. Therefore, in order for the offspring to be full-fledged, the taboo forbade incest between men and women of the same totem (they were then considered close relatives). What is a totemic relationship? People united in families and clans that belonged to any one totem. A totem is an animal, a plant, a force of nature or a locality, but not simple ones, but with which people of a given tribe or family are related by blood (no matter what totem, earth, flower or hare, everything is one blood relative). People believed in their totemic ancestors, who were half-humans, half-totems, for example, half-humans, half-trees or half-wolves, etc. Therefore, marriages and childbearing within the totem family were prohibited. This gave rise to exogamy, i.e. looking for a partner outside of your family. Which is what people still do. There are curious subtleties in the incest taboo within the totem. Imagine a kangaroo totem girl and an ostrich totem boy. They can easily start a family and have children. The totem is inherited mainly through the mother. Therefore, their children will become a kangaroo totem. And it turns out that the father, if he has a daughter, can marry her and have children. After all, she belongs to the kangaroo totem, and he belongs to the ostrich totem ... This is not incest. And mother and son (if a boy was also born) do not have the right to any sexual relations, because. they are of the same totem! This is considered incest. But if the children inherit the father's totem, then he will no longer be able to marry his own daughter (she will become the ostrich totem and relations with the father are tabooed by the ban on incest), and the mother can marry her own son, because. she is the kangaroo totem, and he is the paternal ostrich totem. And this is not incest.
Taboo with enemies.
All taboos with enemies relate to the rituals and customs of reconciliation with the spirit of a deceased enemy. The fact is that after military campaigns, men had to go through a number of complex cleansing procedures in order to reintegrate into the ordinary life of the tribe. (Now we would call this social adaptation to peaceful life.) They were considered dirty, because they committed murder in the war. All parts of the dead (if there were any, for example, the severed heads of enemies) were subjected to a ceremony of reconciliation. The tribe showed special attention to them, as receptacles for the souls of the dead. They were “fed”, caressed, talked, gave gifts and in every possible way inclined towards friendship. A rite of repentance was performed with dances and songs, mourning the dead enemies and asking for their forgiveness. Then came mourning for the killed and scalped enemy (for example, among the North American Indians). At the same time, the men who came from the military campaign were engaged in self-purification procedures: they did not have the right to immediately return to their homes, to their wives and children. Therefore, they lived in the forest and performed a huge number of special rituals. They were not allowed to touch anyone, have sexual relations, and eat their own food. A special dedicated person put food in their mouths. This rite could last from 2-3 months to ... (!). The taboo against cannibalism (eating one's own kind) appeared very late. After all, it was believed that by eating his enemy or relative, a person acquires his character traits. For example, courage, agility, having many children, accuracy, etc. Therefore, many of the tribes that still remain do not eat their own kind for only 5-6 years no more! And it's the 21st century!
Taboo on superiors.
These taboos apply to people who occupy a high status position in society. Leaders, kings, kings, priests, presidents, bosses, directors, etc. Taboo strictly regulates that such people should be feared (because they are carriers of a mysterious dangerous force that is transmitted and kills through their contact with "mere mortals"); and also they need to be protected, because. they bring good to their subjects.
So, touching upstream could be:
Deadly. If it happens at the initiative of the downline. For example, a young hunter was walking along the path and saw that juicy, ripe and tasty fruits, plucked and thrown by someone, were lying right in front of him. He picked it up and started eating. A woman from the same tribe was walking towards the hunter. She saw what the hunter was carrying and said: “What have you done? These are the fruits of the leader!” The hunter turned pale, threw the fruits and ran away. However, he did not manage to escape punishment - he fell ill and died three days later.
Healing. If it happens at the initiative of a superior. So it happened at all times the healing of the sick through the touch of the "powerful of this world" on them. Usually, on certain days, the royal person went out in front of the people and touched people with her hands. It was believed that the wretched and sick are cured through this.
However, in both the first and second cases, a certain “wall” is needed between the people and a special person endowed with magical powers of high social status. This “wall” (social distance) is needed by the superiors to protect against the wrath of the people, because. people are always ready to dethrone or kill someone they are dissatisfied with. And they also give the opportunity to the superior to show special mercy to the chosen ones below, thereby receiving their love, devotion and worship. One of the results was the emergence of the institution of mediators between the people and the king. At first they were various nobles, courtiers, titled persons, etc., now they are chains of close associates, consisting of deputies, secretaries, security guards, etc. That. it turns out a long chain of intermediaries between the common man and the leader. Each intermediary is "charged" with magical power according to the descending principle: the most taboo and strong are around the supreme power, and the closer to the common people, the less "charged" with taboo energy. For example, the president is the most powerful magical figure, his deputies and ministers are less powerful, their deputies are even less powerful, etc., up to the guards, who are closest to the masses, therefore, the least "charged", but still magical powers. The most “empty” in terms of the magical power of this taboo are the people.
Taboo on the dead.
The death of a person has always been fraught with some kind of magical danger and grief. The corpse was perceived as a harmful fetish, radiating magical impurity. On the one hand, a person has just lived, and now? On the other hand, for tribal consciousness man is the same meat as animals, birds and fish, therefore, it is food. But ... it's because a loved one died ... How is it? In addition, there are a lot of various microbes in nature, which are dangerous because they can infect a healthy person (as soon as he eats meat or touches a corpse). This was due to the first primitive ideas of people about infections transmitted from decaying remains. Hence the taboo on touching dead people. If you touch it, you will get sick and die, or something else will happen, but also very terrible. Modern people are not aware of these ancient fears, but they perform all the rituals without thinking much about how useful they are as a protection. Usually dead people are dealt with by special institutions - morgues and cemeteries, and not by relatives of the deceased. It is impossible (taboo) to touch dead people (bodily and verbally, to pronounce the name of the deceased, to speak badly about him, to bury his relatives (this should be done by special people, and relatives can only be present at the burial), you can’t eat the dead, you can’t have sexual intercourse with them proximity and you can not use parts of the remains as household items. Does this sound crazy to you and me? But let's not forget that people's behavior (especially tribal consciousness) is based on several strong instincts: food, sexual and aggressive. All these instincts extended not only to living objects, but also to inanimate ones. Therefore, cannibalism, violence against the sick and dying was so popular. In addition to food. For example, cannibalism also carried a symbol of the continuity of the human qualities of the deceased. By eating the deceased, one could become as brave and strong as him. Wouldn't you like to be like your glorious relatives or acquaintances? Don't you have favorite characters? The ancient recipe was simple: eat the one you like and you will become the same. No wonder they say, "we look like what we eat."
And only two reasons were an obstacle to eating their own kind (especially the dead): infections (if a sick person was eaten) and a decrease in the number of tribes (there were few people and there is no one, no worthy). Subsequently, the taboo passed from the dead to their belongings and relatives. As well as in the name of a deceased person. The name is an important part of the personality, it is a direct characteristic of a person. Therefore, it was believed that the name has a material force. After the death of a person, the name becomes taboo, because. the pronunciation of the name is a touch to the personality, the spirit of the deceased. And you can’t touch the dead - it worries them, and they can get angry and start wandering among the living, disturbing them with their presence and bringing great troubles. The soul becomes a “demon” and it becomes impossible to scold the deceased (“it’s either good or nothing about the dead”), because the demon becomes angry and brings trouble - death to the offender and all his relatives. This is similar to how we are afraid of serious infectious diseases. The spirit of a dead person should be isolated from everyone and be at rest. No wonder they say: “Sleep well”, “May the earth rest in peace”, etc. And the relatives of the deceased should also be in peace ... in mourning. Therefore, no one should approach them, look or talk to them. Especially such prohibitions applied to a widow or widower. The widow and widower were considered people who tempt others around, because. they are now free to choose a new marriage partner. Sexual instincts were very strong in the tribes, and therefore everything was done so that the widowed were not outwardly attractive. In the modern world, black long clothes are worn at funerals (white in the East), emphasizing the asexuality and sorrow of the situation. Mourning is a special garment and a special state of mind. This state of mourning is accompanied by certain rituals to this day. For example, burial on the third day, commemoration for 40 days, a year, three years ... People who perform burial rites (relatives and those who directly bury or dissect the deceased) were considered "unclean" in the tribe from several months to a year. You can not communicate with them, eat together and have sexual intimacy. Subsequently, such magical taboos merged with moral norms of behavior that have survived to this day and, apparently, will remain as long as humanity is alive. They will just change their appearance.
This is only the smallest part of the taboos that were present in the life of tribal people and which indirectly influence the life of modern civilized people. You just need to carefully look at the social and psychological life of modern man.
Friends! Please note: in order to correctly correct the lyrics, you must highlight at least two words
At the counters of supermarkets - hustle, in bars - crush;
Although this year is no longer on the nose, like a wart.
Mice burrow under the floor. Face, in the house opposite,
In a white glass frame, like a Polaroid.
Wild landscape, boozy cries outside the window - courage,
Hipari do not come here to buy vintage in a boutique.
If you ask "Canning Town" in the Wiki, it will throw it out,
An article that is complete * oops - Nicki Minaj.
And the dead year flies into the waste bucket,
Working with income at a Lost and Found Funeral Home.
I burned bridges without letting them cool down; forgot shame and shame,
Like a nunnery. Tell me how can I be cheerful?
But you are all subtle natures, aren't you?
You would only film, Cannes, high-profile performances;
And in my closet - icons and pentacles on the shelves;
And in order to finish - I need: whips, Japanese women and tentacles.
Chorus:
I got in on the go, and even if I disappear here,
Cross on the hump, flight is taboo;
It is not known to whom, reading the text of the Vagabund,
Until there is a place in the coffin.
All around: hanygi, sounds of fights, screams.
Hucksters scurry into the yards like cats.
Darkness, glare. Winking from the wall, Pac, Biggie,
McDuck City, the finale of another of the chapters of the book.
What the assholes are promised - do not believe! After all, life
- short, full of suffering, ends in death.
And I realized that everything is neither this nor that. Smoke is everything
Married, got a job, quit, fled.
Is hell waiting for me in the graveyard? Come on, like bones.
He was an agnostic, from anger he became like a gnostic.
- What? I entered into symbiosis with this swamp,
Like a youth with a raccoon, a senate with a synod, a cathode with an anode.
Chorus:
I got in on the go, and even if I disappear here,
Cross on the hump, flight is taboo;
It is not known to whom, reading the text of the Vagabund,
Until there is a place in the coffin.
I got in on the go, and even if I disappear here,
Cross on the hump, flight is taboo;
It is not known to whom, reading the text of the Vagabund,
Until there is a place in the coffin.
I didn't do a damn thing, I just lived and the kids
Draw the outline of the body on the pavement with chalk.
Someone else will go for a walk with a mob along the garden,
Dance macabra, I'll invite the bony one to the paso doble.
They tell me that I already write like Smokey Mo
Some hints, they say, are more burdensome than Pokemon.
With Pinocchio in silent movies or beatnik prose,
*uy know, bit confusing like Prozac.
Chorus:
I got in on the go, and even if I disappear here,
Cross on the hump, flight is taboo;
It is not known to whom, reading the text of the Vagabund,
Until there is a place in the coffin.
I got in on the go, and even if I disappear here,
Cross on the hump, flight is taboo;
It is not known to whom, reading the text of the Vagabund,
Until there is a place in the coffin.
I climbed on the go, I'll get into the express,
Yes, I've been in hell since childhood, stress, I'm a ton,
Everest, Kathmandu.
I am under each of the Vagabund skies,
Sick, as from brides toastmaster,
Achilles heel, seats on board.
No, this is some kind of leftist,
*ahuy!
Additional Information
Oxxxymiron lyrics - Tentacles.
Text author: Miron Fedorov.
Album "Eternal Jew".
Prod by Parliament Music.
Official release date: 2011.
The concept of taboo has already lost its frighteningly religious meaning. Still, we do not believe that the sky will open up and a deity on a fiery chariot will punish us for a sandwich during fasting. But we manage to put barriers in our heads, even forgetting where they came from. Do we need restrictions or is it a relic of the past society? Why do meaningless prohibitions only increase the desire to break them? How to get rid of complexes in the sexual sphere? It's stupid when we put barriers on ourselves. But that's what adults do.
What is taboo?
Taboo is the absolute impossibility of performing a certain action. It's like a curse forever. It is unshakable and does not allow the possibility of transgressing the line that is forbidden to transgress. Its meaning is somewhat ambiguous: on the one hand - it's something sacred, inaccessible to the common man, on the other hand, creepy, scary and cruel. Initially, the concept was a set of religious prohibitions, today it has been transferred to the plane of internal moral restrictions. Another, ordinary meaning of this concept is sacred.
The very word "taboo" is of Polynesian origin, where it means the prohibition of sacred meaning. Hard limits broadcast by clergymen, often unfounded, but are something natural to all who are in their power. Before the word entered our language, the concept of hard limits existed in all religions of the world.
Actually, religion is a code of prohibitions for all people, regardless of origin, social status, financial situation. But for the violation of some it was possible to receive verbal moralizing, and for the trampling of others, the cruel punishment of higher powers immediately followed. Why such difference? Because taboo and moral morality are two different things. Moral moralizing can be circumvented, cheated, bought an indulgence. Taboo is not.
Taboo in religion.
Taboos were introduced by religious ministers for several reasons. The first one is drawing a line between people and sacred objects who are able to separate the sacred from the ordinary and the ordinary from the sacred. The second is an opportunity to maintain order in the community. So, for example, under the strictest ban were sexual relations between close relatives. Without knowledge of genetics, it was difficult to explain the prohibition, so the taboo was described briefly: “It is impossible. And point. Otherwise, heavenly punishment. Moreover, clergymen often carried out the punishment long before the higher powers, so that others would be discouraged.
Today, religious prohibitions have been preserved, primarily in relation to food. Actually, the Bible story begins with the prohibition to eat the fruit from the tree of good and evil. With its violation, the fall of mankind happened, for which we are still paying. Food religious restrictions are the strict concepts of fasting in Christianity, kosher food in the Jewish religion, halal food in Islam. Other restrictions relate to behavior in general or on certain days, clothing, images of living beings, and others.
First scientific research.
The first researcher to classify the topic of taboo was the Scottish ethnographer, anthropologist and religious scholar James John Fraser (01/01/1854-05/07/1941). He was the first to describe taboo in terms of two opposite concepts - magical rituals and common sense. In his book, he divided the numerous prohibitions of different peoples into spheres of life:
- For forbidden actions- communication with representatives of other tribes, eating and eating, exposing the face, going beyond the boundaries of a certain territory.
- On people or activities- for rulers and representatives of royal dynasties, for mourners, pregnant women, warriors, murderers, hunters and fishermen.
- On objects or parts of the human body- sharp objects, hair (rituals during a haircut) or blood, a head as a receptacle for the human soul, knots and rings.
- In the names of the dead, rulers, deities.
The takeaway from this study was interesting: people always needed a pattern they aspired to. People saw an impeccable model of life and dreamed of living the same way. But in order to reach sky-high heights, they had to obey the very same.
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Surprisingly, we remember many of the prohibitions described in the book today. And we follow them without even thinking about the origin. So, for example, many do not throw away cut nails and hair, do not give sharp objects, do not tie knots.
Freud taboo and ambivalence.
Sigmund Freud (05/06/1856-09/23/1939) in his book "Totem and Taboo" considers taboo a product of ambivalence. Ambivalence is the duality of feelings in relation to something. Having received a hard ban, a man on the one hand, he experiences a sacred awe, on the other, an irresistible desire to break it.
Freud ties the notion of taboo to the theme of the study of the unconscious part of the mental life of the individual and the collective. In his works, he describes people who have created tough taboos for themselves and follow them no worse than Polynesian savages. Freud even introduced the concept of "taboo disease" - an unjustified painful obsession that leads to endless disputes with oneself, nervousness and obsessive rituals.
Moreover, unreasonable prohibitions are contagious to a certain extent, they can be transmitted from person to person and capture large groups of people. The most common manifestation of this disease is the taboo on touching, and as a result, the obsessive ritual of endless ablutions.
In modern psychoanalysis, the concept of taboo is more explored in the sexual sphere. But there are other manifestations of internal prohibitions. For example, many of us unknowingly forbid themselves certain actions, thoughts, actions and do not even realize that they are dictated by internal taboos.
Taboo nowadays.
Modern society does not produce such categorical taboos. Scientists argue that the number of moral prohibitions depends on the level of development of civilization. It is one thing - the inability to look at the supreme ruler, the other - the taboo on murder. Although a lot also depends on the person himself. If for one statement "Don't steal" finds a response in the soul, then for another it is rather a challenge. Still, it is human nature to do what is good for him and harms others. And it’s not at all that stops him from active actions, but the fear of public condemnation and the criminal code.
Legal restrictions prescribes a state that is able to punish no worse than the high priest. Previously, all taboos were spelled out in religious books, but today many do not follow strict religious morality. Internal prohibitions dictated by ethics and parental education, and external - by legal law. When a person unknowingly or intentionally violates the order, harms the environment, the environment says “We don’t like this, it infringes on our interests” and creates certain laws.
In many countries there are cultural or behavioral inhibitions. For their violation, no one will be imprisoned, but for others, the offender becomes an outcast. That is, he himself falls under the influence of the taboo. For example, in Japan, one cannot enter a house in street shoes, feel sorry for a crying person, or contact a superior boss without his permission. In Buddhist countries, it is forbidden to touch a child's head, and in Sweden, you cannot give carnations, which are considered mourning flowers. And these are just a few of the many restrictions. But to avoid unpleasant situations, they should be followed.
Do we need taboos?
Are strict bans necessary today? Rather, yes. Of course, the old moral restrictions applied to a society that no longer exists today. Others are needed. Those that are aimed at saving lives, for example. When raising a small child, parents strictly forbid him to approach sockets or boiling pots. Children do not need to know the laws of electron motion at all to understand: you can’t put your fingers in the socket. For adults, these are the rules of the road, the code of laws.
Sociologists say: the more internal cultural prohibitions a person has, the better he fits into the social environment. Although sometimes unreasonable prohibitions provoke numerous violations (ambivalence of feelings). So, during Prohibition, the number of drinking people increases dramatically.
Coexistence would be much easier if everyone adhered to internal restrictions. Practicing psychologists note in their works that adults should also learn to respect other people's internal prohibitions. And simply - do not climb into someone else's life with voluntary advice or tactless questions. Even if it seems to you that the limitations of another person are ridiculous and meaningless, don't teach them how to live giving advice like:
- You shouldn't be upset about this...
- Don't be afraid, it's better to be brave...
- You have to force yourself...
- Why do you have such stupid thoughts...
- It's silly to worry about something so small...
How to recognize taboo?
The state is capable of tabooing far from all processes in our life. But what is not done at the level of society is voluntarily done at the level. We ourselves set internal barriers that can greatly burden our existence. We do it unconsciously, but with our "psychological hands". At the same time, we do not realize that they are the obstacle to success. We forbid ourselves:
- Relationships with big age difference.
- Happiness in remarriage.
- Unplanned actions.
- Career growth (especially women).
- Change of unloved job or leaving in "free swimming".
- Experiments and emancipation in sex.
- Open conversations with children and parents.
And this is just the beginning. The more internal restrictions that we ourselves are not able to explain, the less space remains for. Prohibitions in one area of life are reflected in the rest, and the desire to break them leads to a mismatch with oneself. A striking example is our excess weight. We often eat not because we love this dish. We seize internal prohibitions on beauty, relationships, material well-being. And the more we forbid ourselves, the more we want to eat. And if at this time we go on a diet, and we also forbid ourselves our favorite foods, write wasted. A set of a dozen extra pounds is guaranteed.
Our inner limitations can hurt loved ones. For example, some people have taboos on apologies. A person simply cannot utter simple words that can reduce the pain of another. There are also those that we transfer to our children, husband or wife, also complicating their lives. Not only did we ourselves suffer, let now they suffer too. But the answer to the question "Why?" we just don't have. At best, we remember that someone told us this. So if something is taboo in your personal life, it is non-interference in the space of loved ones.
Our unconscious taboos are more like microchips implanted in our heads in childhood or adolescence. But people more often call them cockroaches. They help to cope with mental "cockroaches" in the head. They untwist problems like a ball of thread, get to the bottom of the root cause of a meaningless barrier. Psychologists can do more than just listen. They provide clients with tools to help them live and deal with their inhibitions on their own. But psychotherapists are also banned. After all, it is believed that psychopaths, weaklings or complete losers go to the sessions. So before you go into therapy, you have to break at least one internal taboo in order to deal with the rest.
Conclusions:
- Taboo is a religious concept, which today has moved into the plane of ethical and psychological morality.
- Sexologists have formulated the basic rule of prohibitions in sex: if your behavior does not harm others, there is no reason to condemn it.
- Ambivalence is a conflicting desire to follow the ban and at the same time break it.
- The more unreasonable prohibitions, the greater the desire to break them.
- Our limitations protect us but take away our happiness.
What is taboo? What is the meaning of the word? What is its definition? What is its meaning? This article will address these questions.
This word has several definitions:
- Taboo is a word that means the strictest prohibition on certain actions, words. This prohibition is due to the belief that these actions are sacred and their commission will be punished by higher powers.
- This concept, which appeared in the primitive world, meant a categorical ban on actions that can be considered immoral in relation to inviolable persons.
- These are illegal actions of people that entailed any kind of sanctions against them.
- Taboos are prohibitions that are due to certain ideas about what can pose a threat to society. This definition is used by all nations.
Today, the term has the following wording: "what you can not talk about."
Significance in psychoanalysis
Specialists in the field of psychology have to meet with such patients who have come up with and believed in any prohibitions, diligently fulfilling them. What in this branch of science is called excessive obsession can be dubbed "taboo disease." Such prohibitions are the first step towards a limited life with a lot of abstinences, which can be called taboo.
There are characteristics according to which obsession and taboo are similar definitions:
- Such bans are not motivated by anything. A person cannot clearly name the reasons, answer the question: “Why not?”
- Their fulfillment takes place according to the conviction born inside the person. People themselves create bans and limit their lives.
- They are the cause of the ceremonies and commandments that follow from the forbidden.
If we draw a parallel between people with modern problems and ancient, shackled prohibitions, that is, unconscious causes, we can find the following. People have always had a desire to break the ban, this desire was so strong that they were fettered by fear. Fear of unknown punishment won over desire, securing the meaning of "inviolable".
Scientists attribute the emergence of this concept to the beliefs of ancient times, closely linking them with the mysterious rites of shamans, with the worship of totems. The power of self-hypnosis and fear of "taboo" was so strong that the one who violated it burned out like a match in a matter of days, being a person completely healthy in the physical sense.
However, this categorical prohibition helped primitive people in the formation of culture. There were prohibitions against theft, murder, incest - actions that destroy the structure of the tribe, turning people into immoral creatures. Author: Vera Chuguevskaya
the object of the prohibition for the implementation of certain actions with it. The topic is a specific problem that carries an emotional load, around which a conflict periodically recurring in the family is formed (E. G. Eidemiller).
Taboo
taboos) The word T. comes from a Polynesian word meaning "forbidden" or "dangerous" (Hawaiian: kapu). In Western usage, this term has come to mean something forbidden, for example, "a taboo subject." One such taboo subject is incest. In Victorian England and America, any mention of sex was forbidden - but this did not prevent illegal sexual activity. The mention of death to one degree or another is prohibited in almost all societies. In some cases, the mention of dead people must be accompanied by a certain "protective action" (insulating act), such as the exclamation "Lord, have mercy on his soul!" or overshadowing yourself with a cross. Parting with life of one's own free will is a T. in most countries of the world, despite the fact that in some societies it is culturally sanctioned under specific circumstances. In zap. Even the very talk of suicide is frowned upon in culture. Occupational psychiatrists pl. knew for years about the suicidal tendencies of their patients, but only recently T. on this subject was sufficiently broken that these tendencies could begin to be discussed. See also Cultural Differences by W. E. Gregory
TABOO
An anthropological term that denotes the removal of an object or person into a special position, or the absolute prohibition of some kind of action on the grounds that otherwise there would be a violation of the entire value system of a given culture (WORLD VIEW); those. an object is taboo if it cannot be touched, an action is taboo if, according to the concepts of a given culture, "one cannot even think about it."
Hence, in an expanded sense, any action prohibited by authority or social norms can be considered as a "taboo". In the psychoanalytic literature, the taboos of INCEST and the taboos of killing the TOTEM animal (except in ceremonial cases) are most often mentioned. See Freud's totem and taboo (1913) in which he speculates that the taboo of incest arose from the need for the men of the PRIMARY HORDE to prevent fighting among themselves after they killed the PRIMARY FATHER who had previously held all the women of the horde just for themselves. The theory suggests that the taboo prevented sons from having the very women they killed their father to possess. The article ONTOGENESIS AND PHYLOGENESIS briefly outlines the general biological theory that led Freud to believe that such a speculative theory was correct. See also OEDIPUS COMPLEX.
TABOO
a prohibition or system of prohibitions of a secular or religious nature, imposed on a certain object, action, word, etc., the violation of which entails social or religious-mystical sanctions in the form of punishment, illness or death.
According to Z. Freud, it is a tool and mechanism for building culture, starting with the restriction of inclinations and the ban on incest and murder.
TABOO
A Polynesian word for objects or living beings that must not be touched. The concept of T. was introduced by S. Freud into psychoanalysis as opposed to the "usual", "public". At the same time, its positive (“holy”, “sanctified”) and negative (“spooky”, “dangerous”, “impure”) aspects were distinguished. T. saw a manifestation of the ambivalence of thinking to the imposed prohibitions. An analogy was drawn between T. and obsessive-compulsive disorder, the essence of which S. Freud saw in the impediment to the implementation of strong unconscious drives. Thus, a psychoanalytic interpretation of the problem of the emergence of prohibitions was given, which plays an important role in the Freudian understanding of the structure of personality (Super-"I", censorship), the emergence of morality and religion. Critics of Freudianism pointed to the superficiality of the analogy between the mechanisms of taboo formation and the pathogenesis of neurosis, to the assimilation of socio-psychological factors - pathobiological, clinical, to ignoring cultural differences.
TABOO
1. Any prohibited act, object or behavior. 2. The very act of such prohibition. The term comes from the Polynesian word tabu, meaning sacred, inviolable, and was originally associated with objects reserved for religious ceremonies and customs and prohibited from everyday use. The modern way of using it is much wider.
TABOO
prohibition of any action imposed on a person by virtue of a special kind of prescriptions based on existing cultural traditions, religious customs, ethical and social norms. Since ancient times, taboo has had a duality, due to the fact that behind the ban there is something that is both holy, exceeding the ordinary and dangerous, impure, terrible.
In psychoanalysis, the problem of taboo is considered from the point of view of the study of the unconscious part of the individual soul. A similar vision of taboo was reflected in the work of Z. Freud “Totem and Taboo. The Psychology of Primitive Culture and Religion" (1913), which emphasized that, by its psychological nature, taboo is "nothing more than Kant's 'categorical imperative', acting obsessively and denying any conscious motivation."
The practice of psychoanalysis shows that among patients there are such patients who have created individual prohibitions for themselves and meticulously fulfill them. As Z. Freud noted, if psychoanalysis did not call such patients suffering from obsession, then their condition could be described as a “taboo disease”. The fact is that obsessive prohibitions lead to serious abstinence and restrictions in life, like taboo prohibitions. Ultimately, the similarity of the symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder and taboo customs is expressed, according to the founder of psychoanalysis, in the following points: “1) in the lack of motivation of prohibitions, 2) in their assertion, thanks to internal coercion, 3) in their ability to shift and in the danger of infection coming from the forbidden, 4) in that they become the cause of ceremonial actions and commandments arising from the prohibitions.
Just as the prohibitions of modern patients are individual, so the taboos of ancient people are not realized. Their motivation is unconscious. Taboo is an ancient prohibition imposed from the outside on a generation of primitive people, that is, forcibly imposed on this generation by the previous one. Any prohibition concerned an activity to which the person had a significant inclination. Moreover, a person, as a rule, had an ambivalent, dual orientation in relation to taboos: in the unconscious, he wanted to violate existing prohibitions, but at the same time the person experienced a feeling of fear; he was afraid precisely because he wanted to break the ban, but the fear was stronger than his inherent desire. In this respect there are similarities between ancient and modern man.
From the point of view of Z. Freud, the most important taboos are the ancient prohibitions against killing and avoiding incest. Both represent the strongest temptations of people, which are considered in psychoanalysis as the central point of infantile desires and the nucleus of neuroses.
Comparison of taboo with an obsessive prohibition of a neurotic led Z. Freud to such an understanding of the first phenomenon, according to which: taboo is an ancient prohibition imposed from the outside (by some authority) and directed against the strongest desires of people; the desire to break the taboo remains in the unconscious of a person; people who perform taboos have an ambivalent orientation towards what is subject to prohibition; the powerful power attributed to the taboo is reduced to the ability to lead into temptation; forbidden lust in the unconscious is transferred to another; expiation through abstinence for breaking taboos shows that taboo observance is based on abstinence.
