If you have never read or listened to Carl Jung’s book(s) or interviews, I highly recommend you do so. You’ll thank me later.
Carl Jung was a, according to Wikipedia, “Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who founded analytical psychology. Jung’s work was influential in the fields of psychiatry, anthropology, archaeology, literature, philosophy, and religious studies.”
With that out of the way, you may be wondering what the heading, “There’s No Virtue In Untrampled Virginity”, has anything to do with Carl Jung or what it even means. A quick explanation is, a harmless person is not a good person. You could also think of it as, a harmless man is not a good man.
You may think that someone who’s incapable of cruelty is a higher moral being than one capable of cruelty. However, I think that couldn’t be any further from the truth because if you are not capable of cruelty, you’re absolutely a victim to anyone who is.
Ever wondered why you sometimes love anti-heroes or thugs in movies? I think this is because there’s a part of you that’s crying out to come alive.
There’s no virtue in untrampled virginity. Same can be said for a harmless person who may not actually be a good person
I am NOT saying being cruel is better than not being cruel. I am saying, you must be capable of being cruel and then not be cruel. Big difference. This is echoed in martial arts training: one is not trained to fight, but to be peaceful and be able to unlock your skills when push comes to shove.
Going back to Carl Jung, he suggested that in order to transform (improve) your personality; first of all you had to be disciplined but you also had to integrate that part of you that was terrible and capable of breaking the rules (the law) and make it a part of you.
I really like that idea.
Here’s another example; I remember watching an old YouTube video were a former Foreign Affairs Minister of a European country was being interviewed about Slobodan Milošević, a Communist leader whose embrace of Serbian nationalism set off almost a decade of Balkan war, and he said something along the lines of, “I was caught unawares by Milošević’s imagination” because he didn’t have the same capacity for evil.
I remember thinking to myself, this guy thinks what he’s saying is signalling his virtue or moral high-standard, but from my perspective, all he was doing was showing us his cowardice and ignorance because if you’re the Minister of Foreign Affairs, you better have the imagination for that kind of evil because if you don’t anyone that has it WINS against you.
The same sentiment is echoed in popular culture, particularly in the Harry Potter stories. Harry Potter is touched by evil; he has a dark soul that’s embedded within him. That’s why he could talk to snakes. But without that dark soul integrated into his character and personality, he wouldn’t have that many victories and guess what, he’s the most popular character in the series.
You can also look at it from a logical perspective; unless you can think the same way an evil person thinks, you are defenceless against them because they’ll go to places you can’t imagine and they will WIN!
You also see that in the age-old story of Beauty and the Beast. Beauty is interested in Beast, not the other “nice guys”.
Following that thought, women don’t like harmless men. They detest them. What women want are dangerous men who are civilised.
If you disagree, you better have an explanation for 50 Shades of Grey. It’s a bestseller breaking all sorts of records.
This is NOT to say it’s cool to be a bully or violent but rather, its more important to nurture the aggression that’s within you and incorporate it into your character. It’s a major key and it will come in handy in business, sports, and in many other facets of life.
In the little micro-contests that you do every day, if you’re harmless, you’ll incrementally lose to people that are aggressive and have bigger teeth.
Don’t let that happen. You have to place yourself in a position where you can fight for yourself. This is done by, as Carl Jung would put it, incorporating the shadow (the parts of the personality that are ruthless and capable of breaking rules).
Be a good badass. 🙂 🙂
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