Mindfulness In Pervert's Guide To Ideology By Peter Singer

This notion of being oblivious to how your actions, or inactions, affect other people is a defining part of unconscious decision making. Actions that are done through unconscious decision making would appear malicious if one were to consciously act as such; this maliciousness behind unconscious thought is why it is so essential to cultivate mindfulness within our nation's cultural soils. Peter Singer discusses the importance of mindfulness by stating that one of the most obvious notions that we walk away with when mindfulness is incorporated into our thoughts. After stepping into someone else's shoes, there is the “priority of reducing or preventing suffering”; and not only doing so through our actions but preventing suffering through “the …show more content…
Violence spawns out of the desire to dominate; whereas, pollution spawns out of our desire to constantly consume, which can be attributed to a sense of superiority through consumption. Our under-utilization of mindfulness shows the side of humanity that no one wants to be associated with; this is the side of humanity that is self-centered, pleasure based, and, most importantly, unethically self-absorbed. In Slavoj Zizek’s documentary, The Pervert’s Guide to Ideology, he discusses the idea of desire, particularly concerning the idea of desiring commodities; not basic survival material, but commodities. He discusses the illogical framework of desire: “A desire is never just a desire for a certain thing; it’s also a desire for desire itself.”(Zizek, Pervert’s Guide). This idea of desire being a never ending chain of want can be equated to the imagery of a snake eating its own tail. The neverending void that is in constant want will only create more desire until there is nothing more for the snake to eat. In relation to violence, retaliation will be the constant desire of the afflicted party; same as constant consumerism will lead only to the formation of further habitual consumption; or in layman’s terms, violence leads to more violence and desire leads to more desire. Now, our nation's cultural …show more content…
Well, for most the only way to do so is to examine one’s thoughts until one reaches the innermost depths of the presupposed, made up mind. To properly question oneself, one must examine one’s thoughts as well as one's actions; until both are examined one can not truly know the whole self. Cornel West encourages this questioning by asking, “What happens when you begin to call into question your tacit assumptions and unarticulated presuppositions and begin to become a different person?” (Taylor, Examined Life). The answer to this question lies in the eyes of the beholder. For some they may find that they already had a pretty good idea of who they truly are and what they believe in; for others, they may find that they never had any idea of who they truly are or what they believe in. There is no systematic value to be placed on which situation is better; instead, the best result in examining oneself is becoming better acquainted with oneself. To know yourself is to be aware of your thoughts and actions; to be aware of these things is to be in a state of mindful living, and to be in a state of mindful living leaves you with no excuse to do harm against your planet or your fellow man. When we call into question our ideologies and our actions, we familiarize ourselves with ourselves, and when we know ourselves it is then that we can begin to strive toward bettering