If Life Deceives You - Alfred Adler, Inferiority and Transcendence

Alfrey de Adler, the author of The Inferiority and Transcendence, was an early famous psychologist and student of Freud, who studied with Freud for nine years. Along with Jung and Freud, he was called the Triumvirate of psychologists, but later he also became an opponent of Freud, so he parted ways and formed his own faction, individual psychology.

This book is a psychological classic, which has been published for nearly 100 years, but its theoretical parts are too many, and it is basically a long story, which is not smooth to read, coupled with translation defects, which has caused a lot of pressure on my understanding.

And after reading this book, I feel as if I have been deceived, because the whole book involves very little "inferiority", and the whole article is talking about another concept - "cooperation". However, when I think about it carefully, there is also a certain truth, the sense of individual value brought by cooperation to the self is the best medicine to overcome inferiority.

Adler begins with the question "What is the meaning of life" and leads to the main theories of individual psychology:

The understanding of the meaning of life that develops early in life at the age of 0-5 influences our "way of life" (somewhat similar to what we usually call personality, but Adler emphasizes its variability), which reflects basic notions and inherent patterns of reaction to ourselves and the outside world.

Based on the understanding of the meaning of life based on the values of cooperation and dedication, the formed lifestyle is positive and realistic, with a normal and balanced sense of inferiority and superiority goals, which is a personality that meets the needs of society. On the contrary, based on a completely personalized understanding of the meaning of life, it is determined that their lifestyle is negative and escapist, and they often fall into an inferiority complex or a superior emotional complex, resulting in mental illness, and even becoming a person who is not beneficial to society and endangers society.

The good news Adler tells us is that although we solidified our flawed lifestyle before the age of 5, we still have a chance to correct it. The most effective way is to re-establish the goal of superiority of cooperation, win-win and dedication. Because underneath the lifestyle lies the goal of superiority, and underneath the goal of superiority lies the understanding of the meaning of life. New goals bring a new sense of meaning.

In addition, Adler comprehensively analyzed various psychological problems encountered in various scenarios and age groups such as family, school, work, marriage, etc., and through various cases and correction methods, he invariably proved that re-setting the goal of superiority based on the correct concept of the meaning of life is an effective way to cultivate a healthy personality and treat mental illness.

Each of us has different degrees of inferiority complex. Since feelings of inferiority always cause tension, the compensatory action of striving for superiority will inevitably appear at the same time, but its purpose is often not to solve the problem. The quest for superiority is always directed towards the useless side of life, where the real problem is glossed over or avoided.

The individual limits his range of activities and is determined to avoid failure rather than pursue success. He hesitated, wandered, and even retreated in the face of difficulties. His sense of inferiority will become a long-standing undercurrent in his spiritual life.

But Adler overemphasized the value of "cooperation" and ignored the value of "loneliness." Through the book "The Ragged Crowd: A Study of Mass Psychology" by the French psychologist Gustav Lepan, we know that in groups, the level of intelligence and morality of people tends to decline rapidly, becoming "puppets" who are fooled and manipulated.

What is the significance and value of emphasizing "cooperation" in such a group? Therefore, I still subscribe to Calvino's saying in The Baron in the Tree: "A person can only be truly with them if he is away from the crowd." ”