Essay About Erich Fromm Humanistic Ideas
Erich Fromm’s basic thesis of humanistic psychoanalysis is that the human species feel disconnected from our original, wild nature with the lack of human communication, but we can still think rationally. The separation from the natural world caused basic anxiety due to loneliness and isolation. He analyzed this with evolution in mind. As humans broke off as our own species, our animal instincts decreased, but intelligence continued to increase. He thought to fix these problems we need to connect to the natural world again and meet our human needs.
If our human needs were satisfied it would bring us back closer to the natural world. There are five human needs. The first being relatedness which is looking for a relationship, friendship, bond, etc with one or more persons. An example would be a romantic relationship or even friendships with coworkers. These relationships would allow someone to relate to the world. The second need is transcendence, this could be negative or positive. Humans are aware of how we can create or destroy our lives. Rootedness is the third, so we just want to feel like we have a home and belong. Then sense of identity which is realizing that we are our own people and have our own identity. Lastly, frame of orientation is how people think, and the efforts to try to understand and put things into perspective.
I do agree with Fromm’s humanistic analysis. Going back to the human need of relatedness, we definitely live in a world where it is easy to get caught up in your phone or laptop. You can forget about what is right in front of you because you are distracted by the lives of celebrities or people you follow on social media. Another example is we have easy access to everything at home. You can get your meals delivered to your house and left at your front porch. You do not need to leave the house to get anything really because you can even get your groceries delivered to you as well. There is a lack of human interaction. Technology is part of a cause of disconnect with our peers.
Social media also ties into sense of identity. It is easy for people to get so infatuated with what is seen online that people change themselves to fit in. For example, buying something just because your favorite youtuber, or even changing your style to be like someone else’s. Lastly, frame of orientation is a huge concept right now with politics. Many people argue with facts that they have seen on the news or read without doing their own research.
In conclusion, Fromm believed that modern society caused people to have basic anxiety because of the disconnect with the natural world. In order for people to be happy they must reach their basic needs. I agree with Fromm, but I think humans will forever be out of touch with the world because of how far the divide between the natural world is due to technology.
