How to be happy though human / by W. Béran Wolfe.
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to work out his personal inadequacies in terms of social
service and social interest. The variety of his bonds to
his fellow-men makes every minute of his existence
interesting, and leaves his nights free for peaceful sleep.
Those unfortunate individuals who have attained a
misanthropic point of view, or have had isolation and the
inferiority complex thrust upon them in any of the variety
of ways that we shall describe in later chapters, find the
work-a-day world dangerous or boring. It follows,
therefore, that they are jealous and envious of their
fellows, misanthropic in their point of view, uninterested
in their work, afraid of the other sex, apathetic to the
world of nature and of men, hesitant and indecisive in
their approach to life. Frequently, in their despair,
they seek the emergency exits of suicide, insanity, or
crime, as an escape from their intolerable isolation.
Beyond these general manifestations of the inferiority
complex, we can catalogue the manifestations of the
inferiority complex under four headings and under a
variety of unsocial techniques of life. The physical
symptoms of the inferiority complex are among the most
interesting because they are the least understood both
by layman and by doctors. From our description of the
inferiority complex, it must be obvious that the individual
with the inferiority complex is saying “ No ! ” to life.
One of the most significant contributions of Alfred Adler
to medical and psychological science is the thesis that
you can say “ No ! ” to life in a variety of ways.
Frequently the individual suffering from an inferiority
complex is far too intelligent to say “ No ! in so
many words. He seeks rather to shift the responsibility—
a favourite technique with all isolated individuals, who,
because of their lack of social adjustment, have also failed
to acquire social responsibility—to conditions seemingly
beyond his control.
The “ Organ Jargon ” of the Inferiority Complex
Alfred Adler was one of the first to call attention to
the fact that while the entire individual takes up an attitude