Are we saying that the lemming is an apt metaphor for our species? Well yes, but if you don’t like where this is going you can avoid an unpleasant truth. We know the truth is not highly valued these days. The rest of us will mount our chargers and like the fearless warriors that we are, we will continue the quest to distinguish what is real from what is an illusion. The rest of you can return to your game of Candy Crush.
As it turns out, lemmings do not commit mass suicide although in lean times they may become cannibalistic. So far so good for the similarities between the two mammals. Wait! See if this sounds familiar. The lemming metaphor is used to describe a person who unthinkingly joins a mass movement especially a headlong rush to destruction. It seems we have hit upon the perfect metaphor for the first half of our title.
Now for the second. A syndrome is a characteristic combination of opinions, emotions or behaviors; or a group of symptoms which consistently occur together. In our search for the answer to the question: Who am I? we have found that our worldview, our beliefs attitudes and values determine our identity. We can see that the definition of worldview will suffice for a definition of the word syndrome.
Now comes the challenging portion of our quest and again for those who are shaky in your commitment to the truth you can bail at this time. Otherwise, click on the link below.
Insight # 137: “’If one man conquers in battle a thousand times a thousand men,’ as Siddhartha said, ‘and another conquers himself, he is the greatest of conquerors.’” (1)
Link:
- “That’s Me. You Sure!” in this blog and also in print version, Who Am I? (2013) by Roy Charles Henry, page 58.
Reference:
- Fields, Rick. The Code of the Warrior. New York: Harper, 1991, page 95.
