ZetaTalk: Being Human

The issue of addiction is one of perception. One views having a drink at the end of the day in the same light as eating

a sweet. Tastes good, helps one relax and let go of the day's concerns, and what's the harm. Another views this as an

addiction, equating addiction with anticipation or expectation or longing. At the other extreme is one who must

consume half a bottle, and not just in the evening. They know they feel crippled with anxieties without this, but feel

the drinking is under their control. Ask them if they are an addict and they will say no, even when suffering DT's. Are

they addicted? Yes, as their need has moved from longing or anticipation to chemical dependency, and they are taking

their daily dose in order to avoid withdrawal. Then there is the matter of psychological dependency, as one who never

drinks at all can find they must be drunk to engage in sexual activity, and this is as surely an addiction as the chronic drunk.

What causes this, and do human counterparts on other worlds develop addictions? The tendency to develop addictions

is inherent to all life, and is most definitely present on other worlds, particularly in intelligent species. Take the

simplest amoebae, given the option of a food bath rich with nutrients or one thin in this regard. The amoebae will

choose the rich and adjust to it, changing the thickness and composition of its cell structure so as not to become

inundated with nutrients. What would happen then if the amoebae were placed in a thin nutrient bath. Distress.

Humans develop addictions for the same reasons simpler creatures do, when given the opportunity. It tastes good, feels

good, and who is thinking about tomorrow. Most human addictions begin in situations where there is no concern about

tomorrow, not because one is carefree but because one is in such dire circumstances that the likelihood of a tomorrow

seems dim. Beyond feeling good or tasting good, one wishes to escape. The front lines during war, the slums, a brutal

spouse, an abusive parent, chronic pain, all lead one to look for an escape, any escape, if only for a moment. Dealing

with addiction here first requires that the cause, and not the symptom, be addressed. Not everyone can harden

themselves and bear up endlessly in distressing circumstances, and it does little good to berate the addict while they

are, in a sense, in pain.

Once begun, however, an escape mechanism can be continued even after circumstances have changed. Humans, as

intelligent creatures, are clever at manipulating circumstances. The young college student, using cocaine on occasion to

overcome the fatigue caused by all night study and to be vibrant at a party, is found later in life to be maneuvering

circumstances so he can continue to use cocaine. He works late at the office, telling his wife this is required for his

career, so he can excuse his use of cocaine in the parking lot after dark. Is he addicted? Physically, no, but

psychologically he is, as he has changed his life for the drug. It rules him, not he it. If one desires chocolate ice cream and seeks it, that's one thing, but if one must have it and arranging to get chocolate ice cream takes priority over all else, then that's an addiction. Addiction tendencies must be placed in perspective with everything else in one's life. If the addict is a parent, with small children dependent on one, then the urge to escape or ease one's burden should be

taken in context with what impact this may have on the children. If one is dying of a chronically painful disease, and

one's comatose condition due to a drug dose will harm no one, then that is another matter entirely.

As with most things in life, addiction is neither inherently good or bad, but must be taken in context.

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ZetaTalk: Music

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ZetaTalk: Music

Note: written on Jun 15, 1997

Music is instrumental (pardon the pun) in healing more from establishing what ought to be there than inserting

something that ordinarily is not present. In health, the body listens to itself, and natural rhythms which syncopate are

established. There is a relationship between breathing and heartbeat, breathing and motion of the body, heartbeat and

emotion, and all this is music. The mind and body are making music all the time, but this is silent so is overlooked or

misunderstood. When sick, the natural rhythms get disturbed, as the manifestations of illness are like noise, too loud to be ignored, and not taking the other instruments in the body into consideration. The sick body has been distracted, and

often is aided by re-establishing the natural rhythms again. Since the natural rhythms are so tied in with emotion,

breathing, and motion, dancing or singing or otherwise moving with the beat naturally puts these natural rhythms back

into place.

Music is also a healing reminder in that it speaks to more comforting and secure times. The babe, lying close to its

mother's heart, hears the equivalent of gentle waves on the beach during its early days, and thus the special appeal of

the beach! Where life presents discord, the tension and release within music give the listener or dancer the opportunity

to release tension that otherwise would remain bottled up. Thus, those especially tense may dance with particular abandon, all of which has less to do with the music and dance than with the dancers tense day. Music that heals is

music that pulls the body into its natural rhythms, and depending upon the age of the listener or affliction, this may

differ. Empathetic musicians often sense the effect their work is having upon the audience, and adjust accordingly.