“He who makes a beast out of himself gets rid of the pain of being a man”
This is the line that introduces one of Avenged Sevenfold’s songs, Bat country. Avenged Sevenfold is a hard rock band. It’s a quote taken from Samuel Johnson; an English Poet from the 18th Century (Link).
The quote is used in reference to alcoholism. Alcohol makes a beast out of yourself, curbing your ability to use reason which makes you a man.
People making beasts out of themselves is not a new observation. What is much more interesting is why they do, and that’s what the quote articulates so well. Suffering comes in two kinds; intrinsic and extrinsic.
Extrinsic suffering the hurt sensation one gets when they place their hand on a hot stove. It is pain – nerve fibers giving your brain a discomforting signal. This is not the kind of pain that making a beast out of yourself avoids. Beasts feel extrinsic suffering. So what is the pain of being a man?
It is intrinsic suffering. It is suffering in the mind. It consists of intellectual feelings like guilt, shame, anger, and emptiness cumulating in the form of depression. The person is torn apart by their conflicting beliefs caused by their unwillingness to use reason. Their minds are fragmented by their attachment to a fantasy version of things – a version of things that is empty of meaning. This kind of suffering is deep and dark. It is a kind of intellectual, spiritual, death.
There are a few responses to intrinsic suffering. The first is in various ways of making a beast out of ones self. Alcoholism is what the quote is referring to, but there are other ways we make ourselves into beasts – destroying our reasoning capabilities to resist intrinsic suffering. A certain kind of meditation is another way. It is a way of moving past our reason into nothingness, emptiness -- just being without action or thought. Another way might be in animalistic sexuality – physical pleasure without spiritual kinship. Gluttony is another way people distract themselves from intrinsic suffering. Food becomes no longer a means to life which is a means to the good, instead excess food becomes a way to stimulate our senses to distract ourselves from the suffering. Beasts can live by bread alone but man cannot.
The other category by which we avoid intrinsic suffering the wrong way is by suicide. When distraction doesn’t work and we can’t take it anymore, we kill ourselves.
I think we can leverage our understanding of what it means to be a man into a natural moral law. Man, by having a rational nature, created in God’s image, should not make a beast out of himself in any way. And if his thoughts are in the right place, intrinsic suffering does not guide him into making a beast out of himself. He also does not commit suicide. Intrinsic suffering does not guide him into suicidal acts.
In contrast to beastly behavior and suicide, intrinsic suffering ought to guide us to seek and understand. We are being tormented spiritually, mentally, because that is inherent in our thoughts are not in the right place. We neglect the reason that connects us to reality and instead believe what we want – and even abuse reason by twisting it to call our version of things “reality”. We are vain in our reasoning. If we are pure in our reasoning – if we seek and understand – then we will not make beasts out of ourselves or commit suicide because those are symptoms of failing to seek and understand.
I suggest a post by someone who believes something close to what I do. He also links an anecdote in popular culture to spiritual death. His name is Owen Anderson and he analyzes something Lewis C.K. says.
