The reasons that force people to live outside society can be very different. Perhaps the most common involuntary hermits are those who fear the authorities. Here are two relatively recent examples of this. The hero of the first story was the Englishman Norman Green.
“Ordinary spectacles... no longer excite the public. She wants to see something sensational and sinister, and Norman Greene is perfect for that. He is the most amazing sight on earth." These words, which could easily have been heard at one of Phineas Barnum's circus performances, were spoken by Bernard Bouley, an attraction agent, on Saturday July 17, 1982 at a fair in Preston (Lancashire, England). It was with such speeches that Mr. Bouley managed to attract those willing to spend their 25 pennies for the right to look at the outside ordinary person sitting on the sofa. But at that time, the whole world had just learned about him, Norman Green, called the “mole man.”
Norman had six sons, and his appearance to the public began immediately on the day he left the place where he had spent eight years of his life - a hole with a diameter of 53 centimeters, which was made in the floor of the lower floor of his house in Vigan. There, with the exception of his wife Polina, his entire family lived with them in complete ignorance of his stay. Having crawled out on all fours and blinking from the bright light, this man appeared in a very strange appearance: his beard of tangled hair reached 60 centimeters in length. He emerged from his hole into daylight for the first time in eight years of being there.
Norman, 43, was a traveling salesman when, shortly before Christmas 1974, he became involved in what the police regarded as a very serious crime. (When he finally appeared in court after his voluntary imprisonment, all charges against him were dropped.) Enlisting the help of his wife, who explained to friends and neighbors that he had abandoned her alone with the children, Norman decided that the only thing he could do was go to jail. in a tiny corner under the living room of their home. A sofa was placed above his shelter.
At night, Norman received food and drink from his wife and sometimes went out of his basement into the room. But during the day he always remained hidden. Polina Green later said: “The worst thing was when friends and relatives came to us. I chatted and laughed constantly, always remembering that they were sitting right above Norman's head. It was necessary to eliminate all doubts that Norman remained in the house, and I gave away his clothes. He could only go out at night, when the children were asleep and there were no guests, and he wore my dress for this. The hardest moment was when one of our sons said, “Daddy will come back someday with a nice car and a lot of money.” I hated a life where I had to lie all the time. For outside world I was a free, divorced woman. But every time I returned home, I knew that I was heading towards deception. I wanted only one thing - to be like all the other wives and mothers. I wanted to walk with my husband and children in the park. I was jealous of the other wives and I put up with all this only because I love Norman so much. I did it for him alone."
Going to the store turned into a real torment for Polina, as she was forced to make sure that she did not buy more food than she should, without arousing suspicion. The neighbors sympathized with her and, thinking that Norman had really abandoned his family, collected money and clothes for her. Over time, Norman became a distant memory, and no one, even in their wildest dreams, could imagine that he was still alive and always nearby. Norman became so accustomed to his role as the “mole man” that it seemed that no one would ever find him.
However, he did not take into account the childish curiosity of little Christian Coates, a three-year-old neighbor boy. One day, while playing with friends, Christian wandered through the open door into the Green house and appeared in the living room. Here the frightened child saw the carpet on the floor move by itself. Then the floorboards under the sofa mysteriously creaked. And suddenly a strange hairy figure appeared from the underground. Norman was as surprised as little Christian, who immediately ran away roaring. This was the only mistake of the “mole man” that led to his exposure.
However, for another three years his hideout remained undetected, because no one believed the stories of the kid, who stubbornly repeated: “I entered the room and saw the furniture moving. And then I saw how he came out of the underground a strange man. He had long hair and a beard. He was terrible."
Christian's parents eventually decided to check what kind of miracles were happening in the neighboring house. Here's what the boy's father said: “We began to notice various oddities that suggested that Norman was indeed still living in his house. Polina went to the store to buy cigarettes, although she did not smoke herself. She also sometimes bought beer and placed bets at the racetrack (although incredibly, Norman retained his interest in horse racing and followed its progress through the newspapers that his wife bought). At night I wondered whether I should report this to the police. But what should I tell them? The whole story seemed completely incredible.”
Then Christian’s mother, also not too confident in the correctness of her guesses, nevertheless notified the police that something incomprehensible was happening in the Green’s house and Norman might continue to live there. Three days later, a group of local police showed up at the Greens' house, and Norman was removed from his hiding place. Then he and, to some extent, his family became the subject of sincere surprise to their friends and neighbors.
Soon, newspapermen attacked Norman and began to pour in offers to perform for the entertainment of the public. But he told an astonished world: “In general, I liked living down there. I am confident that I could quickly return to the life I have led for the past eight years. It’s so noisy here outside that sometimes I regret that I ever got out here.”
Wolfgang H., Norman Green's German colleague, is hiding from the authorities not under the floor, but in the forest, and may still be hiding there. Andrei Domashev recently told about his amazing fate, informing readers of the weekly Megapolis Express about how the hero of this unusual story came to life like this: “He is not capable of living in an ordinary room. A couple of days surrounded by a bed, table and chairs - and he runs away into his forest. True, the last time Wolfgang H. from Bendorf was able to hold out in a living room for ten months. But he had no choice - after all, he was placed in a cage, in a closed psychiatric ward.
And not at all because they considered Wolfgang abnormal. Quite the contrary, examinations showed that his mental abilities were much above average. And they placed him in the clinic only for the reason that they could not understand why he preferred forest spaces to four comfortable walls.
However, in August he managed to escape from the psychiatric hospital. Locks, bars and heavy security did not help. Since then, he has been wandering through the caves, and the police are looking for him. However, like everything for the last 15 years. After all, in order to survive, Wolfgang borrows food from hunting lodges, fishing huts and burgher dachas.
Fifty-year-old Mowgli stole food worth 500 thousand marks. The police put him on the list of especially dangerous criminals. If caught, they will be sent to a mental hospital, and then to prison. The prospect is by no means joyful, so Wolfgang is as elusive as the wind.
The “working day” of a forest man begins at dusk, since during the day he prudently rests. He runs tens of kilometers in search of food and a warm blanket. He never takes money. He disguises his hiding places so skillfully that soldiers, combing the forest, pass literally a centimeter from his cave, but do not notice anything.
His classmates recall that he loved getting lost in the forest as a six-year-old kid. The thicket began immediately behind the parental house, which stood alone next to the cemetery. The stepfather hated the boy and often beat him with a belt. But what’s even worse is that during lunch he was not allowed to sit at the common table. While his mother, stepfather and two stepbrothers dined in the room, Wolfgang was only allowed to be in the kitchen. He cried out his childhood sorrows and grievances to the trees. It was during his childhood that he built his first huts and caves in which to do his school homework.
By the way, Wolfgang evokes only sympathy and sympathy among all residents of Bendorf. No one holds a grudge against him and is not going to help the police in her search. On the contrary, at night people place food for him in front of the doors of their houses. The robbed citizens also sympathize with him.
“Of course, it’s unpleasant to lose your supplies, but he must eat something,” said the owner of one of the devastated dachas.
Wolfgang is not looking for help from the state on principle. And he also doesn’t want to return to his specialty as a mechanic, although he has been considered unemployed for 15 years. During his last arrest, he said that he would never contact social services in his life - no matter how difficult it was for him. Not long ago, the German Mowgli left his footprints in the horse yard. There, in the kitchen, he feasted a little - he cooked himself some pasta with tomato sauce. Fatigue and the feast weakened him so much that after dinner he did not run away into the forest, as usual, but slept all night in his room under a warm blanket.”
Isn't it true that Norman and Wolfgang are rather strange representatives of the human race?
Society is a society without which person life is difficult. The fear of loneliness is inherent in both young and old. But there are people for whom this is not fear at all, but a way of life - they feel free and independent. Why, in fact, cannot a person live without society?
Remember the hero popular book Robinson Crusoe. Thrown onto a desert island as a result of a shipwreck, he lived for many years in complete solitude. True, without needing anything, because in a tropical climate it was possible to do without warm clothing, and they also managed to remove many useful, necessary things from the ship. In addition, Robinson obtained food without much difficulty, since there were goats on the island and tropical fruits and grapes grew in abundance. So, compared to his drowned comrades, he could feel like the darling of fate. Nevertheless, Robinson experienced a burning, painful melancholy. After all, he was alone. All his thoughts, all his desires were directed towards one thing: to return to people. What was Robinson missing? No one “stands over your soul”, tells you what to do and how to do it, or limits your freedom. But he lacked the most important thing - communication. After all, the entire history of human civilization testifies that only together, helping each other, people achieved success and overcame difficulties. It is no coincidence that the most terrible punishment among Stone Age people was considered expulsion from the clan or tribe. Such a person was simply doomed. Division of responsibilities and mutual assistance are the two main foundations on which the well-being of any human being is based. society: starting from the family and ending with the state. Not a single person, even one with colossal physical strength and the sharpest, deepest mind, can do as much as a group of people. Simply because he has no one to rely on, no one to consult with, no one to outline a work plan, no one to ask for help. There is no one to give instructions and no one to control, finally, if he is a clear leader by nature. The feeling of loneliness will sooner or later lead to depression, and it can take the most severe forms. The same Robinson, in order not to go crazy from despair and melancholy, was forced to take a number of measures: he regularly kept a diary, made notches on his primitive “calendar” - a pillar dug into the ground, talked out loud with a dog, cats and a parrot. There are situations when when even the most proud and independent person just need help. For example, in case of a serious illness. What if there is no one nearby, and no one to even turn to? This could end very sadly. Finally, no self-respecting person can live without purpose. He needs to set some goals for himself and achieve them. But that's the peculiarity human psyche– what’s the point of achieving a goal if no one sees or appreciates it? What will all the efforts be for? So it turns out that a person cannot do without society.
The psychology of human thinking is such that it is forced to obey the microenvironment in which it is currently located. This is due to the fact that any individual wants to remain in relative psychological peace. And as they say: don’t try too hard to protect yourself from unfavorable social environment.
To live with wolves is to howl like a wolf. This popular saying fully describes the topic raised. Most of us simply cannot live outside the collective. This is determined by the entire structure of our society and humanity as a whole. On the one hand, this seems correct and rational, because together the whole world can move mountains. On the other hand, groups that are tuned to the same wavelength are easier to manage by taking control of just one leader. Any individuality that does not go in unison with the rest is brutally crushed in the team. And either they make a standard figurine out of it or throw it away.
Most people base their behavior on other people's views on themselves and life in general. But society is diverse, and so are their views. Therefore, a person is thrown from one extreme to another. In turn, he also gives out into the surrounding space his own opinion, point of view, from which someone else makes a start, also introducing adjustments to his behavior.
This microclimate broth in a single team (society) is cooked in its own sauce according to its own laws. And the one who stirs this human broth carefully ensures that it does not boil or splash out, occasionally throwing various seasonings into the pan in the form of rewards, entertainment events and other pseudo-pleasures.
Depending on the social environment where a person is brewing, encouragement comes. That is, the cook looks: yeah, plain water is boiling, well, it’s enough to throw a pinch of salt in there in the form of free lunches or distribution of used clothes for the unemployed and other socially disadvantaged elements of society.
But a bunch of hard workers began to puff up. Let's add Maslitsa - a cash prize, a free trip to Sochi, a charity rock concert in the city square.
Is the fine dining environment buzzing? Well... let's give them the opportunity to enjoy an additional million in their account, real estate in Cyprus... let's give a couple of enterprises into ownership.
Those who did not want to calm down or simply did not have time to pick up the handout are scooped out with a spoon in the form of foam and thrown into a garbage can, where they also form - these are prisons and colonies.
However, the chef is not always so radical with his dishes. He can add salted water to porridge or even a delicious dish at the right time. Or maybe strain the unnecessary liquid from the vat and pour it into a pan of boiling water.
Personality and society - perhaps none of the other topics has caused so much debate and has not become the subject of so many works by outstanding minds of mankind. Is an individual capable of living outside of society - one of the most relevant issues in all historical times questions.
Since ancient times, many peoples have had very interesting rituals associated with the initiation of growing up. Some of their details may seem to modern man wild and even creepy. For example, long-term separation from the community was assumed (symbolizing placement in a certain sacred environment in which new knowledge was supposed to be acquired), often accompanied by additional prohibitions - a taboo on talking, the requirement to be in complete darkness, etc.
Moreover, such “disgrace” could continue for quite a considerable period of time - from a week to a year. Among other effects, such forced isolation gave rise to a literally inextinguishable thirst for communication in those who went through it. Having lost access to this simple everyday pastime, people literally languished from the inability to satisfy one of the most important needs - communication.
This example is further proof of the thesis that man is unthinkable without society. Not only the extrovert (who can go crazy from complete loneliness), but also the most complete introvert desperately needs interaction with his own kind.
This kind of torment was experienced, in particular, by Dr. Robert Neville, Will Smith’s character in the film “I Am Legend.” Remaining in a metropolis dying from a terrible virus, at night flooded with half-zombie, half-vampire creatures generated by this infection ( former people, who received their status as evil spirits as by-effect from a new anti-cancer drug), and during the day, swarming with wild animals wandering from the surrounding forests, he tries to find his own kind (if at least one of them managed to survive the grandiose biological catastrophe).
In order not to go crazy from the lack of a social environment, Dr. Neville, in desperation, invents some semblance of communication. At a video rental point, for example, he sets up figures of people he was used to meeting there in the “pre-virus” time, and speaks to them, imitating normal communication.
Such a craving for basic communication among representatives of humanity in forced isolation is not surprising. It was the continuous exchange of information that brought people to that high level - especially in comparison with the times ancient history- the stage of development at which they are now, without interrupting their further progress towards progress.
By interacting with others like themselves, cooperating with them, voluntarily or involuntarily undergoing training in what others know and possess, a specific representative of the human race not only grows in personal terms. He is also developing as a professional, as someone who knows how to work for the benefit of others, and to feel like one of the creators of something valuable and significant.
Through such interchange with the help of communicative means, the return of accumulated experience is carried out and the so-called continuity of generations, important for the survival and increase of global human achievements, is carried out. In other words, young members of society absorb the knowledge accumulated by their ancestors, gradually adding to it something of their own, recently discovered and realized, harmoniously complementing - and at the same time refuting in some nuances - previous knowledge.
Psychologists from all over the planet have long come to the conclusion: homo sapiens is a biosocial being, and for the fullest feeling of happiness, harmony and well-being, he urgently needs the awareness that he is not alone. Moreover, support is important not only from loved ones and relatives, but also from strangers (which was confirmed by some experiments - in particular, from Argentine scientists). Therefore, the question of whether a person can live without society hardly, by and large, allows for a positive answer.
Outside of society, a person finds himself in a kind of information vacuum, deprived of the most important evaluation tools that help determine the value and real importance of his achievements. Growing up in society, an individual also absorbs acceptable moral and ethical guidelines, understanding already during his childhood that outside these generally accepted norms, violating them is unlikely to result in full interaction with others.
In addition, such restrictive social frameworks also provide a feeling of safety, reliability, and even protection. Any member of society can be sure that his ability to survive in such an environment will be many times higher than on his own.
Anyone who is deprived of communication with others will not be able to grow into a full-fledged person. The literature says a lot of negative things about what a person without society is. Examples of this include the stories of Robinson Crusoe and Mowgli. By the way, in reality there were many people who grew up among animals. Not one of them was subsequently able to adapt to a full existence among other people.
Thus, outside of society, neither personal, nor spiritual, nor any other development is simply impossible. Thrown out of society, a person will lose guidance in his own progress through life, and it will be easy for him to slide down the path of degradation.
As you know, society is
totality historically
existing forms of joint
human activities; or is it
isolated from nature, but closely
part associated with it
material world, including
yourself ways of interaction
people and forms of their association.
As can be seen from the definitions, they
themselves laid down the principle that
society consists of people, which means
people are part of society. "But in them
nothing is said about addiction
from human society" - maybe
say any. Yes, and he will be right.
In definitions of reality
nothing is said about the fact that a person
will die without society. But it turns out
that if there is no man, there will be no
society. Right? Society
made up of people's traditions
located in it. And if
consider any society taken
at any time in our history, then
it can be seen that all relationships
regulated within society
certain rules. At the beginning
these were moral standards, now they are
more stringent “documents” – and
precisely by law. And for violation
these norms and laws of man
punished. How?
They tried to isolate the person from
society, went to prison,
sent into exile. After all, already
since ancient times it was clear that man
It's hard to live alone. Exactly
that's why they were always drawn to each other
friend in the primitive world, wife
often went to Siberia for their husbands, yes
and prisons are not made by single-cellers
(although this happens) and
multi-seat. Many people say:
"I can't live among people, I
I love peace and quiet. I find it difficult
communicate with people because I
closed, or because I
I love music/books more than
of people. I would like to understand them." Yes.
Of course, it cannot be denied that
sometimes people find it easier to be alone with
books or music than with people.
BUT did this one ever live?
man completely isolated
from the society of people? Was it with him
ever something that he couldn't
communicate with family and friends
for weeks, or even months? Not
Think. After all, when we say that
we are better off living in technology or
book, we don't think about
with all the depth of these words. After all, I
I'm sure that when he says living alone, he doesn't
thinks he has it on his computer
there are devices for personal
communication, like ICQ or QUIP. Or,
that he has a mother with whom he
will still talk, however
no longer isolating yourself. People,
which for a long time isolated
from society, begin to move away from
mind. Isn't it crazy?
a sign of personality degradation, and
does that mean her death? . Good
example when people struggled with
madness in prison
outlined in the book: Henri Charriere
"Papillon" where a person, so as not to
go crazy walked around for days
camera, counting your steps. And in
movie "Sin City"? After all, there
the person was also isolated from
society. But to support
his mind is in a state, he wrote
letters every day to a girl, with
which he had to part with.
And he still had a bright mind. Maybe
maybe a person can live without
society, but his personality will die.
His individuality will die, but
one of the signs of society is
a collection of individuals. Human -
a biosocial being, and without
society to live, develop and
fail as a person
will be able.