Wednesday, April 04, 2007

How we learned to stop having fun.


How we learned to stop having fun

Not so with the Calvinist version of Protestantism. Instead of offering relief, Calvinism provided a metaphysical framework for depression: if you felt isolated, persecuted and possibly damned, this was because you actually were.


An article looking at an apparent change in behavior ~3-400 years ago, where people moved to a much more individualistic world view. Suggesting urbanisation and a market-based economy are partially responsible for this.
Also interestingly suggests there may have been a link between a Calvinistic world view/faith and Depression/Suicide.

1 comment:

Christina said...

Wow, That's a fantastic read! The split between having a communal world view and an individualistic one looks far more sharp now than how I've previously viewed it. I'd be interesting in buying (OK, getting out of the library :P) that book when it comes out in New Zealand.

The ideas for the cure and the trade-off between the world views was especially fascinating.

How did you find this?