The Psychology of Adaptation To Absurdity

This insightful book delves into the role of make-believe in coping with absurdities, highlighting its psychological and somatic benefits in human adaptation.

The major goal of The Psychology of Adaptation To Absurdity is to explore and integrate all that is scientifically known about the utility of magical plans and strategies for coping with life's inevitable absurdities. Make-believe has great adaptive value and helps the average individual to function better in cultures saturated with puzzling contradictions. This book traces the origins of pretending (illusion-construction) and the developmental phases of this skill. Furthermore, it analyzes how parents depend on pretending to secure conformity and self-control from their children.

Additionally, The Psychology of Adaptation To Absurdity unravels the ways in which make-believe is utilized to defend against death-anxiety and feelings of fragility. It examines the relationship between pretending and classical defense mechanisms, particularly weighing the evidence on the potential protective power of embracing religious beliefs. The book also defines the diverse contributions of make-believe to the construction of the self-concept, the defensive maneuvers typical of psychopathology, and the maintenance of somatic health.

In summary, this volume pulls together a spectrum of scientific information concerning the defensive value of illusory make-believe in coping with those aspects of life—such as death, loss, suffering, and injustice—that are experienced as unreasonable and beyond understanding. The uniqueness of this work lies not only in the breadth of literature analyzed but also in demonstrating the contribution of make-believe to both psychological and somatic aspects of behavior.