Ortega on Resistance
By Ortega I mean Ortega y Gasset and to by Resistance I refer to the quote below, taken from page 93 of Ortega’s “The Revolt of the Masses” and the Triumph of the New Man, by Pedro Blas Gonzalez. This text has not been proof- read very well, and I have made some minor changes to it – and I have broken the text into shorter paragraphs. Roll up you pants, because we are going to wade right in:
An even greater problem that Ortega points out in the cyclical nature of human history is our our lack of understanding or failure to recognize human existence as always offering resistance to our individual lives. He tells us, “all life is the struggle, the effort to be itself. “
Human life, then, is best understood as resistance. This resistance is present in every one of our endeavors, trivial as they may seem at times. But resistance in itself, Ortega argues, is the manifestation of life in its human form.
This forces us to discover the self and our place in the scheme of things: my destiny or vocation. The struggle to become how my intuition informs me that I am part of the struggle to be. To live, then, is to confront and develop ourselves.
This is very much in keeping with the existential notion of life as project. Hence in Ortega’s view, to posit life as resistance, as other thinkers like Dilthey and Heidegger have also argued, brings about two central realizations: humility and a sense of awe.
These two conditions, when maintained throughout the course of one’s life become the fundamental ingredients in not following the somnambulist sub-existence of the mass man.
I only need add that Ortega, like most original thinkers, has been ignored in our time – a time which has been characterized as the Great Regression.
I think this excerpt is a brilliant summary of what conscious individuals do struggle with during their lives. The deeper question for me is how does one become conscious? A conscious individual realizes that he is in a struggle in his life that he knows the unconscious person doesn’t have to deal with. The conscious person is aware that the unconscious person simply goes with the flow, most likely distracting himself with more trivial pursuits.
I really appreciate being presented with this material. I wouldn’t have thought about it in this way if I hadn’t read this.
How does one become conscious? That is indeed an important question – but I think everyone has to find his own answer.
The main thing is to concentrate on just that – paying attention to how you are, or are not, paying attention – using your body, not your mind. This is not easy, because most, as you note, avoid doing just that. You will have to develop your own technique for doing this – by being impossibly stubborn about it, over and over.
I have found meditation helps me do this – but here again, if you are really stubborn, something and/or somebody will show up to help you do this.
You have to really, really want this – and keep on wanting it.