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Marasmus

This episode raises the question about what essentially makes humans human. It starts by recounting how that during the Korean War, over 2000 United Nations POW’S who were isolated and cut off from all meaning died from no known causes. They simply lost their will to live. This isolation and loss of meaning somehow took away their humanness. This process is called "marasmus".

 

A - The Key to Being Human

In the episode isolation appears to be the biggest factor in dehumanising people.

  • If you isolate a person they soon cease to be a human being.

  • Humans become human through human contact.

  • It’s amazing. When you first go to a place, you have lots of people coming to see you. After about a month or three weeks you only have occasional people….It does get a bit lonely at times.

  1. Would you agree with Robert that human contact, or the lack of it, is the biggest factor in making people human or inhuman?

  2. What are some of the aspects of modern life that are pushing us into isolation?

  3. To what extent do you think we are progressively losing contact with other people in society?

  4. If you think we are losing contact, how might we reverse the trend?

 

B - The Causes of Marasmus

Those interviewed gave a number of reasons for the existence of marasmus in society. Here are some of them:

  • We are literally speeding ourselves to death, cleaning out what it means to be human.

  • It’s not just enough to be a mother. They need to go out and fulfil themselves and have a career.

  • That’s the general thing that you’ve got to make a success by having a nice pile in the bank.

  • Socially isolated people are two to three times more likely to die prematurely.

  1. Do you agree that life has sped up so much that we are partly dehumanised by this pace? How do we slow down?

  2. Does the pace of living actually isolate people, or is it just one link in a chain?

  3. Can you explain how the pursuit of a career and material wealth may contribute to marasmus when these bring people fulfilment?

 

C - The Drift to Marasmus

Given the pressures and pace of life, many people feel that they are being driven to endure a hectic lifestyle by forces outside of their control.

  • Sometimes I feel like I’m just losing the battle, that everything out there is so much bigger and more powerful.

  • Modern society can sometimes leave us feeling that it’s just inevitable that things just have to be this way.

  1. Why do you think many people feel helpless to control their lives?

  2. Is modern life rushing us down a path of little or no control in our personal lives, or are we the main cause ourselves? What is your view?

  3. What strategies have you heard of for making better choices and taking control of your life?

 

D - Marasmus in Families

There were claims from the interviews that families are being adversely affected by the pace and isolation of modern living.

  • More efficiency is being felt by young families. They’re constantly being undermined and being interrupted as a family.

  • It’s hard to keep your kids grounded into what is real, because so much of what they are at home with isn’t….They must have something to entertain them.

  • And we are all inclined to think of old people as of not much value.

  1. What evidence do you see around you that families are suffering from the pace of life, the quest for career, and higher living standards?

  2. How do you think families can bring balance into their daily lives?

  3. Do you think the use of the internet and computer games is changing children’s perspective of reality?

 

E - Another Reality

Part of the footage shows a group at a street café discussing some aspects of virtual reality.

  • Someone has come up with the idea of an artificial womb.

  • Technology seems to expand to create this (technical) convenience.

  • At the same time creating this impersonal world you know, the virtual world.

  • We don’t have to touch any more.

  1. Do you think that virtual reality is a harmless entertainment service, or is it something insidious that takes away peoples’ sense of meaning in life?

  2. Could virtual reality increase our sense of isolation from others?

 

F - Some Remedies for Marasmus

Those interviewed suggested or implied a number of strategies that we can use to combat marasmus.

  • This kind of self-stripping of the masks and the encrustations of damage that’s been done by racing, racing, racing, can only be done by the individuals themselves.

  • Research says that you find fulfilment and happiness for yourself when you help somebody else achieve their needs.

  • The old world was very slow.

  1. Which if any of the strategies suggested would you rank at the top of the list?

  2. Supposedly taking time out, helping others and relating to others all help us to become more human. What if anything do these strategies have in common?

 

G - Relationships

Relationships were rated as being a major remedy for marasmus. There were a number of statements indicating that forming relationships was a critical factor in staying human or becoming human.

  • Friendship is the basis of society that will make it human and keep it human.

  • I think that the very message that really I’m trying to get across to my kids is that people are far more important than anything else.

  • He (my father) was a very hard worker, and he always found time to play with us, and we loved that.

  1. Do you think that the formation of better relationships is the key to overcoming marasmus? How do relationships develop humanness?

  2. Are life’s speed, career paths, materialism and individualism the main robbers of quality in relationships? In your view what else figures in this process?

 

H - Overview

  1. Having reflected on the dialogue in this episode, how do you think you are doing in being genuinely human?

  2. What steps do you think you need to take to decrease any feeling you may have of being rushed, isolated, or disconnected from others?

  3. Robert spoke of a kind of spiritual marasmus created by life’s speed and the dehumanisation of the human spirit. How do you see your lifestyle impacting on your spirituality?
  

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