Depression, Hauntology, Cognitive Bias, and the Neutral Perspective of Mental Materialism

Jacques Derrida’s concept of hauntology suggests that every system of being is haunted by what it represses. The French-Algerian philosopher proposed that every ontology is shadowed by a hauntology. He believes that what is repressed will resurface in a form that haunts that ontological system. He explains further that the ideas of Marx will always haunt capitalism. Derrida argues that somehow, through the grave, Marx’s ideas live on, even though, tangibly, communism died after the Berlin Wall fell; his ideas live on and haunt society 

Mark Fisher, a British contemporary thinker and an active voice on the critique of capitalism Had his interpretation of the concept, He emphasizes the ideas of lost futures and nostalgia, how the future is now in a stagnant state, Mark focuses his ideas on arts and media and how much of pop media today is recycled and a sense of deep nostalgia is rooted in the arts industry where creative endeavours is repetitive and appreciation through originality is replaced with an appreciation of the past.

Through pop culture, Fisher emphasizes the idea of a developmental future into a future of nothingness. Fisher sees stagnation that further distances society, and this is especially true in a broader psychological context, which is best represented by the emergence of depressive music. For example, the band Joy Division, as portrayed by Mark Fisher, is how their music best correlates to an emphasis on this dark and somehow lost state of the world we’re entering. how in neo-liberal times, there is less appreciation of the arts and more appreciation of capital and markets. Fisher says that historical periods return not always as nostalgia but also as trauma. He makes another example of the ever more popular jungle rave in the 70s, the dark ambient tone of dance music mirrors the deep historical melancholy of society, invoking fear.

Built on market fundamentalism, society is lost with existential anxiety, best represented in the music of the late 70s underground, that even predicts the outcome of today’s society problems, such as dead-end jobs or lack of career success. a representation of a period where history and times are blurred.Perhaps we are doomed to endlessly mourn futures that will never arrive.

As we all know, depression is a worldwide problem. through the eyes of Mark Fisher, I'm diving into the lens of society. I'm now going to switch the point of view to a more individual scope, through Dr. Alok Kanojia’s video on how to break the cycle of depression. He is a leading mental health YouTube content creator, a psychiatrist, and an ex-monk. 

According to Dr. Alok Kanojia, depression creates this particular cognitive bias that clouds our perception and makes our lives worse. Scientifically speaking, what happens to people when they are depressed? Dr. Alok Kanojia further explains a particular moment of inciting event, this event then further impacts the individual, they will either recover or not, if unrecovered, it creates a certain cognitive bias in our perception which leads us to think that everything that's happening be it around us or even how we view the world is inherently negative, even though it might seem better than it is.

psychiatrists usually treat these problems by helping individuals reframe their thinking. Techniques such as cognitive restructuring or emotional validation are common. Yet, the deeper issue lies not in external circumstances, but in perception itself. But the main problem here is not an external one, but internal; it's in our perception, our way of seeing the world. Dr. Alok Kanojia then proposed his unorthodox method to his audience by introducing mentality materiality, an exercise from an ancient Buddhist text called the Visuddhimagga, which translates to “the path of purification”.

Though the name and concept feel unorthodox, it's quite a simple method: it is to view every object as it is. For instance, consider this: while writing this, I might associate coffee and a cigarette with calm and focus. Yet from a neutral lens, they are merely a cup of caffeinated liquid and a rolled piece of tobacco. This reframing reflects the core of mental materiality i'm writing this down as i drink coffee and smoke my cigarette, my mind tells me that these are good and relaxing, a way to start writing my article, and what you notice is that everything that i attach for the object is within me, it gives values individually, and if i see the object as it is, i see it as just a piece of rolled tobacco with a paper and a glass of caffeinated liquid, that's mental materiality, to see objects as it is, not inherently good or bad but neutral.Society is in a grim state, we’re entering an era of sustained expression towards a more dystopian state in neoliberalism, but I think we can reframe those thoughts and align with ourselves with the neutral perspective of Visuddhimagga

Dr. Alok Kanojia’s mental materiality in Visuddhimagga is an interesting methodology on overcoming cognitive bias in depression, by seeing things as it is and not giving any value to them, and taking a neutral stance on events is an interesting suggestion for remedy. Interestingly, what psychologists call depressive realism, where depressed individuals perceive reality more rationally, resonates deeply with mental materiality, but instead of being lost in melancholy dressed as clarity, we can align ourselves more in action with this method.

Mark Fisher was a deeply troubled thinker, but I think we may all assume that his thoughts reflect those of a decaying and dystopian society, the neo-liberalism hellscape in which creative expression and originality are replaced with a fleeting nostalgia and an appreciation of the past leads to a seemingly lost future. An interesting alternative perspective would be to decide that these lost futures, which Mark Fisher mentioned, are neutral and an inherent part of a process that must happen.

Of course one must ask, how can we take a neutral stance in a grim state, well of course by practicing the Visuddhimagga we don't just ignore everything and turn a blind eye on society struggles, but instead of falling deep to the melancholy of an endless pit we can take the neutral stance and do what's possible for us to do, it is easier for us to take action when we don't fall deeply in the state of inaction and debilitation in depression.

The possibilities of us meditating this is endless, we may view everything in a more big picture perspective and be one with change, Postmodern thinkers tend to think it is more possible to see the end of the world than the end of capitalism, i say both are possible

Neutrality empowers clarity and action beyond melancholy.