Is greed a character trait?
Life in the material world dictates its own rules. It is extremely difficult to imagine people who are able to completely give up money, comfort, pleasures and other “benefits of civilization.” But this is not necessary! Unless, of course, you practice strict asceticism or live in a secluded monastery, ashram, or monastery.
Hand on heart, it is worth admitting that truly modest individuals, devoid of acquisitive tendencies, are extremely rare in the 21st century, especially in megacities. But greed, greed, acquisitiveness, hoarding are quite common character traits of modern people.
Greedy people will suffer from “Plyushkin syndrome” or plunge into shopaholism. The former can hardly part with even things that are completely unsuitable for use, while the latter love to spend money on unnecessary purchases. Sound familiar? We invite you to talk about what greed is and how this character trait can affect the quality of life of any of us.
What is greed
Greed is greed, stinginess, and a tendency to hoard. Greed and greed are similar concepts, but they have differences. Greed is the desire to get as much as possible, and greed is the desire to spend as little as possible. This trait originates in the human instinct of self-preservation; every person, to one degree or another, has experienced a feeling of greed and greed. For a greedy person, this desire becomes his passion and purpose in life. Feelings of greed and greed are often accompanied by both mental experiences and physical manifestations: the heart beats faster, breathing quickens, muscles tense and blood pressure rises. Frequent repetition of this feeling has a negative impact on health. Many crimes are caused by human greed: robbery, theft, fraud and murder for personal gain. People for whom greed becomes a passion cheat, commit arranged marriages, and ruin relationships with their best friends.
Is greed a gift or a punishment?
The word “greed” has many interesting synonyms. You can find the archaic “love of money” or the more modern ones – “greed”, “stinginess”, “greed”, “acquisitiveness”.
From a psychological point of view, greed is an irrepressible desire to accumulate and increase material values, “seasoned” with the fear of losing what a person already possesses.
This character trait could be called completely neutral if it manifested itself as frugality, thrift, and the ability to save money. However, greed, unfortunately, knows no limits and can push a person obsessed with stinginess to act rashly. In pursuit of ever new profits or other benefits of our world, an individual is capable of committing dishonest acts and even illegal acts! And this is already serious.
Even if a person does not commit a crime, greed is a catalyst for such manifestations of character as anger, quarrelsomeness, timidity (we are talking about the fear of losing one’s property).
Are greed and greed synonymous?
How would you answer the question “What is greed?” You would most likely use the term "greedy".
In fact, these two words are synonyms, but their meanings are somewhat different. We most often use the word “greedy” when we talk about wealth and material values. But “greedy” has a broader meaning. Compare: greedy for knowledge, for attention, affection (love), but greedy for money (for money).
Linguists argue that the word “greedy” has a neutral connotation, while its synonym “greedy” has an openly negative connotation.
Examples of greed
Greed is common in today's world. The more everything is focused on money, the more people sooner or later become greedy. This phenomenon is quite often described in literature, for example, in the works “Dead Souls” or “Pygmalion”. People collected money and accumulated it without spending a penny on themselves. This did not bring them happiness and fullness of life.
In everyday life, people may encounter greed when they are “sold” or betrayed for money. For example, a woman leaves a man when she meets a richer gentleman. An employee leaves a job he loves and gets a job that pays more.
Greed manifests itself in greed when money is available, but it is not spent. So, parents do not buy new clothes for their children because they are collecting money. For what? For a “rainy day” - for a future that may not happen.
Any actions of a person who goes over the heads of others are also betrayal. This phenomenon is becoming widespread in business, where moving up the career ladder requires betrayal. Former friends spread gossip, set each other up, tell secrets that were entrusted to them.
The children's cartoon "Treasure Island" also periodically examines the stories of greedy people. Their task was to possess goods in order to have the idea that at any moment they could use something. They drink milk and eat bread, live from hand to mouth, just to preserve the gold that is stored in their basement.
Greedy people: the reasons for this phenomenon
If we talk about this very briefly, then greed arises due to the substitution of life values. Modern man, being in the grip of mass culture, which is based on the theory of consumption, begins to seriously think that money and happiness are one and the same thing.
Greed can also manifest itself due to an overdeveloped ego. A stingy person asserts himself not through his own outstanding achievements or noble deeds, but through acquisitiveness and hoarding.
It’s not for nothing that Sigmund Freud argued that the causes of all our problems should be sought in childhood! Greed is no exception. Let's say that the child's parents were extremely busy with their own careers or personal lives. They did not have the time (energy, opportunity) to take care of the child and instead the child received expensive gifts as the equivalent of love. It is clear that this attitude will “work” in adult life! Such a person can measure any manifestations of feelings and emotions by material resources.
You will be interested to know how to attract luck and money.
Greed is a mortal sin. Is it so?
As we know, in the Christian religion there are 7 main sins, called mortal sins. Greed in this “top” is in second place, after pride.
There is an opinion, including among spiritual thinkers, that the cause of greed is an unfulfilled need to feel safe. Suppose a person whom everyone behind his back calls Plyushkin or, even worse, Gobsek, simply does not feel confident in his material security. That is why he drags all sorts of rubbish from the trash heap into the house, skimps on spending money on basic things, and tries to earn money by hook or by crook.
Thus, it turns out that greed may be a sin, but a greedy person is more likely a victim of circumstances.
The problem of greed
The main problem of greed is the personal degradation of a person who just wants to be happy, but he cannot achieve this by accumulating and preserving goods. It seems that the more you have, the happier you become. However, even new material goods do not please you for long, which forces you to acquire even more.
Greed is promoted by modern society. The fact is that a greedy (greedy) person is ready to act. And while a person acts, he contributes to progress. Finding new ways to solve a problem is always based on a person’s desire to do nothing, but to have everything. This is progress.
Society is also increasingly promoting the happy future that can be achieved if a person has a lot of money. The lives of rich and successful people are shown in vivid colors so that every observer wants to achieve the same wealth. At the same time, spiritual values are depreciated. It's money that's important, not sympathy or friendship.
An additional problem of greed is the inability of a person to solve his internal needs through money and material goods. The physical world can be influenced by money, but the spiritual world develops in other ways.
A greedy person often harms not only himself, but also other people. This poses a challenge to building good relationships. A greedy person almost never can say that he is surrounded by loving and sincere people. Often his entourage consists of the same greedy and selfish people who envy each other and wait for the moment when they can profit from the misfortune of others.
Many psychologists point out that greed is becoming a disease that needs to be treated. Like any addiction, greed should be eliminated by acquiring self-control skills. You can learn this if you seek help from a psychologist on the website psymedcare.ru.
A greedy person: how to recognize him?
We figured out a little about what greed is and what are the reasons for the development of this property of nature. The next step is to conduct a “diagnosis” and find out who from your environment falls into the category of individuals obsessed with stinginess and acquisitiveness. Although, perhaps, you can recognize yourself by reading these points.
- A greedy person always saves on everything, and, first of all, on himself. New things are bought only when they are completely out of order. Treat yourself to something new or something nice? For a greedy person this is an unacceptable luxury.
- A cheapskate is not the easiest person to talk to. A greedy woman will always be dissatisfied with the income of her lover, while a man obsessed with greed will demand an account from his missus for every penny spent.
- Food is a fairly significant part of our budget, isn’t it? A stingy person always saves on food! He doesn’t buy what he really loves, chooses products that are about to expire, and “hunts” for discounts and promotional offers.
- Why pay if friends, relatives, colleagues are always nearby? This is roughly how a self-interested person argues. If there is an opportunity to save on services by turning to loved ones for help, such a person will always choose this option.
- Do you think greed will allow you to give generous gifts to loved ones and friends? Of course not! If a greedy type does something similar, he tries to reduce expenses to a minimum.
- The last item on our checklist is visiting. Greedy people do not like to receive guests, but they themselves come for a courtesy visit without warning. They know that when visiting, you can profit from something delicious!
Why are people greedy?
Alexei
Start from another question - why should all people be kind? It would be good if all people were kind, yes, but real evil lies in those who assign this desire the degree of obligation... Nobody owes anything, I can be born generous, I can be born greedy, it's the same as hair color... In general, if you think about it carefully, man is by nature greedy... Why? because for any person there are “people” and there is “me”, between which there is a huge ditch of difference... “I” feels, “people” do not feel, in any case, “I” does not feel it... We can only take it on faith that the people around us are the same as us, they feel the same way, experience the same emotions, but believing and being are two different things, agree... I always give an analogy in this case - believing in heaven and being in heaven are completely different things! And, of course, the best opinion about heaven is the one who has been there, and not the one who believes in it... So a person is initially selfish, and other people develop a sense of generosity and kindness in him... kindness and generosity are the glue for some ideal society, and their only practical application. You see a kind person - it means this person is suitable for life in some ideal society, it means he loves people like Jesus, it means a certain herd feeling has been developed in him (in the good sense of the word). You see a greedy person - it means he is not ready for life in an ideal society, because he does not care about other people, because he refuses to accept on faith that they are the same, because a person sees the meaning of his life in himself and not in others, everything is very simple. . . (although, unfortunately, our not ideal society is structured in such a way that there is a place for the greedy). Do such people have a right to exist? This is another question, and it’s not for us to decide, we just have to take it for granted, i.e., like the same hair color =)
Alexander
Because in our time it seems to me that there is no other way. True, greed is the last stage, it could be simpler :), but initially our whole world is mostly greedy and therefore, in order to exist in it, it seems to me that you need to be a little smarter and more enterprising, and being greedy is a little overkill.
Everyone has heard the word “greed” at least once in their life. What does this mean and what human traits does it indicate? Greed (or acquisitiveness) in the religions of the world is This vice lies in the fact that a person does not control his desire to acquire more and more material values. At the same time, he does not receive any moral satisfaction from this. Greed is a pathological passion for obtaining profit.
How to deal with greed?
To fight something, you need to know its source. Greed is born from a person’s lack of confidence in himself and his importance. An illusion is created, as if without a fortune, this or that person will not have weight in society, without which it is impossible to achieve recognition.
In fact, the significance of a figure depends not on external factors, but on the personality as a whole. And here we are not talking about banal good nature. If it’s interesting to communicate with a person and spend time, then “rich scenery” is the last thing that will bother others. As soon as the uncertainty about your importance disappears, the need to create expensive surroundings for yourself will disappear.
To do this, it is enough to focus on spiritual resources: develop versatility, read interesting literature, look for new interests and hobbies, find zest in even the simplest little things - in a word, become interesting to yourself without financial resources.
The main thing to remember is that money is an auxiliary attribute to achieving intangible goals. In addition, the main weapon against greed is generosity, which includes not only finances, but also a person’s time and energy. The ability to share is the greatest wealth of the human soul, and this is one of the important points in the thinking of rich people.
conclusions
An unhealthy attitude towards money in the form of stinginess, excessive prudence and greed is a psychological illness widespread throughout the world.
This is the same addiction, only from money. Before condemning such people, you should remember that this is not a quality of the soul, but an acquired problem that can be overcome if desired. If treatment for this addiction is not started in time, advanced cases will lead to disastrous results.
First of all, the health and nervous system will be greatly affected, irreversible processes will begin to activate, as a result of which a person will no longer be able to return to a healthy state of mind and body.
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