Animosity

As human beings we are designed to belittle the achievement of others – more so if they are of our peers or subordinates. We are so consumed by our narcissistic tendencies that our ability to appreciate greatness that is achieved by those who exist beyond our sphere of influence diminishes greatly. In the wild, the lion constructs an imaginary boundary around his den and attacks those who dare to enter this domain. Analogous to this, we too construct such boundaries in our minds and dare one cross this, the defensive mechanisms of our body take over. Think of the time when you were questioned on a subject which you consider yourself to be good at? If this question negates what you have said earlier you would most probably put the questioner on your private ‘black list’. You probably will harbor ill will towards him and go to the extent of berating him in public.

Animosity is a defensive mechanism that is embedded in our emotional system. One of the instances when it rears its head is when the subject’s existence is threatened since he considers his locus of being to reside in that object which is under threat. All the religions of the world instruct their followers to overcome this feeling of attachment since it lies at the root of this phenomenon.

Animosity also results when our peers achieve more than we ever dreamt of. The law of karma has a balancing effect since it gives one only what he deserves. Our failure to recognize the importance of this causes us to question the abilities of others and question their integrity and capability.

Another interesting aspect of this emotion is that its origin lies in the achievements of people who we believe are either our peers or our intellectually or physically inferior to us. If the same degree of success is achieved by those who we accept are superior to us it manifests itself in a feeling of awe and admiration. Ergo, our ability to classify people around us as either ‘somebodys’ or ‘nobodys’ is an important criterion in the origin of animosity.

Animosity prevents us from learning and appreciating new schools of thoughts and stunts our intellectual progress. We fail to learn from the good done by others and incorporate relevant changes in our own lives. (Isn’t that ignorance? ).The NIH or the Not Invented Here syndrome is a euphemism for this deep rooted negative energy that resides within us.

Examples: The TATA success story evoked praise from the South Asian press but the American media took potshots at the ‘Nano’. Similarly in the ongoing India-Australia cricket series aggression by the Indians was viewed as being against the spirit of the game whereas the same attitude when displayed by the Australians was classified as ‘hunger to win’.