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Book Review — Transcend: The New Science of Self-Actualization
Why are many people attracted to such endeavors as training to be a terrorist, joining a cult or becoming a gang member? Is it due to some innate neurological abnormality or a personality disorder? Might it be the way they were raised? One may be surprised to learn that much of the motivation one has to join these organized groups is all too familiar and is actually virtually universal.
Violent extremism, cults and gangs are all examples of many individuals’ desire for transcendence. Like us, they strive to gain a sense of security and growth. The problem with these outlets is that for this state to emerge, one must integrate their other needs too. And that is something that is absent in anyone who becomes apart of one of these groups.
Humanistic psychologist Scott Barry Kaufman’s new book Transcend: The New Science of Self-Actualization is a rehabilitation and the most recent advancement of Abraham Maslow’s work, some of which was unfinished when he died in 1970. Dr. Kaufman integrates research from a wide range of psychological perspectives into his book including evolutionary psychology, social psychology, personality psychology and neuroscience.
Dr. Kaufman calls the above activities nothing more than pseudo-transcendence — and includes political and religious partisanship within…
