1-416-561-5780When you have conflicting desires, both currents (positive and negative) manifest. At each time one of them may be more on the surface and the other more submerged; at other times they change. Both the positive and negative desires are linked to the pleasure principle, which makes it even more difficult to let go of such desires.
The phenomenon of conflicting positive and negative pleasure and desire becomes even much more complicated when we consider the interaction among people. There are innumerable possible combinations between the feelings and attitudes of two persons who interact. Even when the positive cycles of two interacting persons coincide, their negative feelings about the positive movement produce negative results sooner or later. Unfortunately, the negative results are then usually attributed to the positive initiative, rather than to the negative feelings about it. This creates a vicious circle that perpetuates itself until the denying side is fully understood and eliminated.
The negative, the denying and destructive direction would not be as fierce and as difficult to overcome if the pleasure principle were not attached to it. You then come into the position of not wanting to part from the precarious pleasure you derive from indulging in destructive feelings and attitudes.
When you realize how the process of negative pleasure kept you tied to negative behavior, you experience a sense of freedom and alleviation. You experience positive pleasure. But there is a risk of a backfiring effect here. It is possible that you begin to experience pleasure from the knowledge of how the negative process is still affecting people you interact with. This might cause you to fall back as a prisoner of your own negative pleasure in observing the other persons’ faults, while feeling superior for being able to observe that process from a vantage point.