6 Answers

  1. The myth of the existence of a unique, as well as mysterious, Russian soul is not supported by any facts and evidence, and therefore should not be considered seriously. It was invented, on the one hand, by foreigners who have read Dostoevsky's novels and imagine Russia from these novels, and, on the other hand, by our “leavened” patriots. This narcissistic narcissism only prevents Russians from adequately communicating with other peoples. In fact, Russians are just like everyone else, with the same good traits and the same vices.

    The very concept of “national character” is also problematic, since there is a huge variety of personalities in any nation. There is always a counterexample to any statement about national character: if it is said that Russians are generous, I can give an example of some Ivanov, who is a rare miser, and for the statement that Russians are sloppy, I can give an example of Petrov, whose house is in perfect order.

    The conversation about national characters would be more meaningful if it were based on real sociological data. We could find out what characters and temperaments, what features of social behavior prevail in our people, and compare it with other peoples. But then we would see that national characteristics are variable and depend on the historical situation. So, after the transition from socialism to capitalism, we became more calculating, mercantile and individualistic, and as a result of the pandemic, self-isolation and forced vaccination, the number of cheerful and carefree people decreased.

  2. The unique Russian ” Soul “is most clearly manifested in alcoholic emancipation: songs, dances, drunken revelations and intimate “conversations under” vodka.

    That is, the mysterious Russian “spiritual soul” is not at all a mysterious, but a long-well-studied drunken soul.

    Of course, in order for alcohol to have a “Russian” effect , it is still better to be Russian, to have an appropriate background. As the young Nabokov wrote:

    “There is a glass wall between them and us Russians; they have their own world, round and solid, like a carefully colored globe. In their “soul” there is not that inspired whirlwind, beating, shining, dancing “frenzy, that” anger and tenderness that turn us on. God knows what the heavens and abysses are; we have moments when the clouds are shoulder-high, the sea is knee-deep. For an Englishman, this is incomprehensible, new ,and perhaps tempting. If he gets drunk and gets rowdy, then his rowdiness is cliched and complacent, and when the “guardians” of order look at him, they only smile, knowing that he will not cross a certain line. But on the other hand, the most intoxicating hops will never make him “get emotional,” bare his chest, slam his cap to the ground…”

    So, the Russian Soul is an increased sincerity and emotionality, manifested, as a rule, in a state of alcoholic intoxication. If we remove emotionality, we will not understand anything about it at all. This is the cornerstone.

    I came across a note here on the Internet, where, it seems, ” the dots over the i's are well placed:

    “…In fact, Russian spirituality has a very formal “description, which sounds like” emotional content of the soul.” It has long been known that the human brain remembers only those events that have an emotional content… If an event or transaction does not evoke any emotions, passes smoothly , in accordance with expectations, it is not remembered. In a series of days of ” our “life, a day in which there were no emotionally filled “deals” is crossed out and forgotten…
    Just as Western cooking does not tolerate spices and “values,” say, a steak in itself, the spiritless Western culture does not accept ” emotional filling of deals, appreciating the deal in itself. From this and � stable phrases: “nothing personal” or “just business”. This forces the spiritless West to look for other ersatz sources of emotions, such as art, culture, technology, hobbies and hobbies. The great discovery of the Russian people is that it does not matter what emotions accompanied the transaction, as long as they were strong. Then it will be remembered, fill your life with “events, and possible” future memoirs-with content.”

    Yeah, right to the point. I'll add a quote from Victor Pelevin (the novel “Batman Apollo”):

    “A person… cannot live with a clear understanding of his destiny, to which the disintegration of the body brings him closer every day. In order for the existence of a child to be possible, he must be under anesthesia — and have dreams.
    Each country uses its own methods to introduce a person into a trance. You can build a culture in such a way that people turn into terrified actors who portray life's success in front of each other. You can drown them in “consuming shiny little boxes that bleed with useless” information. �You can make your forehead hit the floor in front of the icon. But �such methods are unreliable and �fail. And Russian technology is the most humane of all, because it always works flawlessly.
    It is that it shows an extremely refined and refined, all-understanding type of mind. Remember Blok: “Everything is clear to us — the “sharp” Gallic sense, and the gloomy German genius… “And then he is” placed in absolutely “wild, impossible and unbearable conditions” of existence. The Russian mind is the European mind, lost between cesspools and police booths with no hope of escape…
    What seems senseless, vile misery of Russian life � and �is created by the efforts of many generations of the Shield of the Motherland, not giving �Russian �mind to understand that human life itself is �suffering, fully �devoid of meaning.”

    Here's the deal!
    At the same time, it becomes clear why Soviet life was still ” more spiritual than the current Russian one (as communopatriots never tire of reminding us). This is not only about the GULAG and other nuances of Soviet life, but also about what is said, for example, in the article “I want to go to the USSR”:

    “In order to feel their own human value, these opportunities were not enough, but they were all well known to everyone. Everyone “knew “what books to read, what movies to watch, and what to” talk about at night “in the kitchen. This was a personal gesture, giving “satisfaction and inspiring” pride. Today's time, with “infinite possibilities,” makes such a gesture ” almost impossible or, by definition, marginal. Man is faced with the “monstrous” abyss of himself, of his own human self, which has always been successfully camouflaged by the problem of social inquiry.”

    So, the Russian Soul (Spirituality) is an excessive emotional filling of life . Task: to distract a person from unsolvable existential problems. In order not to howl in horror at the “monstrous abyss of yourself”, you need life to be full of life, and everything is on your head. The same thing Kafka wrote about: “Life always distracts our attention ,and we don't even have time to figure out what it is from.”

    The introduction of so-called Western values undermines the “Russian” Soul, because by improving and simplifying life, it inevitably deprives it of an excessive emotional component.

    Hence the whole Russian anti-Westernism, another paroxysm of which we have been experiencing for several years.

  3. Yes, it is not valuable or unique in any way. The Russian soul is such a hype chip, with the help of which our sofa potsreotes justify poverty, hunger,ohr * nevshee government, etc. They say that Russia has its own way, spiritual. Well, or when the redneck justifies his redneck behavior, hyping on patriotism. That's all you need to know about the Russian soul

  4. There is no Russian soul, slave mentality and such things. Yes, there are some differences in the peoples, but I think there are no such serious differences.
    Russian society behaves in the same way as all other societies behaved in authoritarian countries and under despotism. For example, Hitler was not overthrown for some reason, or Kim Jong-un and other similar dictators. We were just unlucky enough to step on the same rake for the third time, but now the entire Russian society has received a huge experience of authoritarianism, and since it is traumatized and negative, society will make its choice based on this experience when the era of change comes.

  5. What is called the “Russian soul” is nothing more than a slave's subconscious dream and ideas about freedom, which the slave does not understand and cannot understand, because it is inaccessible to him.
    Sometimes this dream breaks out, and the person who is secretly obsessed with it tries to express and manifest – first of all for himself – those vague, vague images that overwhelm his consciousness.
    But he, a slave to tradition and a loyal subject of his king from God and any superiors who wear a form like an animal, cannot express the feelings that torment him.
    And these attempts to express the genetic millennial dream of the freedom of one's personality among the vast expanses of one's own Homeland, we perceive as the “mysterious Russian soul”.

    By squeezing out the slave bit by bit, which few Russians dare to do, they lose these subconscious urges to freedom – because they get it in reality, not in navi. Learning to understand freedom, to speak about it openly and meaningfully, mastering the ability to value their honesty more than life or servile goods, more than respect for society, they cease to be not only Russian in spirit, but also understood by their fellow citizens, moving away from them and increasingly approaching the European consciousness.�

    They are hated not only for the unpleasant truth that they feel, but do not agree with it, but also for the fact that they have surpassed the herd of Russian slaves, breaking out of the state of submissive animals.
    And if such a Russian does not have time to get a new status in Russian society, surpassing the average person, then he is doomed to contempt and stoning from those who crave freedom, but do not know what it is.
    But if he, a true rebel of the spirit, manages to get favor from the main owners of the Russian herd , then the whole herd will agree to sing his praises and follow his words, without really understanding what the new Russian classic is talking about…

  6. Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky is the personification of the Russian Soul! A simple, kind, honest Russian man. Generous, poor, hardworking. Gambler, revolutionary, convict.

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