Minimilist
Contents
In this article we are going to talk about a very important topic within the stream of humanities and psychology which is ‘Minimalist’ this subject is hugely debated between psychologists, economists, socialists, politicians and plenty of more people related with the stream of humanities, so by this text, you may get a much better view about minimalist nature, lifestyle, its effect on human beings, democracy, geopolitics, and country development, it’s pros and cons, its oppositions and studies & reports.
So let’ start!!!
What Is Minimalist Nature
The origin of the theory of minimalist nature is as back as 1977, Elgin and Mitchell after many studies and experiments proposed a theory of minimalism in simple words of voluntary simplicity which embraces core values like material simplicity, self-sufficiency, personal growth, social responsibility, self-determination, ecological awareness, and spirituality.
Then in 1990, Stokols proposed a minimalist perspective to Human-Environment Relationship which says that Human-Environment Relationship runs parallel to each other and hence on Human beings there will be a minimal or negligible influence of the physical environment on human beings. When in the future many such theories were combined it eventually formed the Minimalist Nature which human can adopt.
Minimalist Lifestyle
People who engage in low consumption levels and behaviors as defined above of simplicity and not letting the physical environment or societal changes to vary or change themselves are said to be living in a minimalist lifestyle, they typically avoid materialistic possessions or luxuries, rather they prefer and like only those things which they actually need. They avoid burdens in any manner whatsoever and live with less by getting rid of all excess stuff and like lively experiences over worldly possessions. They like and love themselves the foremost. They search and look for happiness, fulfillment, satisfaction, meaning, relationship, autonomy, mental space, awareness, and emotions everywhere and at any time.
Overall they tend to live a simple life. So if you are feeling like that you simply show these qualities in your everyday life then you are a minimalist but if you do not find these qualities in yourself and on the other hand you really want to be burden-free and you wish mental peace then a minimalist lifestyle is one in all the option you can adopt.
Effect Of Adoption Of Minimalist Lifestyle
Human Beings and Environment
Many Psychologists have their different opinions on the effect of a minimalist lifestyle, some tend to mention that the Minimalist Lifestyle has an enriching life well-being effect on humans while the opposite side of the set says that rather it can create a more wild effect of depression on people in general because of the societal or physical burdens, but all environmentalist agree that there will be a positive effect on the environment that is because in minimalist lifestyle people will spend less, so they won’t be focusing more on earning extra money which can get them luxuries and possessions that will someway within the other prevent the environment from any type of degradable sources and hence clean it, an example is in front of us in the recent pandemic.
Outcomes of Democracy and Country Development
One very major outcome of democracy tends to be Economic Development but this can be once more debated by an economist that whether there is an impression on economic development or not through the adoption of a minimalist lifestyle, as when the expenditures are going to be brought to a halt, people will lose the real motive of earning and would be earning as per the required needs and not for materialistic things, but a contradicting example is that of Japan where the expenditures were cut off through the adoption of minimalism aesthetics, but still, there is no doubt about Japan’s Development whether it be the United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) Human Development Index (HDI) or the World Bank’s Criteria for developed countries but we will refer to some contradicting examples to that of Japan in the next step as well.
Geopolitics
Further, Geopolitics can be affected as well if the minimalist approach is adopted by some countries; it can be that some countries lack behind the others in terms of comparison as we can see during the late centuries in many countries people had adopted a mean of satisfactory life and that they were behind European and American Countries and that is the current situation in many African and Middle Eastern countries right now.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- It saves Money and Resources.
- It encompasses a favorable effect on environment i.e. reduces pollution level, global warming.
- It is Sustainable as there is judicious use of resources.
- It focuses on core values of life and inner values.
- Less living and space and a brand new lifestyle.
- It brings discipline to one’s life and helps remove all materialistic waste.
- Less financial pressure and much more time to try and do leisure activities.
Cons
- Transition from materialistic to minimalist may be hard.
- There may be lack of an exact and transparent definition of minimalism.
- It is not widely socially accepted.
- Fear of Missing out and losing amenities.
- It is hard and tough to live with family or for family.
- Social Isolation and Artificial Pressure cause mental burden.
- It requires a strong and robust character.
Minimalist V/S Maximalist
The opposite term of Minimalist is Maximalist. Maximalists are wanting ‘more and more’ again, they are generally busier as they believe in and want materialistic life and engage in society to the fullest with people, however, they are not burden-free and they believe in possessions. Maximalists denote extreme and bold every time and it is visible through their day-to-day activities and lifestyle. So, any means which in line with and according to you represent you the most effective and best can choose the subsequent or which is more suitable to you.
Studies And Reports Based On Minimalist Lifestyle
The first-ever study and interview which was conducted by Glaser and Stauss in 1967 to the objective of developing a theory of minimalism, though the study was conducted with the assistance of very few people, it resulted in showing well-being benefits through minimalistic lifestyle like Autonomy, Mental Space, Positive Emotions, Competence, and Awareness; as we saw in the starting before. There are many other various reports which show both the perimeters of the minimalist lifestyle.