virus: Being uncomfortable isn't always bad

Reed Konsler (konsler@ascat.harvard.edu)
Thu, 4 Feb 1999 13:48:13 -0500

>Date: Wed, 03 Feb 1999 22:55:51 -0600
>From: Zloduska <kjseelna@students.wisc.edu>
>Subject: RE: virus:
>
>Richard Brodie wrote:
>
>>But Reed IS talking to her from a higher plane, and I think most of us here
>>can see that. It doesn't do any good to pretend you're not enlightened when
>>you are.
>
>Conversely, it does no good to pretend you're enlightened when you are not.

It also depends on what you mean by enlightened, right? The classical Chinese used to give out "Certificates of Enlightment" which were pretty much the same as "Doctorates of Philosophy". What if "enlightenment" meant something more mundane, like mastering a certian way of thinking ...like multiplication. We're all enlightened mathematicians, in that sense.

>You know, I've been thinking about what you said all day long, but I don't
>have the heart to respond. Doesn't make any sense, if as you say, nearly
>everyone who reads this list agrees that I'm an inferior, ignorant
>nuisance.

Not true, I bet the list is split. Wade put a foot in on your side, before Richard checked him with Oprah's book list. Richard and I don't agree on some details and I'm sure people on this list don't agree with you on every detail. But there are a number of people that don't like Oprah for one reason or the other. Certianly, "inferior, ignorant, nuisance" isn't what I was thinking (seriously!). You've said you're a passionate person, and that I understand. If you can't target that negative passion on Oprah, then you have to target it somewhere, right? I tend to target it on myself. I get angry at things, and I decide they can't be other people's things...so it has to be my thing...I get angry at myself.

But...

There is no law of conservation of anger.

Anger can be created and it can be destroyed. Why shift it onto yourself? I think most of the people on this list will agree that you are a good person, seriously trying to help yourself and other people have a better life. I suspect a lot of people who haven't posted are suspicious of me and probably question the "justness" of my starting this discussion with you. Right now we are puzzling them. They've been reading, and they don't know who they agree with, or how it ought to turn out.

But most of them haven't said anything, have they? Hell, we don't even know how many people are reading this...or what they think.

Our perception is in our head. What do they think? What do they _honestly_ think. Nobody knows but them.

But if YOU think THEY think you're an "X" sort of person then that makes you feel a certian way. Everyone is like that...we all care what people think.

>Congradulations on your success Richard, for selling so many
>books and dampening my spirit.

I don't think Richard was trying to "dampen" your spirit.

>You and Reed can have your "enlightenment"; I don't want it.

I don't want it either...not the way you mean it when you wrote that.

>It says a lot when it becomes a dreaded chore to respond to CoV posts,
>simply because I chose to speak my mind. Ahh...to prdla,

That is a memetic defense mechanism. You are experiencing cognitive dissonance. The force of your present way of thinking is resisting the reasonable part of you, which is confronted with inconsistency. It is a very unpleasant experience...a "dreaded chore"...I agree. I've been right where you are and I know exactly what you mean.

Two things can happen.

  1. Your present way of thinking overcomes reason and you become more resistant to change. For instance, you will begin to automatically discount anything Richard or I say...perhaps you will log off COV to avoid further input along these lines.
  2. Your present way of thinking will be overcome and your mind will assemble a new way of thinking accomodating your new experiences.

Happens all the time. Honesty, I've logged off these lists a number of times. I cut myself off from the internet for a while just to avoid the input. You should be suspicious. Just think about it. If you really think deeply about it, you'll come to the right conclusion...and that may not be mine!

Nobody has to win or loose today. Nobody has to sway the list to one opinion or the other. Let things be unsettled...

It's better for everyone that way.

Reed 

  Reed Konsler                        konsler@ascat.harvard.edu
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