The rage and denial of the self-proclaimed righteous when coming across mirrors.

There is a type of therapy (Rogerian) where a big thing is "mirroring" – reflecting the person back to themself, and through this the person is supposed to realize things about themself and in this way change. Maybe I don't have the theory quite right, but that's not why I'm writing.

My thought: maybe Muslims raging at a Danish cartoon and a speech by the pope, while not raging at Muslim violence, need to see themself in a mirror. Or maybe, in fact, the rage comes because they have just had a glimpse of themself in a mirror, and the first impulse is to break the mirror instead of to take a closer look.

I remember a friend telling me that she was sure my camera was broken when I showed her a picture of herself. I'd passed her the picture because I saw it as flattering. She was stunned - she had no idea she looked that heavy.

In a dance class, one sees oneself in a mirror - and what a surprise that can be. One isn't doing what one thought one was. Much to learn.

If the mirror isn't enough, there's the camera, used to help lots of athletes improve their performance. Quite a surprise once more, if you're not used to seeing yourself.

On the other hand, how often did Hitler see himself? Very often, I am sure, as masses of images of him remain. He seems to have had such distorting inner lenses, that he could see himself as admirable when he was a raging egomaniac.

So I'm not suggesting mirroring is a cure-all. I'm only wondering if it couldn't be one possible very helpful technique for the raging self-righteous.

News clips of body parts from the latest suicide bombing. Up against massive Muslim protests against … what…? a speech saying it's wrong to do violence in the name of religion.

Would anything sink in? Likely not into most heads. But some people are more open to seeing, and it might make a difference. Not always, of course.

Bush springs to mind. He has seen himself thousands of times. It has not made any dent that I am aware of. If anything, he seems ever more armored, ever more repetitive.

Once again, mirroring is not universally effective.

But antibiotics are administered against infections even though some strains of bacteria are resistant to even the strongest known drug combinations. One result: lots of infections are rooted out (and the most resistant remain, unfortunately).

****,

I am thinking of an early twentieth century Canadian feminist, Nellie McClung. She used humor to reflect the politicians of her time back to themselves. The premier of her province, adamantly against granting women the right to vote – in her mind's eye, she saw a bull she had known in her childhood. When he had drunk until he could drink no more, he would plant himself over the trough, making sure none of the cows could get even a sip of water.

I don't know if he learned anything. But probably a lot of other people learned. Women got the vote. He got voted out.

Maybe those Muslims least taken in by Muslim extremism will move increasingly away, and not only away from, but (where they are safe enough and in enough numbers) against the Muslims filled with self-righteous rage.

****

I can, by the way, think of lots of other people who could use mirrors. I'll just give two examples.

Those North American blacks who see all whites as fair prey to be attacked, made fun up, put down.

Those committing genocide in Darfur – but I don't know if any mirror could crack the shell around those at the center of the genocide.

****

That's the thought for the day – the potential benefits of mirroring.

Mirror mirror on the wall
Who is that horror...?

****

There is, by the way, a more cynical interpretation of the same rage at the mirror. Maybe someone knows full well what they are doing - and just does not want anyone else dare to mention it, like many abusers want their victims to be silent.

But there is also that thing called denial, so well identified among alcoholics - the shell of rigid denial around what is apparent to observers with eyes to see.

So while, among some of the raging, the rage at the mirror may be entirely knowingly self-serving, my guess is that at least for some people, it comes from not recognizing - and not wanting to recognize - the horror in the mirror.

signed,

Elsa
September 18, 2006

copyright © Elsa Schieder 2006
publishing house - FlufferDuff Impressions 2006

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Click here for Give Peace a Chance,
another idea piece.

For a "favorite" stupid opinion, click here for Stupid Opinion #One.

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The Idea Emporium - why and what

One of my lifelong concerns has been trying to make sense of reality. What is happening? Why is this happening? And with that I come to ideas - ideas about reality, ideas that need to be checked against reality, not just believed in like the tooth fairy is accepted by a child. But how does one check them? What qualifies as proof, as evidence?

And why, so often, is evidence of no interest to people? We have masses of evidence of how good many people are at denying evidence when it goes against what they believe. Millions have denied, and continue to deny the equality of women and men, of Jews and nonJews, of atheists and Muslims, gays and heterosexuals. People are incredible experts at denying reality - what is seen, experienced. Of course we need to interpret reality - we do not know it "pure" but through our limited senses, our limited memory, our limited ability to perceive and make sense of the amazing array of information that does gets perceived.

Still, it boggles the even slightly rational mind - how can so many people be so utterly blind to, let's say, findings about nutrition? It amazed me to find out, when I was growing up, that there was evidence for the health benefits of whole grains over refined products - because masses of people stuck with white flour, white rice, white sugar. How could they be so closed to evidence? Somehow they had a wall against the evidence.

The ideas I want to explore are those that go with, not against, the evidence, that try to make sense of evidence.

So, the Idea Emporium - a place for ideas.
The Idea Emporium - a place where ideas are explored.
The Idea Emporium - a place where ideas are entertained , played with,
looked at from many angles.
The Idea Emporium, a place where ideas are evaluated.

What is an idea, by the way. I hadn't thought of that when I chose the name of The Idea Emporium. It just seemed the obviously right name. It was months before I realized I had a hard time putting into words what I meant by idea. I began to think about the word. Sentences with the word, idea, floated into my mind. Like, "I have an idea. Why don't we order pizza?" That was an eye-opener for me.

My guess is that most of us use the word without knowing exactly what it means. "I have an idea of what we might do. Maybe we could go out for Chinese food. But It's just an idea" - meaning this need not come to pass, but we think it might be fun. That is obviously not what I meant by idea.

"I have an idea. Maybe you left your hat in the car." Again, no

""My idea is that we go in together and talk to her." No.

These are all legitimate uses of the term, idea, but it's not what I meant when I came to name The Idea Emporium. And I'm sure it's not what people might expect if they click on The Idea Emporium - because it's not what most people mean by the word "idea."

Word has a built-in dictionary. This is what it says:

Idea -
a personal opinion or belief;
a thought to be presented as a suggestion;
an impression or knowledge of something;
a realization of a possible way of doing something or of something to be done;
the aim or purpose of a plan or project;
the gist or précis of something such as a book, report, project or plan;
a thought about or mental picture of something such as a future or possible event;
a concept that exists in the mind only;
a mental image that reflects reality.

The last is what I'm most interested in - ideas that reflect reality as well as possible. But I've decided that I like it that idea is such a wide term.

Here I am taking idea to mean (and I think this is what most of us think of when we think of the meaning of the word, idea) some thought one has about something. "I have an idea" - meaning, I am not sure this concept fits reality, but it is a hypothesis I have formed.

I also think that, when I named The Idea Emporium, I was blurring words together in my mind - idea, concept, conception, understanding, hypothesis.

The Idea Emporium - a place for all these things.

This is not the same as people having "an idee fixe" - meaning, a fixed idea, a rigid belief that something is one way or another.
The sooner people get rid of such ideas, the better. The Idea Emporium is not a place to set out rock-hard beliefs and stone people with them, hurling them like missiles at all and any that come within striking range.

That is not The Idea Emporium.

The Idea Emporium - a place to present and explore ideas - for now my ideas.

That does not mean the idea need to be timidly set forth, all hemming and hawing, tentative even when the evidence is strong.

The Idea Emporium – the goal is smart opinions, critical thought, perception, good analysis.

The Idea Emporium. Smart opinions - meaning, drawing on every resource possible, rather than "it's my opinion, that's why I believe it, and it's as good as yours any day. Who are you to say blacks can do math, women can learn to read, Jews deserve to live. I have every right to my opinion." Personally, I'd rather do my best to think well, but many others are clearly proud of their avowed right to be thoughtless.

That's not The Idea Emporium.

The Idea Emporium. Critical thought - that means we do our best to think well, to apply logic, information, all our capacities.

The Idea Emporium. Good analysis. Again, that means we try to ensure that we use valid arguments - not, "because it's my opinion," "because I say so" "because I know that's right" "because my god says so" "because everyone knows that's right" . We both draw conclusions from evidence (so there may be evidence showing patterns and tendencies in certain groups (for instance, I've done lots of research on the impact of rights movements on those who get involved, and have found lots of evidence for patterns of response) - and at the same time we are careful not to generalize, to draw conclusions beyond what we have evidence for, and even contradicting the evidence ("Women are ..." "Muslims believe ..." "everyone this happens to ..." "Jews are..." "Gays are ..."

The Idea Emporium. Perception. Not easy to perceive. We each do it through a filter of experience, memory, assumptions, and so on. We have all learned not to perceive many things - denial - and to magnify other things. The goal at The Idea Emporium (and this should be the goal everywhere) is to be as perceptive - taking in as much information - as possible.

The Idea Emporium. i could go on and on. But this is enough for a start. More important now to put it into action - because it's ideas came first, surging inside me, wanting to find a place to be heard.

I'm (among other things) a college teacher, so my teaching gives me one outlet for my ideas, to express them, modify them, listen to other ideas, test the evidence, the power (or lack thereof) of different arguments.

But that hasn't been enough for me. One small class at a time.

I have a sense that I have some ideas that could be valuable to many people - ideas many people don't have (many have very different ideas), ideas where my ideas may help other people struggling with some of the same concerns, and so on. I think these ideas could help make some kind of positive difference in the world, reach people who are reachable, maybe even break through some shells many people live inside, shells that stop them from perceiving things.

There will be space for the ideas of others as well. Right now I am starting with a few ideas of mine. But I envisage that The Idea Emporium is a place that will grow, enriching both others and also myself - that I and my ideas will grow from some of what comes back.

Elsa
July 30, 2006

copyright © Elsa Schieder 2006
publishing house - FlufferDuff Impressions 2006

Questions - on rage, hatred, narcissism, empathy, caring, peace.
Good thinking and analysis. Logic plus emotion.
The Idea Emporium - facts, ideas, conclusions.
Plus stupid opinions exposed.

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IDEA * EVALUATION * CONCLUSION * INSIGHT * COMMENTARY * CONTROVERSY * INTELLECTUAL CONFLICTS * CONFLICTING VERSIONS AND CONCLUSIONS * DIFFICULT AREAS * OPINION * WELL-REASONED OPINION * UNFOUNDED OPINION * STUPID OPINION * THEORY * THEORIZING * FEMINIST THEORIES * PERCEPTION * PERCEPTIONS * PERSPECTIVES * PSYCHOANALYTICAL THEORIES *
ENVORINMENTAL CONCERNS * ANALYSIS * DISCOVERING UNDERLYING CAUSES * AMBIVALENCES * AMBIGUITIES * FEAR OF AND RAGE AGAINST IDEAS * FEAR OF EXPRESSING IDEAS *
ANTI-THINKING TORRORISM * ANTI-INTELLECTUAL TERRORISM * FALLACIES * FLAWED REASONING *
THE RAGE AGAINST UNWANTED IDEAS * THE RAGE AGAINST UNWANTED VISONS OF REALITY *
THE IDEA EMPORIUM + THE IDEA EMPORIUM + THE IDEA EMPORIUM * THE IDEA EMPORIUM
BLINKERS AGAINST PERCEPTION * BARRIERS TO THINKING * BARRIERS TO REASONING *
INTELLECTUAL STIMULATION * STIMULATING IDEAS * FERTILE THOUGHT * VIEWPOINTS * UNDERSTANDINGS * COMPLEXITIES * UNCERTAINTIES * GUESSES * HUNCHES *
FACTS * GUT FEELINGS ABOUT THINGS * EXPLORING IDEAS * EXPLORATIONS OF IDEAS *
EXPERIMENTS TO VERIFY IDEAS * REALITIES * REASONING * IN-DEPTH ANALYSIS *
THOUGHT OF THE DAY * PERCEPTION * PERSPECTIVE * DATA * INFORMATION *
OPINION PIECES * LOGICAL THINKING * CRITICAL THOUGHT * INTELLECTUAL LAZINESS * IDEa

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comments, responses, further thinking, more ideas
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THE IDEA EMPORIUM
A CELEBRATION OF GOOD THINKING

THE IDEA EMPORIUM
NO HOLDS BARRED THINKING

THE IDEA EMPORIUM
LOOK AT ANYTHING, ASK ANYTHING

LOOK ANYWHERE

PLUS, LOOK AT THE JOURNEY

 

 

"It is a fact readily acknowledged,
that for humans,
an idea is much more powerful
than a fact."

 

WHEN I HEARD THAT,
I HAD A EUREKA MOMENT.
YES, I HAD SEEN THAT SO OFTEN.

 

SOME OF US ALREADY LOVE GOOD THINKING.

BUT GOOD THINKING IS POSSIBLE
FOR ALMOST ALL OF US,
JUST LIKE EVEN A COUCH POTATO
CAN GET INTO SHAPE!

SO, FOR THE THINKERS
AND THE POTENTIAL THINKERS

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