Discipline of thought

There is a profound difference between the language used to convey information, and the language used to convey propaganda. Here is a trivial example.

Information: Right now (1:06 PM on March 6, 2018) I am holding my cat. He has curly black fur, gold eyes, and he is purring.

Propaganda: People everywhere are enjoying the immense benefits of pet ownership.

The information statement includes specific subjects and verifiable details, and leaves room to ask follow-up questions that can further identify the subjects and ground the information in time and space. The propaganda statement invokes poorly-defined subjects ("people everywhere"), a relatable emotion (enjoyment), and something to desire ("immense benefits").

What happens in your head when you read the propaganda statement? If I imagine someone else saying it out loud, I can trace my own physiological responses and most likely thoughts (assuming I hear it while in an unguarded state).

"People everywhere..." (I am part of people everywhere!) [Receptive, ready to relate]
"...are enjoying..." (I want to enjoy things) [Imagining feeling enjoyment]
"...the immense benefits..." (I could seriously use some immense benefits) [Imagining feeling healthier]
"...of pet ownership." (Oh cool! I own a pet. That makes me one of the smart people enjoying immense benefits. Keep talking, you're making me feel good about my life choices.) [Feeling validated]

I think language has powerful effects on our state of mind and emotional well-being. I don't know how common it is for people to develop the self-awareness to notice those shifts as they happen, but I think it's mission critical to aspire to that self-awareness.

The above was intended to be a benign example. However, propaganda language can be (and, I think, often is) used to place an audience in a negative emotional state (such as fear, anger, dissatisfaction) and then tell the audience how to fix the problem. So here's my goal: every time I hear a propaganda message (from any political origin) and feel my emotions start to shift under my feet, take a few deep breaths and tell myself, "I am happy." Lather, rinse, repeat as necessary.

Meaningful action need not be contingent on negative emotion.

Hi, 2018

I never like the first week of the year. Any time January 1st falls on a weekday it feels terribly disruptive to me - instead of a last day of relaxation, it represents having one less work day to deal with the inevitable backlog coming out of the holidays. "What do you mean 'relax'? I need to start getting stuff done..."

This year has been no different, but at least I realized that I'm allowed to reschedule anything and everything that doesn't absolutely have to happen this week. This is in part inspired by my post last week about (effectively) the cumulative risks of wearing ourselves out. Self care is incredibly important for a lot of reasons, including that it keeps us capable of doing our best.

On that note, what I really need today is to hear from Fred. Hi, Fred!

Thanks, Fred. Happy New Year!

Thought of the Day

Distinguishing oneself from one's habits is the foundation of personal growth.

Privilege and hostility

Hats off to Jeph Jacques, writer of webcomic Questionable Content. In this strip featuring two AI characters, he calls out a critical underlying influence in our current cultural explosions. Says one AI to another: "I suspect this is the first time you have been confronted with hostility due to your privilege. It is a painful and confusing event."

Confronted with this particular kind of emotional discomfort, some turn inward, and some turn outward. Either direction can have positive or negative outcomes. Turning inward can result in honest self-reflection, or desperate self-justification. Turning outward can result in reflexive aggression against whatever sparked the discomfort, or honest inquiry and evaluation of the larger situation. In either case, prioritizing defense of the personal status quo is the equivalent of digging a hole deeper.

Dear anybody with any kind of privilege: if somebody gets mad at you because of what you have, take a deep breath and have a cup of tea and get past the emotional discomfort of somebody being mad at you because of factors that were not conscious choices on your part. Or go beat up a literal punching bag, whatever works for you. Tell yourself you can cope with somebody being mad at you, even if you think it's for "no reason." Repeat it in your head as many times as you have to until it's true. Remind yourself that you are capable of making a choice that is distinct from your gut reaction. Ever read Dune? This is a way more mild version of the Gom Jabbar. Bear the pain and be human, then take the opportunity to do something better.

Pitfalls in Emotional Management

Pitfall #1: Taking emotions as indicative of truth or fact.

The evaluation of emotions on the spectrum of false<->true (obvious idiomatic example: "true love") muddles the relationship between feeling and fact, and can lead to the (potentially extremely harmful) conclusion that feelings can be right or wrong. This is not the case. Beliefs about the world can be wrong (as in incorrect). Choices / actions can be wrong (as in causing or enabling undue harm). Feelings are never wrong, they simply are.

Pitfall #2: Translating emotion directly into action.

Emotions can certainly be overwhelming, but I hesitate to ever endorse the assessment that "I just couldn't stop myself." I believe both in treating oneself with understanding and forgiveness, and in recognizing one's capacity to replace gut reactions with conscious choices. I think it's more appropriate to say "I didn't stop myself." Evaluations of "could" and "couldn't" are fundamentally oracular in nature, and generally speaking we cannot say with absolute certainty what could or couldn't have happened.

I present these thoughts as a backdrop to my approach to civic engagement, because people on all sides (me included) seem extremely volatile in their emotional response right now, and it's something that needs to be recognized and addressed. It sure would be awesome if we could avoid destroying each other and the planet along with us. (I do not believe that presenting these as possible risks is an exaggeration, hence my personal volatility). Stay tuned.