Jerked About on a String

[DISCLAIMER]

As Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) is informed by Stoic philosophy, this blog entry is part of an ongoing series regarding a book entitled The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living by Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman.

I don’t agree with everything that anyone says. There’s no exception when considering what’s been expressed by ancient Stoics philosophers. For instance, in The Daily Stoic, authors quote Roman emperor and Stoic philosopher Marcus Aurelius Antoninus who stated (page 28):

Understand at last that you have something in you more powerful and divine than what causes the bodily passions and pulls you like a mere puppet. What thoughts now occupy my mind? Is it not fear, suspicion, desire, or something like that?

Although I concur with the philosopher’s contemplation regarding motivations which push or pull people in this direction or that, I’m not convinced that people retain within us something which is “divine” (of, relating to, or proceeding directly from God). Such a claim is unfalsifiable.

Nevertheless, when practicing REBT in my personal and professional life, I take account of the forces which are verifiable and that influence human behavior. Regarding this matter, authors of The Daily Stoic state (page 28):

Think of all the interests vying for a share of your wallet or for a second of your attention. Food scientists are engineering products to exploit your taste buds. Silicon Valley engineers are designing applications as addictive as gambling. The media is manufacturing stories to provoke outrage and anger.

Forgive me a brief personal anecdote. Many years ago, when working for one of the largest retailers in the world, my supervisor surprised me when discussing that many of her colleagues attended institutions of higher education with the intent of learning how to manipulate people.

She said something to the effect of, “They’ve got it figured out down to the minute about how long the average shopper spends in the store, what colors attract attention, which endcap is most likely to be seen by children, and even how much employees will spend during a shift.”

She further explained that there was a calculation for loss prevention employees such as me, who frequently walked through aisles, regarding how much of our paychecks would be funneled back into the accounts of this major retailer. I was astonished by my beliefs about this information.

Don’t even get me started on what I learned about the methods employed by Las Vegas casinos to manipulate people out of their money. And regarding media-provoked “outrage and anger” through manipulative tactics, I stated in a blogpost entitled Controlling the Flow of Harm:

[T]he Central Intelligence Agency stated in a 1996 memo that “countering and discrediting the claims of the conspiracy theorists” was an objective of the Agency. Now, a number of former U.S. intelligence personnel work in or with mainstream media outlets.

What interest might members of the government and media have in managing the information to which you or I are exposed? Do you lack agency and am I incapable of taking personal ownership of how to process data received through various sources?

Indeed, there are pushing and pulling forces at play within this world. About this matter, I’m not self-disturbed. Rather, I practice Stoic principles in order to use rational thinking (that which is in accordance with both logic and reason). Regarding this approach, the authors state (page 28):

Every human being is pulled by these internal and external forces that are increasingly more powerful and harder to resist. Philosophy is simply asking us to pay careful attention and to strive to be more than a pawn.

As Viktor Frankl puts it in The Will to Meaning, “Man is pushed by drives but pulled by values.” These values and inner awareness prevent us from being puppets. Sure, paying attention requires work and awareness, but isn’t that better than being jerked about on a string?

In psychology, a drive is defined as “a generalized state of readiness precipitating or motivating an activity or course of action. Drive is hypothetical in nature, usually created by deprivation of a needed substance (e.g., food), the presence of negative stimuli (e.g., pain, cold), or the occurrence of negative events.”

For instance, if I haven’t had anything to eat in a few days, then I may have a drive to seek out sources of nutrition. Whether right, wrong, or otherwise, many human-engineered forces are employed to influence a person’s drives in various directions (e.g., well-placed endcaps).

In psychology, a value is defined as “a moral, social, or aesthetic principle accepted by an individual or society as a guide to what is good, desirable, or important.” For instance, because I consider it morally wrong to allow myself to be easily influenced, I have a value to avoid commercials.

In fact, I have a personal value whereby I’ll forego the purchase of products which are advertised to me, because I didn’t consent to such manipulation. After all, I don’t like being jerked about on a string. How about you? Do you utilize values in place of, or in concurrence with, drives?

If you’re looking for a provider who tries to work to help understand how thinking impacts physical, mental, emotional, and behavioral elements of your life—helping you to sharpen your critical thinking skills, I invite you to reach out today by using the contact widget on my website.

As a psychotherapist, I’m pleased to try to help people with an assortment of issues ranging from anger (hostility, rage, and aggression) to relational issues, adjustment matters, trauma experience, justice involvement, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, anxiety and depression, and other mood or personality-related matters.

At Hollings Therapy, LLC, serving all of Texas, I aim to treat clients with dignity and respect while offering a multi-lensed approach to the practice of psychotherapy and life coaching. My mission includes: Prioritizing the cognitive and emotive needs of clients, an overall reduction in client suffering, and supporting sustainable growth for the clients I serve. Rather than simply trying to help you to feel better, I want to try to help you get better!

Deric Hollings, LPC, LCSW

Photo credit, fair use

References:

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Daily Stoic. (n.d.). Translating the Stoics: An interview with “The Daily Stoic” co-author Stephen Hanselman. Retrieved from https://dailystoic.com/stephen-hanselman-interview/

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