Human tendencies
I have lived longer than most people in history have, so I feel I can make some observations about human beings and life. They are not proven by my age and experience; I just make them because I see these phenomena so much.
The one I have been pondering lately is the so-human ability to deceive ourselves. Dishonesty within and with oneself is so easy. One's Christian faith should be the antidote; ah, unfortunately it often is not. This basic bent toward self-deception takes so many forms.
One is blindness to faults. Another is our ability to compartmentalize, which I think is the root of true hypocrisy. (What is often called hypocrisy is just human weakness, not intentional attempts to deceive others.) Another is cognitive dissonance, that well supported communication theory basic. Although no one ever says it, CD comes from self-deception. We change our minds to fit our behavior and then convince ourselves we changed because the change was logical, not because we were just desiring consistency and were trying to live up to what others saw or wanted. And it might be just as deceptive to use CD as it is to go through it.
This meandering post has to end up on something political, no? I heard a blowhard commentator (radio guy, fat, on for three hours a day, you figure it out) say that President Obama was a narcissist. So I googled that to find out if that was on the Internet buzz, and of course it was. Here are a few links. http://www.globalpolitician.com/25109-barack-obama-elections and http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/09/obama_oprah_and_the_guru_malig_1.html and http://www.debatableland.com/the_debatable_land/2007/08/barack-obama-na.html
I found these interesting, scary, amusing. First, a psychologist really shouldn't speak out of school; they know better than to diagnose a person not under their care. Second, any contact we have with Obama is mediated, so a lot of what we think we know is probably a media fiction. Third, he's probably not the first narcissist, if he is one, that has run for president or even won. Fourth, calling him names of this sort really doesn't matter. Is that how the loyal opposition is going to argue against his potentially disastrous health care and energy policies. "We can't have cap and trade, gentleman--the president has NPD!"
All that being said . . . the man has issues. Serious issues. Anybody can see that, can hear it in his speeches, see it in how he treats people, must be in the spotlight all the time, had to have three news conferences, had to have a speech just because Cheney did, has to blame Bush all the time. Sheesh, get over yourself. It boggles the mind.
The one I have been pondering lately is the so-human ability to deceive ourselves. Dishonesty within and with oneself is so easy. One's Christian faith should be the antidote; ah, unfortunately it often is not. This basic bent toward self-deception takes so many forms.
One is blindness to faults. Another is our ability to compartmentalize, which I think is the root of true hypocrisy. (What is often called hypocrisy is just human weakness, not intentional attempts to deceive others.) Another is cognitive dissonance, that well supported communication theory basic. Although no one ever says it, CD comes from self-deception. We change our minds to fit our behavior and then convince ourselves we changed because the change was logical, not because we were just desiring consistency and were trying to live up to what others saw or wanted. And it might be just as deceptive to use CD as it is to go through it.
This meandering post has to end up on something political, no? I heard a blowhard commentator (radio guy, fat, on for three hours a day, you figure it out) say that President Obama was a narcissist. So I googled that to find out if that was on the Internet buzz, and of course it was. Here are a few links. http://www.globalpolitician.com/25109-barack-obama-elections and http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/09/obama_oprah_and_the_guru_malig_1.html and http://www.debatableland.com/the_debatable_land/2007/08/barack-obama-na.html
I found these interesting, scary, amusing. First, a psychologist really shouldn't speak out of school; they know better than to diagnose a person not under their care. Second, any contact we have with Obama is mediated, so a lot of what we think we know is probably a media fiction. Third, he's probably not the first narcissist, if he is one, that has run for president or even won. Fourth, calling him names of this sort really doesn't matter. Is that how the loyal opposition is going to argue against his potentially disastrous health care and energy policies. "We can't have cap and trade, gentleman--the president has NPD!"
All that being said . . . the man has issues. Serious issues. Anybody can see that, can hear it in his speeches, see it in how he treats people, must be in the spotlight all the time, had to have three news conferences, had to have a speech just because Cheney did, has to blame Bush all the time. Sheesh, get over yourself. It boggles the mind.
Comments