Last edited Sun Jan 6, 2013, 11:49 AM - Edit history (1)
they have the power of scripture though most could not be claimed to be divinely inspired.
Most of the narratives we common folk work with are accumulations of mostly vulgar assumptions collected from the street and workplace. We can't help but acquire these things, we grow to see the world--as to the best of our ability--we assume as ours what we think those around us see. This is one of the basic tenets of "post-modernism". Reality isn't real. It's at best an interpretation.
The assumptions we adopt frame our world view, they mold the prescription in the lenses we see thru. That prescription both focuses and distorts what we go about thinking is reality.
It's not just external things which perspective influences. Society teaches us how to dissect our being into parts such as mind-body-spirit which can be given meaning and health by distinct authority centers within society (psychiatrists, physicians, clergy).
Are there really 3 "mini-me's" within each of us? Almost certainly not, and to my ear such things sound remarkably primitive (on edit: because that's my position in the context of my culture and 'successful' navigation of the higher education my culture produced). But as the beer commercial says, if it works it's not weird, and shared beliefs work within cultural contexts.
For example, twelve step programs depend upon belief in some spiritually meaningful thing bigger than us. Do such bigger things really exist? Arguable, but certainly they do in the perceptions/universal view of many and 12 step programs have brought comfort to millions.
If we see it, and it works, it's "good", if we don't see it or think it doesn't work it's bad.
One of the most important things we can "see" as members of a gregarious species living in groups is 'deviance'. That's particularly true for beliefs and behaviors that challenge the validity our perspective and our sense of playing by the rules.
Deviant behavior that presents a threat/risk is deviance of the worst kind. Safety is a strong motivator. How to be safe is one of the greatest lessons of culture. And one of the greatest lessons of all is that when in doubt or uncertainty, retreat to a defensive posture.
Within our culture are entire systems of defensive beliefs that, in times of need, allow people to shield themselves from doubt and fear and around which they can gather (without much thought) to form defensive perimeters. These cliques unite their members with a sense of 'us-ness', correctness, and willfulness that facilitates hurling missiles of insults and disparagement at "others".
The folks on GD are acting like humans act. Yes, they are limited by their world view, which is threatened by notions such as grief is a mild disorder of depression, anxiety and adjustment. They fear being ill, they fear spending money for treatment.
Attempts to educate them, confront and threaten the things which define their reality. They MUST fight against that.
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