Reply #64: We internalize a society's fears and superstitions, especially those of oppression.

[hunter]

Does something like genital mutilation make any sense? No, yet it is done with the approval of mothers and grandmothers.

Does it make sense to drug every kid who can't sit still in a boring and repressive classroom environment?

Does it make sense to jail drug addicts instead of treating them for their drug addictions?

I always start with the premise that humans are not rational creatures. Look around, does any of this make sense? People do what they do, and then they rationalize it. That's the way it is for everything people do.

Those who are wired such that they cannot conform to the existing society's framework of rationalization often suffer severe mistreatment or punishment grossly irreconcilable with the small disruptions they cause to the social order.

Often when people are depressed and anxious it is because their society is depressing and anxiety provoking, especially if they have internalized social rationalizations that blind them to the causes of their own depression and anxiety. They don't need a pill, they need a gentle and more accepting society.