From: hal@finney.org, Sat, 23 Sep 2000
>It seems to me that preparing yourself psychologically for this action
>requires a certain amount of distancing and depersonalizing your
>attitudes towards other people.
>...
>Given the very small probability of this outcome, the costs in terms
>of your alienation from society must be considered significant. In the
>long run your survival prospects will be hurt by having a lesser degree
>of social connectivity.
Let me see if I am understanding you correctly.
You are proposing that the act of "psychologically adjusting"
oneself in thinking and preparing for a self-defense that could be
lethal for the aggressor would have ramifications for socially
connecting with others around you, right?
I think that you missed some other perspectives.
First Question:
Is there a psychological adjustment necessary in the preparation
(education, training, etc) to be willing to kill to defend one's
life?
For me: Yes. (profoundly)
I can't be emotionally neutral, even if rationally I know that the
(hypothetical) attacker has given up all of his/her rights, and are
truly acting no less than an animal. I can't be neutral because my
personal philosophy contains a deep-seated reverence for life.
Second Question:
Does the psychological adjustment of being prepared to lethally
defend oneself cause one to distance onself from other people?
For me: No.
In fact, the "psychological adjustment" might have the opposite
effect.
In the process of working through that mental exercise, one's value
system is re-evaluated, analyzed, and for me the end result was to
know more clearly my own boundaries and know more clearly the circle
I draw around the people I love that I would protect with a lethal
defense. In this way, I already feel closer to the people I care
about because I know the lengths I would go to in order to
protect/save them.
Another result of this "psychological adjustment" is an increase in
the level of awareness of the actions of people around you. It's a
natural result from martial arts practices. However, if one is
already a suspicious person, that increase of awareness might not be
helpful. But I find it quite helpful to view my interactions with
other people in a third person perspective and as a kind of dance.
The third result I see from this "psychological adjustment" is a
meta-result from the action of facing one's fears. When presented
(consciously or unconsciously) with a fearful situation, you can
either avoid it, which results in a blocking off of a part of
yourself (you can be "colder" and more "distant"), or you can face
it, understand it, and integrate it. I prefer the latter. And what
happens when you process and integrate a terribly fearful situation?
My observations and experience tell me that the person who does this
finds their worldview jarred, their barriers stripped away, they
feel vulnerable, human, and after integrating some of of their
fears, they feel more whole and stronger. I don't see that person
wanting to distance themselves from those around. On the contrary, I
see those people more warm and open and wanting to share who they
are.
Maybe some of the people that you have in mind as "cold" simply
didn't learn to integrate their fears.
Amara
********************************************************************
Amara Graps email: amara@amara.com
Computational Physics vita: finger agraps@shell5.ba.best.com
Multiplex Answers URL: http://www.amara.com/
********************************************************************
"Sometimes I think I understand everything. Then I regain
consciousness." --Ashleigh Brilliant
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