Resisting Intrusive Malicious Influences

Sports regularly is cited as helping to create a unified America.   For instance, we rightly hear that sports excellence is extraordinarily achievement based. And that usually is true.   An often-cited archetypal example is Jackie Robinson’s breaking baseball’s so-called “color barrier” through virtue of his outstanding capabilities. What is almost never mentioned is that Robinson’s ascension into the major leagues was facilitated by a white man—Wesley Branch Rickey who would not tolerate racial injustice.   Because of people like Jackie Robinson and Wesley Branch Rickey, sports continually proves that every human being deserves complete, unbiased opportunities and recognition.   And, as our country’s primary sports platform, when viewing the Superbowl, every American citizen should feel valued and included.   There is no reason to privilege one group over the others. But the Superbowl halftime show violated that common sense essential perspective.   Alth...

Repetitive conflicts are extremely common. In fact, nearly half of all couples—around 48–50%—say they have the same arguments again and again. And research from the Gottman Institute shows that about 69% of marital conflicts involve  perpetual problems : issues that never fully resolve. There’s no guaranteed way to eliminate these patterns, but if you think carefully about the ideas below and adapt them to your own situation, you can improve things. Doing so requires steady effort and mutual respect. Why Repetitive Arguments Happen Recurring arguments are stymied primarily by  p rocess ,  only secondarily by  content . In other words, the problem is less about  what  you’re arguing about and more about  how  the argument unfolds. This is why the most effective way to break the cycle is to start with  metacommunication —communication about the communication process (Watzlawick et al., 1967). Most repetitive arguments persist because metacommun...

  Most people have only a superficial understanding of what "meme" means. [The alliteration is purposeful and has meaning to me. You, too, should understand soon.]  Those who use the word “meme’ are likely also to know “mimetic,” but may or may not connect the two terms. If you are reading this mindfully, you will see clearly that the second letter in the two targeted words are different -- e vs. i . That's because they  are not etymologically related.  Since both terms are frequently spoken and written, I thought it might be useful to consider them as a way to sensitize us all to what we are saying and hearing. The words meme and mimetic do share a common conceptual root but, as noted, they have distinct etymologies and distinct meanings, as well.  When most people speak about a meme, they mean an idea, icon, object, or action that is current and popular. But that does not conform to the original definition.  Dr. Richard Dawkins in the ...

 January 4, 2025 is the 60 th  anniversary of my arrival at Marine Corps Depot, Parris Island, South Carolina for the onset of a 4-year USMC active enlistment.  In thinking about that, I reflect upon the fact of my lingering Marine identity, and what it might suggest about identities in general.  Let’s start with my, admittedly bizarre, experience in Spain when vacationing there a few years ago. The incident occurred while I was waiting for a bus at a crowded stop.  A stranger with a heavy Scottish accent walked up to me and said, “You were a Marine.” In total shock, I asked, “How did you know?” to which he replied, “I worked as a civilian on a Marine base for 20 years. You all wear your hat the same way.”  I never had thought about hat-wearing as significant or even noteworthy.  At the time, mine was a plain baseball cap with no logo or words whatsoever.  My best guess is that the distinctive feature was due to the facts that I wore the hat tight...

The power of influence largely derives from the ways that it appeals to our cognitions and emotions. Professional influencers have clear, specific goals that they hope to achieve. They first strive to seize your attention. Then they seek to prepare you cognitively and emotionally to receive their message before they begin to deliver it. Once that is attained, they want to ensure that your frame of mind continues to remain as fully consistent with their goals as possible. In the language of psychology, that means the influencer offers “advance organizers” intended to create in you an enduring “mental set” that renders you continually susceptible to them. Further, because the influencer knows that his likelihood of success depends on how you align with him, he wants to make you feel that he values you. To do so, he might appeal to any of your thoughts and/or emotions. In the present chapter, we look at your mental functions that can be manipulated by those who want to exert their control...

Especially now, with the United States presidential election at hand, we are assailed by a never-ending barrage of comments about misinformation and disinformation. So, I wonder, what is the difference between the two and what are the implications?  One way to differentiate is to say that misinformation is merely something objectively wrong.  Whereas disinformation is objectively wrong and vigorously, manipulatively propagandized. Both definitions lead to further questions.  First, how can we be sure that we know what is objectively wrong?  Second, what does the propaganda promote?  An in-depth discussion of these questions is far beyond the scope of a modest blog post such as this.  However, the fact that I’m writing about it means that I think I have something useful to contribute.  Let’s presume for the moment that you are confronted with information, and have access to the source (s) that will allow you to identify and determine relevant objective ...

Since Socrates lived from about 470-399 B.C., one reasonably can assume that many deep thinkers have valued and practiced what we presently call the Socratic Method for at least the last 2500 years.  You no doubt know that the method employs a questioning and answering format, frequently called dialog-based inquiry.  The process can be slow and even tedious.  Is it worth the effort?  Hopefully, yes. When conducted properly, the Socratic Method enables both questioner and answerer to learn. And that learning is not limited merely to acquiring objective information.  Both also learn about themselves, about each other, and about the way they think, as individuals and as a dyad.  Ideally, their ideas are critically examined, reflected upon, and refined.  It’s no secret that often the putative experts learn as much or more than the novices with whom they are dialoging.  So, those are some benefits to dialogic discourse.  Non-dialogic discourse, th...

This blog post is written on September 11, 2024, a day after the first Trump-Harris televised debate.  Private and public speculation has been frenzied and frantic.  Some have suggested or implied that the fate of America, even of the planet, will be determined by the presidential election—“the most important election in our history.”  Democrat and Republican partisans are employing every influence trick to nudge, scare, or bludgeon you to vote their way. I am not in that business.  Rather, I have a modest suggestion that is easier said than done: think, really think, for yourself.  Since neither you nor I have the time or expertise to parse every essential detail required to make the best voting decision, I limit myself to briefly discussing two related topics. First, let’s consider an often mentioned but rarely practiced mental activity – mindfulness.  Our simple working definition is mindfulness as your being aware of what is happening to you internally ...

  Clinical psychologists explicitly or implicitly communicate to patients the importance of their speaking as honestly and completely as possible, especially when asking and answering questions.  And, expecting honesty and completeness, non-clinical psychologists regularly use surveys of various sorts to conduct their research. Given that honest and complete communication often requires courage and resolve, Cory J. Clark and colleagues (2024) wondered whether psychologists had sufficient grit and conviction to follow their own advice.  Their study was important because the psychologist-participants were university professors-- meaning that they profoundly influence the current and future direction of psychologists, psychology majors, and students of all other majors enrolled in their classes. The candidate professors taught at “the top 100 universities and the top 100 psychology graduate programs in the United States according to U.S. News & World Report rankings...

Virtually everyone is familiar with homeostasis.  To refresh that concept: it refers to the fact that a healthful physical condition must be maintained within a narrow range regardless of the external environment  wherein we find ourselves.   Among  the many processes to be maintained are those such as temperature control, pH balance, and glucose levels.  Not so widely known,  however, is the allostasis concept—the process by which the body regains homeostasis when homeostasis is challenged or lost due to stress.  Some of the stressors are purely physical, such as frigid weather and some are less so, such as angry disputes.  Most stressors, of course, include an amalgam of physical and non-physical stress (e.g., mental) in various combinations.  Unlike homeostasis, allostasis operates by ANTICIPATING increased bodily demands and challenges.  For instance, allostasis begins to operate long before your body temperature has deteriora...

In the not-too-distant past, there was a common perception of a young person’s transition from high school graduation to higher education. The newly liberated ex-high-schooler was believed to leave 12th grade with an excessively limbic, subcortical operating system dominated by raging hormones and rebellious mindsets. Then, learned implacably rational professors performed pedagogical brain interventions that stimulated the prefrontal cortex such that it eventually surged into prominence, resulting in higher education graduates who could and did employ independent rationality to reach critical life decisions.  Given the current 21 st  century state of higher education, however, I have transformed my higher education neurology-brain metaphor to an gastrological-alimentary one.  Contemporary higher education students are not stimulated to frontal lobe engagement by their universities.  Rather, the hapless victims are consumed by universities that extract student intelle...

Recently, on the Mediterranean island of Malta, I lay my left hand on a multi-thousand year old megalith while holding a 2024 mobile phone in my right. And I wondered about the people and lifestyles responsible for both. The Megalith Builders of Malta lived approximately in 3000 BC—during the New Stone Age— on an island 17 miles long and 9 miles wide.   Since the island had no known volcanos, the air presumably was relatively pure.   The natural environment contained mammals, such as red deer, wild boar, rodents, and sea life, such as fish, dolphins, and seals. The fabricated environment was created through the efforts of small family- and kin-based groups.   Using stone tools, animal bones, and wood, the inhabitants   created what arguably are among the oldest megaliths on earth, consisting of a series of large stone blocks, some weighing several tons. They sustained themselves through farming, herding, and fishing. In short, the world of the neolithic Maltese req...

What does that have to do with what we were talking about?  We all have presented or thought about presenting that question to someone.  The implicit “accusation” is that we believe our interlocutor has found relevance where none exists, or that they are ascribing more relevance to their idea than is warranted.  In psychology jargon, the former would be called “aberrant salience” and the latter, “anomalous salience.”   We might then dismiss the speaker as being emotionally or cognitively deficient. So, one more question: Is such thinking crazy?  Aberrant salience, by definition, is deficient.  In fact, it is often regarded as a common feature of thought on the schizophrenia spectrum.  But anomalous salience is not necessarily deficient; in fact, it literally could lead to a so-called quantum leap in human knowledge.  For instance, in 1935, Erwin Schrödinger combined the ideas of subatomic particles (quanta) with influence distance, to describ...

Let’s assume that you aspire to independent thought. That aspiration is not automatic; it presumes metacognition – thinking about your thought process.  And a willingness to put forth the effort necessary for independent thought in our culture that relentlessly assails you with propaganda and other forms of manipulation. Among the elements essential for independent thought, I offer two.  First consider your frame of reference.  What is it about you, the topic, and any potential receiver of your information that provide the contexts for your communication?  Among other things, those factors will determine the ideas that come into your mind, the words that you choose, and the conviction and passion with which you entertain and deliver your thoughts.   Second, what sources and other particulars of objective data guide you?   Have you gathered relevant base rate information?  That is, information which provides as much reasonably valid relevant i...

  “Are you sincere?” is a question that resonated deeply enough with the American public to have been the title and theme of a song recorded 14 times, and that reached number three on the Billboard chart. The song resonated, I believe, because it portrayed a fundamental. issue in all interpersonal experience. In my Questioning & Answering book, I coupled sincerity with reasonableness to address those essential features of human discourse. There I suggest that in all important discussions wherein we ask a question, are asked a question, provide an answer, or receive an answer, we should consciously consider its sincerity and reasonableness.   Among other considerations, sincerity and reasonableness must be contextualized for time, place, and person [That merely is one aspect of contextualizing for your internal context (body and mind) and your external context (everything outside your body and mind)]   Evaluate why the questions and answers are being presented now, w...