You have learned to be helpless, you can unlearn it too

Hello all. Earlier I was reading THIS THREAD and slowly the gears in my head started turning. I've been an admirer of psychology ever since I can remember. Being able to know why people are the way that they are and what leads them to act the way that they do has always been facinating to me. So while I've been in school for the past 7 years I've made an effort to take every psychology class that my school offers. A couple of years ago I was exposed to 'learned helplessness' and I believe a vast ammount of people may be suffering from it today.

Basically, learned helplessness is a disorder where someone or something has been told so many times that there is nothing that can be done about their current abysmal situation, that they won't even try to make it better when an opportunity presents itself. Even more, they are hindered from even being able to recognize an opportunity to better themselves. A good example of this is Seligman and Maier's experimentation with dogs (I know people care immensely about animals on this site, as they should everywhere, but alas, this expierement was performed on dogs, so I do apologize, while I believe animal testing is wrong, I do believe in analizing existing data). Basically, they took some dogs and put them into a 'shock box'. One group was able to escape the 'shock' by pressing a lever, while a second group of dogs had no lever. The second group of dogs was then put into 'shock box No. 1' (the box with the lever) and they made no attempt to avoid the shock. They just sat there and took it. There are more examples and expierements should you want to look them up.

Now, dear reader, think about yourself and the society around you. How many times has someone said "there's nothing we can do about that" or "that's just the way it is"? How many people around you have you seen fail, while thinking to yourself 'why should I even bother?' I know how you feel. I've gotten the short end of the stick so many times that, although I always give 100% in my endeavors, I usually expect the worst to happen. It's all a mirage! The lever is there, but most people are just unable to see it.

This principle also can be applied to entire groups of people. Think back a couple hundred years. Can you think of a group of people who had enough numbers to change everything about their lives, but didn't because of learned helplessness? Hell, think about preasent times, can you think of a group of people who have the numbers to change everything about their lives, but don't because of learned helplessness? Hello..... America.....are you there? We were told for years that the governemnt is there for us, but I think most people are slowly waking up to the idea that this too, is a mirage. We've learned to depend on 'big brother' for our very existance, while each and every one of us is completely capable of providing for ourselves. Sure there are special cases, some people have serious mental problems that exempt them from providing for themselves, but not the astounding number of people we see today.

Anyhow, that's what I believe is happening on a personal and global scale. Just something to think about if you've never been exposed to 'learned helplessness'.

Thank you for your time,
MOTF!

Edit: Just to have some sort of source heres the Wikipedia Article on Learned Helplessness.

Excellent post! I believe every word of it. The problem is that some of us can't see the lever. I guess after failing and trying hard we as humans just give up because we just do not think the lever is there. That would be a wonderful thing for all of us, someone to guide us to the lever at least.

reply to post by MessOnTheFED!


I think it goes even deeper than that. We have become utterly dependent on government, and I do believe that that dependence has been manufactured for us. We will gladly trade all of our freedom for the illusion of safety.

The majority of the people I know do not seem to realize the power they give to government when they willingly give up their independence.

But it all derives from that same sense of hopelessness that you are talking about. Fill the people with fear, make them feel hopeless, then give them a false sense of security; and in so doing you increase your own power.

An example?

Before the 1920s there was the campaign to rid the United States of alcohol, as it was being blamed for the majority of societies problems. This culminated in its prohibition. Alcohol was criminalized, and for ten years crime rates in the United States sky-rocketed. By criminalizing a substance that was in such high demand, we willingly gave birth to mafia cartels and gangsters such as Al Capone. Turf wars were fought, and murder rates went up: St. Valentine's Day Massacre

The surge in crime due to prohibition was shocking to the American people at that time. So much so that prohibition was repealed and apologies were made.

Interesting how we never learned from our mistakes.

I do believe that governments saw in prohibition something they could use to make citizens of any country feel helpless. It did not take the United States long to go from alcohol prohibition right into the "drug war." Through the war on drugs we have seen the militarization of police departments and the erosion of the rights of the American people. Media outlets can keep us in a state of fear, both because of the "dangers of drugs to society" and all of the drug cartels whom our government keeps in power.

It is always a sense of "danger" that drives our feelings of hopelessness and fear. We are going to destroy ourselves simply by trying to protect ourselves in all the wrong ways.

The American people need to grow up and realize that they do not have the right to be "safe." That "safety" is our responsibility, and more often than not, the pursuit of freedom is far more import than the pursuit of protection from life.

reply to post by LewsTherinThelamon

I think it goes even deeper than that. We have become utterly dependent on government, and I do believe that that dependence has been manufactured for us. We will gladly trade all of our freedom for the illusion of safety.

Look no further than than Cloward and Piven Strategy

Kinda blows your mind when you read it and compare what is currently happening this country.....

Such a nicely worded explanation that should be read by all!

I fully support this notion and agree with it 100%.
It seems as though we all are used to feeling helpless.
When in fact we all can help ourselves just by searching for truth!

Instead of "We can't do anything about it..." or "It'll never change"...
We should be saying..."What can we do NOW to change this?"

"When do we start?!"

I see this theory of yours running rampant these days...
Now it's up to all of us to un-learn ourselves from their grip.


*S&F*

Originally posted by chisisiCoptos
Excellent post! I believe every word of it. The problem is that some of us can't see the lever. I guess after failing and trying hard we as humans just give up because we just do not think the lever is there. That would be a wonderful thing for all of us, someone to guide us to the lever at least.

I believe you are spot on with your assumption. However, the people don't even know the lever exists cry foul because they believe they have been wronged and in an essence, they have. They are completely unable to see the light, so to speak. This isn't their fault but it is up to them to change it.

Thank you for the reply!

MOTF!

reply to post by LewsTherinThelamon


Thank you for the reply! I believe the things you are speaking about are directly linked to learned helplessness. They keep everyone living in fear and believing that they are too small and inadequate to truly make a difference, when the complete opposite is the truth. They keep us up in arms about things that really don't matter in the grand scheme of things. WE have learned over the last century that we need big brother to hold our hand, when, in fact, all he is doing is holding us down.

MOTF!

Excellent thread! I never heard of the term 'learned helplessness', so thanks for that. I agree with you and others in this thread that this is going on in the USA along with other "civilized" locations around the world... Mostly westernized areas in my opinion.

I also agree with the hopelessness situation another poster mentioned, it is a combination of the two, which is fortified by the television and institutions around, not to mention the ease of living -- without even knowing how to cook, build a fire, or build a shelter, nor fetch water! Amazing!

This thread title does mention "you can unlearn it too". What are your thoughts on how to unlearn it? (I have my personal opinions as well

reply to post by Philippines


Personally, I believe, one good way around learned helplessness is to be objective. Knowledge is the key to the puzzle. Knowledge and being able to see the big picture around you. It's easy to get caught up in all of the hoopla going on around you and getting caught up while not being objective leads directly to one not being able to see the 'lever'.

Study history.

Try not to be to hard on the people who are hopeless, because, in realty, they can't help it. They have been conditioned to be this way. Almost brainwashed. Try to help then see the way through the maze.

Some opportunities only come around once in a lifetime. When you see it, don't be scared of change.

Be independent.

Those are just a few things you can do to recondition yourself to be able to see the lever.

MOTF!