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Penny Adrian's avatar

I have a sticky note next to my computer that asks two questions:

1. Is my home safe?

2. Is there anything else I can do?

When I answer yes to the first and no to the second, it tends to calm me down.

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greg's avatar

Sensible reading. Bullet points.

Also, you could have slipped something of nietzsche's take on mankind's theroretical limit on taking in the flux of bullshit. Wrote about that while making his thesis actually if I'm not mistaken. Core questioning of his lifetime's opii. Until the horse kicked him.

And then again, aliens.

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Anna Rae's avatar

This is so well said and I never thought of this as a category. Thank you, for giving me the understanding and now to take it apart and fix that pattern. <3

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Katherine Brodsky's avatar

Thank you, Anna!

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Jowan M.'s avatar

The catastrophe discourse, fuelled by both media companies and political and religious agendas (as fear of threats make people prioritise security and immediate needs rather than engaging in elite-challenging activities and expanding more liberties and freedoms) works exceptionally well as it taps into the main task of our brains: to keep us safe and alive.

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Katherine Brodsky's avatar

Absolutely!

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Sherman Alexie's avatar

I do Dialectic Behavior Therapy (DBT) to help me manage my bipolar disorder and it's a formal way of addressing the catastrophic thinking (and behavior) that can both result from mania and depression and lead one into mania and depression. "Checking the facts" is a very specific tool in DBT. And I've written elsewhere that I think politics both causes and rewards anybody and everybody's extreme mood episodes, regardless of their mental health.

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Katherine Brodsky's avatar

I'm aware of CBT but not DBT. Very interesting.

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Brent Naseath's avatar

This is a great post! Associated with it is complaining and ranting as the end objective rather than seeking a solution or supporting viable solutions. Some people are always talking about catastrophes because it gives them attention. And then there are the majority of people who turn up their nose at talking about problems because they want to stay safe in their illusions. They don't have time for problems if it doesn't affect them personally today. When it does, it's always someone else to blame. The end result of all of this is that problems are exacerbated and not solved. Those behind the problems benefit. Those of us with realistic solutions are left without a voice as we are ignored in the roar.

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Katherine Brodsky's avatar

Thank you so much, great thoughts.

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