Aversion Therapy
World wars, civil wars, genocides, ethnic cleansings, witch hunts, inquisitions, crusades, the slave trade, final solutions, killing fields, extermination camps, genital mutilation, fatwas, and ground zeros… to name but a few.
The message should be delivered to our children loud and clear… and with sufficient force to make them sick: THIS is what happens when you follow the crowd, blindly do as you’re told, and don’t ask why.
Humanism Religion atheism aversion therapy Christianity conformity faith indoctrination Islam Judaism obedience Religion
Frank J Peter View All →
A uniquely burdened and blessed citizen of the world thinking and acting out loud!
Unfortunately, natural selection probably imbued children with a propensity for obeying orders. In the stone age, when the elders told the children “don’t go near the lagoon, there are crocodiles there”, the ones who obeyed were more likely to live to pass on their genes than the ones who went to see for themselves.
More unfortunately still, this propensity doesn’t entirely fade with the coming of adulthood. And of course authoritarians have always been happy to exploit it.
All the more reason for teaching the lesson energetically. Cultures which do not do so sometimes end up learning the hard way. In the Middle East, the atrocities of al-Qâ’idah and Dâ’ish (ISIL) have greatly weakened the formerly-widespread public support for Islamic fundamentalism. A less credulous culture would have been less likely to produce such organizations to begin with.
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Indeed and alas… evolutionary forces have prepared us to survive some highly tangible, visible, and serious threats only by rendering us vulnerable to other threats more insidious. Agree that lessons in incredulity can and should begin early and taught often. Thanks and peace, man.
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