Know
why I am doing a series on this?
What Psychologists Don’t Talk About Endured Thinking?
CONTENTS
Consciousness and Endured Thinking
Perception of Threat and Endured Thinking
Adventure Sports and Endured Thinking
Suicidal Thoughts and Endured Thinking
Rene Descartes, the French Philosopher, said, “I think, therefore I am.” This statement rings quite true when we consider the developments taking place all over the world. An extensive analysis of people's thoughts has led me to understand that we have rarely come out of primordial times. This
is What
Psychologists Don’t Talk About Endured Thinking?
Introduction
Thinking
is the most important psychological function that lays the foundation for all
other mental mechanisms. Without thinking, nothing happens. Our perceptions and
emotions are governed by our thinking. Even in our dreams, we will be thinking.
All our actions are guided by our thinking. However, the question is, have we
evolved in our capability to think?
As
I mentioned in my earlier article, ‘Is Thinking Necessary to Survive?’, the primordial purpose of thinking is to survive in our environment. We endure the hardships that our environment presents, adjust to the demands of the situation, and counteract threats to our survival.
I
have been able to identify three levels of endured thinking – Defensive,
Neutral, and Offensive.
1.
Defensive Thinking
Defensive thinking ensures physical survival. In case someone attacks you, you defend
yourself from the threat. You seek nourishment from the environment by taking
care of your surroundings. You want to be safe, sound, and healthy. You tend to
make a positive approach towards things you encounter until your survival is
questioned. You react to the situations purposefully and you are generally
relaxed.
2.
Neutral Thinking
Neutral thinking ensures psychological survival.
On a continuum of levels of thinking, this is in the
center as indicated below.
There is a misconception that neutrality means neither this nor that. But if we look closely, it includes both extremes. Thus, neutral thinking is combined with both defensive and offensive thinking where you seek protection from the threats the environment presents either by avoiding or attacking the threat. You are under constant stress as you have to keep adjusting to the demands of the situation. You must be manipulative in your approach but you are always in a state of confusion to make ends meet.
3.
Offensive Thinking
Offensive
thinking ensures social survival. You feel you are under constant threat. To
ward off this feeling you tend to become destructive. You perceive the world from
a negative perspective and you are anxious in your approach. You are
disorganized in whatever you do and that results in disordered behavior.
Thinking
to Survive
Physical
survival requires defensive thinking so that we can make appropriate reactions.
Psychological survival involves neutral thinking that results in stress. Social
survival necessitates offensive thinking where our thoughts turn to destroy
others’ existence and this leads to anxiety. All these are summarized in the
table below.
The
next question is the effect of endured thinking on our
consciousness.
Consciousness
and Endured Thinking
Our
consciousness is filled with the kind of thoughts that directly depend upon the
type of survival.
A
homeless person keeps thinking about the next meal, place to sleep, or the next
fix, depending upon his physical needs.
Having
worked with rag pickers toward their education, I found out that they have a
strange ritual. Whatever they earn each day, they are forced to spend
everything. “Even if I keep one rupee, my friend will smother me to death when
I sleep, to get to that”, was what one of them narrated. All his consciousness
was filled with how to spend the money within the day.
The
friend he was referring to was the leader of the group.
In
case, he could not spend all he had earned that day, he used to hide it in some
“under-construction” buildings. He wasn’t sure if he would find it later on,
but he used to say, “Better lose the money than lose your life!”
I
asked him, “Will the others in the group not support you?” His answer was even
more surprising. “They are the ones who will rat on me.”
When
I asked one of his mates why would he do that, he said, “I don’t want to get
beaten by the leader. If he breaks my bones, I will not be able to go to work.
If I don’t work I will have to starve.”
Thus,
consciousness works in strange ways. The first person is thinking of physical
survival, the other group members think of psychological survival, and the
leader who has a family to support thinks of social survival.
Perception
of Threat and Endured Thinking
In
the following sections, we shall see how mounting social pressures negatively affect
the individual’s Thinking.
As
the level of thinking moves from defensive to offensive, the extent of threat
perception also increases. This is depicted in the graph below.
Greed
and Endured Thinking
The
greatest difference between animals and humans is the question of greed. As I
have mentioned in my earlier article, ‘Are
we USING our INTELLIGENCE?’, natural intelligence is unused,
underused, abused, and misused. With all that capability to think ahead, we do
not come to a rational solution. We start accumulating wealth to last several
generations so that their survival is ensured forever.
It
is absurd to think that money is going to ensure survival, but that is the
conclusion humans have arrived at because we live in a purely materialistic
world. Everything about survival depends on one’s financial status. Your
chances of survival increase as your wealth increases. So, in essence, you must
have more than you can spend so that you pass it on to your children and
grandchildren.
This
is when consciousness becomes toxic. Nepotism replaces talent, ability, and
skill. Offensive thinking dominates human interaction, which results in
consciousness pollution.
Adventure
Sports and Endured Thinking
Some
people get bored with life as their survival is insulated. They no longer feel
threatened by their surroundings. They have their physical, psychological, and
social survival ensured. This is when they seek new ways to challenge their
survival thinking by getting into dangerous and life-threatening activities.
It
is not surprising that only rich people who have plenty of time and money to
spare usually get into adventure sports like mountaineering, car racing, parasailing,
etc. This is where offensive thinking results in defying death and thrives on
cheating death.
Suicidal
Thoughts and Endured Thinking
By
default, we are programmed for endured thinking. However, sometimes the
importance given to the self overrides even those thoughts meant to
ensure our survival.
Some
people have abnormal thoughts and they blame others for their predicament. Any
amount of reasoning will not make much difference to them as their thinking is
dominated by negative emotions.
The
current trend is to commit homicide before committing suicide. These
individuals want the world to act according to their will and wishes. Some of
them don’t see any other alternative other than putting an end to their misery.
They want to survive on their terms; otherwise, they don’t want this life.
So
far, we have seen that people who have something to lose are the ones who try
to negate endured thinking. These people would have lost something or someone
or accumulated liabilities they think they can’t come out of.
They are anxious about losing their “prestige”.
See 'Can we recognize signs of Depression in others?'
In
addition, they lack the basic skills to engage in Regulated, Nurtured,
Structured,
and Heightened
thinking. (We shall discuss these in the subsequent articles.)
Summary
Endured Thinking is necessary
for us to survive, and it takes the form of defensive, neutral, or offensive thinking, depending upon whether it is physical, psychological, or social survival. Our consciousness gets muddled up as we move towards offensive thinking, leading to increased perception of threat. We become greedy
to ensure our survival. Some people surpass endurance thinking by engaging in
adventure sports. A few others are ready to forego survival by committing
suicide. This is What Psychologists Don’t Talk About Endured
Thinking?
Know why I am doing a series on this?
Let me know if I am wrong. I have started this series because there
are hundreds of things psychologists don’t talk about. I feel that it would
benefit everyone if they did so. I hope at least now, they will make a
beginning.
This is
an attempt to bring to the fore what has been hidden for a very long time.
Previous:
What Psychologists Don’t Talk About Procrastination?
Next:
What Psychologists Don’t Talk About Regulated Thinking?
What Psychologists Don’t Talk About Nurtured Thinking?
What Psychologists Don’t Talk About Structured Thinking?
What Psychologists Don’t Talk About Heightened Thinking?
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