stream-of-consciousness on notepad,
4:31 am, thursday nov 4, 1999
... trace it back, reverse the flow of time:
(adulthood to childhood)
1. personality characteristic of
selflessness/altruism in adulthood
brought on as a result of:
- thinking of others needs first, before oneself
brought on as a result of:
- being acutely aware of others
brought on as a result of:
- senses heightened
brought on as a result of:
- sudden, unexpected attack/shock/trauma
brought on as a result of:
- looking like prey
conclusion:
unusually beautiful or unusually ugly children more
prone to being victimized/traumatized by predator adults
(western culture unconsciously encourages this behavior, by
repressing sexual thoughts and feelings)
given that:
prey (majority) grow up to be predators (acting out on others what was
inflicted upon them earlier in life),
cycle repeats itself: trauma handed down to next generation of children
how can this cycle be broken?
western culture is built on
solution:
shame and guilt -- discourages those who have victimized from stepping forward, for fear of being scapegoated/lynched
society is not taught to respond with sympathy, instead to react with hostility/violence. to label victimizers as evil, when in reality capacity for good and evil exists within
each person.
continually reinforcing message/idea that each of us has both good and evil
inside, via all conventional channels of public/social
brainwashing (advertising, media, broadcasting).
when message sinks in, people will begin to forgive/relate to, not chastize,
the predator who comes forward or is captured. response will
be sympathy, not a need to lash out at them.
possible ripple effect: less need to see criminals put through physical
pain or put to death. less adversarial law process. less need for
corporal punishment. less hostility toward societal groups different
from oneself.
more responsibility for one's actions/mistakes.
more respect for the counseling/therapeutic process.
more trust in criminals who profess having been changed
while in prison.
this will reverse the trend/break the cycle. starting with the next generation, less prey will cross threshhold into becoming predators, resulting in fewer children in generation+2 experiencing trauma.