Why People Don't Think For Themselves -- How To Renew A Failing Democracy

By Claudia Chaves

Why are voters so easily hoodwinked? Why so many vote against their own interests? What is it about human beings that corrupts even the systems and organizations designed with the best of intentions? Why don’t people or nations learn from experience, or from history? When is truth really relative, and when saying that is an excuse? What goes on inside people when they describe such different “realities” at the least whiff of a conflict of interests? Does thinking for yourself make you happier, unhappier, or are there different kinds of happiness?  Why did the US democracy turn into a plutocracy, again?

   We all have facile explanations to the questions above, but where do they lead us? This book is an adventure which we hope will strengthen the backbone of your life and your connection to its treasures.

    It is about political psychology and deep happiness – two sides of the same banana. It includes perspectives that are usually not treated together but need to be, because they are integral to both answers and solutions: From our evolution as a social species, to our nature and potentials as culture creators;  from explaining political affiliation to workplace dysfunction to bureaucratic corruption ; and delving deep into our psyches and souls to understand the roots of intellectual integrity and ethical commitments without  which people constantly deceive themselves and become prey to manipulators.  You will find a comprehensive guide to methods of manipulation and how to unmask them, eschew them – and yes, how to renew a failing democracy.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Claudia Chaves
• Release date: Sep 25, 2015
• ISBN: 9781507822142

Book preview

FOREWORD

This book was written during 2013.  However, given the historical disaster and missed opportunity of the 2016 US elections, it is necessary to address it at least in a foreword. The New Yorker magazine published an article titled An American Tragedy by David Remnick, Nov 9th, 2016. Considering the large extent to which mainstream media contributed to the disaster (by dumbing down the people, producing for the ratings and the profits, creating moral equivalencies between grossly different actions; their lack of, and misleading, context for what they present, etc.) this is a rare example of journalistic understanding of its weighty responsibility. My letter to the New Yorker in response was: It is imperative that we all speak the truth clearly and directly as D. Remnick does in An American Tragedy. I was afraid to listen to mainstream media with its tendency to sweep, under the continentally huge carpet, the truth that must be denounced loudly. Narcissism and psychopathy in seats of power must be unmasked at every turn. It grows and dominates monstrously when allowed to grow under the cover of the politeness, which is really timidity, of the nice people, and of what the media calls balance. Thank you for choosing to do what is right and very needed!

In the pages of this book you will find the parameters within which it is good and beneficial to stretch in order to cooperate with people with conflicting views and interests to ours – and the limits to these parameters, where it is necessary to resist and condemn harmful and unethical attitudes, policies and actions. You will also find a strong analysis of the legitimate parameters of the idea of the ‘relativity of the truth’. The chapter on fallacies of logic and ways of manipulating people, as well as the appendix on psychological defense mechanisms will shed much light on what happened in this election too. Chapters 3, 4, 6 and the first part of 7 will provide a depth of understanding of our species’ political nature with its potentials and vulnerabilities – as well as offer you a secure basis upon which to stand courageously and with integrity. The recommendations on a plan of action (in ch 7) were relevant at the time of its writing—but at present, they have been taken up by the vigorous movements trying to resist Trump’s agenda and that of the Republicans in Congress and his other sycophants.  I am glad of the show of solidarity persistence, resolve, creativity and inclusiveness of this movement.

However, we need to personally ask ourselves why did it take this catastrophic failure of our democratic system for people to shake their complacency, unite and mobilize. Why was Bush’s election in 2000 not enough of a red flag—and worse, his re-election in 2004 after we had seen his disgraceful response to the 9/11 attacks, his blundering pursuit of Bin Laden, the criminally disgraceful way he conducted a war in Afganistan, and far worse, his irresponsible  invasion of Iraq and the chaos and unspeakable suffering that resulted, much of which was clearly predictable before the invasion. Then, just as now and in the future – unless we take far reaching and long-lasting corrective action—one third of the electorate voted for Bush and voted for Trump, and another third did not vote at all!  In 2004, the manipulative exploitation of prejudice against the LGBT community and fear that marriage equality would become law was sufficient to lead so many people by the nose that G.W.Bush was re-elected instead of a careful, responsible and knowledgeable person such as Kerry. How is that different from what happened in 2016? I mean, how is it different in terms of the vulnerability of the vast majority of voters to being led by the nose? (In that vast majority I include also those who, having access, did not vote – who, mostly, were just as deluded as Trump’s (non-millionaire) voters.) How can we complacently assume the survival of the (weak) democratic system we did have, given the condition the electorate is in (in addition to the flawed system such as the Electoral College, district gerrymandering, etc..)?

Those of us with humanistic and democratic values woke up too late – as is typical of our species. Humans typically respond appropriately only to present dangers, not to looming ones which they cannot physically perceive. This book and my prior writings attempted to warn about those looming dangers and start the committed, short- and long-term educational and journalistic efforts to avert them.  We need to stay awake and not return to complacency when  a shift in a relatively small number of votes  gives us, in future elections, a decent president or a more balanced Congress. Unless we persist in vigorous actions for lasting change, it will just mean that the see-saw tilted a little one way, only to tilt back in the near future. Solidarity, clear understanding, persistence for the long-term, and co-creativity must be maintained.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Chapter I. Questions to be Answered – and how they interrelate

Chapter II.  A Path for the Perplexed

Chapter III. Laying the Groundwork

—Developing a sensitivity in the mind

—Reference Groups and Norms

—Differentiation

—A Kaleidoscopic View of Anxiety

—Locus of Control and Locus of Approval

—Is Group Think what I thought it was?

—Cognitive Dissonance – Crucible of Identity

—Intellectual Integrity

—Pulling Conformism Apart

Chapter IV. Layers of the Human Being

Evolutionary Feedback Loops

Nested Russian Dolls

The Tree of Consciousness

Chapter V: Ways of Manipulating: Spin, Fallacies, Deception and Self-Deception 

Chapter VI: Nature, Nurture and Political Psychology  

Chapter VII: Drawing Conclusions and a Plan for Action

Bibliography and References

Appendixes: 1) The Democratic Personality. 2) Psychological Defense Mechanisms. 2) Further discussion about Milgram’s experiments. 4) Notes on the author’s cultural perspective. 5) People’s Agenda for North Carolina. 

INTRODUCTION

Why are voters so easily hoodwinked? Why so many vote against their own interests? What is it about human beings that corrupts even the systems and organizations designed with the best of intentions? Why don’t people or nations learn from experience, or from history? When is truth really relative, and when saying that is an excuse? What goes on inside people when they describe such different realities at the least conflict of interests? Does thinking for yourself make you happier, unhappier, or are there different kinds of happiness?  Why did the US democracy turn into a plutocracy, again?

Many people ask these questions with mounting frustration, having to bear the compounding absurdities in relationships and systems, big and small – and especially after electoral results that contradict what the vast majority of people say they want. To really understand these issues we have to look at them from several viewpoints, because the real answer is multifaceted.

When we analyze political behavior – or more broadly, when we want to understand what underpins and mediates the decisions we make—much is lost if we do so only from the perspective of one discipline. Political behavior and political psychology can be analyzed from the perspective of history, anthropology, political science, economics, or psychology: cognitive, social, cultural, existential, or evolutionary psychology. Each perspective provides meaningful understandings. Here I create a framework combining multiple perspectives, and invite other thinkers and researchers to add and elaborate on each as well as on the whole.

In the last three decades, excellent books and articles have been published about the human mind and more recently, about the brain. There is fascinating  research about many issues mentioned here, studying specific phenomena within specific disciplines. There is both the need for specialization, as well as for creating comprehensive pictures, gestalts, to help us see how the parts fit together and interact. My contribution here is to present some new pieces of this puzzle, and together with the pieces described by others, fit them into a composite picture that hopefully enhances the meaning of the parts. I believe you will also find that some familiar concepts are presented in a new light.

This is a book about what is necessary to make democracy real as well as sane, and create a benevolent society and culture for all its members. It is about how and why democratic institutions get hijacked by demagogues –  heads of corporations, political manipulators and actual politicians with the active support of the media, often the academia, and the collusion of citizens who don’t know how to think for themselves, nor wish to. Therefore, I will examine the organ where true sovereignty is supposed to reside: people’s consciousness—minds and hearts. At the same time, this book is about deep happiness, about healthier relationships and workplaces, and about living fuller lives.

Those who manipulate people’s consciousness already understand how people deceive themselves (intuitively at least) because knowing this is a set of social intuitions which are part of our evolutionary psychology. So it befits the rest of us to also understand this if we are to free ourselves from their manipulations. To repeat a very often quoted injunction attributed to Socrates: Know thyself. A commitment to continuously knowing ourselves better is essential to this freedom from the demagoguery/plutocracy/oligarchy that is a constant threat to actual government by the people, for the people. It also brings inner peace.

This analysis is about the mentality that Western Culture generates, in the last half century predominantly through the cultural prominence of the United States. This is a mentality—that despite ardent protestations to the contrary—is held in high status and copied around the world, as well as assimilated through the modes of cognition and selective attention shaped by the use and over-use of the latest technologies. This mindset—which in the US includes anti-intellectualism, complacency, avid materialism, and often misapplied post-modernism – makes it easy for all forms of mass media to distort and manipulate. I will focus on the culture of spin that came to reign supreme in the US since the 1980’s and spread like corporate wildfire across the world. I will especially examine the tributaries of conformism, the self-deceptive ways in which people try to resolve cognitive dissonances, the power of unconscious norms and biases, cultism, as well as fallacies of logic and other forms of manipulation.

And on the other hand I will examine the attitudes and practices that develop a special sensitivity in the mind and the freedom to think for oneself. The air smells a lot sweeter in that state of mind! The book pivots on the things people care about most, yet often ignore or betray: things like truth, integrity, meaning in life, and most of all deep happiness. How does personal deep happiness relate to the ability to think for oneself: this is one thing I hope to explain.

Several clarifications to start with:

When I speak of consciously becoming happier, I am very cognizant that many people have rarely tasted happiness of any kind, and that those who have are exceedingly fortunate. In no way do I minimize the great difficulty—for the large part of humanity not blessed by the kind of genes, bio-chemistry, environment and experiences conducive to basic wellbeing—to experience joy, inner peace, satisfaction and the privilege of pursuing self-actualization, as in Maslow’s pyramid of needs.

I use the word political to refer to all power relationships. Not only to designate the mechanics of government, campaigns, parties, elected officials, etc. Nor do I use it pejoratively as meaning: insincerity in the service of your own agenda. When I refer to humans’ political psychology I am referring to all the ways in which humans engage in relationships that involve power. That is: all the ways they influence, dominate, are subservient to, relate with equality, cooperate, organize themselves hierarchically, etc. This can be within a couple, a family, an organization, an economic system large or small, a nation or the world.

In the Appendix section you will find something about my cultural experiences, so you can understand more about the perspectives that influence what I write. But I think it important to state at the beginning two guiding principles I hold to, that will echo in one way or another throughout the book:  One is that if I am not honest with myself I lose touch with my soul (self, authenticity, and connections: from the personal to the universal). And if I lose touch with my soul my life loses the richness of meaning, the richness of every moment, and it gets disconnected from happiness (vitality, inspiration, authentic creativity, deep ability to connect, with the wellspring of joy and wisdom that I feel both out there and in here).

A different principle – this one about action in the world— is that if people do not speak out and act against injustice, they will lose the freedom they have, they will unwittingly collude in strengthening tyranny, oppression. This is true in nations, local government, all types of organizations and certainly in places of employment. I will later expand on this principle, and talk about the window of freedom and personal power that people need to initially have in order for it to apply. (When you have a gun pointed at your head or that of your children, it is too late.)

I encourage my readers to dialogue with me to discuss their ideas or seek clarification of what I have presented. You can write to me through my website : www.whypeopledontthinkforthemselves.com.

CHAPTER  I.

QUESTIONS TO BE ANSWERED AND HOW THEY INTERRELATE

To answer the question of why people are so prone to be led by the nose and to engage in constant inner maneuvers to deceive themselves and others; and why so few look at the big picture or learn from experience – as well as to understand how to change this – it is important to:

Understand evolutionary psychology, and then understand the double role of culture creation in perpetuating the problem on the one hand—and in creating the way out of the vicious circle, on the other. Can Mind (conscious living, cultural creativity) rule over Matter (our evolved psychology) and if so, how? Realistically—not in utopian, unscientific, ideologies. And what about Nurture and Nature? Are these terms really polarities? How can we understand their interactions and interdependence? What opportunities and possibilities are being overlooked?

Understand the part of evolutionary psychology which can be called existential, spiritual or the pursuit of deep happiness – a part that is usually treated separately from evolutionary psychology, as if both were disconnected, and that is studied by different professionals and practitioners who seldom fraternize with each other.

We will need to analyze in some depth methods of emotional manipulation, understand fallacies of logic, methods of spin and demagoguery, and understand psychopathy at the individual and group level.

We will delve into evolved political psychology, and look at why it is so hard to look at ourselves in this mirror, and how crucial it is that we do so realistically if we are to find a way out.

We will have to analyze how the vast majority of people use their cognitive function; its interdependence with emotions; understand psychological defense mechanisms; understand cognitive dissonance and how generally people deal with the myriad cognitive dissonances they face. We will have to deepen our understanding of anxiety as an essential part of us. The extent to which we understand the complexities of anxiety as well as the way we manage it, is key to the questions of Mind and Matter, as well as Nature and Nurture. Understanding conformism is part of all this.

We will explore some sociological terms which are not separate from our evolutionary psychology, but are much elaborated upon by cultures: reference group; group-think; norms; conformism; cultural development, transmission and change. 

We will look at what is necessary for authentic thinking, an authentic thinking that leads to happiness and inner peace. How to sustain intellectual integrity and its related traits of intellectual courage, humility, perseverance and independence? And what is the foundation needed for clarity and courage, how do we reach it as part of a process of personal integration and of feeling greater meaning in our life.

And then, moving to the political arena, we need a critique of the so called democracy in the US, how the media at present is part of the problem, how the same sludge of lies and manipulation that we see in our political systems dominates not only corporations and most business places of employment, but even professions that are supposedly above that, such as medical and mental health organizations and academia. 

I will end with a chapter on strategy for creating a movement for change from without – because the present world and US national political system cannot be changed merely from within. This would be a movement which at the same time educates towards long term cultural change.

Though these are the questions to be answered, I will not follow this order because of how aspects interrelate with each other.

CHAPTER  II

A PATH FOR THE PERPLEXED

(You can skip this synopsis if your mind is a good weaver and pattern maker that can weave the design from the different sections, without breaking the multicolored strands or losing sight of the pattern—and if you are already familiar with the disciplines I draw from. But for those who prefer to know the lay of the land as they journey forth in this book, I provide this guide. However, to understand the book you’ll have to read the core chapters: the path alone won’t do. Or you can read this synopsis at the end, to strengthen the weave.)

If we want to create progressive changes that endure, it is crucial to correctly understand the nature of human nature expressed through culture, and of how societal change happens.  Without this understanding, the inertias inherent in human nature and the regressive forces in a culture will re-assert themselves and we will keep repeating past mistakes that we thought we had overcome. Incorrect understandings have hobbled or defeated many progressive movements and human creations that started with the loftiest of visions, the most inspired visionaries and committed people who often went through great sacrifices to make a better world.

The philosophical and ideological assumptions behind the idea of democracy, as well as that of capitalism, is that people are rational, can think for themselves, and that with their votes (or economic choices) they are choosing according to their interests. [It is true that they vote according to the interests of the leaders of their reference groups, and this could be interpreted to mean that it is their own best interest, but it won’t save democracy]. Of course we know that the founders of the American democracy knew that most people could not choose rationally, and that it is easy for a democracy to devolve into a tyranny or plutocracy. (1) This was known in ancient Athens too, but in both cases for the wrong reasons: elitist, sexist and racist reasons. The truth is that the groups they thought were competent at rational thinking (free men, or White men of property), aren't so either.

Rational thinking is far from being a skill which humans in their raw state (the present one) exhibit. And this is not related to the amount of formal education that a person has. Many people with no Western education at all have great wisdom and deep self-awareness.  Our ability to think is embedded in, and dependent on, other layers which are much more powerful than itself. And these different layers of the human being (physical, emotional, relationships/social, cultural, historical/political, existential/spiritual) don't mesh with each other harmoniously. There is discontinuity, conflict, mutual unawareness and no small measure of internal manipulations between all these layers. I emphasize the point that those places where discontinuities and conflicts exist in us are the places where it is easy to hook us with manipulations. Cognitive dissonances are a key form that these inner conflicts and discontinuities take – and as we shall see, they are not entirely cognitive. I explore from several angles and in depth how people try to plaster those holes in us with self-deceptions, and how – the more we do so—the less able we are