iconoclast - breaking away from the tribe

by jgnat 7 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  jgnat

  I've recently finished the book, " Iconoclast - a neuroscientist reveals how to think differently " by Gregory Berns. He sure makes a person feel better for being a rebel. The book moves quickly and is an entertaining journey through the mind an how it works. There are also implications on how society, or our "tribes" work, and why individualists (iconoclasts) are often ignored.

  I think those of you who are exiting witnesses, who have broken away in honor of your independent thought, might find comfort in this author's findings. Here's a couple thoughts from the book that I flagged:

  "Categories are the death to imagination....Novel experiences, especially big changes such as relocations, figure prominently in the imagination of an iconoclast....An effective strategy to fight categorization is to confront categories directly..." - I figure this is why so many of you left successfully by allowing yourselves new experiences, and moving away if necessary.

  "Nobody likes to look stupid, but the pain of being the odd person out often seems worse...One possibility is to isolate oneself so that one doesn't have to face others' opinions...Another solution...is to develop a tough skin and simply not care what others think...One dissenter was typically enough to break the herd effect. From the iconoclast's perspective, this means that the most effective strategy for dealing with a group is to recruit one like-minded individual. Although two people may not be sufficient to sway the group's opinion, having one ally is all that is needed to maintnain one's own judgement." - How plainly this author lays out the the pain of being the odd man out. His strategies to maintain individualism do work.
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  Scully

  It's too bad that JWs punish people who don't follow the herd.

  Nice to see you, jgnat!
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  Curtains

  I figure this is why so many of you left successfully by allowing yourselves new experiences, and moving away if necessary.

  not easy to break away from the tribe and start afresh and I agree that this is what we are doing in getting away from Jehovahs witnesses. They are a very close knit tribe and this makes it all the more difficult but I think its worth the effort
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  Irreverent

  iconoclast. Feels like something I have been my whole life. The mandatory training at my job is always trying to categorize me and put me

  into a certain mold. It didn't work at the Kingdom Hall either. There is alway room for the voice of indepedent thought.
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  Satanus

  " recruit one like-minded individual. " Sigh. There goes the individuality. If an iconclast can't stand on his own... If he needs the support of a follower.... He might as well stay in the herd. The follower is that start of his own tribe.

  S
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  betterdaze

  Hi jgnat! Berns was quoted recently in a magazine given to me by an awakening JW, of all people!
  
  
  

  “When people change their opinions or behaviors to conform, they are doing it out of a deep fear of being excommunicated from their group,” Berns says.

  “This has evolutionary roots because 100,000 years ago if you weren’t part of the community, you wouldn’t reproduce; you would die.”

  
  
  
  Here's a link to the full article in Ode, "a community of intelligent optimists": In praise of dissent.
  
  ~Sue
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  Mad Sweeney

  I don't think the author meant "recruit one like-minded individual" the way you're reading it, Satanus, or the way it comes across in a soundbyte sized quote.

  I think he was applying the findings of Asch, who found that when in a group (or tribe) one feels strongly compelled to agree with and follow the groupthink, even against his better judgment, BUT when there is JUST ONE other group member who thinks like him, the bonds of conformity are broken and he feels free to be himself.

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmDYbiyMHvo
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  jgnat

  Hi, Scully!

  Absolutely worth the effort, Curtains. Thanks for the link, Betterdaze. It is nice to know that at least one other person can see the link between the power of the cult and the tribe. Appreciate your comments, Mad Sweeny, filling in the gaps. Irreverent and Satanus, the book goes in to much more depth on various types of Iconoclasts. There have always been those brave and precious few who by nature or choice, buck the crowd. Standing alone always comes at a cost.

  My revelation from the book was how our own brain rules by majority, filtering thousands of messages to the majority answer. Our brains are expensive, evolutionally speaking, burning lots of energy just to think. The evolutionally pragmatic solution is to go with the majority; both at the neuron level and with crowd. This selective observation explains how magicians, by directing our attention, can trick us in to seeing (or not seeing) what is right in front of us. The same goes with high-control groups, some of which preach illogical and easily disproven delusions. But because they have managed to convince a sufficient majority, isolated from dissention, the community delusion persists.

  BUT, if I can recruit even ONE person to agree with me that the King is naked, my biological need to confirm what my bald eyes are seeing is satisfied.

  This HAS to be why the Kingdom Hall strives for one voice, winnowing out dissenters including questioning children, extended family, and "unbelieving mates". Either conform or leave. The communal myth does not hold up under scrutiny.