There is a difference between influence and undue influence. Influence is a continuum…at the extreme end would be undue influence, which is implementing by the methods found in the BITE model.
Undue influence - other areas in life
by DavidG 18 Replies latest jw friends
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DavidG
Great comments everyone. I'm also thinking about work here. We can easily get under undue influense from the cult of buisness. -
StrongHaiku
Those questions you posed are the same I posed myself when I left many years ago. When I left, I asked myself "Since I believed so strongly that these teachings were true, and now I find they are not, what else am I wrong about?" The answer to that proved to be that I was wrong about MANY things. And, I am still finding things I was wrong about. But I now have better tools/skills and more freedom to learn more, think for myself, and correct ideas and beliefs. And, maybe the one "good" thing about having had the JW experience is that you will, hopefully, be more critical and skeptical in the future.
When you leave the Organization, you will probably realize two key things:
1. That many of the things they taught you were not correct and...
2. That we (JWs) were not given good tools/skills to think about how to determine what is correct - i.e. critical thinking, logic, and evidence. What we got from the Organization is "faith" couched in an air of pseudo-intellectualism. The version of "critical thinking, logic, and evidence" the Organization claims to use (and we were taught) is nothing of the sort.
I think many JWs leave understanding item 1, but many do not fully appreciate how badly they are lacking in item 2. You will need to continue to equip yourself with facts, but more importantly, you will need to equip yourself with the thinking tools/skills to understand how to evaluate facts.
Enjoy your voyage of discovery. Keep feeding your brain.
On a side note, there is a really good/fun book called "Being Wrong" by Kathryn Schulz which has an engaging explanation on how our minds perceive being right and wrong. She has a TED talk you might find interesting - http://www.ted.com/talks/kathryn_schulz_on_being_wrong?language=en
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GrreatTeacher
Witnesses tend to be particularly susceptible to multilevel marketing schemes. Also look out for places like DirectBuy where you pay a thousand or so upfront to get "wholesale" prices on all kinds of items. And, those Ginsu knives on TV? Yeah, they're crap. -
Vidiot
I was "unduly influenced" just the other day...
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...and It was nasty...
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DavidG
Wow.. I just watched that TED talk. It was a good one. I love TED! ThanksStrongHaiku for the link! It pretty much answeared my question.
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confuzzlediam
Phizzy and StrongHaiku I just completed a Critical Reasoning class at my community college. I had NO idea what I was getting myself into when I signed up for the class. All I can say is I wish EVERYONE could take this class. My teacher told us that it would be one of the most difficult/challenging classes we would take and she was NOT lying!! But she also told us that by the end of the course, we would NEVER think the same again and she was correct!! I busted my ass in that class and achieved an A, which not many in the class were able to achieve.
I have a hard time explaining what it has taught me, other than I am now open to fallacies, bad arguments and can actually decipher bullsh*t now! lol In the beginning of the class she had us read the Allegory of the Cave and my upbringing as a witness all came to light after reading it. It was like this HUGE aha moment for me and I realized that I lived 39 years of my life in that cave, in the darkness. We are taught that the WT has the light and those outside of it live in darkness. WELL after reading it, I realized that I had been living in the dark, only seeing the shadows for what I was told they were. It was not until I was df'd did I begin to see the light!!
I have to say that while I can be fairly gullible, believing much of what I hear or see to be true, I have also begun really questioning everything and thinking for myself. I too wondered because I fell for so long of what the WT had to say, did I do that with other things in my life. I have to say that yes, I believe I did. Doesn't everyone to a certain extent? Believe till proven otherwise?
Going to watch the TED talk!! Thanks for the link!
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punkofnice
are there other areas in my life where I'm also under influance of other false beliefs? From the culture i've grown up with, school etc?
Yes. Most certainly. Confirmation bias be your guide. We believe lies from the TV News madia that carried political agenda.........or do we? See what I mean?
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StrongHaiku
DavidG, it is my pleasure.
I think over time you will find yourself re-evaluating ALL sorts of beliefs you took for granted. We often encourage others to re-examine their understanding of science, history, critical thinking, etc. when they leave (or are leaving) the Organization. But we often don't talk about some of the other areas where the Organization has indoctrinated us with incorrect information and logic.
When I left, I had to re-examined my perceptions and beliefs about people/society and found that the Organization is replete with implicit (and explicit) racist, sexist (at times misogynistic), and homophobic undertones, to name a few. You will probably want to re-examine your beliefs and sensibilities about those (and many other) issues using resources and perspectives outside of the Organization.
This is not likely to happen overnight and it will be a lifelong process. It takes a lot of work and you may, at times, feel shame/guilt about how you were taught to view a particular group or gender. But, it is important to work on it. You want to become a person that can fit into modern society and, the ideas the Organization filled our head with are Bronze Age (at best).