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Life Arts    H4'ed 9/24/22

Authoritarians - Transcending Paradigms - Part 6

Message Blair Gelbond

The Challenge
The Challenge
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Introduction

We can't have power addicts running the world and not expect consequences.

It is useful to remember that there is little room for individuality in the control model, as individuality can be unpredictable and threatening to the established order. Rather, what is useful for this model are people who are insecure, driven by shame and fear, and dependent on external approval for self-worth.

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All the installments of these essays weave between both the micro-and macro-levels. My goal is to deal with the broad underlying thought-forms that reveal themselves both in our individual psyches and in the social institutions of our society.

Part 1 - Offers a description of paradigms or "reality tunnels" and the ways these can distort our deepest awareness. How do we get healthy when our systems are sick?

Paradigms are mental models that tend to shape everything we think, feel and do. Thus, Thomas Kuhn, who popularized the concept of paradigms in science, illuminated the way scientists perceive and interpret experiences is shaped by their internal structure of beliefs and concepts. Yet, this process extends to all of us.

Like a complex tapestry, a paradigm has many threads; across our many cultures, the overall pattern has to do with control. In this worldview, top-down control is necessary for social order. If the system does not control us, our culture will fall into chaos. This is our map of reality. Consciously or not, we use this blueprint to build our worlds.

Part 2 - Deals with the consequences of our now-defunct dominator paradigm. The domination paradigm generally generates suffering, while the partnership paradigm, historically and culturally helps us to thrive.

When there are problems, we need to move beyond individual events and trace the sources back to the prevailing paradigm. It is useful to be clear that paradigms aren't monsters. Their power comes from our shared commitment to them. As we begin to step out of them, individually and en-mass, the movers and shakers are powerless to prevent a paradigm shift.

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I work as a psychotherapist with an emphasis on transformational learning - a blend of psychoanalytic and transpersonal approaches, and am the author of Self Actualization and Unselfish Love and co-author of Families Helping Families: Living with (more...)
 

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