This is truly the age of information. We're aware of so much in fact I wonder whether or not we have some of the worst cases of denial ever. It takes strong denial to continue along some paths. Cigarette smokers keep smoking despite mountains of info. Racists cling to the idea that they are superior despite DNA evidence that we're the same. The worst cases of denial though are happening in the home. So many of us are in denial about our being media slaves that I think it is becoming an epidemic.
The evidence is obvious. Advertisers have spent billions and billions researching the best ways to manipulate our choices. TV shows are tested before airing to make sure that they appeal to a "targeted" audience. We're aware that our best interests are not the concern of the TV broadcasters but we watch anyway. Our home life can center around the cell phone, laptop, and TV set almost entirely. How many of us have cancelled dinner at the table with TV's and cell phones off? Even families with kids have dinner in front of the screen or all over the house as the norm.
What I'd like to know is this...Is our increased knowledge lending itself to a stronger, more widespread denial in the world? Do we believe that this indulgence in available media is just the new norm or are we in denial about an obvious epidemic of media addiction that has the potential to harm our families?
I think that the 2011 family is being torn apart by too much media. Most people far exceed viewing time that is considered healthy and Single parents many times have to rely on the TV to occupy kids while they rest. And this ain't 1970's programming we're talking about.
Rich are getting richer. Poor are getting poorer. Crime is rampant. Injustice is omnipresent. The man keeps you down. The government are corrupt liars only interested in money. Fluoride controls shopping habits. The media is destroying civilization. War is evil. Evil is everywhere. The time we live in now is the worst ever. People now are dumber than ever before. The time we live in now is the most important ever. Humility is non-existent. And this confession has meant nothing.
But yeah, we're all in denial.
__________________ Recently Produced and Distributed Young but High-Ranking Political Figure of Royal Ancestry within the Modern American Town Affectionately Referred To as Bel-Air.
How much does denial play a role in difficulty of breaking a bad habit like smoking cigarettes? I probably spend too much time watching shows and playing games too. The thing is I wonder if denial can be overcome at all sometimes. I've heard that a person can have a seizure if pressed too hard about something that they did and swear they didn't do, like drink too much every time they visit. What can you do to combat extra strength denial?
I doubt of anything you say will ever change.It is how people are.The more people are told not to do something.The more people are going to do it anyway.
Reather it is againist the law or not.
You have a good point. It would seem that recommending someone to a mental health professional for extreme cases of denial would be helpful but the doctor only seems interested in making a profit some how, whether through pills or sessions that never end. An extremely Bi-polar person may need medication, but they also need to be taught coping methods. I feel like we're forgetting/not being taught how to cope with all of the options that we have, because they all make someone money. Addiction is promoted even in things that are not inherently addictive. If a person becomes addicted to an "acceptable" drug/thing they become a walking talking advertisement that is free for the company.
e.g. A child in a full spongebob outfit. A man with a leather Marlboro jacket. A woman who raves about how her anti-depressant chantix also helped her quit smoking after 20 years of smoking. A man that eats 20 Big Macs a day. A guy that blasts his favorite artists' music for miles to hear. A kid that cries if he's fed anything but skippy peanut butter and smuckers jam sandwiches.
All these people have in common is that they are doing companies a big favor by advertising immersion in a PARTICULAR product. There are safe levels of immersion (collecting) and then there is addiction but the companies probably could care less which category you fall in. Actually like you said they will sell you cures if you do become addicted.
That's interesting but how could it? Who can influence a child/the future better than their parent? Nobody else could care for them in the same way and have it mean the same thing. As parents we could be setting our kids up to believe that excessive indulgence in what you like is ok as long as it's legal. Then they turn 18 (yes 18)and indulge in alcohol and partying as an adult. We then try to intervene in what we consider self-destructive behavior. If we believe that something IS negative then we should at least attempt to make whatever changes for the better that we can. We shouldn't let denial let us walk into obvious pitfalls. We have the potential today to enjoy all sorts of unique social activities with friends and family but this is becoming more forced than fun and overall less popular.
I think your ideas of what motivates racism and what keeps smokers from quitting are pretty naive.
As for the media addiction point...If people want to watch programmes aimed at the lowest common denominator then so be it. I think it has more to do with denial of their boring and detatched lives and disfunctional relationships that drives them to escapism media rather than the media they consume which is causing the disfunctional family units.
Naive? Cigarette smokers are physically addicted. Denial is part of convincing yourself that you like what you're addicted to and what it's doing to you. I don't think denial motivates racism but I think it helps keep it strong.
If crack were legal I think it would be better to deter people from trying it rather than saying try it if you like. I'm not saying that media is as destructive as crack but it has the potential to be as much of family destroyer. A youtube video of a mans wife at the club might make him leave her faster than if she started smoking crack. I agree with your point about people being in denial about their boring and detached lives and their dysfunctional relationships driving them to escapism.
The concern I have is how the media has warped their minds even further. A parent that doesn't care what their kids watch on TV has to be either oblivious to what TV has on it these days or in denial about the damage certain shows can do to their kids' perception. A teenage boy who watches a girls gone wild commercial can't help but to be intrigued by the idea of sexy wild girls that will strip just to get on camera. A teenage girl watching the "Bad Girls Club" is being taught that it's cool to get drunk, fight, and have sex with any guy she thinks is cute. And that's only talking about shows on TV. A ten year old with a laptop or a high end phone can view the most explicit porn available in 2011. When they get pregnant at 12 we then act as though we can't connect the dots. Teen pregnancy is up and so are the messages that they are missing out if they're not f!@king somebody. Can you see the potential damage media can do if we deny that there is any real danger in it?
Well then it's not the media that's causing the problem because you yourself stated that media is targeted at certain audiences...Obviously the extreme example of porn is targetted at an adult audience who have the maturity to cope with viewing it merely as a form of entertainment and not aimed at kids...So when they do get access to it then it's not the producers of that media that are to blame but the parents who haven't bothered using the abundant and free content blockers that are there specifically to stop kids from being able to consume media that isn't targetted at them.
It's the same argument as saying that fast food retailers are to blame because people are fat when the simple fact is that it's the fat people's fault that they are fat and noone elses.
It disgusts me the level of bullshit people will stoop to in order to alleviate personal responsibility and that's the only part where denial comes in to it.
Clearly people smoking is not simply a matter of self denial about the harmful affects of smoking because you've stated that it is actually physically/chemically addictive which is the reason most people find it difficult to stop.
Don't think much/most of what you stated is linked to "denial" as the cause/problem. Ignorance and/or not caring are likely bigger factors than "denial", but that's still too narrow a scope.
I don't understand the "denial" concept in relation to cigarettes. Most people who smoke cigarettes are well aware of the fact that they're toxic and do horrendous damage to your body and health. They just don't give a shit. Doesn't mean they're pretending the problem doesn't exist, though, which is what denial is.
edit- Ninja'd
__________________
"The Daemon lied with every breath. It could not help itself but to deceive and dismay, to riddle and ruin. The more we conversed, the closer I drew to one singularly ineluctable fact: I would gain no wisdom here."
I think you're right when you speak about the alleviation of personal responsibility, I just think that it's actually taught as part of the culture now. Being fat can be someone else's fault when you're six. By the time you're 30 you're to blame for not breaking the many bad habits that you've been taught but the denial that any of those habits ARE bad may have been reinforced by your peers' denial that any habit is bad. As for the idea that cigarettes are a bad example because people want to smoke and understand well what they are doing to themselves, I found this...
'Fear pushes many addicts into denial, a belief that their situation is really not that serious. People who are afraid to face their problems often start practicing denial even before they're addicted. They may get resentful, angry, or defensive when asked about their behavior. As addiction progresses, it causes its own problems. Then the idea of facing reality can be frightening and overwhelming.
Its Not My Fault
Addicted people work hard to convince themselves and others that they are not addicted. Some common excuses include:
"Most people (fill in the blank with any addictive behavior) this much."
"I only do it on weekends."
"Everyone I know does it."
"If my spouse were more pleasant, I wouldn't have to (fill in) "
"I'll stop as soon as the pressure lets up."
"A little bit of (fill in) is good for you."
"It helps me relax/concentrate/forget."
"I enjoy it too much to stop."
"It's not a problem, I just enjoy it." '
Most, not all, cigarette smokers don't want to die from a smoking related illness. The physical addiction creates one of the strongest literal cases of denial that can exist because your body has become addicted to poison. Smoking is just an example of how learning more about the dangers of something will not always deter extremely destructive behavior.
Absorbing trash is part of being an adult and we do have the maturity to take responsibility for our adult interests and their dangers. An adult that shares his martini with his 10 year old may be doing less permanent damage than one who puts a TV with full cable in their 10 year olds room. Both actions have dangers but the denial I've been referring to is that one of those actions is as innocent as getting a child a night-light. If a parent will feed a kid lard-cakes and buffalo burgers until they puke, why would we think that the media would show more concern for what potential damage they can do to the future generations?
Do we have the power to shake off the inclination to share inappropriate media with the children in 2011? Or are we going to get worse than we already?
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: How important is denial in 2011?
__________________
All the ways you wish you could be, that's me. I look like you wanna look, I **** like you wanna ****, I am smart, capable, and most importantly, I am free in all the ways that you are not.
look not only at North America, but around the world. Biases, misinformation, racism, prejudice, all of those things, are essentially a product of the home environment.
In fact, when it comes to issues like racism, there is abundant evidence that the state has the most power to effect people's views in a positive way. While it is almost certain that a racist parent will have a racist child, the greatest way to prevent that child from coming to identify with that hate is through exposure to other cultures and working with people of different ethnicities in public school.
by about the age of... 8?, or maybe a little later, you, as a parent (if your child is developing normally) will have little if any influence over your kid. At this point, peer group becomes far more important.
You are a) overstimating the role that parents play in the development of the social persona of a child, and b) you wrongly have assumed that children learn racism someplace that isn't their home. Sure, there will be obvious examples of nazis who come from a good home, but 90% of the time, these ideas come from being isolated from the world around the child. So, it is the family that is most at risk of passing this hatred onto the child, and it is society at large that is able to give them real world experience necessary to overcome these biases they face at home.
that is hardly denial though. Do you think everyone who smokes or drinks is unaware of the consequences? Do you not think that free people may choose, in full knowledge of the consequences, to smoke or drink or do drugs (in fact, I present myself as evidence)?
It seems you are more trying to make a moralistic statement against certain behavious, and then claiming that anyone who doesn't agree with this stance is either ignorant or in denial of the consequences. Sure, we can agree that racism is bad, I hardly think people are racists because they just haven't heard the data about DNA. In fact, human psychology suggests that if you were to confront a racist with that data, they would become more assured of their position (counter-intuitive, i know, but it is the same phenomenon seen in legal arbitration or even just debate, just discussing your views with people tends to radicalize you further)
maybe you are in denial about how socially poisonous centering power on the family unit is?
EDIT: sort of related to what you were posting in response to other people, do you actually believe you, as a parent, have the ability to stop your child from watching porn if they want to? really? when you were a kid, did you have any problems hiding things from your parents?
__________________ yes, a million times yes
Last edited by tsilamini on Jan 12th, 2011 at 09:19 PM
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Jan 9th, 2011 02:08 AM
