In this system, the child learns to regulate their behavior. But more importantly, they learn that the world and our culture have rules, or at least schema - that it is not a jumble of random sense data, but system in which there are consequences. This is the same reason why they encourage parents to read stories to children. You're not just teaching them that princesses (or ahem princes) need to be saved and dragons need to be slain, but a way to make sense of the world in terms of a coherent narrative that includes fundamental mental tools, such as empathy or cause and effect.
Or take something as simple (heh) as potty training. It is an arduous task to train most kids to use a toilet. Certainly their default impulse is to just shit and piss whenever and whereever they feel like it, but in order to function in the adult world, they have to learn to regulate it.
In an interesting way, though, I think that while we all strive to be self-regulating as adults and adolescents, community serves an important role in reinforcing our values - for that reason, most people seek out those who mostly share their values.
Cults and cult-like organizations such as 12-Step programs provide people with a surrogate parent structure which makes it easier for them to override their impulses. The problem with an alcoholic, for instance, is not just drinking: it's that they've developed a set of habits and impulses which make it easy to drink. It becomes a ritual. Go to lunch, have a drink. Come home from work, make yourself a drink. Get pissed off? Have a drink.
People who find themselves in AA often find themselves with new friends, new lovers and new lives, and it certainly isn't by accident. These aspects of their lives reinforced negative behavior. Similarly, an alcoholic can't just have a drink because they have deep reward paths in their brain, and were they to indulge, they would find themselves in a drinking feedback loop once again. It's not genetic - although developing these structures might be - it's just habit. Non-alcoholics don't have the same structures, so having one drink isn't dangerous.
People who don't drink but find themselves in situations where, similarly, every aspect of their lives reinforces bad behavior might benefit from a cult. My sister-in-law is probably one of these people. She's smart, yes. She has real mood problems, yes. But she's also got a rent-controlled apartment in an exclusive neighborhood that is literally eating her alive. She rarely leaves her house and hasn't worked in about ten years. She keeps getting involved with girls who try to save her, but then realize her issues are so deep-seated that one person can't hope to dislodge them. I really think the best thing for her would probably be to join a cult.
People who find themselves in AA often find themselves with new friends, new lovers and new lives, and it certainly isn't by accident. These aspects of their lives reinforced negative behavior. Similarly, an alcoholic can't just have a drink because they have deep reward paths in their brain, and were they to indulge, they would find themselves in a drinking feedback loop once again. It's not genetic - although developing these structures might be - it's just habit. Non-alcoholics don't have the same structures, so having one drink isn't dangerous.
People who don't drink but find themselves in situations where, similarly, every aspect of their lives reinforces bad behavior might benefit from a cult. My sister-in-law is probably one of these people. She's smart, yes. She has real mood problems, yes. But she's also got a rent-controlled apartment in an exclusive neighborhood that is literally eating her alive. She rarely leaves her house and hasn't worked in about ten years. She keeps getting involved with girls who try to save her, but then realize her issues are so deep-seated that one person can't hope to dislodge them. I really think the best thing for her would probably be to join a cult.
No comments:
Post a Comment