New post on Monkeytraps Boomerang by Steve Hauptman paradox: a seemingly true statement or group of statements that lead to a contradiction or a situation which seems to defy logic or intuition. ~ Wikipedia Control addiction is hard to escape because it behaves paradoxically. I.e., not as youd expect. So far Ive noticed four paradoxes that confuse the hell out of people and keep them addicted. Heres the First Paradox: The more control you need Needing control has a sort of boomerang effect. The harder you try to get more of it, the more you end up feeling controlled. You feel controlled by, surprise, your need for control. And this happens with weird regularity. Still, its easy to overlook if youre not looking for it. So I thought some stories might help illustrate this stubbornly reliable principle. The actors in each of these (except the last) are heavily disguised, but all the events are based in fact. Annies depressed because shes overweight. So she eats cookies to make the depression go away. Which makes her more overweight. Which makes her more depressed. Which makes her eat more cookies. The more control you need, the less you have. * Barrys wife drinks. This panics Barry, so he does everything he can think of to stop her. He reasons, begs, nags, yells, makes nasty comments, threatens divorce, hides her wine, pours it down the toilet. Stressed by Barrys behavior, his wife drinks more. The more control you need, the less you have. * Carols daughter fails Math and lies about it. This enrages Carol, who cant stand to be lied to. So she confiscates her daughters cell phone and warns her of worse punishments if she lies again. This scares her daughter, who starts keeping more secrets and lying about more stuff. Which leads to more punishments. Which lead to more fear and more lies. The more control you need, the less you have. * Dennis is an anxious man whose last wife cheated on him. Now he worries his new wife might do the same. So he carefully monitors her comings and goings, and makes sure he knows where she is and who shes with. Then listens in on her phone calls. Then intercepts and examines her cell phone records. Then starts following her on errands. As a result of all this his anxiety soars to panic-attack levels, and his wife finds a boyfriend with whom she can relax. The more control you need, the less you have. * Eves boyfriend is abusive. He doesnt hit her, but yells and criticizes and threatens her constantly. Friends beg Eve to dump him, but shes scared that will make him angrier. So she does her best to pacify and appease him. Since the boyfriend likes this result, he continues to yell, criticize and threaten. Then one day he hits her. The more control you need, the less you have. * Fred and Ginger are married. Its the second marriage for each, and each brings to it a history of disappointed relationships. Both want the marriage to work and are scared that it wont, which makes them hypersensitive to any and all relationship problems. They monitor each other closely for signs of dissatisfaction or anger. They repeatedly seek reassurance that their partner still loves them. They discuss their problems constantly. All this leaves them chronically uneasy in each others presence. The distance between them grows, which increases their uneasiness. They begin to bicker, then to fight. When they finally come to me for couples counseling the marriage is, in Freds words, Circling the drain. The more control you need, the less you have. * Steves dog runs away from home. Steve chases him across front lawns and through backyards, up and down streets. Panting and bracing himself for his first heart attack, Steve suddenly remembers the First Paradox. He stops running. He sits down in the street. The dog glances back at him over his shoulder. Steve flops over sideways. Closes his eyes. Waits. Hears nails clicking on pavement. Feels a long tongue flick his nose. Reaches out and grabs the dogs collar. The more control... Oh, you know. Steve Hauptman | December 28, 2014 at 11:55 am | Categories: control | URL: wp.me/pUxjX-37X
Posted on: Sun, 28 Dec 2014 18:04:22 +0000
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