Mental Resistance and Character Resistance

There isn't a day that goes by that I don't run into mental resistance. This is not to be confused with ignorance or stupidity. Mental resistance is a different thing altogether.

One example of mental resistance would be when my ex-girlfriend was reading The God Delusion and came to a part she didn't like. So, she stopped reading it. That is a clever strategy. Disarm an idea by ignoring or perhaps even suppressing it.

Now, this does not mean that I don't practice mental resistance myself. The reality is that I do, and I am even surprised to discover that I do it. I try not to be that way and to listen without prejudice. But, folks, I can tell you that I waste no time dropping The Watchtower into the nearest wastebasket anytime one is left in my door. I am not afraid of it. I simply know it is garbage, and I don't want to waste time reading something that will not benefit me.

There are a few ideas that I am resistant to. One of those is the idea that economic freedom might not be beneficial to the environment or public health. Being a libertarian, I like the free market a lot. But does it always yield the best result? Could it be dangerous in certain ways?

I try not to shift with every new thing, so I am committed to my ideas. But I have learned to hold them loosely. This is because I was a theist for 30 years, and I realized one day that there was no God. Since then, I keep things in perspective with the knowledge that I might have it all wrong and don't know any better.

My life is filled with discarded ideas. i was very enthusiastic about Stoic philosophy for a time and resistant to Aristotle. Now, I embrace Aristotle. I also believed for a long time that common sense could beat the market until I embraced the Efficient Market Theory.

Mental resistance is where we resist a truth or idea not based on evidence or reason but because of some personal stake. For instance, it is very unlikely that Pope Benedict will become an atheist. It isn't because he has valid reasons for believing in God. He has very personal reasons for believing in God namely it is his living. He will be very resistant to arguments against theism.

It is difficult to walk away from something you have committed your life to. This, ironically, was the sticking point for Greta with Dawkins. When Dawkins claimed that religion was a waste of life, this seminary graduate put the book down. She was done. Maybe I should tell her that I already know a few such graduates who are now atheists.

When you spend money on an education, you expect it to be worth something. But the fact is, from an economic standpoint, most education is a fruitless waste. Sir Isaac Newton wasted his life trying to understand physics, but I am certain my engineer brother appreciates it immensely. My own degree in English lit definitely strikes some people as a waste. It definitely hasn't made me rich. But I make more than a lot of computer science majors, but I make considerably less than my political science major friend. And I know cooking school graduates who make a fucking lot of money. But I am digressing. . .

People don't want to hear the truth when it conflicts with their present projects. I realized this while watching Flip This House. Every house presents unanticipated problems, and no one wants to tell the head guy about it. I find this stupid. Tell the guy he has termite damage or that a floor was made from particle board or the structure does not meet code.

I want people to tell me the truth. I want to know. Even if it hurts or sucks or whatever, I want to know. I usually become more angry instead of less when people withhold the truth. I'd rather hear it than not hear it. I will even punish people for being less than candid with me.

I believe in honesty and candor. It stings at first sort of like hot sauce or wasabi on some sushi. But you get used to it. I get a little thrill from it to be honest with you. But this pain is more than some people can bear. I know this is certainly true for my ex and the one before her and the one before her.

I don't know how to overcome mental resistance. It might help if these people were given enough money to no longer have to work. But I know people who are resistant who don't make their money from the lie, and I know people who stick to the lie for reasons apart from money.

There is also what I call character resistance. This is not to be confused with mental resistance. For instance, my cousin will readily admit that he has a drinking problem, but he has no intentions of giving up drinking. He doesn't deny the problem. He simply will not deal with it. The same thing can be said of smokers, drug addicts, gambling addicts, spendaholics, womanizers, etc.

Between mental resistance and character resistance, character resistance is the hardest to overcome. Turning ideas into action is where most people fail. I know this is where I fail. I can tell you every reason in the world why falling in love with a woman is a really dumb thing to do, but I keep doing it.

I think it is important to differentiate between character resistance and mental resistance. We assume one when it is the other. For instance, I might assume that talking to my cousin about his drinking problem will make a difference. It won't. I might make some headway on his religious beliefs, but his character is entirely up to him. Preaching to people is an utter waste of time.

Every so often, you get mental resistance combined with character resistance. This combination is the worst kind. This is the person who denies they have a problem. This would be my ex-girlfriend on her spending. If she had not exhibited the mental resistance, I probably would still be with her now. And people wonder how I can be so candid about her on my blog. She doesn't read this thing. Even if she did, she would never admit it. That is how total it is for her. But I am digressing. . .AGAIN!

You can't change people. No amount of force can ever do it. But this does not mean that people can't change or won't change. They change all the time. I used to be a born again Christian. My ex was a drunk and is now the most sober person I know. It would not surprise me at all to find her in ten years being a financial planner for people who have made a mess of their finances. So many financial gurus today used to be shitheads mired in debt to their eyeballs.

What sucks for me is that I lose friends and girlfriends over this shit. People wondered how I could date a president of the Sunday School. It never really bothered me. I thought it was neat to be honest. If I only dated atheists, I would never get laid. There just aren't enough of them around.

Anyway, I abandoning this post now with no concluding thought. I don't have an answer to this shit. It is what it is.

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