I really like this post, it outlines the fact that we all self-deceive, and uses an excellent example from literature (often rationalist literature) to encourage us to consider this fact. It has made me kinder to myself when I find a self-deception, and the examples you gave have helped me gently tease apart why I might be performing occlumency.
One of my immediate initial responses to this idea was “doesn’t this just discourage you from finding out areas of inefficiency? sounds like a bad idea to me!” but you tied in your reasoning to power and ability to act safely, and—to me—that perfectly packaged the whole concept; it is a great insight to realise that the places I reflexively flinch or turn away from are the same that I am working on unconsciously, and that this “turning away” is a self-preservation mechanism that I would do best to respect and gently hypothesise (without checking) around.
On that note, this post makes real and tacit the usually very hidden machinations of the unconscious, which has been studied at length, and is part of the reason why I think you “hit the nail on the head”, so to speak.
Thank you for this post, I would indeed love to see a further post on shame, as I can see how that ties in but would love to see your insight.
I really like this post, it outlines the fact that we all self-deceive, and uses an excellent example from literature (often rationalist literature) to encourage us to consider this fact. It has made me kinder to myself when I find a self-deception, and the examples you gave have helped me gently tease apart why I might be performing occlumency.
One of my immediate initial responses to this idea was “doesn’t this just discourage you from finding out areas of inefficiency? sounds like a bad idea to me!” but you tied in your reasoning to power and ability to act safely, and—to me—that perfectly packaged the whole concept; it is a great insight to realise that the places I reflexively flinch or turn away from are the same that I am working on unconsciously, and that this “turning away” is a self-preservation mechanism that I would do best to respect and gently hypothesise (without checking) around.
On that note, this post makes real and tacit the usually very hidden machinations of the unconscious, which has been studied at length, and is part of the reason why I think you “hit the nail on the head”, so to speak.
Thank you for this post, I would indeed love to see a further post on shame, as I can see how that ties in but would love to see your insight.