now this is ironic (people behavior)

ironic quote

——

“The sense of tragedy – according to Aristotle – comes, ironically enough, not from the protagonist’s weak points but from his good qualities.

 

Do you know what I’m getting at?

 

People are drawn deeper into tragedy not by their defects but by their virtues.”

 

=

Haruki Murakami

——-

 

Well.

 

The way we people behave is bereft with irony <I really just wanted to use the word ‘bereft’>.

 

In fact … irony & Life seem inextricably intertwined.

 

Think of things like:

 

 

–          Tragedy driven by virtues.

 

–          Doing your worst because you tried your best.

 

–          Too much thinking creating bad solutions.

 

 

By the way.

This is called ‘ironic affects’ in the psychology world <I am fairly sure>.

perfect_plan

Interestingly … this whole ‘ironic effects’ thing actually is really effective at destroying the best plans we … well … plan.

 

Yup.

 

Distressingly … there is more and more research showing how what we judge our best efforts … uhm … consistently fail <or fail to meet what you would assume best would achieve>.

By the way.

 

That sucks.

 

What sucks even more? Psychologically this happens in some very sneaky ways.

Most ironically <and sneaky> … we inevitably fail in our best efforts because of our best efforts.

 

Let me say that again.

 

We fail in our best efforts because of our best efforts.

 

<insert ‘Yikes!!’ here>

 

The truth is that if you’re trying to change behavior or beliefs <your own or other people> you shouldn’t assume that the most passionate direct route is going to be the most effective one.

 

For example:

“Fat-shaming: how the slim and sanctimonious help to cause our obesity crisis.

 

Where weight is a risk to health it should be tackled, but it shouldn’t become a free-for-all for finger-wagging skinnies”

=

Guardian headline

 

Yup.

The human mind is actually quite annoying.

 

Making shit happen in your life is more complex than what would assume would be a simple ‘stimulus-response’ type behavior change.

choice what it looks like

By the way.

 

Just to be clear.

 

This may actually be more a paradox than ironic.

 

—-

 

‘Paradoxical effects’ not ‘ironic effects’ as the latter relates to intentionally saying something with the opposite meaning in a way to draw attention to this fact.

 

<I have no idea what this really means but I am hoping someone else does>

—–

 

Regardless.

 

The core ingredients for ironic effects are embodied in what is stated as ‘a conscious effort to avoid unwanted consequences.’ Apparently this conscious effort creates the presence of heightened emotions with regard to consequences <think ‘anxiety’> therefore impeding desired progress.

 

Uh oh.

All of this suggests that the whole ‘positive psychology’ mumbo jumbo is bullshit.

 

Yup.

Positive psychology <and ‘positive posturing’> actually creates less than positive results.

 

Irony once again.

 

Want some details behind that?

 

<note of source: the guy who wrote the below is Oliver Burkeman … a Guardian writer based in New York. I am biased to like him because he wrote a book called – The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can’t Stand Positive Thinking. And I like to be happy without all the positive thinking mumbo jumbo>

Stigmatizing obesity makes overweight people eat more, not less

For a study in the Journal of Experimental Psychology, a group of women read an article suggesting that overweight people find it harder to get jobs; others read an article making the same point about smokers, while still others read no article at all.

Afterwards, they were shown into a break room with bowls full of junk-food snacks. As Tom Jacobs explains at Pacific Standard, among women who already perceived themselves as overweight, those exposed to the weight-related message consumed about 80 calories more, on average, than those who read the article on smoking. (Questionnaire responses also implied they felt less in control of their eating.)

Stigmatisation triggers anxiety, which triggers eating.

For women who didn’t see themselves as overweight, the weight-related article increased their sense of control over their food consumption – which shows why non-overweight people probably shouldn’t be in sole charge of designing anti-obesity campaigns: what makes them feel better about food has the opposite effect on the people they need to reach. Campaigns “need to emphasize the positive aspects to losing weight,” Jacobs concludes, “rather than the negative aspects of being fat.”

(Relatedly: moderate exercise is more motivating than hard training.)

 

ironic life

Next.

 

This one will rock your world.

 

 

Supporting a good cause on Facebook makes people less likely to give money or time.

 

In a series of experiments at the University of British Columbia, people were invited to make low-cost expressions of support for good causes, either privately (by signing a petition) or publicly (by coming to the front of the room to sign the petition, accepting lapel pins, etc).

The results, in brief: the more public the commitment, the less willing people are to give a higher-cost donation of money or time.

In other words …

“Once we’ve shown our support and earned the status associated with joining a cause we feel less obligated to follow through with a meaningful contribution to that cause.”

Adam Grant

 

 

Ok. How about this one ……

 

Awareness campaigns get forgotten by the people who need them most.

Motivated forgetting” is an especially galling species of ironic effect: when a message makes you feel vulnerable – for example, by reminding you of the ways in which you may be at a disadvantage – you’re more likely to find ways, conscious or otherwise, to forget it, in order to retain a sense of self-control.

In a study to be published in the Journal of Consumer Research, marketing experts found that students who were reminded of their university’s poor performance were less likely to remember an advertisement offering a discount at the campus bookshop.

“Consider an advertisement for breast cancer prevention.

If the ad makes … “women’s vulnerability to the disease” salient in their minds, they could “feel threatened and exhibit defensive responses, such as decreased ad memory.”

the researchers

===========

 

 

So.

 

I am not sharing my thoughts on this to have a diatribe against positive thinking but rather to point out just another aspect of why change is so difficult.

 

Oh.

It gets even worse.

 

This is how sneaky the mind is with regard to ironic effects.

 

=

We do some routine physical tasks by muscle memory, not engaging our brain at all but short-cutting the wiring by sending the nerve responses needed only to our spine and then back to the muscles. fuckery what is this

Thus we carry a glass of wine or cup of tea around, even in the dark or without looking at it, with no problem.

 

We aren’t thinking about it.

 

 

Uh oh.

But when we consciously think about it, concentrate on the process, the signals and feedback now have to go to the brain and back to the muscles.

 

Oops. That takes longer.

 

Shit <that sucks>.

 

Ok.

 

Lastly.

 

What better place to end this rambling on irony … but on faith.

 

It doesn’t have to be religious faith <although I will use it as my ironic example> but faith, in general, in anything.

 

The irony?

 

If you diminish faith to such a point that you compromise its basics, it is slowly dissipated and you can lose your faith … and once you lose it you don’t know you have lost it.

 

Ok.

I will repeat the ironic part … and once you lose it you don’t know you have lost it.

 

Let me try this out for you.

A guy, Father Malachi Martin, once stated this:

 

 

———–

“…Yes but, there is in question here a very, very subtle but real reality – it is called faith.

 

ironic faith handsReligious faith.

 

Catholic doctrine is very exact in teaching its religious faith.

It says that if you tamper with your faith, if you by one compromise or another you diminish its teaching, and are unfaithful to its precepts [rules of action – commands respecting moral conduct] you lose it.

 

Now faith is not a quantum.

 

It’s not something that you put in a box.

 

It is a dimension of the soul affecting your mind, your will, your memory and therefore your sensuality [unrestrained indulgence in sensual pleasures – gratification of the senses – indulgence of appetite – fleshly or sensory] – your entire being.

 

If you diminish it to such a point that you compromise its basics, it is slowly dissipated and you can lose your faith and once you lose it you don’t know you have lost it. You think the other feller who is stuck to his faith is a fool for observing things that he need not observe.

 

But what has happened to the one who is not aware of faith is that his or her faith has been diminished to the point of no return and therefore you do not know you are wrong.

 

 

If you lose your faith you don’t know you have lost it.

And once you’ve lost it there is no guarantee that you will ever get it back. …”

———-

 

Whether you are religious or not … beyond the simple irony within the thought … it is a sobering insightful thought.

 

But … why did I include this <beyond the fact t is well written>?

 

The truly ironic thought:

“But what has happened to the one who is not aware of faith is that his or her faith has been diminished to the point of no return and therefore you do not know you are wrong. If you lose your faith you don’t know you have lost it.”

 

Irony.

 

And it sums up Life, not just faith or fat or causes, in general.

 

With all the best intentions in the world … and all the effort in the world … you could be trying a hard as you can … and have lost faith you can succeed … and not even know it.

 

By the way.

This is why nudging <people to do something> is always more effective than pushing <someone to do something>.

 

‘Nudge’ initiatives are extremely effective in motivating people towards behaviors by doing so indirectly or pre-reflectively <but … that is a different post for a different day>.

 

 

Anyway.

 

Life is full of irony.

 

But maybe the most ironic is doing something with good intentions … and creating a bad response. And it happens far far too often under the guise of ‘no bullshit’ or ‘keep it simple’ or ‘tell the truth even if it hurts’ type crap.

 

I love all three of those things I just typed <bullshit, simple, truth>.

culture change thoughts

But I also realize human behavior is not a simple linear ‘stimulus-response’ type thing. And that is where Ironic effects resides … lurking somewhere in the fact that people think linearly in creating behavior … but the mind does not work linearly.

 

Suffice it to say … change how you think … keep on thinking the way you think … it does not matter.

If you look around you will find more <painful> irony.

 

Because Life, and any individual person, is full of irony.

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Written by Bruce