PSYCHOLOGY:    Deification of Unknown Realities © John Latter 99

Contents:

1) Deification of Unknown Realities

 a) Introduction
 b) Trauma in other Species
 c) Trauma in Infants :
     i)  Fixed feeding routines & the application of force
     ii) Self-fulfilling Prophecies: Being naughty & Crying for attention

1) Deification of Unknown Realities

a) Introduction:

    Human psychological behaviour is as varied as the patterns formed by the coloured pieces of glass found in a kaleidoscope. Using this as an analogy the first four parts of the following describe how trauma (equivalent to the internal coloured pieces of glass) can be created and how subsequent inner re-actions with the wound then affects responses to, and perception of , the external world. One aim is to show how the Deifying of Unknown Natural Realities ("Evolution does this...Natural Selection does that") is of psychological origin. The basic process can perhaps be more easily seen by first considering a species other than Man.

 b) Trauma in other Species ( i )

   What happens when someone climbs onto a horse for the first time?. As a naturally integrated organism it lives entirely in the present and responds to any stimulus as it occurs.

   A horse's initial response to the unnatural experience of being ridden , for example, is to angrily attempt to throw the rider off and by doing so return to a normal state of being. The perseverance of the rider, however, has the effect of making the intolerableness of the present moment unending for the horse.

   The continuing inability to free itself of the rider makes the horse angrier and angrier until eventually it`s natural capacity for anger is exceeded, in this instant it becomes traumatised and is said to be “broken”. It is as if the anger has disappeared behind a newly created wall of fear that leaves the horse trembling in shock at the internal change that has taken place.

   Training ("conditioning") can now begin. During this process the horse still begins to respond angrily at being subjected to unnatural experiences but this anger rapidly comes into contact with the reality of the trauma. It is in trying to avoid this internal agony that eventually causes the horse to completely submit enabling the consequent learning of fixed responses.

   The fact that the trauma, and not the rider, is now the determining factor in the horse`s existence can be seen from the ability of anyone to ride it once training is complete. People will then be able to control it`s behaviour who, had they attempted to do so before the trauma occurred, would have been persistently and consistently thrown off. All they have to do now is to use the reins etc. in a way that reinforces the original conditioning until obedience is achieved.

   Subsequent care by an owner can lead to the developement of psychological attitudes in the horse, an example being the way it will show recognition for it`s owner by nuzzling etc.. This can lead to claims that it is showing the equivalent of “love” and “affection” and this projection is understandable in the sense that these characteristics are often found in human relationships that are based on the same underlying and unacknowledged psychology.

   In fact the horse is simply recognising the owner`s ability to inflict pain or pleasure based on it`s defenselessness against the former. The response is essentially one of gratitude that it`s natural right to be is sometimes being recognised and provides a more desirable alternative to what is experienced when the reins are pulled.

   The true nature of the relationship can be seen when the horse wants to go one way and the owner another, a tug on the reins by the most affectionate of owners has the effect of conveying the following message: “I`ll care for you if you do exactly what I want, otherwise I`ll psychologically hurt you until you do”.

    Table 1 compares some characteristics of a traumatised (“broken”) horse and a natural (“wild”) one, these easily observable differences give an indication of the potentially permanent changes that trauma can effect on a natural life. The question now is: “How can similar results be achieved in human beings?”.