Hi, and welcome. Thanks for reading my content. Enjoy.
This post is about Thought-Terminating Cliches.
It has beneficial uses in some cases, excuse my lack of examples; however, when you understand what they are, you will know what I mean, if you know what I mean–know what I mean?
I use them all the time to stop certain thoughts. I have high anxiety and other issues. I take meds to avoid a breakdown. I am a very soft person.
Anyway, here is the definition from the source.
From the Rational Wiki:
“A thought-terminating cliché is a saying, often a tautology, that is repeated in order to relieve the stress of cognitive dissonance by avoiding all further consideration of a matter. Everyday examples include “it is what it is,” “it’s just common sense,” and “you gotta do what you gotta do.” It was first described in 1963 by Robert Jay Lifton, who studied American servicemembers who had exhibited drastic ideological change after being held as prisoners of war by the Chinese Government:[1]:429“
Also from the Rational Wiki:
The intent and qualification of any thought-terminating cliche depend on the circumstances.
Thought-terminating cliches could be borne from anything: social engineering, clandestine psych ops (Reality TV, Coco Melon, etc), a spouse, a cop, a parent, or a person psyching themselves up before an event or performance, or something like that.
Well + Good has a good article on 12 common, psychologically harmful thought-terminating cliches:
- “It is what it is.”
- “So it goes.”
- “It could be worse.”
- “Time heals all.”
- “Someone out there has it worse than you.”
- “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”
- “It’s always darkest before the dawn.”
- “This too shall pass.”
- “It’s all about balance.”
- “Try to look on the bright side.”
- “The sun will come out tomorrow.”
- “The only way out is through.”
Research this yourself and come to your own conclusions and comprehension if you feel interested.
I challenge you not to use a thought-terminating cliche whenever you or someone you know gets upset or has a hurdle, or something unexpected arises.
Instead, I also challenge you to thoroughly discuss whatever you’re about to dismiss with all the emotional zeal it requires.
Getting too comfortable with thought-terminating cliches is like developing alcoholism.
You do it once every now and then; then, you do it every other night; then it’s every night; then one glass turns to two; over time two glasses turn into drinking a liter of rum or handle of vodka every other day to keep the veins from shaking out of existence.
Insert a thought-terminating cliche in the form of: “It be like that.”
See how easy that was?
Imagine doing that several times a day.
Imagine doing that several times a day over several weeks, then months, and eventually years–from you and everyone else around you.
You break and demoralize yourself, then you aid in breaking and the demoralization of others by becoming a mass of people who can shrug most things off with little thought or introspection due to reinforcing the behavior.
Eventually, you’ll have a society of people who are waiting for a “guide” or “leader” to show up and build them up/ boss them around.
The US Government and certain corporations have done this tactic all over Latin America, and I suspect there are men in high places who are using convenience as a stepping stone toward perceived societal dominance, perceived ownership/entitlement due to unnecessary idea or creation, and the formulation of a controllable populace.
Ie: Jeff Bezos gives you Amazon, he gets your wife’s shopping habits, favorite books, movies, etc. and eventually becomes the thought-leader on everything trending because he controls the trends. Overtime, Jeff Bezos works with Elon Musk to identify susceptible people on social media and they compete with each other over who can be “god” first. Then, you have no one to blame, but yourself when your great grandkids only know how to make their lips pucker for their cellphone and spend 12 hour days working at an Amazon “Company Town”.
Very disheartening to see intelligent people casually interchange these things in their speech to reduce discomfort or “appear” normal based on someone else’s definition of normalcy.
No matter how good our devices get or how well we understand psychology, we’re still wild animals.
We weren’t meant to develop thought, critical thinking, and creativity only to “reign it in” like a horse under one man/woman’s vision or goal.
Thought-terminating cliches make our subversion possible though.
I believe that the key to preventing this from becoming a colloquialism in your lexicon is to do the following:
Think often.
Speak less.
Examine everything everywhere all the time until you get exhausted. Thinking is a muscle. Flex it. Eventually, it’ll be second nature.
Also, no shame in acknowledging weakness, ignorance, or difficulty when it’s warranted.
Ego is a small price to pay for growth.
Fame and wealth yield perceived authority. I posit that no one has any real authority – not me, not you, not your boss, not your grandparents, parents, etc. and we should strive to know our values and motives at all times to avoid being used like toys for someone’s undisclosed personal anxiousness, shame and fears.
The upside of knowing where you stand and where you sit, and who’s doing what where, and with what tools, is a lot better than the upside of some friend, relative, boy/girlfriend, spouse, or an insincere promotion-seeking ass-kisser thinking highly of you because you maintained a charade.
Any business magnate, politician or perceived status/authority figure can appear perfect based on some outdated Machiavellian approach to manipulation in conjunction with a quick read of the 48 Laws of Power.
It’s not impressive to appear like a thing that you are not solely to get some bullshit you don’t care about. For example, if you don’t like suits, don’t aim for a job with suits because it makes you look good or because you feel that’s what’s expected.
Define yourself in a manner that doesn’t screw up anyone else’s peace, suppress their individuality / sense of self, and doesn’t rob someone else of the potential to grow where they desire; otherwise, you’re no different than a person who creates and spreads fake news so they can more easily get gain others’ consent for exploitation.
Thanks for reading this far down.
Let me know what you thought of this post.
I am still putting my content calendar together.
Excuse the occasional lapses in posting as they arise.
Follow me where you scroll. Thanks again.
—-
Want to read about something interesting?
DM me where you scroll and let me know if there are any topics you find interesting and would like to read up on.
I enjoy researching the occult, esoteric, and metaphysical concepts. I would love to write a 1-4 part blog post on something fascinating like telepathy, meditation, OBE’s etc. or anything else.
I have my content planned, but an interesting excursion is always welcomed as it can help more clearly express a creative concept, imo.
Mark's Blog 