EmotionalPitfalls
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EmotionalPitfalls are barriers to communication with others and with ourselves too.
If there is something we are afraid to talk about with other people, it is likely to be something we are afraid to look at in ourselves.
Some ideas are like a tripwire on a booby trapped bomb. To mention the idea (in certain contexts) is to trigger the bomb. Do you have a hobby horse? If someone expresses a new idea that sounds vaguely like your hobby horse can you listen to what they are actually saying or do you hear it through the filter of your own preconceptions? If you can listen you have avoided one of many EmotionalPitfalls.
(Please extend this, I'm not happy wth the definition as it stands).
The usual ones are politics and religion. These don't usually affect my affect as for me all religions are belly laughs, as are all ideologies. Economics, on the other hand, is my tripwire, as evidenced by my losing it on LaborUnions. I'm a shy and timid creature by nature, and economics is a life or death competitive struggle by nature. In spite of my shy and timid nature, I feel confident of my ability to handle all of the other-than-economic challenges I face in life. --LorraineLee
Economics is life or death? Since when? Get a few scout books, learn good wilderness skills, and take a vacation in the wilds. When you realize you can survive just fine without money, money is meaningless. It's a common delusion, a social white lie, we use as a social and political tool.
Not into wilderness survival? Well, there's urban survival. It's easy to pan handle. It's easy to five finger discount in many places. It's easy to find free shelter in many cities. I'm not saying anyone should, of course. But again, we can boil things down quickly.
What's important is food and shelter. And in either case, they are easy to secure. If you aren't too picky, you can find cheap places to live, and cheap work is pretty easy to find. You might need to form a minor commune with a friend or two to afford a place you feel more comfortable, but in any case, there is still no need to actually stress over economics. It's a meaningless delusion we like to subscribe to, occasionally.
(Does this count as a hobby horse? Knee jerk reaction? EmotionalPitfall|?) --StarPilot