You probably know this but psychiatrist Eric Berne published a book in 1964 called Games People Play. "Ain't it awful" is one of the games, among dozens of others, that he describes and explains.
--- Frank C. Wimberly 140 Calle Ojo Feliz, Santa Fe, NM 87505 505 670-9918 Santa Fe, NM On Sat, Jul 2, 2022, 4:43 PM David Eric Smith <desm...@santafe.edu> wrote: > There is a thing my father used to do, which bothered me even as a very > young boy, but for which I didn’t have an analysis until I was a lot older > and doing such things. > > For any difficult decision, he liked to make bitter scornful faces and say > “They’re all bad!”, a kind of game that a psychologist who visited our > elementary school once told us has a name, and is called “Isn’t it awful.” > I could have gone up and hugged her for letting me know I wasn’t along in > being stuck in a homelife where that was played and hating it. > > My analysis years later was that, since my father wasn’t a very smart man > (though he was a very good, giving, and loyal man), and the problems that > frustrated him are hard (hence we still live under them all), it was easier > to spit on it all, turn his back, and slam the door, than sit with the mess > and continue to try to make distinctions. But whether he liked it or not, a > bacterium in its tiny world can’t chemotax unless some direction is > different from some other. > > So, against the backdrop of a note with which I agree with quite a lot: > > To a person they are cynical amoralists who care nothing about acquiring > power and winning the next election. > > > How about specific people, like Katie Porter or Stacey Abrams? Sheldon > Whitehouse? In the system where they work, they seem like people trying to > solve concrete problems in good faith. > > And yes, I do acknowledge your statement that you know you are being > over-the-top, and that is plenty disclaimer for me to live and let live. > > Still, coming out of the discussion, I think being able to make > distinctions is valuable. > > Eric > > > -. --- - / ...- .- .-.. .. -.. / -- --- .-. ... . / -.-. --- -.. . > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv > Fridays 9a-12p Friday St. Johns Cafe / Thursdays 9a-12p Zoom > https://bit.ly/virtualfriam > to (un)subscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com > FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ > archives: 5/2017 thru present > https://redfish.com/pipermail/friam_redfish.com/ > 1/2003 thru 6/2021 http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/ >
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