James Baldwin eloquently stated, “Any real change implies the world’s breakup as one has always known it… Yet, it is only when a man is able, without bitterness or self-pity, to surrender a dream he has long cherished or a privilege he has long possessed that he is set free… for higher dreams, greater privileges.”
So often, we hold onto our cognitive dissonance because it is a familiar narrative- it feels right, sounds right, and looks right, not because it is correct but because the con of truth-by-repetition blinds us from recognising our internal bias. To quote, ‘Repeated information is often perceived as more truthful than new information. This finding is known as the illusory truth effect, and it is typically thought to occur because repetition increases processing fluency. Because fluency and truth are frequently correlated in the real world, people learn to use processing fluency as a marker for truthfulness.’- https://cognitiveresearchjournal.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s41235-021-00301-5.
Stubbornly holding onto our dissonance makes us rigid and unteachable and often sets us up to go around the mountain repeatedly until we stop and evaluate whether our perceptions are facts or truth. Woke culture relies on this phenomenon- illusory truth stemming from repeated exposure to misinformation. Muriel Maignan Wilkins, ‘Harvard Business Review’, writes, ‘Stubbornness is the ugly side of perseverance. Those who exhibit this attribute cling to the notion that they’re passionate, decisive, full of conviction, and able to stand their ground — all of which are admirable leadership characteristics. Being stubborn isn’t always a bad thing. But if you’re standing your ground for the wrong reasons (e.g. you can’t stand to be wrong, you only want to do things your way), are you really doing the right thing?’- https://hbr.org/2015/05/signs-that-youre-being-too-stubborn
DID YOU KNOW GOD TEACHES ABOUT STUBBORN AND INNER-SABOTEUR BEHAVIOUR?
But why would God be so strong about stubbornness and falling into inner-saboteur behaviour, stating that it destroys life in its wake?
‘Insead Knowledge’ offers some insightful thoughts that help us examine why God is so firm about self-will, which leads to destruction that forces Him to protect His Creation. To quote, ‘Conversely, when dealing with a stubborn person, we should not be fooled by outside appearances. Stubborn people may seem invincible, but there is a vast difference between strong and stubborn people. Although stubborn people project strength and power, it is only a façade. Stubbornness is often a sign of insecurity and a way to hold onto a fragile mental equilibrium. Truly strong people know how to compromise when necessary.
Stubborn people often fear change, which explains the rigidity characterising much of their behaviour. At an unconscious level, they perceive attempts to change their mind as personal attacks. Thus, they are always on their guard, lashing out at anyone who tries to question their ideas. Instead of accepting new information or entertaining the possibility that someone else could be right, they prefer to argue their original point of view. Their insecurities make them ideal candidates for confirmation bias, i.e. the tendency to process information in ways that prop up one’s belief system.
Transforming stubbornness into dogma
Stubbornness also touches on the dynamics of power. When stubborn people perceive a threat to their dignity, honour or pride, they may resort to power games where there can only be winners and losers. The idea guides them: “If I’m not stubborn, people will walk all over me.” But stubbornness soon becomes a self-defeating exercise.
Another characteristic of stubborn people is their tendency to categorise people as “good” or “bad,” depending on whether they agree with their ideas. With a preference for simplistic, black-and-white thinking, devoid of uncertainty or disagreement, they are often prejudiced and resort to stereotyping.’- https://knowledge.insead.edu/leadership-organisations/fine-line-between-stubbornness-and-stupidity#:~:text=Stubborn%20people%20are%20often%20fearful,tries%20to%20question%20their%20ideas.
Consciously letting Go of your inner saboteur:
Mark Lockwood says, “Our Saboteurs originate in our youth as part of our protective mechanisms. Saboteurs start off as our guardians to help us survive the real and imagined threats to our physical and emotional survival as children. By the time we are adults, we no longer need them, but they have become invisible inhabitants of our minds. Our Saboteurs’ thinking, feeling, and reacting patterns become soft-coded in our brains through neural pathways. When these neural pathways are triggered, we are “hijacked” by our Saboteurs and feel, think, and act using their patterns. Saboteurs are your invisible agents of self-sabotage. They represent your brain’s automatic mental habits with limiting beliefs and assumptions about how to handle life’s challenges. They include the Judge, Controller, Avoider, Victim, Stickler and 5 others.“
Deductively, we can conclude that each of us experiences life through filters that must be addressed. We mistakenly can fall into self-righteousness, thinking we are being assertive and authentic, only to discover that we are imposing chains on ourselves that God wants to free us of. We can celebrate that God willingly wants to use His Omniscience to help us overcome our shortcomings AND grow us into purpose beyond our limited perspectives. Psalm 119 vs 105-108 is a brilliant reminder that God and His Word teach us to be everything God knows we can be.
We are fallible beings. When we surrender our ego, we find that we move more symbiotically with this beautiful world we live in and desire God’s Way for all living in it too.
‘The Conversation’ reminds us that science has no answers to explain consciousness, forcing us to consider that perhaps turning to God because consciousness exists may help us slash stubborn saboteurs. To quote, ‘The problem of consciousness, however, is radically unlike any other scientific problem. One reason is that consciousness is unobservable. You can’t look inside someone’s head and see their feelings and experiences. We would have no grounds for postulating consciousness if we were just going off what we can observe from a third-person perspective. We know that consciousness exists not through experiments but through our immediate awareness of our feelings and experiences.‘ – https://theconversation.com/amp/science-as-we-know-it-cant-explain-consciousness-but-a-revolution-is-coming-126143
Considering these factors, God gives us a sensational reason to consider Him being Consciousness that wants to teach us.
#Hayibo 