The psychology of denial, and being happy living the dark ages…

This post was prompted by a quick conversation that I had with @frot, yesterday.

Perhaps the title of this post would be better titled ‘Can you scratch electricity?’...(all will become clear).

I’ll just stick to ‘The psychology of denial and being happy living the dark ages’, instead.

This post has to do with cryptocurrency and mindsets - as I will try to explain lower down in the post.

Before addressing the crypto currency part of it (the dark ages) , it’s necessary to familiarize yourself with the basic psychology involved in denial so as to understand it’s relevancy, (and my own position).

SO…..

What is ‘denial?’ - in psychological terms?

Merriam-Webster : denial psychology is a "defense mechanism in which confrontation with a personal problem or with reality is avoided by denying the existence of the problem or reality."

Denial is a coping mechanism.

That sounds pretty simple right?
It is. When it comes to protecting ourselves (psychologically), defense mechanisms are the unconscious processes that we use to prevent 'unacceptable' thoughts or feelings - things that make us emotionally anxious.

This process can mean that we're trying to protect ourselves from internal feelings of shame or guilt (see my previous post concerning these) , these same defense mechanisms can also kick in when we feel threatened in some way. We develop these unconscious defense mechanisms as a way to address contradictions that are found in our lives ( cognitive dissonance ). Psychology see’s denial as a main defense mechanism – one that lots of people will use, to cope with highly stressful situations.
It often means blocking external events from our conscious awareness.
If a situation (reality) is too much to handle, we can refuse to experience it at all.
That doesn't make the reality of the situation go away of course - it just allows us to pretend that it isn't there (thus reducing the impact it has on us).

While denial might act as a way to reduce your anxiety in the short term, it's not an effective way to deal with any situation in the long term. Reality WILL kick in at some point - and then you'll have to deal with it.

Living in a state of ‘denial’ can impact our perspectives on life, and almost always to the detriment of ourselves and of those around us.

If you're using denial as a defense mechanism, then what you’re really doing is lying to yourself.

While ‘being in denial’ (of reality) can appear to make things easier in the moment, the reality is, that the more you use this coping mechanism , the more is can cause you to develop maladaptive behaviors and unhealthy relationships.

If you are not very self aware then it’s difficult to identify the fact that you're living in a state of denial - and it's not seen until the situation that we are in (aided by the denial), has gotten completely out of control.
Denial prevents you from taking responsibility.

Addressing Denial.

It's hard to recognize the symptoms of it, when you're slipping into that state - i.e when it’s happening to you.
Getting to now yourself - by looking retrospectively at your actions, it can help you to mitigate the circumstances that enabled you sliding into ‘the denial state’. For example: Look out for themes in your life - such as recurring unhealthy relationships, or any negative addictions.

This identification of recurring themes in your life makes us take a long hard look at the choices that we've made.
Identifying recurring themes can prevent you from creating similar environments in the future, ones that, inevitably, lead to negative consequences.

Group think and echo chambers.

'Group think' allows you to deny your responsibility – or role, in any given situation.
It deflects (or dilutes) any personal responsibility that you may feel by identifying decisions made with ‘the collective’ and not yourself.

When you're surrounded by individuals who think the same way as you do, it can be easy to deny reality. Why? Because the echo chamber – your circle of friends and influences, is serving to reinforce your state of denial - not questioning it. After all, they see the world just as you do, do they not?

The most important thing you can do to avoid this trap is to be aware of the people that you surround yourself with - and at the same time - maintain self awareness. This can lead to avoiding many of the pitfalls associated with 'group think'.

Stopping the mechanisms of psychological denial.

Be open to people who think differently than you do (ie avoid echo chambers). Allow yourself to be challenged in your own thinking - as this will lead to asking yourself different questions about a situation or to make you reconsider facts that you've previously been ignoring because they didn't fit into your version of reality.

The goal is to be able to live in the real world, without any anxiety.

Living in denial is an obstacle to personal growth - but by getting to know yourself, by examining recurring themes, and by avoiding living too much in those comfortable echo chambers, there are ways to get over it.

Ok, so there’s the very basic outline of what - denial is .

It’s relevancy to the world of cryptocurrency now needs to be addressed.

‘There’s an itch that I can’t scratch, and it’s bugging me’….That's what I said to @frot .

This sums up my position as of now, in my regard to cryptocurrency in general.

I WANT the new technology to be the groundbreaking, paradigm shifting, world changing occurrence and all that it alludes to, but I'm very aware of the weaknesses that comes along with this new technology , and are very real. 'Elephants in the room' is a saying that just keeps recurring to me in my mind. ...it's that bloody itch that I just can't scratch,not to get any satisfaction anyways !..

I DO NOT wish to be in a psychological state of denial (to reality).

Oh! ....Rather than make you continually refer back to my brief explanation above of the psychology of denial, I’ll copy/paste any paragraph that’s pertinent to the points concerning cryptocurrencies (as I see it), and put the sentence in bold italics
(Hopefully that will make the reading experience an easier one).

Lets begin….

*Merriam-Webster : denial psychology is a "defense mechanism in which confrontation with a personal problem or with reality is avoided by denying the existence of the problem or reality." Denial is a coping mechanism.

The reality IS: The entire cryptosphere – and the internet as it stands today- can be throttled, disrupted, and even totally shut down at a whim.
(If you find this hard to believe, look at Myanmar right now. They have no internet. This is the reality).

The internet uses electricity.
Without it there is no internet.

I think many people can not – or *will not ( psychological denial ) accept the reality that electricity – and thus the internet – can come to a very sharp, abrupt halt.

Many people not living in first world environments already know this to be case.
Power outages are common place, not the exception.
Where I am right now there's at least 4 or 5 power outages a month (for short periods of time lasting an hour or so).

Where does that leave the cryptocurrency ecosystem?

In the dark.
A useless technology.
And utterly Impotent.

This ISN’T me being pessimistic, it really isn’t – it’s me facing up to reality that the entire 'crypto currency new paradigm' is reliant on the electricity grid.

A grid that’s only *ever a few minutes away from shutting down (the dark ages).

I’m firmly of the belief that you cannot undo technology, that it can simply go back in some box – but the fundamental question isn’t really about the crypto currency technology – it’s about the electricity grid and telecommunications - and how resilient they really are.

Electricity is the actual real first layer of technology that enables all the rest of it to be able to function.

THIS is the itch that I cannot scratch (not with any satisfaction).

This is the Achilles heel to the new technology.

When time are good, everything else is good with it, but when time are bad – one of the first infrastructures to be damaged – to go down - is electricity.

The decadence and peace that we’ve known in the west for this last 80 years or so, has , in my opinion, deluded us into believing that 'power on at all times' is an unwavering constant in life. This, in my opinion, is a very dangerous false sense of security. There being a 'forever constant' electricity supply (and telecommunication network) is an intrinsic part of that delusion. This is not pessimism, this is a cold hard look at reality.
This is being in a state of NOT denying reality.

*(denial)...It often involves blocking external events from our conscious awareness. Myanmar currently has no internet.

*When it comes to protecting ourselves (psychologically), defense mechanisms are the unconscious process we use to prevent unacceptable thoughts or feelings that make us anxious

“oh, that can never happen, not here! ”, IS being in state of denial to reality.

*When you're surrounded by individuals who think the same way as you do, it can be easy to deny reality, because the echo chamber you are in – your circle of influence, is serving to reinforce your state of denial, and not questioning it.

I don’t think I need to extrapolate much on this, in regards to Hive, Leo or the willful blindness that I see.
Dissent is frowned upon because to do so, means bringing into question, the echo chambers that the ecosystem is built on. …..an environment built on mass psychological denial?..MMmmm.

After all 'they ' see the world just as you do - do they not?

I would like to think that this is NOT the case - but all the evidence that I see - and viewed from as an unbiased, objective, perspective as I can manage - it all points to it being the exact opposite.
(for example, the rewards for posts about ‘crypto mooning’ and other types of ‘tech sycophancy’ style posts bear witness to this day after day, week after week...).

I Do see the inherent weakness in cryptocurrency - as electricity and telecommunications - and not the block chain technology itself, that sits upon it.

I’m not writing this post in a negative way.
I’m writing it from position of quiet optimism concerning the new technological paradigm that could be on the horizon, while accepting the limitations of that technology with it’s 100% reliance on electricity.

Mind experiment: …if you do see this post as being negative (and I tell you that it’s not) – then you need to realize that it’s *your subjective perception and interpretation of my words.

That means one of two things.

1. I am lying about the spirit of my intent behind the words in the post. Or

2. YOU are living in a denial of reality (for whatever reason).

Hint: I’m not lying about my intent.

With some quiet introspection any incorrect subjective perceptions of my post will tell you A LOT about your own psychological position. Know thyself.
It can be a painful look in the mirror but the rewards are just phenomenal !! (by comparison, the value of ‘knowing yourself’ makes ‘going to the moon’ look like pocket change).

End of mind experiment...

...back on track.

‘The dark ages’ are not new.

After the fall of the Roman empire we had centuries of regression - both in term of the use of technologies and in social cohesion.
Only hubris and fear (or lack of imagination) prevents you from not being able to envision it ever happening again.

Where we are now as I see it - in global terms:

The collapse of the fiat currencies. The corruption of judicial process The decline of science. The rise of the oligarchs. The massive (unprecedented) transfers of wealth (upwards)….

ALL of these are indicators to me, of a BIG collapse - and even regression.

If that regression is in the extreme, then the stable electricity networks (and the internet by extension) will be - in the short term at least – a thing of the past. Crypto currency – in this environment – will have no user case. It will be impotent. It will NOT be the new currency - it will be irrelevant.

Sound money and commodities – i.e real world tangibles – WILL become the currencies - the money - of use.

Hopefully 'the perfect storm of events' that I can see hurtling towards us just over on the horizon, will blow itself out, or move course entirely - and I’ll be, with a bit of luck - woefully wrong. **That would make me very happy indeed*.

This post is not about denial or delusion, but being happy in reality. ...And this post is helping me to scratch that goddamn itch!

Any arguments that blow my perspectives right out of the water would be more than welcome...