Notes from a Psychologist
Dr. Mel Whitehurst

The purpose of Notes from a Psychologist is to encourage and inspire the spread of realistic optimism and hope.  Optimistic thinkers tend to be happier and healthier. I'll keep posting new ideas periodically.

                    ARE WE READY FOR A DICTATOR?

“Oh, what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive.” (Sir Walter Scott)

Numerous current political leaders attempt to mold our thinking by creating tangled webs of deception, confusing and disrupting those they lead.  Uninformed voters often fail to recognize these behaviors for what they are: the tactics of authoritarian, anti‑democratic leaders.

I believe that in our present political environment we are being psychologically prepared like Pavlovian classical conditioning to accept a future dictator!

POST-FACTO NOTE

I’m not certain, but we may already have an authoritarian leader to obediently follow.  It could just be my overactive imagination, however.  Would someone please check my thinking to make certain I’m on the right path?
Sources of Information

Ronald Miller, Analysis of Sequential Variables in Pavlovian conditioning:  A Simulation Reset Predicts Both Pavlovian and Instrumental Conditioning Outcomes

Julia Lee, Ashley Hardin, Bidham Parmar, & Francesca Gino, The Interpersonal Costs of Dishonesty:  How Dishonest Behavior Reduces Individuals’ Ability to Read Others’ Emotions, Journal of Experimental Psychology:  General, 2029, Vol. 148, No. 9, 1557-1574

             THERE IS PERHAPS A MORAL TO THIS STORY

One day while growing up, my dad discovered a raccoon in the barn tearing into feed sacks.  He captured it and put it in a wire cage while deciding what to do with it.

In the meantime, relying on my 10-year-old-logic, I decided to teach the raccoon a few tricks---mainly how to stand up and roll over.  No one had ever told me that raccoons are not always friendly to humans.  I stuck my hand into the cage to give him a friendly pet, and he nearly chewed my hand off before I could pull it away.  I still carry a small scar on my left wrist where he bit me.

The moral of this story is simple:  there are many animals, including human animals, that will bite you, especially if you try to pet them.

For example, over the past year, I’ve come to believe there may be an unnamed chief executive in our government and his congressional accomplices located somewhere on the East Coast who consistently display strong “raccoon‑like behaviors.

So, stay on high alert.  We could be run down and nipped at any moment by a roaming pack of human racoons.  Try not to pet them, particularly if they are seen in the area of the Oval Office.