Too Much Is Not Enough

Some otherwise competent individuals repeatedly and knowingly act counter to their own interests. They are not intending to hurt themselves; they are taken in by an illusion. And, as is the case with optical illusions, experience does not prevent them from being taken in again and again.

The soul illusion is a critical element of mood disorders (depression, anger, and anxiety) and incentive use disorders [chemical dependence, obesity, compulsive gambling, gaming, sex/pornography, etc.].

But this time I really mean it

After Hasselbring’s second DUI he regretfully reviews how his drinking has harmed his family. He really means it at the moment when he makes his solemn vow to never have another drink. On a Friday night some weeks later he is angry at his wife and wants to have some fun for a change. Now he is a different Hasselbring than the fellow who vowed to quit drinking. The contrite state following the DUI elicits a subjective reality that is different from the positive anticipatory state just before the next relapse; what seems sensible from one perspective seems ridiculous from the other. He makes his vow of abstinence when in one state, and breaks it when in another. Needless to say, Hasselbring will discover that dishonoring his vow is a mistake, which will motivate him to make an even stronger vow to quit drinking “and this time I really mean it.” Naturally, everything will look different when he next encounters a high-risk situation and his good intentions and cognitive resources are far away.

Perceptual Bias and Will
The Rodney Dangerfield of philosophical questions: When a tree falls in the forest, and no one is around to hear it, is there a sound? It gets no respect, because it seems to be one of those pointless questions that has no answer. But there is an answer – an answer with profound spiritual and practical implications. The answer is: There is no sound!

When the tree falls, it produces a series of pressure waves in the surrounding air. The ear drum converts these waves into a mechanical signal which is transmitted by 3 small bones to the fluid filled cochlea – the spiral bony canal of the inner ear. Hair cells of the cochlea are the actual receptors. Each is tuned to a particular frequency of the fluid waves. Hair cell vibrations are converted to electrical impulses, and transmitted along the auditory nerve to the auditory cortex where intensity and frequency of the vibrations are mapped. Neither pressure waves, physical movements of body parts [bones, hair], nor electrical signals are sound. The experience of sound exists only in the mind of the perceiver.

Perception differs qualitatively from the physical properties of the stimulus. The nervous system extracts only certain information from the natural world. We perceive fluctuations of air pressure not as pressure waves but as sounds that we hear. We perceive electromagnetic waves of different frequency as colors that we see. We perceive chemical compounds dissolved in air or water as specific smells or tastes. In the words of neurologist Sir John Eccles: “I want you to realize that there exists no color in the natural world, and no sound – nothing of this kind; no textures, no patterns, no beauty, no scent.”

Sounds, colors, and patterns appear to have an independent reality, yet are, in fact, constructed by the mind. All our experience of the natural world is our mind’s interpretation of the input it receives.

Objective Reality & Subjective Experience
Subjective reality is not the same as objective reality, although to function in the real world we must assume it is. The soul illusion is the consequence of failing to appreciate the difference. In eastern philosophy we are viewed as trapped in “Maya.” The entrapment comes from accepting the tacit premise of subjective experience, namely that we perceive the world as it really is. In fact, our experience is a creative construction of the nervous system to makes sense of sensory input.

We perceive everything through state-dependent lenses. The same event will look different when we view it from different perspectives. When Hasselbring is looking forward to his first drink after several months of sobriety, he is blind to the consequences he “knows” will follow. Likewise, when he looks back on that same drink he cannot believe he could be so foolish to allow the relapse to occur. . . and then when he considers how to accomplish this obviously difficult task, he will be blind to the true nature of his challenge and what it really takes to prevent relapse.

No matter how many times he repeats this sequence he never seems to learn. In real time he does not appreciate what will be all too obvious to him in hindsight. The distortions are always invisible to him, because his perceptual system itself is subject to the state-dependent bias. He will continually be taken in by this soul illusion until he rises to another level of awareness. Escape from the soul illusion emerges through Meta-Cognitive Awareness.

People often end up doing exactly what they tell themselves not to do. The intention to suppress a response has the perverse effect of making that response more likely. Edgar Allan Poe labeled this phenomenon: the Imp of the Perverse.

Thought Experiment: Negative Suggestion.
Try not to scratch your nose. Continue reading, but be aware that even letting your nose itch would indicate personal weakness. So try not to even think about your nose, and see if you can read to the end of this chapter without once touching your face in the area around your nose.

Trying to prevent your nose from itching may, perversely, produce the very thing you are trying to prevent. The more seriously you try the greater is the effect. Two interpretations of this perverse phenomenon are as follows:

Negative Suggestion: Negative representations are defined in terms of positive representations (their opposite), but positive representations are defined directly. For example, the statement, “It is not raining,” requires one to conceptualize the meaning of the statement, “It is raining.” Likewise, the statement, “Chester is not a pedophile,” associates the conceptualization of Chester with child molesting. Chester would be foolish to make such an assertion during his political campaign. To understand the instruction, “Don’t let your nose itch!” the reader must access a representation of an itchy nose, which evokes that very sensation.

Ironic process: To determine if you are successful at having a nose that is not itching, you must compare the current sensations with what they would be if your nose was itching. According to this interpretation, it is checking to make sure you are successful at preventing your nose from itching that causes the nose to itch. Ironic, isn’t it?

Reactance
Humans hate restrictions—especially of those freedoms they already have. Reactance refers to the motivation to react or rebel against restriction. In one study, two-year-old boys accompanied their mothers into a room containing equally attractive toys. The toys were arranged so that one was easily available to the child while the other stood behind a transparent Plexiglas barrier, out of reach. Which toy do you think the little boys wanted? This is one among many examples of the rule of thumb: Forbidding something increases its desirability.

Attribution Theory: The Insult Is the Injury
Smoking cessation research shows that, on average, successful quitters failed seven times before they finally made it. Most smokers, however, interpret a failure to quit as an indication of their intrinsic weakness. The belief that the cause of the failure is within the self is called an internal attribution for failure. Explanations of one’s failure, which appeal to motivation, intelligence, or character defect, are examples of internal attribution for failure. The belief that the same inadequacy that caused me to fail in the past will cause me to fail in the future is an example of a stable attribution for failure.

Internal, stable attributions for failure are associated with low self-efficacy. If you believe that you don’t have what it takes to succeed at this challenge, and, moreover, that you are not going to change, then it is understandable that you would not invest much of your own effort and instead turn yourself over to a treatment provider or a higher power. However, good long-term outcome requires that you persevere through difficult challenges, and internal, stable attributions for your past failures are demoralizing and rob you of the energy and perseverance required for good long-term outcome. Efficacy-enhancing imagery, contemplation, and other trance formative exercises are included in the kit. These tools are especially useful during times of crisis when your self-efficacy may be threatened.

Paradoxically, the belief that, “I cannot succeed at this task,” often results from an initial underestimate of the difficulty of this task. You might think, “It shouldn’t be that hard to change my ways once I make up my mind, so my history of relapse means there must be something wrong with me.” This demoralizing belief results from underestimating what it takes to end an addictive relationship.

Attribution and Self Image
Consider the following study, which demonstrates how internal attribution and counter-regulatory motivation can work together to influence one’s appraisal of oneself: Teen-aged boys were told that a book was too sexually explicit to be read by those under 21. This restriction had the effect of dramatically increasing their desire to read the book. The experimenters knew that the attractiveness of the book was enhanced because the book was forbidden. However, ignorant of the principle of reactance, the boys attributed their motivation to read the book to a specific personal tendency to be attracted to lewd content. Forbidding the book had the perverse consequence of causing the subjects to believe that they were perverse.

My academic training in cognitive and neural sciences along with the more expensive education earned over 3 decades of helping my clients escape the self-sabotaging traps they have created or fallen into has yielded a set of tools that will be of use to individuals who seek to follow a more advantageous path. I would like to make these tools available to anyone who could benefit. [These tools are unusual because they are experiential. Unlike the tools used to build a house or repair a car, these tools are designed to alter experience, a phenomenon that exists on a different dimension than concrete objects].

Among the tools are:

• Media files that invite the user to explore trance phenomena and develop his or her ability to manipulate it.
• Text files that include thought experiments to illustrate cognitive and behavioral tactics to manage crises of stress and temptation.
• Formats and protocols to promote that have been developed through the school of hard knocks to promote the exercise of will.

There are many possible formats to deliver this material. It turns out that I am a better psychologist than a web designer, and have been wasting a lot of time learning the rules of the many possible communication formats. It is time to make a decision [and thereby condemn the alternatives to oblivion]. One possibility is to send each lesson as an email with appropriate links. Alternative include an e-book in PDF format, or a series of web pages in html

I would be most grateful for suggestions or thoughts about the pros and cons of different formats. The easiest way to get a comment to me is by clicking here..

Some otherwise competent individuals repeatedly act counter to their interests and principles. They are not intending to hurt themselves and their loved ones; they are taken in by an illusion. And, as is the case with optical illusions, experience does not prevent us from being taken in again.

The soul illusion is a critical element of mood disorders (depression, anger, and anxiety) and incentive use disorders [chemical dependence, obesity, compulsive gambling, gaming, sex/pornography, etc.]. If there is a recurring pattern to your problems, appreciating the soul illusion is likely to be the key to escaping your trap.

The Illusion
The alcoholic really means it when he says he will never have another drink, but everything looks different when he is lonely and frustrated on a Saturday night. He makes a solemn vow of abstinence, when he is in one motivational state, and predictably breaks it when he is in another. After the violation of his vow, he will once again receive the painful education that the lapse was a mistake and will probably vow never to do it again. But, naturally, everything will look different when he next encounters a high-risk situation and his good intentions and cognitive resources are far away. Immediate stressors and temptations tend to be the primary determinants of our subjective experience, especially during the critical moments of a crisis.

The soul illusion: Local conditions have a much greater influence on an individual’s perception, motivation, and response tendencies than remote influences such as long-term health consequences, interests of loved ones, and solemn vows made in the past. Because local factors are always more influential than we predict, we are doomed to be taken in by the soul illusion again and again.

Perceptual Bias and Will
The Rodney Dangerfield of philosophical questions: When a tree falls in the forest, and no one is around to hear it, is there a sound? It gets no respect, because it seems to be one of those pointless questions that has no answer. But there is an answer – an answer with profound spiritual and practical implications. The answer is: There is no sound!

When the tree falls, it produces a series of pressure waves in the surrounding air. The ear drum converts these waves into a mechanical signal which is transmitted by 3 small bones to the fluid filled cochlea – the spiral bony canal of the inner ear. Hair cells of the cochlea are the actual receptors. Each is tuned to a particular frequency of the fluid waves. Hair cell vibrations are converted to electrical impulses, and transmitted along the auditory nerve to the auditory cortex where intensity and frequency of the vibrations are mapped. Neither pressure waves, physical movements of body parts [bones, hair], nor electrical signals are sound. The experience of sound exists only in the mind of the perceiver.

Perception differs qualitatively from the physical properties of the stimulus. The nervous system extracts only certain information from the natural world. We perceive fluctuations of air pressure not as pressure waves but as sounds that we hear. We perceive electromagnetic waves of different frequency as colors that we see. We perceive chemical compounds dissolved in air or water as specific smells or tastes. In the words of neurologist Sir John Eccles: “I want you to realize that there exists no color in the natural world, and no sound – nothing of this kind; no textures, no patterns, no beauty, no scent.”

Sounds, colors, patterns, etc., appear to have an independent reality, yet are, in fact, constructed by the mind. All our experience of the natural world is our mind’s interpretation of the input it receives.

When we are angry we both perceive the world and respond to it differently than when we are contrite. Perception, motivation, and response tendencies are state-dependent, and local motivational states [e.g., anger, craving, etc.] are continually influencing our subjective reality and behavior. The Psyche is continually taken in because the the perceptual system itself is subject to the state-dependent bias, and so the distortions are always invisible to the perceiver.

We do not appreciate, at the moment, that actions such as striking out in anger, giving in to fear, or relapsing back to drugs, food, sex, etc. will seem crazy or stupid in retrospect. The states of mind that put us at risk of behaving foolishly are subjective and temporary, but the errors they evoke play out in the objective world, and so are irreversible.

Preventing relapse requires effort because local conditions that promote relapse tend to be more salient than local conditions that promote responsible behavior. To exercise will you will often have to shift your attention from highly salient stimuli to less salient but more meaningful stimuli. Willpower refers to the strength that it takes to over-ride the pull of highly salient stimuli and aim your attention to stimuli that promote your intended actions.

There are many benefits to developing the faculties required to exercise will, but the most important one is to avoid what will happen if your don’t. One way to cope with the challenge presented by an enemy who can capture your attention with highly salient stimuli is to develop your faculty of selective attention. To complete the passage to self-determination you will have to develop the procedural skills required to stay cool and awake so that you can perform as intended during high-risk situations.

Resistance training metaphor – The forces of nature pull the bio-psycho-social creature along the path of least resistance, and the power of your will pulls you in your intended direction. Just as you would strengthen your muscle power by lifting weights against the downward pull of gravity, so can you strengthen your willpower by aiming your attention to a particular target and keeping it there, despite the pull of distracting stimuli. This exercise is called meditation.

Thought Experiment: Counting Your Breaths. Tonight, when you go to bed, turn off the lights, and close your eyes, instead of going to sleep you can exercise your faculty to aim your attention. Visualize or sub-vocalize the number “1” during your first exhale, the number “2” during your second exhale, and so on. You will find that your attention tends to wander to more salient thoughts, images, or sensations. The exercise is to gently escort your attention back to the intended target. Sound easy? The PIG bets that you don’t make it to “4″—your mind may drift so far away that you may forget what number you are up to (if you do, just begin again with “1″). Now that you have been tipped off, the PIG might raise his estimate—but not by much. This is an effortful task, which is why it is an exercise. The creature’s attention is bound to be captured by the most salient stimulus at any given moment. The exercise is to use your will to re-direct your attention back to your intended target. Each repetition of returning your attention to the target is analogous to lifting a dumbbell. The goal is to exercise your ability to purposely aim your attention, so that when you encounter a highly salient stimulus that would evoke a pathogenic trance, you will have the strength to override its influence and direct your attention in the most advantageous way.

If meditation is analogous to lifting weights, then hypnosis is analogous to working out with a personal trainer. The high-risk situations you encounter are your sparring partners that give you the opportunity to practice responding to the challenges you seek to master.

Meditation: Training the Puppy
Meditation refers to thinking in a controlled manner. Through the practice of meditation, you can transcend the ways of thinking you learned as a child. By learning to respond mindfully to provocative events you can enhance your ability to resist the influence of urgent local conditions that would motivate you to relapse.

Meditation is like puppy training because repeated but gentle redirection is required for good outcome in each case (in both cases, harshness has unintended consequences). Just as the puppy is not born with a set of rules about where to pee, you are not born with a set of rules about how to react to stress and temptation. Just as it would be counterproductive to beat the puppy for a lapse in the learning process, beating yourself for a lapse in thinking would only slow your progress. In both cases, the creature learns as a result of the trainer noticing the lapse and gently correcting it. When you meditate, you notice when the mind has wandered and gently return your focus to the intended target.

Perception, motivation, and other subjective phenomena are continually present, and so we take them for granted. Typically, we experience them passively, rather than work to actively manipulate them. The meditation exercises described below will give you the opportunity to observe subjective phenomena from different, perhaps novel, perspectives. Working directly with experience is the first step in learning to utilize and modify subjective phenomena intentionally.

Thought Experiment: Meditating on a Mantra. A mantra is repeated over and over until you become habituated to it and no longer attend to it, which has the effect of clearing the mind of mundane thought, and thereby freeing it for transcendent experience. Some examples of a mantra: Whisper the word, “one,” each time you exhale; whisper the phrase, “calm and tranquil” on each exhale; on alternating exhales whisper the sound, “mmmm” (a sound of coherence like, “Om”) or the sound, “sssss” (the sound of chaos like white noise). As you continue repeating the mantra, you may notice some interesting transformations taking place. For example, as the mind quiets down, mental images become more vivid, and you may be able to hold them in mind for longer periods.

Thought Experiment: Tolerating Discomfort. Eat an amount of hot sauce or hot pepper that produces a slightly greater reaction than you are used to and focus on the sensation of pain. Simply investigate the experience of pain and how you react to it. Later, after the hotness recedes try it again and see if you can push your limits while maintaining a clear, focused mind. Important note: don’t cause tissue damage or hurt yourself; be compassionate and only push the limits to the extent that you can do so without being self-punishing. You can also experiment with a cold shower, or alternate the shower temperature between a bit too hot and a bit too cold. A goal of these exercises is to experience the sensations while maintaining a clear and focused mind, and without tightening up mentally or physically.

The point of these exercises is to learn to accept thoughts, emotions, pleasure, and pain for what they are—passing subjective phenomena. You will discover that learning to tolerate whatever comes up is more important than attempting to control what comes up. While you often have little control over objective reality (the events you encounter), you can develop the ability to appreciate and accept what you do not control.

Thought Experiment: Tolerating Desire. When you encounter the experience of desire, label it by silently saying something like: “Ah yes, there’s desire again.” No need to judge the experience, analyze it, or try to change it. Just label it as soon as you’ve identified it—nimbleness is important. What does desire feel like? What are the mental and physical changes that are associated with desire? Notice how the experience changes with time. Does it seem to occur in a series of waves of greater or lesser intensity? Are there thoughts that suggest you give in to the desire? The key, of course, is to observe the experience of desire without being taken in by it. You may find it helpful to assume the perspective of an anthropologist observing the strange customs of a primitive society without taking their beliefs and experiences too seriously.

How long does desire last? When you are experiencing it, desire seems to last forever. Intellectually, you understand that desires and cravings, like all subjective phenomena, have finite, typically brief, life spans. In real time, however, it is difficult to detach from the immediate experience and recognize that your state-dependent perceptions, motivations, and response tendencies are temporarily biased by local conditions. Exercising will by shifting your perspective from “I want that” or “one won’t hurt” to “Ah yes, there’s desire again,” can be eye-opening. For more about “wanting” please click here.