Overcoming Learned Helplessness

By Cade Shadowlight

Most people today wait for someone else, be it the government, media, or the "experts" (or even their favorite celebrity) to tell them what to think or do. That's not mental laziness. It's actually learned helplessness: a behavioral term for when an organism (animal or human) has been taught over time to NOT help themselves, but instead to depend on outside factors, such as the animal's human owner. Or, in the case of people, to depend on government officials, the media, or other approved  experts, rather than on themselves. Passivity and dependence are not natural, but learned.

The concept shows up in declassified CIA manuals (like KUBARK from 1963, released publicly in the late '90s). There, it's framed as a type of instilled "apathy" or a "debility-dependency-dread" state that is hard to reverse once it sets in deeply. (Note: The CIA claims to have applied it only in coercive contexts, not as a broad societal tool, although it would work as such.)

The good news? You can unlearn it if you're motivated. Here's how to start:

• Question authority. No blind trust. Government officials, institutions, and experts are human, and therefore prone to bias, errors, politics and agendas. Verify claims yourself. (Article link)
• Build sharp discernment. Ask: Does this story hold up? Fit with commonsense? Match what you know? Verifiable with multiple independent sources? Has the person or outlet made multiple mistakes or been caught lying before? Who/what is their underlying source? Remember: Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.
• Practice self-reliance. Think for yourself. Make your own decisions. Act on them. Start small, build the muscle. (Article link)
• Own your life. No one cares more about your future than you. Take responsibility for outcomes. Skip the blame game. Focus on what you control.
• Pick up DIY and practical skills. Fix things, grow food, build stuff. Cook, sew, code. Learn to do for yourself. Each win boosts confidence and proves you don't need permission or pros for everything.
• Sharpen situational awareness. Stay alert to your surroundings and patterns. (Article link)

Bottom line: Dependence is comfortable until it isn't. Reclaim your mind one deliberate choice at a time. You got this.

Between Shadows and Light,

Cade Shadowlight 

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