Learned helplessness I believe is what the elephant is up against. The notion of agency is undoubtedly one of the predictors in living well. One of my favorite words is empowerment; the predecessor of agency. Thanks for introducing this topic. I have lots of ammo to write with!
Yes! The elephant’s struggle is a perfect example of learned helplessness—conditioned restraint that lingers long after the real barriers are gone. I see empowerment as closely tied to agency, especially in the sense of reclaiming choice and self-direction. I love that this post has sparked ideas for you! I’m already looking forward to reading what you write, Tristan. Thank you for stopping by!
I was glad to see you mention learned helplessness here Tristan, I have a piece from when I first started writing about this that I had forgotten about, it wasn't good enough to post as it and you have reminded me to maybe revisit it. I will look out for your take if you decide to write about it.
You've really nailed this Dom, I really enjoyed seeing how this flowed from your initial example. I hadn't heard the elephant example but I do remember a video about fleas in a jar, if you leave fleas in a jar for a day with the lid on, they can only bounce off the lid, you can take the lid off after that and they will never jump high enough to get out, they're trapped beneath a false ceiling.
Thank you for sharing your perspective on permission in this context, I really do think the ideas here can apply to all areas of life.
You’ve come up with a great topic (again) for this month’s challenge Mark. As I’ve mentioned to Moon, I truly enjoy writing these pieces for the Kaleidoscope. They’re helping me find my path here on the platform. I’m so glad you liked it.
I’ve never heard of the 'fleas in a jar' instance. Another great example of what conditioning does even to natural instincts.
Learned helplessness I believe is what the elephant is up against. The notion of agency is undoubtedly one of the predictors in living well. One of my favorite words is empowerment; the predecessor of agency. Thanks for introducing this topic. I have lots of ammo to write with!
Yes! The elephant’s struggle is a perfect example of learned helplessness—conditioned restraint that lingers long after the real barriers are gone. I see empowerment as closely tied to agency, especially in the sense of reclaiming choice and self-direction. I love that this post has sparked ideas for you! I’m already looking forward to reading what you write, Tristan. Thank you for stopping by!
I was glad to see you mention learned helplessness here Tristan, I have a piece from when I first started writing about this that I had forgotten about, it wasn't good enough to post as it and you have reminded me to maybe revisit it. I will look out for your take if you decide to write about it.
I'd also be interested in reading your perspective on Learned Helplessness if you decide to work on your piece and share it here with us Mark.
I’ll get around to it soon, spurred on now!
I’ll also be looking out for your work, Mark. Sometimes the things we think are not good enough end up with the most engagement.
If I posted it now, nobody would understand what I was talking about 😂 nothing a couple of hours won’t fix though.
You've really nailed this Dom, I really enjoyed seeing how this flowed from your initial example. I hadn't heard the elephant example but I do remember a video about fleas in a jar, if you leave fleas in a jar for a day with the lid on, they can only bounce off the lid, you can take the lid off after that and they will never jump high enough to get out, they're trapped beneath a false ceiling.
Thank you for sharing your perspective on permission in this context, I really do think the ideas here can apply to all areas of life.
You’ve come up with a great topic (again) for this month’s challenge Mark. As I’ve mentioned to Moon, I truly enjoy writing these pieces for the Kaleidoscope. They’re helping me find my path here on the platform. I’m so glad you liked it.
I’ve never heard of the 'fleas in a jar' instance. Another great example of what conditioning does even to natural instincts.
Wishing you a great day ahead.
I’m glad you/re enjoying it Dom and thankful that you took on the challenge!
The flea video, I only saw it recently and as it was an actual live example it was crazy to see.
I’ve just found the video, it’s actually crazier than I thought, the flea’s offspring are also affected by the false ceiling!
Here’s the video if you’re intersted, it’s only 50 seconds long:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmhoSj3wkDM
This is fascinating ! Thank you for the video Mark :)