@badlydrawnboyan I understand that perfectly.... I am Survivor of Irish Catholic Boarding Schools and it has taken me 30 years to get tot he point where I am now. And was I angry, raging? Yes! Tinged with shame, guilt and confusion and that was toxic as f&^k! Having been able to develop self empathy for me as a child and re-parent myself myself, I still carry the scares, the memories but without the shame, the guilt or the confusion. I wish the same for all of us who have been harmed.
@djlookwood And it is the KNOWLEDGE of that pain, those wounds and what it really feels like to be abused that drives my own work forwards, that helped me see how I was mistreating my own children (slapping, shouting, ordering, bullying) and STOP and make myself accountble to them, and change my behaviours...
I agree too about the intelligence of the working class and underclass and the blindness of middle class in this regard is partly the outcome of Compulsory State Education.
@badlydrawnboyan you are correct, of course. "remote" is just a good a word as "distal". He is saying what you wrote, and his writings speak to that awareness... yes he IS middle class, and is speaking to a middle class audience... that doesn't need to diminish his core message. we are born into a power society and power damages people and then blames the damaged to mask their actions...
Badly drawn boy - if you LISTENED carefully, Smail makes it VERY clear that the limits of therapy have to be recognised, and in recognising these, one is drawn to examining the kind of society we are born into - what he shows clearly in his work is that peoples lives are most often adversely affected by the influences of what he calls 'distal power' - power beyond the reach of most people to influence. That's a HUGE point to make, and one ignored all too frequently by Politicians and ideologues
Badly drawn boy - if you LISTENED carefully, Smail makes it VERY clear that the limits of therapy have to be recognised, and in recognising these, one is drawn to examining the kind of society we are born into - what he shows clearly in his work is that peoples lives are most often adversely affected by the influences of what he calls 'distal power' - power beyond the reach of most people to influence. That's a HUGE point to make, and one ignored all too frequently by Politicians and ideologues
This comment has received too many negative votesshow
@badlydrawnboyan I'm fairly sure he's saying that people from exactly those sorts of backgrounds cannot be held responsible for being depressed, and that it is society's fault that they end up that way. But don't let that inconvenient fact interfere with your moronic scouse ranting.
Really important that Davids insights are being made more easily accessible.... his empathy and honesty as well as his depth of knowledge is crucial for all discourse about what we must do to create an empathic society.
Activism void of empathy will fail to do the work required.
@djlookwood ..my thoughts/feelings EXACTLY!--playlisted this a good while ago, but couldn't be bothered commenting at the time (d)...*empathy is my everything compass, is utterly central to my being!*..it makes me feel v.despairing..too often it seems Politics (tm) are a compensation for a *lack* of empathy, rather than an expression of..their 'politics' mean jack s*** to me. give me someone who's a bit 'right-off', but who genuinely *cares!*
@peoplesrepub0fEmily It turns out that the disruption of the child mother bonding process in any given Society is the best predictor of the emergence of violence, hierarchy, religiosity and sociopathy. Google 'james prescot' and 'origins of violence' for more data on this. You're right, politics IS a compensation for that lack, because lack of empathy = lack of connection which gives rise to FEAR, and fear leads to violence.
We tend to see ourselves either as objectified machines or self-sufficient, ghostly essences/subjects (or both), and until we, in our practices and in the way we treat each other, grow out of that and come to a more enlightened understanding of what a human being actually is, we're simply not going to make it. Thank you for your writing and speeches Dr. Smail!
@badlydrawnboyan I understand that perfectly.... I am Survivor of Irish Catholic Boarding Schools and it has taken me 30 years to get tot he point where I am now. And was I angry, raging? Yes! Tinged with shame, guilt and confusion and that was toxic as f&^k! Having been able to develop self empathy for me as a child and re-parent myself myself, I still carry the scares, the memories but without the shame, the guilt or the confusion. I wish the same for all of us who have been harmed.
djlookwood 4 months ago
@djlookwood And it is the KNOWLEDGE of that pain, those wounds and what it really feels like to be abused that drives my own work forwards, that helped me see how I was mistreating my own children (slapping, shouting, ordering, bullying) and STOP and make myself accountble to them, and change my behaviours...
djlookwood 4 months ago
I agree too about the intelligence of the working class and underclass and the blindness of middle class in this regard is partly the outcome of Compulsory State Education.
djlookwood 4 months ago
@badlydrawnboyan you are correct, of course. "remote" is just a good a word as "distal". He is saying what you wrote, and his writings speak to that awareness... yes he IS middle class, and is speaking to a middle class audience... that doesn't need to diminish his core message. we are born into a power society and power damages people and then blames the damaged to mask their actions...
djlookwood 4 months ago
This has been flagged as spam show
Badly drawn boy - if you LISTENED carefully, Smail makes it VERY clear that the limits of therapy have to be recognised, and in recognising these, one is drawn to examining the kind of society we are born into - what he shows clearly in his work is that peoples lives are most often adversely affected by the influences of what he calls 'distal power' - power beyond the reach of most people to influence. That's a HUGE point to make, and one ignored all too frequently by Politicians and ideologues
djlookwood 4 months ago
Badly drawn boy - if you LISTENED carefully, Smail makes it VERY clear that the limits of therapy have to be recognised, and in recognising these, one is drawn to examining the kind of society we are born into - what he shows clearly in his work is that peoples lives are most often adversely affected by the influences of what he calls 'distal power' - power beyond the reach of most people to influence. That's a HUGE point to make, and one ignored all too frequently by Politicians and ideologues
djlookwood 4 months ago
His website is called 'Social Power and Psychological Distress: A social materialist approach to clinical psychology.
kamilla1960 5 months ago
Have a look at David Smail's books and his website.
kamilla1960 5 months ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
@badlydrawnboyan I'm fairly sure he's saying that people from exactly those sorts of backgrounds cannot be held responsible for being depressed, and that it is society's fault that they end up that way. But don't let that inconvenient fact interfere with your moronic scouse ranting.
thisaccursedman 5 months ago
Comment removed
laboheme26 6 months ago
Comment removed
laboheme26 7 months ago 12
Comment removed
laboheme26 7 months ago
Comment removed
laboheme26 7 months ago 13
Excellent. Lets stop blaming the victim.
othernessmusic 9 months ago
Thank you.
kamilla1960 10 months ago
Really important that Davids insights are being made more easily accessible.... his empathy and honesty as well as his depth of knowledge is crucial for all discourse about what we must do to create an empathic society.
Activism void of empathy will fail to do the work required.
djlookwood 1 year ago
@djlookwood ..my thoughts/feelings EXACTLY!--playlisted this a good while ago, but couldn't be bothered commenting at the time (d)...*empathy is my everything compass, is utterly central to my being!*..it makes me feel v.despairing..too often it seems Politics (tm) are a compensation for a *lack* of empathy, rather than an expression of..their 'politics' mean jack s*** to me. give me someone who's a bit 'right-off', but who genuinely *cares!*
peoplesrepub0fEmily 10 months ago
@peoplesrepub0fEmily It turns out that the disruption of the child mother bonding process in any given Society is the best predictor of the emergence of violence, hierarchy, religiosity and sociopathy. Google 'james prescot' and 'origins of violence' for more data on this. You're right, politics IS a compensation for that lack, because lack of empathy = lack of connection which gives rise to FEAR, and fear leads to violence.
djlookwood 10 months ago
I've just finished reading 'Power, Interest & Psychology', and can't remember the last time I found a book that provided more food for thought.
It's good to find someone who doesn't use the fact that there are no easy answers as an excuse for ignoring the real problems.
Many thanks to Dr Smail.
flippermost 2 years ago
We tend to see ourselves either as objectified machines or self-sufficient, ghostly essences/subjects (or both), and until we, in our practices and in the way we treat each other, grow out of that and come to a more enlightened understanding of what a human being actually is, we're simply not going to make it. Thank you for your writing and speeches Dr. Smail!
MusicByMichael 2 years ago
Excellent stuff!
othernessinfo 2 years ago