Not Just Any Emotion: Shame in Behavioral Science Crosshairs
Psychologist Karen Horney viewed it with the intensity needed to call it a Tyranny. The father of therapy through teaching rational thinking, Albert Ellis, zeroed in on shame as the source of a large amount of distress and mental health problems, denouncing the shame and even called it “Musterbation”. And it continues to be seen as problematic to this day, being described as the root behind most psychological problems, and perpetuating the problem it is trying to solve. I am keeping the links simple for easy reading, but even this opposing case notes that there is a really broad consensus with shame as the enemy, so bear in mind that this is just scratching the surface.
Psychologist Karen Horney viewed it with the intensity needed to call it a Tyranny. The father of therapy through teaching rational thinking, Albert Ellis, zeroed in on shame as the source of a large amount of distress and mental health problems, denouncing the shame and even called it “Musterbation”. And it continues to be seen as problematic to this day, being described as the root behind most psychological problems, and perpetuating the problem it is trying to solve. I am keeping the links simple for easy reading, but even this opposing case notes that there is a really broad consensus with shame as the enemy, so bear in mind that this is just scratching the surface.
A Simple Way To Start Practicing Receptive Skepticism
RS is about realizing these necessities, like opposing shame and shaming, and adjusting for them. When we first got started, then as Community-Minded Skepticism, we began with a starting focus on making a form of skepticism that avoided shaming. Before trying to start understanding some of the other things about RS, the advice is to start with the part of scorn called shaming.
Questions To Ask
RS is about realizing these necessities, like opposing shame and shaming, and adjusting for them. When we first got started, then as Community-Minded Skepticism, we began with a starting focus on making a form of skepticism that avoided shaming. Before trying to start understanding some of the other things about RS, the advice is to start with the part of scorn called shaming.
The doorway to Receptive Skepticism, is to align your advocacy, and your defense of science to anything else, but shaming. And finally, listen for that internal message that tells you that you are obligated to shame someone, for believing the wrong thing, for doing the wrong thing, or saying something rude or hurtful or offensive to you. That is a false obligation.
Questions To Ask
- Why use shaming as a way to treat the bad behavior around you?
- Why use it against a rude person, or a wrong person who is too confident?
- And above all, when the science doesn’t support its viability as an effective treatment, would you ever use it to defend science, or advocate for what is scientifically true?
Share Past and Present Scenarios
So, to start, when you feel like shaming someone for any of that, come to our RS group online, share where you felt like shaming, and ask what can be done instead of it. If you shamed someone for any of that, come to the group, and ask for what could have been a better alternative to shaming. Let’s explore the alternatives.
Source: te