Who Needs the Hard-Wiring Myth?

Published by

Clarissa

November 16, 2013

People who believe that human beings are “hard-wired” to be the way they are make perfect consumers. They don’t believe that it is possible to solve their psychological, relational, occupational, etc problems. If their personal lives suck, that’s because men and women are hard-wired in a certain way. If they are depressed or anxious, that’s because of hormones or chemical imbalances. If they have no friends, that’s because they were born with a disorder that makes them shy. If they struggle academically, that’s because they have ADD.

All that these sad, lonely, flailing people can do to mitigate the hardships of their existence is buy stuff. Buy medication, buy self-help books, buy membership in a social network. Buy mind-numbing distractions like alcohol, video games, junk food. Buy, buy, buy.

This hard-wiring belief wouldn’t be so wide-spread if it weren’t so damn profitable.

Rate this:

7 responses to “Who Needs the Hard-Wiring Myth?”

musteryou

November 16, 2013

They make sure their work is cut out for them. Slavery is a hard choice, but somebody has to make it — may as well be them.

I had some guy say to me yesterday that everybody was basically a victim of their unconscious impulses and that we shouldn’t think otherwise. But he is standing there saying that as if he has insight and is capable of seeing what is or isn’t true about other people. To me, he is just a victim of his unconscious impulse to chatter away like an ape. I mean, it is possible to be logically consistent about this.

LikeLike

Reply
David Gendron

November 16, 2013

I think your blog was hacked in the preceding post.

LikeLike

Reply
1. bloggerclarissa
  
  November 16, 2013
  
  It is a very beautiful piece of furniture, actually. 🙂
  
  LikeLike
  
  Reply
musteryou

November 16, 2013

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kelly-brogan-md/mental-health_b_4264126.html

LikeLike

Reply
Benoni

November 17, 2013

I don’t think it’s wise to dismiss biological brain conditions outright. If the brains a chemical machine, then it matters how that machine is “wired”. It only becomes a problem when people who find security in despair use it as an excuse to keep torturing themselves.

I’m dyspraxic. That’s part of my “hard wiring” – my visual processing skills are the same as a ten year old’s, so it takes me forever to write anything by hand and it ends up as an unreadable scrawl. I am also perpetually disorganised. But by typing all my schoolwork and maintaining a strict organisational routine, I’ve done pretty well at school and I’m now on my way to university. Dyspraxia wasn’t an academic death sentence like some people would believe.

It’s not a myth that “hard-wiring” exists, but it’s a myth that there’s nothing you can do about It.

LikeLike

Reply
David Bellamy

November 17, 2013

I agree, Benoni. Hard-wiring is a fact of life. It is what makes us different from rabbits or tigers. I know that I am hard-wired to be unable to remember people’s names, even my students’. I could overcome this if I spent three hours a day for the first month of the semester staring at photos of my students and repeating their names out loud over and over. However, even that would be stymied if a student changed his or her hair style or glasses. I do eventually learn names, but it takes a very long time.

LikeLike

Reply
1. cliff arroyo
  
  November 17, 2013
  
  I manage to learn their names and faces quickly enough but have some problems in associating the two in real time.
  
  LikeLike
  
  Reply