Levels of Influence
Based on Smail D (1966) How to survive without Psychotherapy; Constable; ISBN ) 09 478480 9
It has been said that, 'No man is an island unto himself'. In this age of the mass media this is truer than ever before.
Everybody these days is influenced by their own body and experiences, by their family and local experiences and also by the political and economic goings-on of people who are physically far away but who reach inside their heads through the media.
It has got to a stage where it is possible to believe that nobody thinks their own thoughts. Everybody is programmed into thinking and acting in a particular way by their family and their local community and these in turn are programmed more and more by what they read in the papers, watch on the telly and can buy in the superstores.
| As individuals we are free to choose between options but our freedom is measured by the number of options which we see as being open. The fewer apparent options the less the freedom and thus the less possibility of adjusting to circumstances which we find to be somehow unacceptable. |
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Authenticity as free-born human beings thus demands that we be aware of the influences which are shaping our beliefs and behaviours such that we can see possibilities for changing these should they be leading us in directions which we find to be unacceptable. The following diagram might help in visualising the pattern of influences which bear down upon us all the time.
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From far away |
Influences
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Local |
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Personal |
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Give three examples of how influences from far away have affected your wishes.