Research shows that a more accurate notion of one’s powerlessness can result in a greater feeling of helplessness and is associated with depression. Several classic studies show that moderately depressed people are more critically thinking than those who are not depressed. Researchers Lauren Alloy and Lyn Abramson, studying nondepressed and depressed subjects who played a rigged game in which they had no actual control, found that nondepressed subjects overestimated their contribution to winning, while depressed subjects more accurately evaluated their lack of control.

If you are critical thinking enough to see the reality of just how much influence the corporatocracy has and how little power you have, then you are going to experience more pain than those who do not see these truths.

Above is an excerpt from a blog post by Bruce Levine. By self assessment, It’s safe to say that I would fall into the category of the subjects who more accurately evaluated their lack of control. Not that I’m pessimistic mind you, I just have an overwhelming sense that reality is larger, more complex and harder to grasp then most think. To quote ECCLESIASTES 24:

“Reality lies beyond my grasp; and deep, so deep, who can discover it?”

To see if Bruce thinks it is possible to validate these feelings of hopelessness while at the same time challenging the wisdom of inactions based on hopelessness, and to see if it possible to challenge it in a way that doesn’t insult the intelligence of critical thinkers, go read the rest of his post here.

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Tags:anarchismAnti-AuthoritariansismBruce LevineDepressionOccupy Wall Street