ZetaTalk: Denial
Note: writen during the September 21, 2002 Live ZetaTalk IRC Session
As matters heat up, the earth changes becoming obvious, affecting jobs and hitting the nightly news increasingly after a long
period of being suppressed, many who mulled over the issues and debated them logically will cease to do so. This is a
matter of being personally overwhelmed, of being unable to see a route to safety, of being unable to imagine life after the
expected impact. The mind boggles into a state of panic, and the only route is continued panic or denial. Denial is used
extensively in human society, more than the average human would expect.
- An employee desperately needing the job will not notice any threatening signs that their performance is under par, or
the company may institute a layoff. Thus, the layoff comes as a shock, when it hits, but at least the employee is able to
work during this time, and thus better his changes if the layoff did not occur. Thus, is it a survival mechanism.
- The primitive tribe, in the woods and hunting, gathering nuts or tubers, cannot constantly think about an impending
attack by a carnivore, else would be debilitated and unable to function. Thus, they deny that such an attack could occur
at any moment, bustle about the day, gathering and hunting and cooking, and function. When the attack by a carnivore
occurs, it is a shock, some die but not all, and the tribe regroups. The outcome is hardly different, except that with
denial, they functioned, and if frozen in fear, would die of hunger instead. Thus, denial should not be seen as a
weakness so much as a survival mechanism inherent in the human, engaged when matters become overwhelming.
Just as some humans will go into denial when matters heat up, others will come forth. There are those who are in the
background, mulling over the issues, who will find their voice and courage when the issues become pressing. The hero,
emerging.
