Ron said to dmb:
I for one, have benefitted tremendously from this forum. The breaking and
re-patterning of rigid static values has been a boon to me, the work is on
going and ever in play. PTSD had governed my life for quite awhile and although
the breaking of those patterns came at the cost of some ugly debate on my part,
I still regard those who stuck to the conversation despite my desperate vicious
clinging to old values as paramount to the living understanding that is MoQ
and this discuss. Thanks to all who care enough to disagree and the have the
courage to see the discussion through.
dmb says:
PTSD is more like an injury or wound than an illness, no? In any case, your
description reminded me of an important distinction. Static patterns (karma)
provide a necessary stability but sometimes, as you put it, we cling
desperately and these old values become too rigid (bad karma.) PTSD is a very
stark example of how this works. The vermiform appendage (or Appendix) "is the
shrunken remainder of a large and normal intestine of a remote ancestor. This
interpretation would stand even if it were found to have a certain use in the
human body." Vestigial organs are analogous to bad karma. They are adaptations
that served a purpose once upon a time, but have become obsolete. Their
original function no longer makes sense. And so it is with PTSD, eh? The victim
was in an extreme situation that demanded certain adaptations. In war, it might
be a really good idea to be paranoid and hostile and to put a mute button on
certain moral sentiments. I war, that sort of hyper-vigilence will
save lives and otherwise get you through. But those adaptations are going to
be wildly inappropriate if you're out in the suburbs with your family and
friends. At that point, one's adaptations to war are evolutionary garbage, are
bad karma.
This is something we all have to deal with, although usually the bad karma
isn't so conspicuously bad. Clinging to patterns that no longer serve their
purpose is something we all suffer from. I see it in personal relationships and
in large scale political and religious attitudes as well. Did you hear about
the right-wing Christian who gunned down more than 80 liberal kids at a summer
camp the other day? Multiculturalism is rubbing up against a very ancient
tribal instinct and some people not only cling to that instinct, they act on
it. I'd bet some of the survivors will soon be seeking treatment for PTSD.
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