Ways To Recognize The Siren Song Of Self

Cognitive distortions are overgeneralisation, dichotomous thinking and personalisation (McLeod 2008). These distortions reduce the persons ability to process information (Mcleod 2008). Research suggests that cognitive distortions are part of the way everybody handles difficult situations, therefore should they be regarded as causes of emotional problems? (Mcleod, Pg.145).

Samuel Butler once said, “Self-preservation is the first law of nature.” This statement could not be more true because self preservation is the greatest human motivator as it grows in power as the world evolves, and establishes all basic humans needs and desires that other motivations lie within. Cynicism is often considered to be a form of skepticism (Cynicism=Self Preservation). However, the belief that all people are motivated by self interest is partially true. Humans are born with a natural desire to protect themselves, protect their image as seen by others, and make their life as fulfilling as possible and there are many examples to showcase it.

People whose self-concept high incongruence makes their experience contradict with their self-perception. Relatively incongruent self-concept leads to recurrent anxiety. There for from this anxiety they display defensive behaviour in order to relate their experience with their self-concept so that it will seem quite accurate, i.e. they protect their self-concept by displaying defensive behaviour of ignoring, denying and twisting reality (Wieten, 2014).

Specifically, in paragraph seven, he uses short, concise sentences and clauses to get his point across. “I was lucky. I read books…” (217). His repetition of the word “I” and “I read” give the audience a sense of aggressive importance. Alexie stresses that he read books everywhere, naming quite a few places (which were not common areas to read) and even specific examples such as simple things like bulletin boards and magazine covers.

This articles is about his friend that had received a letter from his daughter. Watkins didn’t know that his friend was one of millions that can’t read. Not only that but he doesn’t want to learn or feel it’s necessary. It made him want to help his friend learn to read, because at one point in time Watkins was the same as his friend. He was out in the streets, until he found a books worth reading. He said, “I went from a guy who solved problems by breaking a bottle over someone’s forehead to using solution-based thinking when resolving issues ⎯ reading instantly civilized me. And if it can work for me, I believe it can work for anybody”

Interviewing these millennials the conclusion that ethos, pathos and logos had an effect to which puts them off of reading for fun. However, if the book was on a topic that they like, then they wouldn’t have a problem with reading it, for example Brad. Brad was one of the five millennials that i had interview and got to know a little more about his reading habits. Brad, 24, is a high school graduate who hasn’t attended college and works full time at his family store, Gordon’s Bait & Tackle. I had asked Brad if i could interview him about his reading habits and throughout the interview, he states that he never reads, and that the only time he read was when his teacher assigned the class a book, and “even then I usually never read them” he said.

The quotes that he yells at Montag, the way he speaks about Clarisse, and the fact that he says that it is okay if a fireman reads a book or two throughout his career show that he is not a normal person in this society and is intrigued by books and the

Oh, to scratch that itch, eh? Well, Montag, take my word for it, I’ve had to read a few in my time, to know what I was about, and the books say nothing! Nothing you can teach or believe. … You come away lost.’” (Bradbury 59) He explains that the words in books do not seem to be of any value, and that reading them gives the reader not a speck of insight into any aspect of life. In this society, his words ring true for almost everyone, except those who managed to learn before the schools shut down and those who yearned to understand what books say. Furthermore, Beatty’s attempts to force Montag into the mold of this society pushes the man to search for wisdom in the depths of literature.

Granger explained. “All of us have read a book and memorized it to tell others who haven’t read. If we memorized it, we don’t need the physical book and we won’t get in trouble with the law. Beatty here has read Ernest Hemingway’s work and many other books. I have read Plato, Simmons is Marcus Aurelius, we got Jonathan Swift, Charles Darwin, Schopenhauer, Einstein, Albert Schweitzer, Gandhi, and Thomas Jefferson and many more living in our minds and not in a book.” Montag turned to Beatty and asked “Why didn’t tell me?” Beatty says “Would you have believed

Richard didn’t like to read not only because he couldn’t but because it made him feel alone. One quote that explains what he’s trying to say is,”To console myself for the loneliness I’d feel when I read, I tried reading in a very soft voice”(2). Mr.Rodriguez did not like reading at all, because he spoke very little english, so the school set him up with at tutor. He would meet with this tutor and she read so well he started to actually like reading,”Our sessions pleased me: the smallness of the room; the noise of the janitor’s broom hitting the edge of the long hallway outside the door; the green of the sun, lighting the wall; and the old woman’s face blurred white with a beard” (2). This quote is saying that it started to not make him feel alone anymore. After the days went he began to read more and more and he started to love it. In Strange Tools he says, “Didn’t I realize that reading would open up whole new worlds? A book could open doors for me. It could introduce me to people and show me places I never imagined existed” (3). When Richard realized the importance of education and how important it was to read he began reading and got a B.A. at Stanford University, got a M.A. at Columbia University, and was a Ph.D. candidate in English Renaissance literature at the University of California,

Notably, Stephen King writes, “I read because I like to read.” He goes on to talk about how he does not read fiction to study the art; he reads it because he enjoys it. Making a great point, Stephen shares that although you are learning during each book you read, especially the bad ones. When you read a bad

Cognitive dissonance means feeling tension when our thoughts and beliefs are inconsistent. An example of this is when people smoke even though they are aware of the consequences that can occur such as cancer which leads to cognitive dissonance. This occurs almost everyday in our lives, whether we are aware of it or not. An one example that was shown on one of the episodes of Friends made us aware of this happening.

If one has poor self-concept and sees oneself as unworthy then they will present themselves this way, which will result in a negative response from people. If one feels good about oneself, they will present themselves as worthy, which will result in a more positive response from people. The perceptions, beliefs and attitudes that steam from self-concept, will affect one's social surroundings. One will either come out of a situation with a positive or negative concept of these surroundings. Poor communication can cause one to have a poor perception of oneself. One's emotional state, dislikes, likes values and body image are affected by the opinions of others and can render one to have an inferior and insecure self-concept.

The difference between condition one and three is that condition three allowed the participants to self-affirm after finding out their verdict was in disagreement with the other group members. Festinger argues that the lack of choice adds consonant cognitions which reduce the overall amount of dissonance that otherwise would be experienced (Festinger, 1957, 1958; as cited in Matz & Woods, 2005). Additionally, the opportunity to self-affirm strengthens self-worth and thereby reduces the dissonance created when people’s actions threaten their personal integrity (Simon, Greenberg, & Brehm, 1995; as cited in Matz & Woods, 2005). Thus, Matz and Woods hypothesize that dissonance will be reduced by the lack of choice and the opportunity to self-affirm. The results show low levels of discomfort in the lack of choice and self-affirmation conditions, providing an explanation of the kinds of strategies people use to reduce dissonance.

Justification of a wrong action would be a moral disengagement. Unethical actions always cause severe consequences to society.