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| Are you giving up your right to think independently? |
An interesting article appeared in the April issue of TIME Magazine about an unknown aspect of Barack Obama's election campaign [1]. It was called ‘How Obama Is Using the Science of Change'. One of the central thrusts of that campaign was to mobilise as many people to get out and vote in the Presidential election in a country where voting is not compulsory. It was understood that the majority of the average Americans had had enough of the Republicans and if persuaded to cast their vote would most likely vote for change, meaning for the Democratic nominee Barack Obama. About two weeks before election day, a secret advisory group of 29 of America's leading behaviourists, known as the ‘Consortium of Behavioural Scientists', passed advice onto Obama's campaign office about how to frame their message. The key aspect was a simple message: ‘A record turnout is expected'. That was it. Now a message like that seems to carry little impact, but in fact the opposite is true. Psychologist Robert Cialdini, author of the landmark book Influence: Science and Practice, who I have quoted in previous articles, knew that the apparently simple message was quite powerful. They have found through a variety of studies that the most powerful motivator for hotel guests to reuse bath towels, national park visitors to stay on marked trails and citizens to vote, is the belief that everyone else is doing it. We pride ourselves on how far we have developed as humans, as intelligent rational beings. But behaviourists have always known we don't really act rationally. Our emotional needs and drives always take priority, and one of those needs is the need to conform or fit in with the group. You can see its survival value. To stay safe in an unsafe world we need to remain part of a group; a tribe. And we all belong to tribes - the nation we belong to, the company we work for, our family, the football team we follow and, of course, the martial art system and school we train in. The pressure to fit in and conform in all these institutions is sometimes overt and sometimes subtle, but it is always there. My point? My point is that it is worth reflecting on how that always-present pressure to think and act in conformance to our system and/or our school can blind us to its shortcomings in meeting our real needs. In our desire to please those at the top, which is what you have to do to get ahead in any organisation, we can unwittingly give up our right to think and act independently. The same pressure exists in being part of whatever the latest ‘trend' in the martial arts is. We don't want to be left out now, do we? Most of us never reach our potential because of, firstly, the limitations we place on ourselves, and secondly, the limitations we allow to be placed on us by those we defer to, rather than thinking for ourselves. In my opinion, there is, for example, still far too much emphasis on technique and physical brawn in dealing with conflict. We just don't need yet another system that comprises arm-ripping, arse-kicking moves, which are really just more of the same, repackaged to look new. In the evolution of systems, haven't we come to the end of what we can achieve with just variations of physical techniques? The next real giant leap forward in our industry will come in the area of the mind, from systems that are smarter about how we train; how we build our physical base; how we out-think rather than outfight our opponents; how we attack our opponent's mind rather than their body; how we win without getting physical at all; and, of course, how we fight the real fight - the inner fight within ourselves, against insecurity, fear, ego and lack of self-acceptance. We need more intelligence and less testosterone. To that end, I make it my mission to infect the thinking of as many people as I can with the twin viruses of common sense and critical thinking. Our industry would be far better served by more of this. As Ancient Greek historian Thucydides (460BC-395BC) once said: "The nation that makes a great distinction between its scholars and its warriors will have its thinking done by cowards and its fighting done by fools."
Graham Kuerschner is a 42-year veteran of the martial arts and an instructor in six systems. He can be contacted through his website at www.sdtactics.com.au
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