(no subject)

[andrewducker]

When we are young the only way that we can be persuaded to do unpleasant things is to be told that they are good for us. Nobody ever needs to tell us that things we like are good for us, because we do them without needing reinforcement.

This gives rise to the strange feeling that things are only good for us if they are unpleasant. I wonder if this has generally negative effects.

Comments

[heron61.livejournal.com]

I would expect so. Like many similar pieces of alleged wisdom, I thought about that one and decided that it was utter and complete hogwash and therefore ignored it. I've definitely never regretted that decision. It has become increasingly clear to me that the fact that I grew up mildly loathing my parents protected me from all manner of social programming that they attempted to inflict on me. Instead, I seem to have mostly internalized 1970 media morality, which seems primarily to consist of two rules: "Follow your bliss." & "Don't get caught."