Bill Burgess

"The intensity of the conviction that a hypothesis is true has no bearing on whether it is true or not." - Sir Peter Medawar, Advice to a Young Scientist (1979)

[Bill Burgess @ProfSondergaard]

@TaniaAMarshall @karenmitchell__ DM'd you.

@karenmitchell__ I read the initial query the same way you did! I was puzzling over why this stranger was suddenly interested in who I am 😆

[Bill Burgess @ProfSondergaard]

@karenmitchell__ It sounds like what you’re calling the partner henchman is basically the “head flying monkey” — that is, manipulated, controlled, and cognitively dissonant like all the others, but with a more intimate, intertwined, and dependent relationship?

[Bill Burgess @ProfSondergaard]

@karenmitchell__ This is why IMHO the first topic to teach naive audiences about predators is not their evil, which few will believe, but instead how not to be a flying monkey. Limiting the pool of easily-manipulated people won’t stop predators, but it will hammer their primary force multiplier.

[Bill Burgess @ProfSondergaard]

@y9574894179375 @karenmitchell__ The predator’s magnificent acting skills have convinced the stooge, or “flying monkey”, that his or her own identity (as a “good” person) and/or security (job, finances, relationships, membership in the in-group, peace & tranquillity) are under direct threat.

[Bill Burgess @ProfSondergaard]

@shadows_control It is incredibly hard to fathom how any person could be so profoundly two-faced. Rather than grapple with the wrecking ball that realization takes to one’s Hallmark-card view of the world, far easier to dismiss the messenger.

[Bill Burgess @ProfSondergaard]

@shadows_control Extremely difficult, but there are three things anyone can do:

1. Learn what flying monkeys are.
2. Ask yourself if you are a flying monkey.
3. If you are, stop.

If you can avoid inadvertently reinforcing the predator’s narrative that’s a blessing in itself.

[Bill Burgess @ProfSondergaard]

@karenmitchell__ @DrDoyleSays And thus the children of predators are often unable to manage their boundaries in a healthy way. Then they fall prey to the predators in charge of social messaging who say boundaries are mean and evil. Building healthy boundaries as an adult takes incredible strength.

[Bill Burgess @ProfSondergaard]

@Laura55977Laura @karenmitchell__ Just trying to answer your question as best I can. It’s challenging because different speakers use different language that can cloak the deeper issues instead of revealing them. @karenmitchell__ is among the most direct and intellectually honest IMHO.

[Bill Burgess @ProfSondergaard]

@Laura55977Laura @karenmitchell__ Surely the vast majority of high-functioning psychopaths, by definition really, would rather kill psychologically than physically. Why not, since they have the talent for it. But I do fear focusing on the physical killers takes the spotlight off the psychological killers.

[Bill Burgess @ProfSondergaard]

@Laura55977Laura @karenmitchell__ By "predator" @karenmitchell__ usually means those who have brain anomalies, which lay people often call psychopaths (versus sociopaths, who don't). Low-functioning psychopaths kill physically and end up in jail. High-functioning ones kill psychologically and end up in charge.

[Bill Burgess @ProfSondergaard]

@karenmitchell__ It IS strange with the caps, like a formal diagnosis. It reinforces Shedler’s “everybody’s on the narcissism spectrum” view. True, some narcissistic behaviors result from being raised by narcissists. Still, it’s critical not to provide institutional cover for the real psychos.

[Bill Burgess @ProfSondergaard]

@adamtaggart It's not just what you're born with
It's what you choose to be
It's not how big your share is
But how much you can share
It's not the fights you've dreamed of
But those you've really fought
It's not just what you're given
It's what you do with what you've got.

-- Si Kahn

[Bill Burgess @ProfSondergaard]

@Peter_Atwater An important nuance: the most effective bullies never bully everyone. Most they schmooze, telling them exactly what they want to hear. When some refuse to “submit” to the good news, suspecting it’s fake, they face not just the bully but everyone the bully schmoozed.

[Bill Burgess @ProfSondergaard]

@LisaBritton Be careful with your word, of course. But probably around 10% of people prefer appearing right over being right; wronging others over working with them; fomenting drama over having peace. They'll always be there, and they'll never be reasoned with. It's useless to engage them.

[Bill Burgess @ProfSondergaard]

@omnamaste @DrDoyleSays It is desperately exhausting! We want so badly to be "good" -- but "good" usually gets defined as "good for someone else".

Of course it is beautiful to be polite, kind, and generous. But the great Mary Oliver was on to something when she wrote "you do not have to be good".

[Bill Burgess @ProfSondergaard]

@JuliusRuechel @hardee_ty Here’s where it gets interesting. Intuition in itself is a form of perception, not belief or opinion. Perception CAN be trusted, as far as it goes; but judgements based on that perception cannot. It takes practice to tell the difference.

[Bill Burgess @ProfSondergaard]

@ModemWarsVet @TheAliceSmith My world view changed completely when I realized that government bailouts of any time, place, or form are to rescue creditors while appearing to rescue debtors. The real goal of government-sponsored student debt was always to guarantee income to schools, not advance education.

[Bill Burgess @ProfSondergaard]

@Peter_Atwater Social control these days generally seems to revolve around most ordinary people wanting to get along and not be accused of evil by those who talk loudest. Will "me here now" end that? Will social power shift from the loud accusers to voices more responsive to daily struggle?