Partly because it's like a Tesla fluid valve: simple once discovered, but not so easy to discover. Anyone could think of it but nobody has; there are only a few people talking about EFA at all, almost all are focused on fixing yourself (not a bad start) and a small number on disaster relief. The closest we've had are some drop-in counselors, mostly at schools, but they're prevailingly aimed at sweeping problems under the rug so it doesn't bother others. Nobody's really suggested putting EFA next to physical first aid, despite the fact they run neck-and-neck at venues or events. This obstacle has now been fixed, and everyone reading this has the option of setting up or at least suggesting EFA in any sizable group or space they occupy.
This is related to the fact that mental health care lags far behind the physical. The only case where people even recognize that there's a difference between mental illness (arising from within) and mental injury (arising from outside) is PTSD, that even there they still call it mental illness; efforts to classify it as an injury have thus far failed. Much of the mind is a black box to most people, including professionals. Nothing to be done about that on a large scale, but on a small scale, anyone having access to a better model can simply ignore the slowpokes and use the better one themselves.
Partly because doing it well costs some some money for tools and supplies, and even the most basic version requires a few square yards of space, two things to sit on, and a person.
On an official level, it's because healthy happy people with a secure sense of self are much harder to manipulate. If you can't make them feel inadequate with a commercial shaming them for having imperfectly white socks, then you can't sell them sock-whitener. :/ If they aren't already fearful, it's difficult to frighten them into supporting an unjust war. Also, if they know the logical distortions and how to challenge them, politicians can't get away with using those all over the platform. That wort of thing.
But mostly it's because people don't care about each other. Some are genuinely indifferent, others just too exhausted. If someone's crying, they walk past and ignore it. If the police are slowly murdering someone, they walk past and ignore it. People are trained not to get involved in anyone else's problems, and then when it's something society wants them to stop -- like a freelance murderer chasing a woman down a street slowly murdering her -- everyone is "surprised" and "shocked" because people did exactly what they'd been told all along: they ignored it.
Those of us who disagree with these principles are free to pursue alternatives. I can't fix society. I can describe how it could be fixed, and what it might look like after repairs.
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dancing_serpent
Well...
Date: 2017-04-30 05:13 pm (UTC)This is related to the fact that mental health care lags far behind the physical. The only case where people even recognize that there's a difference between mental illness (arising from within) and mental injury (arising from outside) is PTSD, that even there they still call it mental illness; efforts to classify it as an injury have thus far failed. Much of the mind is a black box to most people, including professionals. Nothing to be done about that on a large scale, but on a small scale, anyone having access to a better model can simply ignore the slowpokes and use the better one themselves.
Partly because doing it well costs some some money for tools and supplies, and even the most basic version requires a few square yards of space, two things to sit on, and a person.
On an official level, it's because healthy happy people with a secure sense of self are much harder to manipulate. If you can't make them feel inadequate with a commercial shaming them for having imperfectly white socks, then you can't sell them sock-whitener. :/ If they aren't already fearful, it's difficult to frighten them into supporting an unjust war. Also, if they know the logical distortions and how to challenge them, politicians can't get away with using those all over the platform. That wort of thing.
But mostly it's because people don't care about each other. Some are genuinely indifferent, others just too exhausted. If someone's crying, they walk past and ignore it. If the police are slowly murdering someone, they walk past and ignore it. People are trained not to get involved in anyone else's problems, and then when it's something society wants them to stop -- like a freelance murderer chasing a woman down a street slowly murdering her -- everyone is "surprised" and "shocked" because people did exactly what they'd been told all along: they ignored it.
Those of us who disagree with these principles are free to pursue alternatives. I can't fix society. I can describe how it could be fixed, and what it might look like after repairs.