(Punishment part 9)
Addicts Are Parasites and Vice Versa
To think like an addict is to think like a parasite, and to think like a parasite is to think like an addict. When processing information and reality through perceptive valuation, especially towards the volatile end of the spectrum, all things are prioritized according to consumption, selfishness and convenience.
Both parasites’ and addicts’ outlook and worldview are necessarily shaped by beliefs that prioritize personal convenience ahead of systems and reality. What’s more is that both parasites and addicts believe the answer to everything is always acquiring more of that which they desire…
Are you addicted to meth or heroin? If so, somehow, the answer to pretty much most of your problems in life (at least during the time of your addiction) will amount to getting more of the substance you’re addicted to. In fact, when seeing reality through a lens of addiction, your worldview will become an assortment of things you desire more of…
More access to substances and opportunities to score highs; more ways to secure, obtain or take intoxicants from others; more reasons and ways to justify, sanitize and rationalize your addictions and behaviors, etc, etc, etc…
The same principle applies to conceptual substances as well. Are you addicted to punishing things? If so, then your answers to every problem will likely boil down to finding reasons and ways to blame and punish (abuse) things. Are you addicted to authority? Somehow all of life’s problems will seem solvable by simply acquiring more authority. Security, status, reputation, wealth… Its literally all the same principle.
Addicts tend to think along the lines of: “My problem isn’t the substance, but instead, everything interfering with my ability to live freely and/or consume with abandon.”
Parasites view reality in this exact same way. It doesn’t matter which species of parasite you’re referring to, the outlook and worldview is fundamentally no different…
For diseases and/or viruses (in terms of both the “hive mind” and virion alike), as it relates to co-opting the bodies of the organisms they invade, what they generally recognize and perceive as the universal answer to most problems can reductively be expressed as: “Acquire more. Acquire more of the body, systems and cells and subdue. Take what I/we need, and prioritize self above system. Consume, consume, consume.”
Larger parasites, such as tapeworms or tongue louses would think/say: “Acquire more. Take your pick and fill of the food first.”
Weeds destroying an ecosphere would think or say the same: “Acquire more. Take what I need first.”
All forms of invasion and land occupation throughout recorded history, as seen through the outlook of settlers and/or invading forces: “Acquire more. Us/me first. Consume, consume, consume. My/our consumption and security ahead of all things, including and up to the system itself.”
The problem with perceptive valuation — that is, the outlook and mode of parasitism is that at its most fundamental levels, it’s wildly paradoxical. A disease is comprised of organisms that think and prioritize information and reality just like the hive mind that seeks to use and then discard them. In other words, all diseases are necessarily in competition with themselves for survival. They both are, and are comprised of organisms whose outlook sums to: “Consume, consume, consume! Exploit, exploit, exploit! Me first, me first, me first!”
So every parasite necessarily thinks like a drug addict. They process information and reality in the exact same way. “I must consume! If I don’t consume I’ll suffer and die! My comfort is my life! My life is more important than other lives or the inconveniences others experience as a result of pursuing my needs, which means my comfort is necessarily more important than other lives! Anything that attempts to interrupt my consumption is threatening my life!”
You can’t solve problems that stem from addiction by thinking like an addict, just like you can’t solve problems created by parasitism with parasitic thinking. It simply can’t be done. Albert Einstein is quoted as saying (something to the effect of): “You can’t solve problems with the same type of thinking that created them.” This is actually a universal principle.
Does this mean addicts and parasites aren’t or can’t be smart? No. They can be very adept and mentally capable in a wide variety of ways. But do they tend to be stupid, as in mentally lazy, and prone to sticking close to lanes of reasoning that are convenient to their addictions and supplemental beliefs? Yes. Perceptive valuation’s propensity for mental laziness makes individuals and organisms who perform through it, especially those who’ve advanced towards the volatile end of the spectrum, prone to sloppy errors in judgment.
I cannot stress this concept enough… It is impossible to solve mechanical problems with authoritative or moralistic thinking.
Addiction is a mechanical problem. It is necessarily the product of an alien organism operating in the human brain, steering the thoughts and behaviors of humans towards substances seen and unseen that serve to extort chemicals from their body, so that it can feed off of them.
So for people addicted to punishing things, moral tongue lashing will do nothing to solve the problem of their addiction. In fact, morally chastising people rarely accomplishes anything towards helping them overcome addictions.
Racists are addicted to punishing people with melanin. If you treat it like a moral issue, then nothing gets accomplished. If you treat the phenomenon of racism like an addiction, then you can approach the problem mechanically and empathetically, and help them come to see their addiction and the effect its having on their lives.
Telling a meth head they’re wicked for smoking meth is the same as telling a racist they’re evil for being racist. A better option is to attempt to interrupt the behavior so that the individual(s) in question can see the effects their addiction to punishing others is having on their loved ones, their countries, groups and the world around them. You have to get them out of the echo chambers in the same way you have to get drug addicts away from drug dens.