Humility Part 3: Protection Against Ideological Possession
In the third and final part of this series on Humility, I'm going to discuss some thoughts on how and why people choose to not pursue humility, and how it relates to a concept called Ideological Possession.
What Humility Isn't
As I discussed in the first part of this series, one of the reasons that people don't pursue humility is because it provides an easy escape from shame. Another general reason may be that humility is not viewed as a virtue, but rather as something that should be avoided. In my experience, I've found three reasons why people view humility this way.
- The belief that humility is a weakness.
- The belief that humility is lying.
- The belief that humility is being silent.
Humility Isn't Weakness
The belief that humility is weakness is rooted in the misunderstanding of what strength is. Humility can be thought of as a weakness when we view people who are driven and ambitious as being strong and capable. This is a wrong perspective because comparatively, it doesn't take a whole lot of strength to be ambitious. It takes discipline. It takes knowledge. But when compared to the mental rigor needed for humility, it pales. Since humility takes admitting your faults, there is a tremendous amount of emotional and cognitive maturity that is needed. That is something far rarer than the ambitious pursuit of goals.
Humility Is Not Lying
Humility is dedicated to the Truth. The two cannot be separated. I believe there is often a misconception that to be humble means that you need to be willing to lie to make someone feel better. I believe this comes from a lack of understanding of the distinction between perception and Truth.
To lie means to say something that is objectively not true. That is, to misrepresent the Truth. I've heard it said that when someone asks you to apologize for something you didn't do, you shouldn't apologize. This is because to apologize would mean that you have to lie about what happened.
This is true only so far as it applies to apologizing for something that you objectively haven't done. (An example would be being accused of stealing something that you didn't take)
If someone asks you to apologize for something that you didn't perceive that you did. That is a different circumstance. This is because what you believe to be true is only based on perception. In that case, humility would see the difference and understand that to apologize would not be misrepresenting the truth. It is acknowledging the fact that your understanding of the truth is based on your perception, and therefore fallible. (An example of this would be apologizing to a family member for hurting their feelings)
Our perception of reality is only a combination of our understanding and belief. It's not reality itself. This means that there is always room for us to learn and grow.
Humility Is Not Silent
I think there can also be a misunderstanding that humility means that we have to be quiet. Being quiet is not synonymous with humility. While there are many times where humility dictates that we listen as I alluded to earlier, we have to realize that listening is not the same thing as quietness.
Listening is actively engaging mentally with what someone is saying.
Listening is processing what is being said for the purpose of understanding the message that is being conveyed.
Humility cannot be defined solely by a lack of speaking. Speaking is part of what it means to be truly humble. Humility is being willing to speak and being willing and open to being wrong. Humility is about being willing to make mistakes in order to learn from them and grow. It's the combination of self-awareness and dedication to the pursuit of truth.
So, what does humility have to do with this concept called Ideological Possession?
What is Ideological Possession?
To understand Ideological possession, we first have to understand what ideology is.
Ideology is defined as the forming and grouping of ideas to explain the world around us.
The word ideology comes from the terms idea and logos in Greek. Often an ideology is formed when ideas are grouped into a set of axioms that are used to interpret the world. These groups of ideas often bring people together into groups that center on these ideas. Some prominent examples within American culture are politics (left and right-wing), and religion (Christianity, Islam, Cults, etc.)
Ideological Possession occurs when someone unquestioningly accepts a single ideology as absolute truth, able to explain everything in the world.
This differs from someone who simply accepts an ideology. This is because Ideological Possession progresses to the point where the person no longer has an original thought. All of their thoughts are dictated by ideology. (Hence the term "possessed") Instead of owning the ideas, ideas own them.
Characteristics of Ideological Possession
When someone is "possessed" by an ideology, there are a few characteristics that you can identify.
The first one is that you can predict almost everything they are going to say. Once you understand the core principles of the ideology that has been accepted, you can predict their thoughts, opinions, and answers to questions. This of course doesn't mean we should assume this in people (as I wrote about earlier) I believe everyone has something to teach us even if they are ideologically possessed. However, people can get to a point where they no longer have any original thoughts which can take away part of what makes them human.
Another characteristic of ideological possession is the belief that the person has full knowledge of the world through the lens of the ideology. This often can be rendered as an inability to confront the complexity of existence. As I'll state below, one of the reasons people become ideologically possessed is because they want to avoid the complexity of existence. This also manifests itself by shunning any thoughts or ideas that exist outside the confines of the ideology.
Ideological possession is often tied to toxic forms of tribalism. When someone identifies as part of a social group, they tend to also accept at least some of that group's beliefs. When one unquestioningly accepts their tribe as being "on the right side of history" There is a good chance that ideological possession is not far behind.
The Danger of Ideological Possession
While Ideological possession has many dangers and pitfalls, the primary one that I think relates to humility is the fact that when you are ideologically possessed, it becomes part of your identity.
From a psychological perspective, your brain receives positive feedback when you find part of your identity in a social group. When you are ideologically possessed by the social group, you now tie your identity to your unquestioning adherence to an ideology. This is so dangerous because now you've added another layer of difficulty to practicing humility.
Manson's Law of Avoidance is a concept described by author Mark Manson which states simply:
"The more something threatens your identity, the more you will avoid doing it."
Not only does humility require that we put aside our desire to make ourselves look better than who we really are, but for the ideologically possessed person, they also need to re-define who they are at the core. This causes massive levels of cognitive dissonance and tremendous force within their mind that opposes humility.
Ideological possession is diametrically opposed to curiosity, creativity, and humility.
Why Do People Become Ideologically Possessed?
In my reading and study of this topic, I've been able to identify some key desires that often drive someone to unquestioningly subscribe to an ideology. This is by no means exhaustive, but just some examples of how it can play out.
Fear
"The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown" - H.P. Lovecraft.
Ideologies can replace the pursuit of Truth with simplistic answers that attempt to enclose the Unknown in a finite box. Fear drives us to protect ourselves, and when we fear the unknown, we are quick to accept anything that will make the unknown seem to disappear.
The reality is that what we know is a drop in the ocean compared to what we don't know. When people aren't willing to accept that, they turn to ideas that claim to give answers to all of life's questions.
Pride
Again, going back to part one of this series, pride is seeking to find self-worth within the positive traits and actions of ourselves. This is done by making us look better and others look worse. Ideological Possession does both things simultaneously. Not only are you able to surround yourself with people who will tell you you're right about everything, but you are also able to vilify everyone that doesn't agree with you. It's a win-win as far as your ego is concerned!
The obvious problem is of course that it's all a lie. Worse yet, anyone who tries to tell you that it's a lie will be ignored.
Desire for Power
Another reason people become ideologically possessed is because of the power that can be harnessed through it. Cults are formed for various reasons, but the result is that someone at the top has a tremendous amount of power over those under him or her. This desire for power can be another driving factor for someone to become ideologically possessed both as a leader and a follower.
How Humility Protects You
I believe Humility is the single greatest protection against Ideological Possession. This is because humility prioritizes the pursuit of Truth over omniscience and accepts the human limitations associated with that pursuit.
Understanding this protects you from Ideological Possession which insists that you can have the correct answer to everything and that you can get to a place of understanding where there is no more unknown.
Humility also accepts the fact that reality is complex and that simple answers are not often sufficient to describe those complexities. This protects you from following people or ideas that claim to be able to answer complex questions in simple terms.
Humility requires that you listen to people. This protects you from assuming that people are ignorant, stupid, or evil. While I'm not saying that people may not be any of those things, it should not be assumed, nor be used as defining them as people.
Finally, humility also requires that your self-worth be independent of your traits and actions. This protects you from finding your identity in your "rightness".
Conclusion
If I could boil down this series of articles into a single paragraph it would be this:
Don't fear the things you don't understand. Embrace your finite mind. Accept the Unknown and engage it to pursue the discovery of Truth. You will grow personally in respect for others and help people around you grow effectively through your humble curiosity.
Ideological Possession robs you of your identity and replaces it with the identity of something or someone else.
In closing, I want to thank you for reading this series of articles. I'm excited to be able to do this and hope that it has been helpful to you. I would enjoy hearing any feedback or constructive criticism as I would like to practice what I've written about and continue learning and growing on this journey we are all on called life.
Be Humble, Stay Curious.
-Josh