This morning I was remembering about when I first learnt about the Holocaust, I stated thinking about this on my way from my morning Step class to work. What got me thinking about the Holocaust was a rude Step participant who decided to make my instructing experience a difficult one, a big jump from one thought to the other, but somehow I got there and here I am.
I didn't learn about the Holocaust until year 9, which I think is quite shameful. It was in English, which I always thought was an inappropriate place be introducing these occurrences to students. Sure, we were studying Elle but it became a matter of exploring the concepts of the Holocaust as opposed to the concepts of the book. So complex and intense are the concepts, perhaps better suited for History or a social science subject. Anyway, there we were - the teacher cramming 30 students into a small square in the center of the class room which was measured out and segmented by chairs. This was to simulate the confined space that the victims were subjected to as they rode across the country to the concentration camps. It was good to see the teacher thinking of ways for us to really understand what it was that these people went through but I remember thinking that he'd have to throw some corpses and feces in with us and leave us trapped for weeks to imagine what hell awaits us to even being to come close to simulating the experience.
I wonder how a teacher stands in front of a class and explains what happened during this time, how do they say, "During WWII, not that long ago, a group of people systematically and very consciously tortured and killed more than 11 million fellow beings, as disgusting, painfully and inhumanely as possible." - I guess like that. I remember my reaction, it was confusion and lack of understanding, "huh? what!? why!?" The questions flooded in, the jist of them being, "why would people do such horrific things to another?" - Or how could they!? I slowly began to understand with explanations such as the area being in a Depression, the genocide was designed so that people didn't see the great affects of their contribution or the individuals detaching themselves from what it was they were doing - they were just 'making the trains run on time.' Having studied Social Psychology and the experiments done specifically on the questions, 'how?' and 'why?'. I begin to understand further.
I think that's one of the main reasons why I study Psychology. To understand what forces contribute to a person's behavior because for someone to just be bad or evil doesn't cut it for me. I study Psychology to understand objectively and scientifically why people do the things they do. I feel more comfortable with being a person with these human qualities and living in this world when I can explain or understand behavior in this way. I still struggle with the questions daily, 'why would/how could someone consciously, and even intentionally cause another person pain or distress?' Usually when caught in the situation, the objective Psychologist is thrown out the window because I see something so horrible happening and all I can do is feel the pain and repeat the questions in my head, 'how?' 'why?' And these questions send me insane, quite honestly. It does my head in to see it happening, it does my head in to see it being allowed to happen. More than that, it makes me depressed.
So what are my ways of dealing with the empathetic overload? Firstly, I volunteer myself to help others; this is my biggest motivating factor. Because although, admittedly, I do turn a blind eye to a lot of suffering in the world (some of this suffering occurring in my own home), a way of me dealing with the pain that surround us in this world is knowing I am at least doing something, I am at least helping someone. It means when I ignore a homeless person on the street I can tell myself that I am doing what I can and that I can't help everyone. The other way I deal with all of this, like I've mentioned, my mistress Psychology. When I can't take it anymore, Psychology allows me to hide behind a clipboard and lab coat and instead of feeling the pain of this world. I think up explanations and sometimes, justifications for such behaviors and for the state of society as a whole and that way I am not so much feeling it as I am observing.
Ah, defence mechanisms, a fascinating Psych concept that has very much been on my mind lately. More to think on the topic, more to blog on the topic.
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I think I first learnt about the Holocaust in year 11 when we had to watch Schindler's list in English. I don't think I quite grasped the sheer horror of it then, and probably still refuse to think about it much even to this day. Why torture ourselves over past mass genocides? There's only so much one can cope with, and thats even with defence mechanisms. I'd be more interested in learning about preventing the kind of psychology that leads to horrendous acts of violence and chaos.
ReplyDeleteSometimes I think learning more about defence mechanisms would help us deal with the "little" problems we deal with on a daily basis so that we can focus more on projecting our efforts and energy to creating a more harmonious society by working on our own public behaviors.
Then again, maybe if we have less defence mechanisms, we might be more empathic to disasters like the Bushfires, and hence more motivated to volunteer our time and services like the many thousands of people still toiling away willingly and pausing their lives around the state to rebuild. We can only do what we can.
C
I think a lot of people do refuse to think about things like the Holocaust (and on home soil, the genocide of the Indigenous folk). Personally, I think we all need to know about these things, really know about them. Because it's not something that lies in the past that hasn't reoccurred, it does reoccur and is still occurring. I think letting it lie as a past tragedy runs the risk of something on that huge scale happening again. Many people still hold the same beliefs that fueled it and it's not a far stretch.
ReplyDeleteAnd on defense mechanisms, yes, I think they can both save a person or harm a person. Helpful up to a certain point but taken too far or used for too long can be hindering. As a Psych it is an interesting thing to see when someone is deeply emerged in a defense mechanism, a Psychological bubble if you will, and making the decision that they need stay in their bubble or perhaps slowly pulled out of it.
I wonder what the world would look like if we were all shed of our guards and our reservations against feeling complete compassion and empathy towards the world. Hmmmm, socialism would rule I can imagine.
Mmm, interestingly enough I don't think Socialism would prevail. Here's why. If all the guards and reservations were shed (like the way alcohol strips away inhibition), and not just the ones against empathy and compassion, you would get pretty much what you have today... CHAOS! I do like the idea of socialists states, but at times it's hard to counter arguments of "why should I be supporting homeless and drug addicts when they can't and won't help themselves?" And then you've got the problem of socialist states becoming centres of the best and worst of people, i.e. those who just want an easy ride, and those who want to be saviors (which again is another psychological thing the "Messiah Complex". The TV series Heroes covers this in some detail. Idealism and reality have trouble reconciling sometimes...
ReplyDeleteC