That's quite the extreme hypothetical situation you're describing, but as with any choice to counteract one's natural compulsions, only combinations of psychiatric and cognitive therapy which involves habituation will overcome automatic response, and this takes time, mindfulness, training, observation, analysis and effort.
Let's say your hypothetical person is a victim of domestic abuse, for example, who suffers from PTSD from past childhood and present-day trauma and is triggered by fast movement on the periphery of their vision, including fast movements which are completely harmless, into a semi-fugue "freezing" state. Within this patient, the 'instinct' to fight-or-flight has been consciously repressed to such a degree that he or she can do nothing to protect his or herself. They need to re-engage their instinct of fight for the most basic self-protection.
While certain courses of drug, light or hormonal therapy might be prescribed by a psychiatrist to treat issues such as depression, anxiety and sleeplessness, this sort of situation would require forms of cognitive therapy as well, perhaps some art therapy to reveal significant memories in a safe, gentle and controlled fashion; a slow-paced martial arts training like Tai Chi to, not only teach effective blocking and parrying techniques, but to provide ritualistic and habituated behaviour modification that sets up new pathways linking the frontal cortex with the amygdala; they may need physiotherapy techniques based on Chinese accu-pressure massage in order to regain a sense of territorial boundaries over their own body; assertiveness training to reinstate emotional boundaries .... The cognitive approach could involve anything and would be utterly dependent on the responsiveness of the patient.
This is a very superficial analysis and my examples, descriptions and outcomes of therapy are very crude, but circumventing a self-destructive compulsion, or even any form of habituated behaviour, is not an easy matter.
I didn't think I was being extreme, nor that off-topic. I was trying to make a case that if you come to people with knowledge of the future which originally took a certain course because people behaved and reacted in a certain way, to what extent can you expect people to change their reactions? My point was it is harder than you think, even if they believe you. Some people will despite it all still choose to react the same way.
Right, since reactions tend to be based in compulsion, not considered behaviour, ergo habituated and ruled by the subconscious or limbic system. Reactions, as distinct from actions which are based on measured and often seminal decisions and thought-processes engaging different parts and functions of the brain.
Most people behave in a passive, but reactionary manner. Even if they realize that their behaviour is dangerous, foolish and ultimately damaging to themselves, even if a catastrophic future is revealed/foretold to them (such as the current example of climate change), they will stubbornly cleave to the past. And they will continue to do so unless they are lucky enough to receive that lightning bolt strike of a shock which results in a clear epiphany and paradigm change, and has the interesting result shown on MRIs of lots of activity around the pineal gland. The term 'reactionary' was not lightly given. It is literal.
Great discussion ... oh and another word for stubbornly cleaving to the past - cognitive dissonance ... no matter what evidence is provided, people will stick with their beliefs.
The problem with subconsciousness or compulsion is that it underlies awareness, so one isn't ever aware of it. Awareness usually has to be drawn to it from an external source, which can be a force of nature.
Or to put it another way, many people will find a way to consciously rationalize doing what they have always done and feel comfortable with even if the circumstances are completely altered. After a while our patterns of behavior and thought become almost instinctive, even the more conscious ones, and most require some time at least to change. However most of us change gradually over time anyway. You could say it is a combined influence of conscious experience and subconscious development. Meaning that even though a person doesn't actually experience any change consciously they may still develop subconsciously resulting in a change of outlook.
Do people change that much? I mean, essentially and inwardly, not laterally as in changing careers, moving to a new community or conquering a challenge like losing weight, learning a new language or making more money? If you are charting a course of change over centuries, you might detect threads of natural evolution affecting change over human groups, usually precipitated by the catastrophic and very painful repercussions of earlier activities, but what a slow process!
Omg. I love this thread. I love this community. I love how reading yaoi could lead to enlightening convos.
Wouldn't the self-fulfilling prophecy also apply to this though? The fact that they've been told their destiny. And because they believe that it will happen, they will unconsciously have the tendency to behave in a way that makes that belief to be true.
isn't the first rule of psychics don't tell people what's supposed to happen? cause that's how the fuuture gets changed