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7 Steps to Effective Hating.
“As with all other human processes there is a quite systematic process to developing – and maintaining – enimity.
Step 1.
LOOK THROUGH YOUR EYES ONLY.
The first step in hating is to avoid considering what the situation looks like from the view point of our new ‘enemy-to-be’.
The Poet and essayist Charles Lamb, in 18th century London, had a long-running conflict with another author. The two had never met, and the conflict had been carried out through gossiping about one another and in letters to newspapers.
When a friend offered to introduce him to his protagonist Lamb hastily declined saying “I want to go on hating him, and I can’t do that to a man I know.”
Most of us find this step quite easy. We are innately self centered.
Step 2.
KEEP IT SIMPLE WITH BLACK AND WHITE THINKING.
Decide that there are absolute standards of right and wrong. And that you are right and that ‘they’ are wrong.
This is another easy step since it requires very little thinking. You simply take a stance, decide that is the right way, and stick to your guns. Avoid the tedium of having to consider nuances and perspectives.
Step 3.
WHIP UP YOUR EMOTIONS.
Become so passionate about your stance that you immerse yourself in your own feelings about the situation. This works by blocking rational or objective thinking. And avoid inconvenient details that might contradict our stance.
Step 4.
CAREFULLY SELECT YOUR EVIDENCE.
Remember, we are aiming at simplified, black and white thinking. So we don’t want to cloud the issue with too much factual information.
So you must carefully select evidence to support your view and ignore anything that might oppose it. This is not as difficult. Here’s how
(a) First select your target group – and identify particular behaviors of theirs which support your stance.
(b) Now look out for two or three examples of individuals from this group engaging in such behaviors.
(c) Generalise :
conclude that these individuals are typical of the whole group.
(d) Finally, begin gathering for evidence to support your conclusion. Be careful to avoid paying attention to any contradictory evidence as this could undermine your righteous outrage. Consider them Fake News.
Step 5.
AVOID CRITICAL THINKING.
This is another really easy step. Critical thinking generally requires that you to examine an issue from a number of angles.
Far too much effort!
Happily there is a very effective way of guaranteeing non-critical thinking about your prejudices. Join a group and have constant access to ready-made slogans, encouragement and even selected evidence to support your views. You really can’t beat a good noisy demo for developing a solid belief in your cause. All that sloganising and chanting blocks active thinking .And, if you are really lucky, you’ll get some people who oppose your cause coming out to shout at you, that should help strenthen your stand.
If you don’t have ready access to a group. You can choose to read only those newspapers, books and magazines which support your views. Social media and the internet will also do.
Step 6.
TALK !
DO NOT LISTEN.
Be sure that you do as much talking as possible when with people who disagree with you.
So, if possible, keep talking so they can’t get a word in. If this is proving difficult begin shouting. On the rare occasion when this, too, fails and you have to be silent you can sub-vocalise your prejudices and mentally rehearse what you are going to say when they shut up.
Step 7.
GOAD THEM INTO OVER REACTING.
This is a marvelous technique but unfortunately it does require some planning and some strategic thinking – and some practice. You set up a situation in which you provoke the other party into acting in ways that support your prejudices (see Step 4) . Then use Step 6 to frustrate them.
Make sure they become so frustrated with your shouting or at your refusal to answer direct questions that they lose their cool and become angry or aggressive. Then, you only need to give the audience your most innocent I-told-you-so look.
(Don’t reserve this technique for special occasions; it works equally well in everyday life).
Yes, I agree these steps can appear complicated, at first. But, trust me, you can quickly get the hang of it. If you are a beginner to the hating game accept that real skill in this area does take a little practice – but rest assured that it’s a lot easier than having to think for yourself…
As old Bertie Russell said “Many people would sooner die than think. “
(excerpts from the Pegasus News Letter,
15 April 2002).
