1 result for (book:ecs2 AND heading:"esp class session decemb 29 1970" AND stemmed:hypothet)
[... 4 paragraphs ...]
([Joel:]“I was thinking back to a few weeks ago when we were talking about a hypothetical case of two fellows having some kind of an argument with one another, and the other formulated a mental image of himself slugging his opponent. You said, at that time, it was a kind of self-defeating attitude, and it would have been much more beneficial for him to utilize his energy in striking some kind of an inanimate object or running up and down the road.”)
In that case it would have, indeed. You must remember that in this case we were not thinking of a hypothetical question but of one individual and one individual incident, and there lies the difference for we cannot really generalize in that area. Do you follow me?
[... 2 paragraphs ...]
Now, the point that our friend over here (Sue) was trying to make earlier is related, to some extent, along these lines in that you can become so afraid of violence that you overemphasize its effect. And if you will excuse me, in so doing you are taking on the guise of the devil. It is the same thing you see, as projecting upon a hypothetical devil all kinds of powers of destruction. You can do the same thing without realizing it by projecting into the idea of violence, all powers, and then it seems to you that life itself has no ability to protect itself and that any stray thought of violence or disaster will immediately zoom home and that the recipient has no way to protect himself. If this were the case your race would not have lasted out one day.
[... 46 paragraphs ...]