What do you think of 'The Rider and The Elephant'

>>8870070
Here's an explanation of this metaphor I blatantly stole.

The Rider is the conscious side of our brains that we control, the elephant is the bulky unconscious side that moves us.

The Rider can not control the elephant he can only train it.

The Primal Instincts of the Elephant are Food, Water, Sex. Since the first two are easily attained in developed countries. That Leaves the Elephant with plenty of extra time that it must fill. This is accomplished via television,video games, sweet processed foods, materialistic, consumerism, chasing the opposite sex. "Money,Sex, and Power" Is what the Elephant wants since food and water are taken care of.

However these things do NOT bring happiness.

1)Examples of the Elephant in Control: Average College student

Being a College student in a Fraternity, it is very apparent that the college is when Everyone's Elephants Control the rider to a large degree. College is essentially the peak of Elephants season. This is due to Movies(Animal house/American Pie) and society's saying "Its the best years of your life",TFM, and being away from your parents.

Kid's are consistently involved in Drinking,smoking pot, Socializing, sex, eating bad food, TV, Video games. "Living in the moment" They like to say or new age "You only live once bullshit. College can quickly turn into 4-6 years of self-indulgent, self-destructive behavior of letting your elephant run your life. You are consistently looking for the next fix, this is how freshman-15lb becomes so true.

Master Rider's: Jesus, Budda, Ghandi: These People are seen as Godly in a sense since they master the Elephant and took total Control of the Elephant. No Easy task.

First is Elephant control Vs Second is Rider Control:

Tv vs Reading
Fast food vs Home cooked
Not working out vs Working out
Making below a 2.5 GPA vs Making above
Excessive Drinking vs Casual Drinking
Majoring in something easy Vs Majoring in something difficult
No Intership vs Internship
No saved or invested money vs Invested and saved money
Pop-Tarts for breakfast vs fruit and veggie smoothie
Nothing vs Meditiation
Not going to Church vs making the effort to go occasionally.

One is instant unsatisfying dopamine fixs, the other long term, self-Improment and respect for the body.

Kid's in Ivy Leagues and/or Top state Universitys have strong emotional intelligence who can control the Elephants desires and generally are better off in life.

P.S. Warning however the Rider can always be overthrown.

Take Fortune 500 CEO scandalize, Bill Clinton, & Tiger woods. Men whos rider's were so productive and in control it rose them to the highest status in their fields. Only to Reach the top and have the Elphant crash it down.


How to Train?

Stop eating bad food
Read instead of watch TV
Meditate
Wake up early
Only go out to party once a week/ couples times a month
Join clubs
Make above a 3.0
Be friends with similar minded people, not self-destructive monkey's.
Workout

>>8870070

Simplistic deceptive explanation.

>>8870126

>The Rider can not control the elephant he can only train it.

Training is a form of control.

>Majoring in something easy Vs Majoring in something difficult

Did your mommy and daddy not love you enough to arbitrarily take up harder tasks to prove yourself to them?

The rest is okay by the way.

>>8870134
control in the sense you can only indirectly influence it.

>>8870126

useless pseud. neck yourself.

Pop psychology and self help books are a thousand times worse than the worst genre fiction. In no way are they literature just because they come in a book form.

>>8870179
>pop psychology
They teach this in university psychology, it's academic.

>>8870126
i object to this idea. it would criticise the moral for making us unhappy, but it itself originates a false dichotomy which is making the unhappiness; these suggested behaviors only make people feel like they have control because they're battling something difficult. Doesn't mean that's meaningful or even productive.

I have tremendous respect for Jon Haidt, and you should too.

>>8870354
>I have tremendous respect for Jon Haidt
Why?