Devil's Snare

 

     

Your usual reaction to being triggered will usually get your usual outcome. You become predictable when the same words or same circumstance get the same response out of you.

     It's like setting a trap. If you understand your opponent, you can predict their reactions to a stimulus, which means you can think ahead enough to trap them where you want them to be.

If you really want to throw people off, don't give them the reaction they want. Or no reaction at all.

It's that "tit for tat" instinct in us all that traps us in the cycle of bitterness and vengeance, and if we know how each of us reacts when triggered, that reaction can be used against us. It makes us predictable, and if you are predictable you are manipulatable, trappable, and controllable. 

     There was this scene in the first Harry Potter, where Hermione, Harry, and Ron fell into a tentacle plant called "Devil's snare."  A hideous looking plant that tightened its grip the more you resisted.

   The only way to beat it and break free was to go against instinct and give the opposite reaction of what you usually would in a situation like that and just relax. The snare wants you to freak out. That's how it tightens its grip. You give it the reaction it doesn't want, you diffuse its power.

    I think the same is true for a lot of the real world. People predictively bite baits and fall into unnecessary situations because predictable human instinct led to a predictable reaction.

     The systems that oppress depend on the predictability of the oppressed. If you give oppressors the reaction they want, like the devil's snare they only tighten their grips and you feed your own oppression. You give them a reaction they didn't anticipate, it forces them to change their strategy, which might free you up a little bit. You relax and maneuver more quietly and more calmly, the snare's not as tight and if they strike you unprovoked than they look like the bad guy to whoever's watching.

     You are only really controlled if you are predictable, and if you throw a reaction that your bullies, oppressors, or opponents didn't anticipate, or one they didn't want, it flusters them and sometimes puts them on the defensive.

The ability to liberate yourself or others in an oppressive situation hinges on your ability to be relaxed when needed and your ability to be creatively unpredictable. 

"If we don't know what we're doing, how can our enemies possibly predict what we're gonna do?"

    -Random U.S. WWII soldier

Just remember, if you're in a snare or a trap, just relax and breathe. It makes the ropes a little less tight. What's the worst that could happen, you die? That's a liberation. Entropy guarantees that all oppressive systems, whether they be traps or governments, will collapse over time and freedom is inevitable.

So if you feel oppressed, just relax and have a beer. Entropy will guarantee your liberty!😁