Dr. Martin Hash Podcast

Control is the most insidious human motivation. The fundamental goal of all people, either consciously or unconsciously, is to be in control. The simple fact is that you are the center of your universe, as are we all, and we all wish to control our universes. Any personal action fundamentally boils down to whether we gain more control, or escape the control of others. This is why, deep down, people despise any kind of authority because by definition, being managed by others is lack of control.

There are three things that immediately affect our control: first, there’s social hierarchy, like government: it's something we accept but we don't like it. Then there's change: anything new has the inherent defect that it is unfamiliar, hence, unknown and threatening to our control. This is the basis of conservatism and popularity of tradition. Finally, knowledge is power, and if someone else is more knowledgeable than you, they threaten your control. No one can know everything, so we can choose to accept our lack of knowledge or we can ignore things we don't know: this is the motivation behind science denial & mysticism. Political ideologies are all about control: for example, socialists demand the individual must bear the yoke of society, while libertarians claim that society must submit to individuals first.

Always there are some people eager to gain control over others. They are always testing for ways to exercise control. In fact, society has implicit rules, like courtesy, that can be leveraged to give people control. Beggars exploit courtesy, as do all the self-centered vegans, gluten-freers, allergies, and every other kind of courtesy free-rider. What those people are really doing is imposing their desires on you, they are exerting control. Similarly, claiming victimhood, historical adversity or disability is an attempt at control. Another manifestation of seeking control is to consciously be illogical & act irrationally: these people are intentionally exploiting the base reactions of those around them: pity, charity, fear & cowardliness. However, the most common method of imposing control is claiming mystical beliefs. This justification is enshrined in America's "religious freedom" mythology, which seems persuasive to inattentive, unsophisticated & in individuals lacking wisdom. If you are not vigilant, you can easily fall under the control of one of these tactics.

We may verbalize some other, more socially acceptable reason for seeking control, like duty or honor or, my favorite, efficiency, but the real goal is apparent for anyone looking to see it. Personally, I have no problem with everyone owning their own universe, as long as it doesn’t affect me, which is why liberty is so appealing.