Overcoming the Influences of the Past

Cosponsored with Philosophy + Therapy

You already know where it came from. You've probably known for years.
So why are you still doing it?
Why do so many thoughtful, self-aware, well-read people still catch themselves:

• bracing for criticism that hasn't come
• explaining themselves to people who didn't ask
• reading silence as rejection
• choosing the familiar over the good
• knowing exactly why they do it, and doing it anyway

A Guide to Rational Living — the 1961 book that became the foundation of modern cognitive therapy — has a blunt answer. The past shaped you, but it isn't what keeps the belief alive today. You are. Not through weakness. Understanding where a belief came from has never been enough to loosen it, because what holds it in place is how often you repeat it to yourself.

We'll get into:

• where these beliefs actually get installed
• why understanding the origin changes so little
• what the Stoics said about this two thousand years earlier
• the difference between a memory and a statement you keep repeating
• what it looks like to actually argue with a belief

No reading required. We listen to the chapter together.
The plan for the night:

• Quick intro from me — who I am, and where these ideas came from
• We listen to Chapter 7 together (~20 min)
• Small-group discussion (~20 min)
• Q&A and open discussion

Not therapy. No diagnosis. Nothing you have to share. Just a good book and a more reasonable way to see the world.