Chasing the dragons tale.
Mike Chillit has, IMO many admirable qualities; in particular, the quality of being more than happy to be proven wrong. Indeed there are many examples where he modestly doubted his own research or questioned his conclusions. A complete lack of ‘intellectual arrogance’ led to consultation with experts in a doomed attempt to determine the veracity of his conclusions. Bravo that man; well done.
Enter the dragon. When young children encounter ‘the dragon’ for the very first time; swift, positive, parental action is required. When an event occurs; or, a situation arises which creates fear, anger, confusion, trauma or any excess of reaction; it is always wise and psychologically sound to address the cause, explain why, in a way the child will understand, that while it may be OK to gently torment Grand mamma’s old cat; it is not such a good idea to pull the tail of a tiger. The reason is to prepare the child for the next encounter with something which frightens or angers; without this early care being given the child is unable, in later life, to recognise and deal effectively with ‘scary’ things. This is applicable to all first encounters with a ‘scary’ thing outside of the experience level. What am I banging on about? Well
Mike’s first encounter with the Australian system reminds me of the situation I’ve clumsily described above. From an unprepared person, on first encounter with ‘the beast’; the response is always the same. Self doubt is always first: “I can’t be right, must have misunderstood”. Disbelief a close second: “Nah, must be dealing with an aberration; try again”. Once doubt and disbelief are put aside, the truth dawns; cold and ugly. I have noted three main categories of response from this point. Far and away the most common is “I give up – it’s hopeless” no point in trying to kick down a tall building with your bare feet. For the ‘Australian’ system, this is a win, the protester shrugs, toddles off to the pub to lick the wounds. Second; there is the determination to ‘get organised’ join an association, get involved and try to change things through reason and discussion. This approach, whilst satisfying, is great winner for the ‘Australian’ system; the association is given some crumbs from the table with the provision that they go outside and play nice in the garden while the grown ups have tea. Divide and conquer, an art form, down under.
Chillit falls neatly into the third main group; careful examination of the undeniable facts takes him to the inevitable conclusion; something is rotten in the state Denmark. To best overcome his outrage and anger, he must, in primus, understand the system which created it. I would humbly suggest that he and any others insulted, confused and made angry by the ‘Australian’ system take the trouble and make time to study, in its entirety, the Pel-Air saga as a primer. Google will get you started.
Understanding the beast does not mean that one can change its inherent nature; but by completely understanding it, a way to manage and control may be found; even if outside assistance is required. Welcome to the club Mike; like it or not you have reached the PNR.
Here endeth the ramble; with my sincere apologies to professional ‘shrinks’ appended. But someone had to address Mike’s sane, balanced, righteous indignation produced by his first encounter with ‘the dragon’.
Right; now then, where did I leave my knitting?
Toot toot.
Mike Chillit has, IMO many admirable qualities; in particular, the quality of being more than happy to be proven wrong. Indeed there are many examples where he modestly doubted his own research or questioned his conclusions. A complete lack of ‘intellectual arrogance’ led to consultation with experts in a doomed attempt to determine the veracity of his conclusions. Bravo that man; well done.
Enter the dragon. When young children encounter ‘the dragon’ for the very first time; swift, positive, parental action is required. When an event occurs; or, a situation arises which creates fear, anger, confusion, trauma or any excess of reaction; it is always wise and psychologically sound to address the cause, explain why, in a way the child will understand, that while it may be OK to gently torment Grand mamma’s old cat; it is not such a good idea to pull the tail of a tiger. The reason is to prepare the child for the next encounter with something which frightens or angers; without this early care being given the child is unable, in later life, to recognise and deal effectively with ‘scary’ things. This is applicable to all first encounters with a ‘scary’ thing outside of the experience level. What am I banging on about? Well
Mike’s first encounter with the Australian system reminds me of the situation I’ve clumsily described above. From an unprepared person, on first encounter with ‘the beast’; the response is always the same. Self doubt is always first: “I can’t be right, must have misunderstood”. Disbelief a close second: “Nah, must be dealing with an aberration; try again”. Once doubt and disbelief are put aside, the truth dawns; cold and ugly. I have noted three main categories of response from this point. Far and away the most common is “I give up – it’s hopeless” no point in trying to kick down a tall building with your bare feet. For the ‘Australian’ system, this is a win, the protester shrugs, toddles off to the pub to lick the wounds. Second; there is the determination to ‘get organised’ join an association, get involved and try to change things through reason and discussion. This approach, whilst satisfying, is great winner for the ‘Australian’ system; the association is given some crumbs from the table with the provision that they go outside and play nice in the garden while the grown ups have tea. Divide and conquer, an art form, down under.
Chillit falls neatly into the third main group; careful examination of the undeniable facts takes him to the inevitable conclusion; something is rotten in the state Denmark. To best overcome his outrage and anger, he must, in primus, understand the system which created it. I would humbly suggest that he and any others insulted, confused and made angry by the ‘Australian’ system take the trouble and make time to study, in its entirety, the Pel-Air saga as a primer. Google will get you started.
Understanding the beast does not mean that one can change its inherent nature; but by completely understanding it, a way to manage and control may be found; even if outside assistance is required. Welcome to the club Mike; like it or not you have reached the PNR.
Here endeth the ramble; with my sincere apologies to professional ‘shrinks’ appended. But someone had to address Mike’s sane, balanced, righteous indignation produced by his first encounter with ‘the dragon’.
Right; now then, where did I leave my knitting?
Toot toot.