Being woke, awakened or enlightened is a regular headline in American culture.
“Woke” is a powerful word. It not only has social dominance (bordering on threat), but assumes the foolishness of anyone who is unawoke. No one wants to be unenlightened and ignorant! So either be woke or a fool walking in darkness.
What if you don’t want to be woked? What if your preconceived beliefs prevent wokeness?
When I was a young psychology intern my supervisor once said, “Most people who come for therapy already know what they want, they are just looking for affirmation.”
In my 35 year career I have found this to be generally true. We want someone to affirm our passions, beliefs and values. People say they are “opened minded” but there is always a line in the sand when anything gets too close to an opposing value we hold dear. Putting aside one’s personal passions, desires and wants is an enormous challenge, regardless of reason. We don’t woke easily.
Search the internet for the psychology of reason, bias and how we change our minds.
Thousands of research papers and books demonstrate how personal bias dictates what is reasonable and how we see truth through those biases.
Evolutionary psychologists believe reason was used to advocate for survival. What was reasonable is what promoted the “survival of the fittest.“
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