In my defensive process, I breathe life into everything I give attention to by assigning values to those things based on bias. My bias sets the baseline value of whatever fear and trust I place on things.
When it comes to value judgements…
Bias = assigned value
In order to identify present threats and benefits, I refer to past biases that give validation to those in my present experience to increase the value to any biases I defend.
4 Aspects of My Value-Defined Defensive Process
There are four aspects to my value-defined defensive process –
- What is “it”? I assign a name symbolizing what I observe with my senses. Ex – I see a cat. My cat symbol represents most forms resembling cat. The name for “it” = cat and includes some identifying sub-symbols, such as size, speed, agility, fur, color, patterns, sharp teeth and sharp claws, sounds, diet preference for meat and etc. Objective observation of form.
- How is “it”? I assign a nature symbolizing how “it” behaves. Ex – a cat’s nature is to chase, kill, and eat other animals, etc. Objective observation of behavior.
- Why is “it”? Through imagination and emotion, I assign a causality, a relationship that identifies threats in my observations. Ex – a cat killed and ate another animal, therefore, it COULD do the same to me. Subjective interpretation.
- Who is “it”? I assign an identity – a label that identifies who I am compared to “it” – a perceived causal relationship between observed behavior and personal identity. Ex – I am afraid because a dangerous cat entered the room. Who combines the previous aspects and characteristics, turning objective observation into active subjective projection through labeling, reacting and blame! Externalization!
To protect my precious values, I circle the wagons, so to speak, by assigning “Who” to “What” through blame and projection. By automating the process, I strengthen my biases. Over time, I become the four-aspect, value-defined defense process – “It’s just who I am…”
This circular defense distracts my attention away from who I really am, keeping me in a chronic state of fear that I experience as suffering.
The solution to this stuck state of thinking is to simply change the answer to the last question. Who is “it”? When I get honest with myself, I must answer in first person – “it” is I.
