George Lakoff on How to Frame Disturbing Political News

Guidelines from a cognitive scientist about how to deal with what's happening in our country.

Originally, this was a post I shared on Facebook describing what a friend learned when she saw the well-known UC Prof of Linguistics and Cognitive Science  George Lakoff  (UC Prof of Linguistics and Cognitive Science) speak on Sunday, Jan 29 as part of the Praxis Peace Institute speaker series.

When I first wrote this simple top ten list, it immediately soared to the top of my "most clicked" posts. It has gotten more traffic than anything else I've ever posted. I think it's a testament to how much we are all looking for clear, simple coping advice for our current American political turmoil. 

1. Don't use his name.

2. Remember this is a regime and he's not acting alone.

3. Do not argue with those who support him. It doesn't work.

4. Focus on his policies, not his orange-ness and mental state.

5. Keep your message positive; they want the country to be angry and fearful because this is the soil from which their darkest policies will grow.

6. No more helpless/hopeless talk.

7. Support artists and the arts.

8. Be careful not to spread fake news. Check it.

9. Take care of yourselves; and

10. Resist!

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To dig into Lakoff, start with Don't Think of an Elephant.

Since this top ten list went viral and suddenly got a lot of attention, I added this followup to set the record straight.

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Update after Viral Explosion - Feb 8, 2017

This list and post has gone viral on Facebook (including a 4K share attributing his points to Coretta Scott King) and as a result Professor Lakoff has made this statement:

"The 10-point list going around, attributed to me, is not quite accurate. I'll be back soon with something better."

As soon as Professor Lakoff fine tunes these points, I'll be adjusting and amending accordingly here. Stay tuned.

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And then - Feb 9, 2017

In response to me about the list: "It’s quite alright! We want good, hopeful ideas to go viral. You could not have anticipated the response would be so massive. It’s a good sign that goods ideas can travel. The key is to produce more of them. Thank you for your effort. And enjoy this Washington Post story, which attributes the list to Bernice King…"

Final Update — February 10, 2017

Professor Lakoff has now released his official list! He calls it “Ten Points for Democracy Activists.” Here’s it is:

Ten points for Democracy Activists by George Lakoff

1. To understand the basic issues, read:
   A Minority President: Why the Polls Failed, And What the Majority Can Do
2. Know the difference between framing and propaganda: Frames are mental structures used in thought; every thought uses frames. Every word in every language is defined relative to a mental structure — a frame. Frames, in themselves, are unavoidable and neutral. Honest framing is the use of frames you believe and that are used to express truths. Propaganda expresses lies that propagandists know are lies for the sake of political or social advantage
3. Hold Republicans accountable. Trump is dominating the media, partly to establish his authority, but mainly to divert attention and provide cover to Republican leaders. Keep focused on Republican actions. Minimize publicizing Trump — his image, his name, his tweets.
4.  Focus attention on substance, not sideshows. Trump’s attacks on freedom, democracy, and the innocent matter more than his tweets. Positively and strongly reframe his pre-emptive framing.
5. Focus on democracy and freedom. In a government by, for, and of the people, there is, or should be, no distinction between the public and the government. The consequences are:
   1. Empathy: government should care about, and for, the public
   2. Transparency: government should inform the public truthfully;
   3. Freed om and Opportunity: the private depends on public resources, both for private en terprise and private life. For example, if you’re not educated, you’re not free. If you have no health care, you’re not free. If you’re impoverished, you lack opportunity.
   4. Republicans are destroying all of these by: Removing “regulations,” which are public protections; Imposing gag rules and budget cuts on government agencies removes transparency; Privatizing education, protection, communication, infrastructure, nature; etc. are attacks on freedom)  
6. Be careful not to spread fake news. Check it out, on the “big four” non-partisan political fact-checkers — Politifact, Factcheck.org, the Washington Post’s Fact Checker, and Snopes.com. Subscribe to real news.
7. Understand the brain’s politics: All ideas are physical, embodied in neural circuitry. The more the circuitry is activated, the stronger the circuitry gets and the more deeply the ideas are held. Worldviews are complex neural circuits fixed in the brain. People can only understand what fits the neural circuitry in their brains. Real facts can be filtered out by worldviews. “Alternative facts” are lies — falsehoods that follow from ideologies that are fixed, that define one’s identity and so are taken as ‘higher truths.”
8.  Remember: We’re the POWERFUL American Majority. No more helpless/hopeless talk. Anger, fear and cynicism benefit Trump’s GOP. Remember: Don’t think of an elephant! Don’t use Republican language, or repeat their positions, even to negate them. Frame using ideas you believe and real facts that are contextualized and morally framed. Avoid isolated facts and numbers. The best resistance is positive persistence.
9. Be positive: frame all issues from a progressive moral viewpoint. Take the viewpoint of the public good, not corporate profiteering. Take the viewpoint of the impoverished and weak, not the rich and powerful. Take the viewpoint of preservation, not the destruction of nature.
10. Join the Citizens’ Communication Network: until it is officially functioning, you can unofficially join by following me on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/George-Lakoff-Official-165643503477608/) and Twitter (@GeorgeLakoff) for regular thoughts and updates.

Highly recommended background reading: The ALL NEW Don’t Think of an Elephant! and Moral Politics, 3rd edition.

Originally published Feb 3, 2017. Updated Aug 18, 2017.

Are you finding yourself Dead Sea Scrolling on news stories?

In the Beautiful Voyager community, when we find ourselves getting stuck reading the same social media stories or news feeds over and over, we call it "the dead sea scroll."

These days the news is unprecedentedly grim. There's no getting around it. We've never had a more divisive culture in America. It is tearing apart families and instilling a deep feeling of panic in many, many people.

The Dead Sea Scroll is particularly harmful to mental health at a time like this. That's why I posted this simple message today on Facebook.

I urge anyone who wants to escape the DSS to consider giving mediation a try. I use the Headspace app. Here's a little video on kindness from the founder of Headspace.

Whatever you choose to do, be it an experiment like changing your body temperature, listening to a pump-up soundtrack, or snowglobing away bad thoughts  or trying meditation techniques, I hope you will try something. Don't stay in the dead sea scroll.

Anxiety Does Not Make You Better At Work

It’s time to dismantle one of anxiety’s biggest myths.

An argument I hear frequently from friends: “Anxiety helps me. It helps me get things done on time. It helps me get the house clean. It helps me be good at my job.”

I say to them what I’m saying to you now: fear of fear — excess cortisol and adrenaline surging through your body — does not help you to be better at your job or family life. The campaigns you’ve mounted to avoid hormonal physical punishment may lead you to believe that you are better and stronger as a result of your struggles. But the truth is that’s just YOUR STRENGTH shining out despite impediment. That’s not anxiety’s good work.

Why accepting this truth is important.

It’s the first step toward superpower activation. If you have anxiety or you’re a perfectionist, like I am, you already spend an inordinate amount of time trying to figure out how to “fix” things. But in order to find the change you seek, it’s your relationship with anxiety that needs to change.

I cannot stress enough how difficult it can be for those of us with generalized anxiety to believe this is true. We have justified and internalized our own thought patterns for so long that changing them can feel as awkward as practicing a foreign language aloud. But believing this core truth about anxiety — that it is not helping you out in any way — is a crucial first step.

It does help you in one way, though.

If anxiety isn’t helping me in the way I thought it was, can I learn anything from it? Here’s how I think of it: instead of fighting against the cortisol and adrenaline surges, I try listening to them and allowing them to come and go. These hormone surges can be an incredible insightful tool. Once I learned to tune in to them, boundless wisdom awaited me. “Don’t take that job!” “Don’t hang out with that person anymore!” The absence of the surge also held great information: “You are happy in this place.” “You can see how others are reacting based on their own fears.” “You can approach things differently.”

It’s time to break up.

To get to the place of tuning in, you have to give up your old co-dependent relationship with your buddy anxiety. If you’re keeping it in a tightly wedged fixed place where it’s an obstacle to overcome, you might be keeping yourself from claiming the insight you deserve (you’ve worked hard for it, after all).

Originally posted Feb 9, 2016. Updated August 16, 2017  

Try: Giving Your Inner Critic a Silly Name

BY DIANNE JACOB, Food Writing Coach

Need a fresh idea for dealing with your inner critic? Of course you do. The critic never goes away. The issue is how to deal with him or her.

I read about an idea you might find useful: Give your critic a silly name. That way, his or her negative pronouncements about your abilities carry less weight.

I tried this approach with a talented client who can't seem to get around to writing. I suggested she name her critic Mildred. My client giggled. Suddenly, the critic seemed goofy. She had less power.

It makes sense to name your inner critic after Joan Crawford in Mildred Pierce.

We talked about how helpful Mildred can be in other areas of my client's life: in food styling, recipe development, creating a beautiful home, and designing a photo for Instagram, for example. My client relies on Mildred to help her make good decisions through criticism. But somehow, Mildred isn't helpful to her when it comes to her own writing.

Ethel is a great inner critic name.

Isn't that interesting? Now the challenge is to get Mildred to help her in this final arena, where Mildred has been harsh. My client reports that "the writing has begun...slow and steady." Hooray!

It all sounds quite logical, but as we know, taming the inner critic is a slippery process. I've dealt with her messages in my head forever. But I'm naming her Bertha now, or maybe Ethel. Already I like her better.

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If this experiment works for you, hit the heart (no login required) to let others know they should give it a try!  

Try: Slow TV

Let extremely chill Norwegian vibes cover you in relaxation.

National Firewood Evening. Enough said.

My friend Carl (sharer of great ideas in How to Deal with an Anxious Partner) told me that he found himself watching a two-hour train ride to Oslo on Netflix.

"Oh yeah?" I said. "What happened?"

"Literally nothing," he said. "And it was great."

Carl had discovered Norwegian Broadcasting Company’s “Slow TV,” which has been running on Netflix since last August. In the words of the Daily Beast's Daniel Bukszpan:

If you’re wondering what happens on these shows, the answer is simple—nothing. Nothing happens on any of these shows at all, unless you consider the two-minute firewood-stacking explainer preceding the six hours of crackling log action to be “something.”

Train Ride Bergen to Oslo

I loved what Carl said about watching this ride, 

It's almost like you readjust your watching behavior, such that when the train comes through a tunnel and you see a new incredible panorama, it is genuinely exciting. You just get lulled into it.

If your nervous system is running ragged, this experiment could be just the thing for you. It seems like an amazing thing to have on in the background when you're working on something else. I wonder if I could scratch out the time to go through my personal household filing while watching the Norwegian National Knitting Night? Sounds like a winner to me.

If this experiment works for you, hit the heart (no login required) to let others know they should give it a try!  

Anxiety and Your Body : An Intuitive Connection

By Vishal Verma 

Anxiety is very common at all ages. Even youngsters and the elderly experience it.

If you were to pick out 20 random people off the street I can assure you, at least 15 would have faced anxiety at some point in their lives. 

Considering that, I want to explore:

What does anxiety do to your body?

The answer is not as complicated as you might think.

Let's start from the top of the human body. How does anxiety affect hair?

You've probably heard about people losing their hair due to stress. Do you know that people who take medications to address anxiety or depression are even more prone to hair loss? Or that they can lose hair at an alarming rate? Here's why. Anti-anxiety and anti-depressive medications are made to relax both your mind and body, helping suppress your symptoms. In some cases, the medication can lead to low potassium in you body (or a low RBC count). When that happens, you lose your hair from all over, even your arms and legs. [Editor's note: Please don't let this dissuade you from trying medication! It doesn't happen in all cases, and medication can really help if you need it. Thank you, MA]

Back to the body. In particular, your trunk and waist. When you're experiencing mental trauma, you start to feel even the smallest of glitches that you might never have paid attention to in the past. Cramps, upset stomach, or even stressed eyes are some examples.

In anxiety you tend to pay more attention toward small aches and pains for no apparent reason. It seems as if there is always something wrong with your body even when everything is "completely fine". I've seen people rushing to the emergency room because of a rapid heart beat. Of course, it turned out to be normal anxiety or a panic attack. 

If I could convince you of one thing it would be:

YOUR BODY IS DOING JUST WHAT IT IS MEANT TO DO.

On to the lower part of your body. This is where you might feel more funny or awkward/stressed when experiencing anxiety. 

Your legs are wiggly, your fingers are tingling. You might suddenly notice you can't walk straight. At times it feels as if something is eating your leg or legs from the inside. 

This is a very common symptoms of anxiety, my friend. It reminds me of an expression I once heard:

YOUR MIND TAKES YOU WHERE YOU WANT TO GO. 

I could go on. Your sexual drive is lowered, your stool is weird. Worrying more ends up scaring you more and causing more symptoms.

A Personal Experience

One day, I came across the line "You start to live with what you have, all you need to do is accept it." For some reason, after I read this line, my life got so much easier. I found my anxiety is less problematic and my mind more relaxed. 

ACCEPT WHAT YOU HAVE AND NOT RUN FROM IT 

Have a healthy life, everyone. Cheers to the beautiful world out there :) 

Vishal Verma is a 25-year-old man in India with Generalized Anxiety Disorder. He wants to share his experiences so that others know they aren't alone.

#LikeFreeMovement

Click through, and see a Facebook post I shared yesterday that got only one like.

Yesterday a friend asked me, “Why are all of my social media feeds (esp Twitter) the same thing over and over?” I didn’t realize I had an opinion until I said it aloud:

If you post something different, you risk missing out on the good feelings (and dopamine hit) that "likes” on social media give you. True leaders have fewer likes as they share new thinking. Getting others to be into a new approach takes time, so many people choose not to do it.

Let’s explore the power of a hashtag.

The more we spoke, the more I realized that aiming for fewer likes is a great goal for someone with anxiety. If I learn to share my ideas without expected responses, it will free me to forge new paths. I want to convince each of you to share my goal. The hashtag I've begun using to reinforce this message (even to myself) is #LikeFreeMovement.

I imagine John and Yoko as the patron saints of #LikeFreeMovement. They shared what they wanted to, without fear of response. No people-pleasing behavior here.

What do you think? Could you aim to share new thinking without looking for the positive feelings of likes? Here’s a great place to discuss our new #LikeFreeMovement ;)

Why “Nice” Advice Used to Stress Me Out

And how I fixed it.

When you have an anxiety disorder, you’re used to navigating the world of “life advice” like football players doing the block and tackle. New perspectives are coming at you from all directions, and it’s your job to quarterback yourself through the experience intact. It’s not always easy, though.

In the past few years, I’ve learned that even well-intentioned, “nice” advice needs reframing in order to avoid leaving a mark. It’s just part of having anxiety.

Through my past few years of job changes, there’s been one piece of advice that’s come up more than others. I’ve heard it again and again. It’s: “Embrace Who You Are.” Though it’s definitely a nice sentiment, since I have anxiety, being told to embrace my true self has made me feel:

Here’s Why.

Anxiety made it very hard to know what, exactly, what I should be embracing. Anxiety obscured who I was and what I liked. All I could hear was pressure and static inside my head. Well-intentioned advice like “Embrace Who You Are” added pressure to an already-tight space.

I Tried This Instead.

When someone gives me the “embrace who you are” advice, I’ve learned to reframe it into:

Seek the space to allow your inner voice to speak up.

This was my daughter at the beach last week. She pondered sand for 20 minutes.

Instead of piling another difficult to-do onto the list, I’ve used this reframe to remove them, giving myself room to let the answers start to bubble up themselves.

For those of us with anxiety, the best advice is never about trying harder to do anything. I’ll sound like Yoda here, but the advice that works all enters on this theme: Create the space, and the insight will come.

This is how I learned to reframe “nice” advice so that it works for me. I hope it works for you, too!