“You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink.”
To chart one’s own course through life whatever the outcomes that accrue gives one a sense that everything’s under control. It’s that “grand illusion” that allows us to make sense of the chaos & randomness that is really behind the projection of order humans seek to make real.
“Believing that we are in control of what happens to us, even if that’s not always completely true, is actually an important part of our mental health in general. The opposite of the illusion of control is learned helplessness, which describes how, if people have previously been put in situations where they were powerless to change anything, they start to feel like they lack control over their own lives. This makes them quicker to give up when they are faced with obstacles. Unsurprisingly, learned helplessness is a cornerstone of depression.”
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