Caught One in the Wild

[DISCLAIMER]

When providing psychoeducational lessons on the ABC model of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT), I invite clients to conduct homework tasks which reinforce what individuals learn in our sessions. Personally, Reddit serves as a wonderful resource for this objective.

Noteworthy, REBT uses the ABC model to illustrate that when an undesirable Action occurs and one Believes an unhelpful narrative about the event, it’s one’s unfavorable assumption and not the occurrence that causes an unpleasant Consequence. This process is called self-disturbance.

One of the four main self-upsetting narratives recognized in REBT literature is demandingness. Typically, this rigid style of belief relates to absolutistic or conditional forms of should, must, or ought-type self-narratives, or derivatives thereof (e.g., you better pay attention to this blogpost).

Addressing how people upset themselves with unhelpful attitudes, the ABC model incorporates Disputation of unproductive assumptions in order to explore Effective new beliefs. Whereas unhelpful beliefs result in self-disturbance, the ABC models aims to un-disturb an individual.

Although the original post since been removed by moderators of the scifi subreddit, I managed to capture screenshots of a should statement in the wild. One Redditor posted a quote from William Adama, a fictional character in the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica television series, as follows:

There’s a reason you separate military and the police. One fights the enemies of the state, the other serves and protects the people. When the military becomes both, then the enemies of the state tend to become the people.

 Photo credit (edited), fair use

As I’ve mentioned throughout my blog, when enlisted in the United States (U.S.) Marine Corps, my military occupational specialty was military police (MP). Thus, when reading the Reddit quote from a fictional character, I immediately was reminded of a philosophical razor.

Often referred to simply as Hume’s law or Hume’s guillotine, 17th century philosopher David Hume’s is-ought problem regards the thesis that an ethical or judgmental conclusion cannot be inferred from purely descriptive factual statements. Thus, you cannot derive “ought” from “is.”

As an example, take a look at the photo above. In response to the original subreddit post, one Redditor (“Redditor #1”) accurately described a fundamental flaw with the Adama quote thusly:

“Serves and Protects the People.” - I wish this were true but I believe it is not. The Supreme Court has ruled multiple times that police have no constitutional duty to protect individual citizens. Policing fundamentally serves to maintain existing economic and social hierarchies. I can cite cases but that isn’t necessary.

When enlisting in the Corps with a guaranteed contract for MP duty, I was ignorant of this descriptive fact (i.e., what simply is). After all, I grew up during an era when children were taught by fictional characters such as Officer Friendly that police protected and served people.

However, when fulfilling my duties as an MP, I learned otherwise. As historic Marine Major General Smedley Butler stated in 1935, the military serves the interests of “capital and industry,” as MPs were little more than enforcers of laws, rules, and regulations to this end.

Regardless of what one unproductively prescribes about what “ought” to be, what “is” is that the military serves the interests of money, as do law enforcement (LE) personnel. Similar to this outlook, U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower stated in his 1961 farewell address:

In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.

We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.

Unlike inflexible forms of demandingness, Eisenhower used preferential and recommendatory should and must statements in his speech. This is where my recent observation of a “should” statement on Reddit is relevant concerning Hume’s guillotine.

Regarding the “serves and protects” critique from Redditor #1, another Redditor (“Redditor #2”) responded, “True, but not relevant. The quote is talking about what those organizations should be, not what they are.” Is this a violation of the is-ought problem? What do you think?

Although I realize some people may not like my perspective, I argue that the input of Redditor #2 does violate Hume’s law. However, from the perspective of REBT, I’d need more information from the Redditor in order to determine whether or not this person is self-disturbed.

Redditor #2 could maintain that LE personnel preferably shouldn’t serve the interests of “capital and industry,” à la Butler, while being able to carry on with one’s day when experiencing healthy distress (i.e., frustration, annoyance, or disappointment). If so, this individual isn’t disturbed.

Contrarily, Redditor #2 could maintain that LE personnel absolutely mustn’t serve the interests of anything other than people of the U.S. while angrily participating in protest behavior when chanting “who do you serve, who do you protect,” which may relate to unhealthy disturbance.

No matter which scenario is true of Redditor #2, violation of the is-ought problem is an example of irrationality (that which isn’t in accordance with either logic or reason). Alas, I caught one example of “should” use in the wild, and I hope that you’ve benefited from the lesson herein.

If you’re looking for a provider who tries to work to help understand how thinking impacts physical, mental, emotional, and behavioral elements of your life—helping you to sharpen your critical thinking skills, I invite you to reach out today by using the contact widget on my website.

As a psychotherapist, I’m pleased to try to help people with an assortment of issues ranging from anger (hostility, rage, and aggression) to relational issues, adjustment matters, trauma experience, justice involvement, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, anxiety and depression, and other mood or personality-related matters.

At Hollings Therapy, LLC, serving all of Texas, I aim to treat clients with dignity and respect while offering a multi-lensed approach to the practice of psychotherapy and life coaching. My mission includes: Prioritizing the cognitive and emotive needs of clients, an overall reduction in client suffering, and supporting sustainable growth for the clients I serve. Rather than simply trying to help you to feel better, I want to try to help you get better!

Deric Hollings, LPC, LCSW

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