the.com/helplessness
the moment your hands believe the lie before your legs do
means the state of being unable to help yourself or change your situation, often paired with the feeling that nothing you do will matter.
from Built straight from English bricks: "help," from Old English "helpan" (to aid, support), plus "-less" (without) and "-ness" (the state of being). Literally "the state of being without help" — a word that wears its meaning on the outside, no translation required.
- learned trap
- Seligman's dogs stopped fleeing shocks they could escape
- physical brake
- the brain dampens action circuits, not just mood
- reversible
- watching one escape teaches the rest to try
- infant default
- humans are born more helpless than nearly any mammal
for instance
srebrenica massacre — july 1995 bosnia where 8,000 bosniak muslims were killed while dutch un peacekeepers stood by unable to intervene
rwandan genocide — april-july 1994 where 800,000 tutsis were killed while international community declined to act despite knowing