"if we just do this [totally useless but metaphorical] thing [mask, get injected, distance, stay home] in a super pious way, everything will be fine! So people who don't do it should be compelled to do it!"
The longer this goes on and some people still cling to this nonsense, the more I'm leaning towards an OCD-like explanation playing some role.
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is said to be related to anxiety, with people using bizarre ritualized behaviors to deal with anxiety about other matters.
There definitely seems to be a correlation between anxious, high-strung personalities and the need to cling to the cootie rituals.
I wonder if people who on some level see the writing on the wall about the long decline, but who can't face it head-on, found that cootie rituals soothed their anxiety, because it was less upsetting to worry about germs and perform related rituals than it was to face up to other sources of anxiety. And now they can't let it go because it's serving a sort of function for them. If they had garden-variety OCD, they might know that their behavior was irrational even as they did it - but with cootie theater, they can tell themselves that they're still sane and rational, and avoid dealing with the fact that they're really having a meltdown over a much bigger challenge to their belief systems while hiding it behind OCD.
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branchandroot
(no subject)
Date: 2022-11-04 06:53 pm (UTC)The longer this goes on and some people still cling to this nonsense, the more I'm leaning towards an OCD-like explanation playing some role.
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is said to be related to anxiety, with people using bizarre ritualized behaviors to deal with anxiety about other matters.
There definitely seems to be a correlation between anxious, high-strung personalities and the need to cling to the cootie rituals.
I wonder if people who on some level see the writing on the wall about the long decline, but who can't face it head-on, found that cootie rituals soothed their anxiety, because it was less upsetting to worry about germs and perform related rituals than it was to face up to other sources of anxiety. And now they can't let it go because it's serving a sort of function for them. If they had garden-variety OCD, they might know that their behavior was irrational even as they did it - but with cootie theater, they can tell themselves that they're still sane and rational, and avoid dealing with the fact that they're really having a meltdown over a much bigger challenge to their belief systems while hiding it behind OCD.