Elementary, Watson

Forget Plato's Cave The learned helplessness experiment bothers me more. In 1967, Martin Seligman and Steven Maier ran experiments where dogs were exposed to shocks they could not control. Nothing they did stopped what was happening. Later, the dogs were put into a situation where they actually could escape. They just had to cross a small barrier. They didn't. They had already learned that trying was pointless. The door was basically open and they still stayed there. Some pretty ugly implications for humans. Keep someone in a system long enough where working harder changes nothing. Complaining changes nothing and following the rules changes nothing. Trying again changes nothing. Eventually they might stop trying. Then one day an opportunity appears and everyone looking from the outside says, “Why don't they just do something?” They already did. A hundred times. People don't rebel when conditions get bad. Not always. People will shut down and withdraw. They distract themselves and accept shit they once would have fought against. They have learned that fighting changes nothing. Who has to convince people that the cage is good? You don't. You need to convince them the door doesn't open. Eventually you can unlock it and they will never even check.