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Maybe Social Anxiety Is Just You Failing At Mind Control

lifeimprovementschemes.substack.com · 4,999 words · saved by 4 readers

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Social anxiety is often explained as an overwhelming fear of social situations which can be corrected through therapy. Like a fear of spiders, except it’s a fear of socializing. I think differently: that social (and much romantic!) anxiety fundamentally comes from doomed yet habitual attempts to micromanage other peoples’ internal state. This dysfunctional goal takes many concrete forms: make them like us make them not dislike us (as discussed in Social Anxiety Isn’t About Being Liked — LessWrong) ensure we are not imposing on them or transgressing any unspoken boundary they may or may…

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