Donald Robertson

Well, if we agreed with Socrates, right, that our own injustice does us more harm than the injustice of others, then maybe we wouldn't become as depressed when we perceive injustice in the world around us. We might still object to that. We might still defy it. but we might respond to it differently emotionally.

Socrates was fearless in court because he believed that the acts of injustice being inflicted on him couldn't really harm him because they could take away his property, his reputation, and even his life, but they couldn't harm his moral character. And that was the most important thing to him. On his deathbed, he'd think, did I maintain my integrity throughout life?

Socrates was fearless in court because he believed that the acts of injustice being inflicted on him couldn't really harm him because they could take away his property, his reputation, and even his life, but they couldn't harm his moral character. And that was the most important thing to him. On his deathbed, he'd think, did I maintain my integrity throughout life?

Socrates was fearless in court because he believed that the acts of injustice being inflicted on him couldn't really harm him because they could take away his property, his reputation, and even his life, but they couldn't harm his moral character. And that was the most important thing to him. On his deathbed, he'd think, did I maintain my integrity throughout life?

You guys can't take that away from me. Only I can do that to myself, right? Now, what's true in anyone's eyes, even if they don't go as far as that, time and time again what you'll find in therapy when you're working with people who are very angry, for instance, is that their anger usually, just at a practical level, does them more harm than the things that they're angry about.

You guys can't take that away from me. Only I can do that to myself, right? Now, what's true in anyone's eyes, even if they don't go as far as that, time and time again what you'll find in therapy when you're working with people who are very angry, for instance, is that their anger usually, just at a practical level, does them more harm than the things that they're angry about.

You guys can't take that away from me. Only I can do that to myself, right? Now, what's true in anyone's eyes, even if they don't go as far as that, time and time again what you'll find in therapy when you're working with people who are very angry, for instance, is that their anger usually, just at a practical level, does them more harm than the things that they're angry about.

Maybe not in every single case, but I struggle to think of a case where that's not true. In virtually every client I work with, when we sit down and go, what are the consequences of your anger? And one reason for that is that anger by its very nature impairs our ability to think about the consequences themselves. That's why angry people act impulsively, right? It's well known.

Maybe not in every single case, but I struggle to think of a case where that's not true. In virtually every client I work with, when we sit down and go, what are the consequences of your anger? And one reason for that is that anger by its very nature impairs our ability to think about the consequences themselves. That's why angry people act impulsively, right? It's well known.

Maybe not in every single case, but I struggle to think of a case where that's not true. In virtually every client I work with, when we sit down and go, what are the consequences of your anger? And one reason for that is that anger by its very nature impairs our ability to think about the consequences themselves. That's why angry people act impulsively, right? It's well known.

There's a large body of psychological research that shows, surprise, surprise, angry people behave impulsively. But they do that because they're not thinking straight and they're not able to really think through and weigh up the consequences of their action. They tend to think very short term. We all do when we get really angry.

There's a large body of psychological research that shows, surprise, surprise, angry people behave impulsively. But they do that because they're not thinking straight and they're not able to really think through and weigh up the consequences of their action. They tend to think very short term. We all do when we get really angry.

There's a large body of psychological research that shows, surprise, surprise, angry people behave impulsively. But they do that because they're not thinking straight and they're not able to really think through and weigh up the consequences of their action. They tend to think very short term. We all do when we get really angry.

um we don't we're not we don't become really good at nuanced social problem solving when we're angry generally it's like you know we become a kind of blunt instrument and that's highlighted by the fact that very often angry people a day later or weeks later regret what they did when they're angry because now they're not angry and they're thinking about the longer term consequences and the

um we don't we're not we don't become really good at nuanced social problem solving when we're angry generally it's like you know we become a kind of blunt instrument and that's highlighted by the fact that very often angry people a day later or weeks later regret what they did when they're angry because now they're not angry and they're thinking about the longer term consequences and the

um we don't we're not we don't become really good at nuanced social problem solving when we're angry generally it's like you know we become a kind of blunt instrument and that's highlighted by the fact that very often angry people a day later or weeks later regret what they did when they're angry because now they're not angry and they're thinking about the longer term consequences and the

So maybe some guy gets really angry, he tells his wife to shut up, and he gets what he wants. Maybe she does shut up, right, in the moment. So it seems successful, makes him seem powerful, and then she divorces him, right? So it destroys the relationship, right? I mean, to caricature it a little bit, but often what we struggle to do is kind of think about the wider impact, right?

So maybe some guy gets really angry, he tells his wife to shut up, and he gets what he wants. Maybe she does shut up, right, in the moment. So it seems successful, makes him seem powerful, and then she divorces him, right? So it destroys the relationship, right? I mean, to caricature it a little bit, but often what we struggle to do is kind of think about the wider impact, right?

So maybe some guy gets really angry, he tells his wife to shut up, and he gets what he wants. Maybe she does shut up, right, in the moment. So it seems successful, makes him seem powerful, and then she divorces him, right? So it destroys the relationship, right? I mean, to caricature it a little bit, but often what we struggle to do is kind of think about the wider impact, right?

And think a little bit about the longer-term consequences of anger, right? And particularly in terms of relationships where it's complex, anger impairs our ability to empathize with other people. And when we get angry, we tend to engage in what's known as hostile attribution bias.