Michael Smoak

Because there's still going to be a lot of upset.

I'm aware of the difference between pain and suffering.

But there are things that you can do and learning to blend a desire to take control of the situation and make an impact on it, agency, sovereignty, something that I know that you care about a lot and everybody else does as well.

With surrender, because surrender can quite easily turn into passivity if you're not careful.

If you don't know how to wield it, it can become nihilism, lackadaisicalness, things that you don't want.

Does that make sense?

You can see how surrender could become passiveness.

No, not quite.

Not far from.

But your point is, words can only hurt you to the degree that you believe they are true.

Yes.

I understand what you mean.

And it's the only insults that hurt are the ones that we agree with.

But I think...

the insults that hurt most are the ones that we don't believe, but we fear other people may believe.

Because that allows a sense of injustice.

And it doesn't really matter

how you feel about it if other people believe it.

That is fake news, that's having your status besmirched, that's having your good name tarnished.

And I think that that drives people absolutely insane.