8 Ways We Protect Our Denial

1 - Ignore you
The easiest defense mechanism.

If I can't hear what you are saying, then you are wrong.

2 - Talk over top of you
A favorite for TV hosts in recent years.

They have guests on their shows who they disagree with,
and they talk over top of them as they try to answer the host's questions.
They will also ask other questions while their guests are trying to answer the first question.
And they will talk over their guests as they attempt to figure out which question they are supposed to be answering.

This is an attempt to make their guest look scatterbrained and not worth listening to.
It actually makes the host look like a jerk.
But, it does protect the host from hearing something that threatens their denial.
Which is the point.

3 - The simple flip
We simply take what you just said and try to flip it back onto you.

Words are used like weapons.
If you say, "You are acting immature", we will immediately respond, "You are acting immature!"
We cannot hear the word "immature" because we know it's true.

So we pick the word up, like it was a spear, and throw it back at you.
The word that we desperately try to flip is the one that pegs us the hardest.
Which actually confirms that you are right.

4 - Attack the messenger to avoid the message
We question your credibility.
If we can make it look like you can't be trusted as a messenger, then we can dismiss your message.

Even if your message is something that you didn't come up with yourself.
Even if it is something that other credible people have said before.
The fact that you are saying it now,
means it is wrong.

Another way to attack the messenger is to pick apart what you are saying.
If we can convince ourselves that one part of what you are saying is wrong, then we can claim everything you are saying is wrong.

"If one, then all"
is one of the core beliefs of our Warrior Instinct.

And, we can focus on how you are talking rather than on what you are saying.
If you stumble over your words, (possibly because we are talking over top of you), we will jump on you:
"Well, look, you can't even talk, so why would anyone listen to you?!"

Mocking is also a very popular way to attack a messenger.
We simply repeat what you said in a childish voice.
Again confirming that our behavior is immature.

5 - Assumption of an absolute
"So you're saying that all people always..."

If we can make it look like you are assuming some kind of absolute,
then that means you are crazy and not to be trusted.
We will claim that you are using an absolute, even if you don't actually say it.

Our Warrior Instinct operates out of absolutes: All, always, none, never, every, etc.
So it's okay if we do it, but you can't.

Much of the behavior driven by Warrior instinct consists of:
Attaching emotional content to a logistical situation.
The most common emotion attached is anger, and it is often disproportionate to the situation.

6 - Justification by comparison to an opposite extreme
"So were supposed to just stand by and let him kill his own people?"

Warrior Instinct sees the world in terms of black and white. There are only two choices:
My way, (which obviously is the right way).
And any other way, (which is obviously the wrong way).

There is no possibility of a third way to handle a situation.
The way to handle anything is my way,
(which is usually the first thing that pops into my head).

And if you question me, then I will defend it by comparing it to some opposite extreme
that is so obviously wrong,
that my way looks right by comparison.

7 - Try to silence you
"No one is forcing you live here!"

The 'Love it or leave it' defense.
Because if you leave, then I don't have to hear you anymore, and my denial will be protected.

I need to shut you up any way I can.
I could also punch you in the face, and then you will be quiet.

Physical violence is born out of our Warrior Instinct coming out to protect our denial.
This is pure Neanderthal behavior and yet it is still popular with modern 'Advanced' humans.
Physically hitting someone does not make you right, and them wrong.
All it does is attempt to protect our denial. But it fails.
Which usually leads us to the next defense.

8 - Kill you
It sounds extreme, but it happens every day.
Because dead men can't point out our denial.

Our Warrior Instinct acts out of an extreme view of reality.
Black or white. Friend or foe.

If we do something that we know is going to cause us to face consequences,
and someone else has the power to make us face those consequences,
then we need to stop them.

It's a simple solution. Black or white.
Our Warrior Instinct makes us simple minded.