Learned Helplessness

Take two groups of dogs. Put both groups in separate cages. Group one gets an electric shock if they try to escape (I know, savages, right? Keep in mind that this was the 60’s). Group two doesn’t get shocked and escapes easily. Now take the two groups and put them into the same cages. There are no shocks. Group two, as predicted, easily escapes but group one doesn’t even try. Those poor group one dogs learned helplessness.

We can easily learn helplessness from beliefs developed from our past failures (Our own personal electrical shocks). Like the electric shocks, our own past experiences may feel very real and were based on a past truth. But if there’s one thing to learn from this experiment it’s this: THE PAST DOES NOT EQUAL THE FUTURE. Continuing to believe that the past does equal the future is under minding your abilities, which will become self-fulfilling.

Reference: “Learned Optimism” by Martin Seligman