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Intellectual Boundaries  

10/3/2006 5:41 am

Last Read:
11/16/2006 9:10 pm
Intellectual Boundaries
Intellectual Abuse List

When intellectual boundary violations occur, we feel less than and slower than others. We don't seek educational advancement or information, we don't trust our ideas or thoughts, we're excessively vulnerable to other people's ideas. The lack of intellectual boundaries is a set up for enmeshed relationships, being used, abused, underemployed and underachieving. It can be the basis for hidden shame and poor self-image which are the ingredients of codependency.

Intellectual boundary violations involve being
Denied information,
Given misinformation,
Given too much information, too fast, too early,
Told what to think,
Told what you really mean when you have said what you mean,
Spoken for,
Made fun of,
Ignored,
Not listened to,
Constantly improved upon and having your thoughts altered,
Treated with cruel mind games that adults can play with children,
Called names, like "Stupid" or "Dummy",
Unrecognized for special learning difficulties,
Tested in non-supportive ways
Pressured excessively to perform in school for grades,
Treated as though nothing is ever good enough,
Not allowed to make mistakes,
Overly focused on for intelligence and being smart,
Not allowed to pursue areas of your interest and having curiosity stifled,
Forced to follow someone else's path or someone else's interests,
Not being offered remedial or special classes or tutoring when needed,
Not supported for continuing education,
Granted no private thoughts, having to tell everything,
In a living environment full of secrets and false information,
Advanced too rapidly,
Put in situations with too much pressure to perform intellectually and tested too often,
Not encouraged to question things,
Stifled in areas of creativity,
Not intellectually stimulated and
In a limited environment with the absence of people around who could provide information and stimulation.

Recovery from intellectual boundary violations enables us to enjoy learning and teaching. We can recover our intellectual curiosity, our spiritual process of learning, noticing and seeking. We can feel good about our process of discovery, how we hold and share information. Our recovery needs to involve:
Seeking and sharing information,
Having a realistic evaluation of our learning processes and style,
Developing ideas and beliefs,
Reading about things that interest us,
Finding and giving ourselves affirmation for our ability to reason,
Learning to process information and speak to others,
Becoming knowledgeable about the world and what's going on,
Intellectual, vocational and educational challenges and
Speaking out about what we believe.

Many people who have had intellectual boundaries violated, left their families feeling stupid and have found in going back to school in later years that they do well and were not stupid at all. We become brainwashed and were sold a bad bill of goods. Often, our intellectual capacity is much better than we believe. Sometimes the process by which we learn is different that the process by which we've been taught. Part of recovery is understanding how we learn so we can find appropriate teaching. Einstein said, "Everyone's a genius, some are just less damaged than others." In recovery we find mentors, teachers and guides - not gurus. Intellectual boundary violations make us vulnerable to cults of various types and live with self-doubt and fear. Recovery gives us the ability to sort out and decide, utilizing what we know and what we're told.

Author Unknown
Ephesians 6:13 . . .and having done all, to stand
edjehu
4088 posts 

10/3/2006 7:21 am

 I like this post
Hebrews 5:8

Matthew 11:6


redbird1122 replies on 10/3/2006 9:51 am:
Thank you, Ed, I just felt that it would be a good thing to put this up since so many here have come from abusive backgrounds. We all need to be aware of what good and bad boundaries are, for ourselves as well as for others.

ndnthomas
2946 posts 

10/3/2006 8:28 am

 Yes, that's what this country did to Native Americans.
NdnThomas and Ladylightwalker forever. .


redbird1122 replies on 10/3/2006 12:16 pm:
You are so right, Thomas, the Native People were horribly mistreated and abused. And they are still not being done right today. My maternal great-grandmother was a Native. I am very proud of the fact that their blood runs in my veins.

Aslan17
2167 posts 

10/3/2006 8:50 am

 Me too!
We are what we believe we are.
C. S. Lewis


redbird1122 replies on 10/3/2006 9:52 am:
Hi, Aslan, welcom to my blog and thank you for your support. I hope to see more of you here.

spiritfilled052
12594 posts 

10/3/2006 12:13 pm

 This is good info Cecilia - a new thought to me - I knew God was working on me in the area of confidence - wow - I will be praying about this. Thanx!
How can we NOT praise Him - Marilyn

sharloa
2785 posts 

10/9/2006 1:21 pm

 This has a lot of realism in it. I do wish we knew the author so that we could study more. It really seems like a valuable resource. I wonder if Kristina's plagarism program could come up with an author... Hmmm... The person seems to be right on as far as the experience of having your intellectual boundaries torn away. It's a huge struggle toward recovery... Praise God for His healing. YSIC Sharloa
InHisLoveYSICsharloa

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