Diversion

Diversion is an Awareness Reduction Mechanisms] that the Bodily Ego uses to avoid uncomfortable confrontations with reality. Diversion involves diverting and distracting awareness by drawing thought away from painful aspects of reality.

Other Awareness Reduction Mechanisms

Awareness Reduction Mechanisms > Avoidance, Denial, Displacement, Dissociation, Distortion, Distraction, Diversion, Gaslighting, Intellectualization, Internalization, Projection, Rationalization, Reaction Formation, Regression, Repression, Sublimation

Related Terms

Awareness Reduction Mechanisms > Ego Threat, Unwanted Self

Notes

A pedophile diverts the attention of a victim with candy.

When we divert and distract, we point attention away from the things we do not want to remember, and towards something entirely different. For example, kids or other adults may be talking about child abuse, but a guilty parent or childcare worker, in order to head off a conversation that might eventually lead to a discussion of their abusive practices, might distract with ice cream and cookies. Or, a father who sexually abuses his children might use distraction (i.e., a trip to Disney World) to shift attention from the behaviour, encourage his children to forget, and repress his awareness of the act. Similarly, a politician that points at the evil “over there” may be distracting from the evil that they do every day. Distraction is quite common, of course, and we are exposed to it every day.

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