Jean Buridan

How does the abuser accomplish these things? Do we have any answers from outside psychology? The answer is yes.

I will travel all the way back to the Middle Ages and there I will make your acquaintance with a donkey whose name is Buridan's Ass.

And then we will transition to the 20th century and we will discuss predator-prey mathematical models.

Don't worry, don't be alarmed.

They teach us about how predators and prey interact within given biospheres and ecosystems.

And of course, we can apply easily these mathematical models to relationships with narcissists and psychopaths who are predators and where the victims serve as the prey part of the equation.

So this is the topic of today's video, Buridan's us and predator-prey mathematical models and how they teach us about the reason that victims prefer to stay in eroding, corroding, negating, vitiating, destructive relationships, rather than simply go away, simply push back, simply discard the abuser and move on.

My name is Sam Vaknin.

Jung uses a traditional illustration that bears on this difficulty of finding one's direction.

He brings in the figure of Buridan's ass, standing between two bundles of hay.

In his adaptation, the animal's attention is absorbed by deciding which bundle is better and which should come first.

Jung shifts the emphasis toward the creature's own inclination.