Researchers in Spain and Germany interviewed more than 2,000 people about whether they'd like to know in advance about 10 common events, including both positive and negative outcomes
Over the course of two trials that took place in both countries, each involving around 1,000 participants who were interviewed in person, nearly everyone said they’d choose to remain in blissful ignorance about at least one of the events. For just positive events, about 40 to 80 percent of people didn’t want to know, while around 90 percent said they’d plug their ears and sing show tunes if anyone tried to warn them of a negative fate. And all told, only one percent said they’d want to know about every possible event.
No one wants to know their fate
People apparently really don't want spoilers about their life, much less the next Game of Thrones episode
I've realized recently this is a serious roadblock for many people, not just readers. I can't relate as I don't think this way, but I think most people "duck" this fear rather than deal with it head-on--which inhibits their ability to divinate or otherwise pull essential "knowledge" from the cards with regards to scanning for problem areas. I'm not a paranoid or "negativity seeker" as you would say, but I use cards and other introspective processes as an open invitation to invite these needed truths in. That said, nothing is in stone, and life has it's own living chaos, so most of my work is centered around peace of mind and creating a "safe zone" to deal with my "things" just in case the uninvited comes to be.
Maybe humans are inheritently superstitious to the core, or at least at certain levels, hence why we don't really like to "deal" with certain aspects or concepts too directly ... I see this with respect to the attitudes of political contention in our society. Not willing to deal directly with certain concepts or ideas, though it would be beneficial to deal with this now rather than later, as "inviting them in" may welcome the worst aspects of these outcomes. After all, "inviting" the other group to the table for a conversation, is essentially "enabling" negative outcomes in some people's eyes... I still think this is the "tribe mentality" we've yet to ween. We may be alone, but out in the open, we are speaking with the power of "others", with endless resolve that our current state is "the place" to be. When really, we need to break down these walls and check if this instinct may be welcoming even worse elements into our society/psyche than if we'd just dealt with the "problem" in the first place.... rather than cry for protection and a sense of "safety" from all that awakens our worst fears
That's human for you.
I had a client tell me outright last week "Don't tell me anything really bad, like I'm going to die!" I told her it wasn't ethical anyway. In truth, most querents want their futures imparted in tidy little packages that don't overturn their tidy little steady-state visions of reality. Anything totally messy (unless it's already happened and they're looking for reasons) is often received dubiously. Since I'm not in the business of unduly alarming or depressing my clients, I find a way to avoid hitting them over the head with it while still making my point. This is where story-telling skills come to the rescue because you can creatively navigate around the land-mines while still staying trained on the target.
Isn't this how all therapy works, Barleywine?
In a way, I think readers--particularly those focused on aspects of healing and bring REAL results for the querents (not just baseless fortune-telling)--they're going to approach things in this more practical-minded aspect. Yes, the ultimate goal is to help the patient to dismantle their inner minefield, but we don't want to go about it in a way that may put their psyche at further risk.
That said, someone I'm mentoring currently is seeing a therapist who practices witchcraft/fortune-telling at the same time as supposedly providing "traditional" therapy. I had to warn them to the un-practicality of this, that they're adding an additional burden to their study when they need a firm surface to stand upon in which they'll be able to observe typically unobservable truths within the self in a meaningful and constructive way. That said, the issue has been long corrected, but to provide an example of where the opposite of a negative "reading"/"assessment" can be detrimental, they told him that a love interest in their life is on the same "soul plane", so a soul mate of sorts. Therefore, "it's meant". Saying all that, he didn't know his face from his butt when it comes to these esoteric concepts, so it just kept idlely involved with this very dead in the water relationship. He just needed help moving forward, not reasons to stay tethered to something that doesn't work in it's current form. How would the patient use this knowledge in a positive manner? This just swung all sorts of sideways and unethical for me. It benefits the ego of the person doing the therapy, but he felt--rightfully--all sorts of confused by these prospects of these sessions...
So I think equally, with respect to the OP, guaranteeing someone overly positive outcomes in lue of giving overly dire outcomes to feed off of, could potentially be just as "toxic" to someone's therapy (if not more so!) as they're more likely to keep walking into traffic without really looking for what's actually there, what may actually be coming.
It takes so much energy to stream in an interpretation balanced enough to deliver a reading that can be practical for the querent. How I can lend them additional insight to work better? While also making them more aware of other things that may be going on other levels that they're not considering. We can't reach across the screen/table and smack them upside the head like we'd do ourselves. We can see the problem in full fruition. For our querents, they may need affirmation to see they're on the right track or they may need to be told some smaller home truths in order to show them there is more work to be done relating to the query. (and also all the other nuggets of information to offer)
It's very tricky.
Edited my political analogy.