When I turned 17 years old, I had one short-term goal that trumped all others: to get my driver’s license. Not only did the state require a minimum age of seventeen, but also that the applicant pass both a written and driving exam – one that culminated in the most dreaded of exercises, a parallel parking test.

If you failed any part of the exam, including a less-than-sufficient parallel park, then you did not get your license. And the penalty for failure required a minimum four-week wait until the test could be re-taken.

I remember thinking how devastating it would be to fail that test. Not only the shame and embarrassment, but the requirement to wait several weeks before potential redemption.

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Where do our thoughts come from? It’s tempting to think the brain is the seat of thought. Sensory data enters, our brains process the information, and thoughts naturally ensue.

In fact, our thoughts are often intermixed with some form of analysis or judgement. So we not only believe the brain manifests thoughts, but also feelings.

Thus if we want to eliminate or suppress certain thoughts – particularly negative ones – then all we need to do is not think about them. Right?

Wrong.

Have you ever intentionally tried to not think about something? In what’s known as ironic process theory, attempting to repress a thought makes it more likely to surface. As Dostoevsky reflected, “Try to pose for yourself this task: not to think of a polar bear, and you will see that the cursed thing will come to mind every minute.”

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On August 23, 1973, one of the most notorious bank robberies occurred. No money was stolen, and although several hostages were taken, no one was seriously injured. Yet this bank holdup forever changed the psychology of victim trauma.

As far as bank heists go, this one was fairly typical. An ex-con entered the bank, fired a few warning shots, barricaded four hostages in the vault, and demanded police provide him safe escape. The holdup lasted a few days and eventually ended with the suspect surrendering.

But what made this crime so unusual was that the hostages – ostensibly the people most likely to be victims of serious injury or death – sided with their captor and against the police.

In fact, the hostages actually defended the bank robber and expressed anger at the police for escalating the situation.

The robbery and hostage crisis took place at Norrmalmstorg square in Stockholm, Sweden, and the resulting psychological phenomenon became known as the Stockholm Syndrome.

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A classic logic puzzle goes something like this: you are a prisoner in ancient times and your fate will be sealed by your selection of one of two doors.

Behind one of the doors is a man-eating ravenous lion ready to devour anything in its path. The other door leads to freedom. You don’t know which door is which.

Standing in front of each door is a guard. One guard always tells the truth, and the other guard always lies. You don’t know which guard is which.

You are permitted to ask one guard one question – and from the answer deduce which door you should select. What is that one question you should ask?

Before revealing the answer, consider the fate of our protagonist.

He is trapped in a tense, cruel, fearful situation. A terrified prisoner anticipating a seemingly horrifying, imminent death. But there is an out, if only he could recognize it.

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I read the story of a 92-year-old woman who had just moved into a nursing home. She was legally blind, and her husband of 70 years had recently passed away – necessitating the move to an assisted living facility.

The aide who welcomed the new tenant recounts the story:

After many hours of waiting patiently in the lobby of the nursing home, the elderly woman smiled sweetly when told her room was ready. As she maneuvered her walker to the elevator, I provided a visual description of her tiny room, including the eyelet sheets that had been hung on her window. “I love it,” she stated with the enthusiasm of an eight-year-old having just been presented with a new puppy.

“Mrs. Jones, you haven’t seen the room … just wait.”

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