Looking for a word for an uncontrollable response...

Thanks @dannymcg , @Toby Frost , @CupofJoe , @Alex The G and T , @HareBrain , @Hugh , @pyan , @The Judge , @Cat's Cradle , @M. Robert Gibson , @Daysman , @Elckerlyc , @tinkerdan , @Plucky Novice , @CTRandall , and anyone who might have taken the time to consider this;

All of your suggestions apply, but, just as I encountered, don't quite 'sum-up' the numerous variables with a single word. I'm a big believer in "no & I don't know" are just as accurate and correct answers as "yes." Meaning, just because it is not the answer you seek, doesn't mean it's not correct. In this case, after so much experienced (and much better educated than myself) input, I'm of the opinion that there may NOT be a single word that states what I'm looking for. IF there is, then it might be so obscure and odd sounding, that it would do more harm than good in trying to convey the meaning.

So, I'm going to take your-alls suggestions and already rendered help, and see if 'I' can find a couple-three words that accomplish what I'm trying convey.

Thanks again so very much everyone!

K2
 
-K2- said:
In this case, after so much experienced (and much better educated than myself) input, I'm of the opinion that there may NOT be a single word that states what I'm looking for. IF there is, then it might be so obscure and odd sounding, that it would do more harm than good in trying to convey the meaning.
K2
Click to expand...

If it doesn't excist you will have to invent it.
 
When looking back on your points.
* The person has been conditioned to think in this way (environmental factors, situation, repetition, etc.).
* The individual for years, had no other option but to think in such a narrow framework. So, now cannot help themselves.
* The person is ignorant to different ways of thinking. IOW, as an example (but not the situation), they call every color 'black' because they know no other words for any other color (so, 'black' has become their word for any/all colors).

This might simply be rote learning carried to its most extreme and possibly detrimental effect. It does fit because you learn something as a truth and that this is always the answer and it is continually drilled into your mind until you can spout it without much thought and no need to reason out whether it is true or not--because for all intent and purposes it is always the correct answer.
 
tinkerdan said:
When looking back on your points... ...This might simply be rote learning carried to its most extreme and possibly detrimental effect. It does fit because you learn something as a truth and that this is always the answer and it is continually drilled into your mind until you can spout it without much thought and no need to reason out whether it is true or not--because for all intent and purposes it is always the correct answer.
Click to expand...

Due to your post, after reading about the difference between rote and meaningful learning, I think you have really hit the nail on the head with this find. I might argue against the detrimental aspect, but, in the same breath I'd have to argue for. Same for your point on 'truth.' Kae's memories ARE true, in exacting detail... BUT, are not true in all cases even if the circumstances are the same.

So, using the existing phrase (which may need to be changed): For Kae, remembering in exacting detail had become (a?) rote ___________.

The word I think is needed to finish that off, would pertain to being trapped, inescapably rote ( @HareBrain ), a rote loop, a pathological variant (obsessive, compulsive) rote ( @CTRandall ), etc..

Great find! Hmm, I'm going to re-read that whole section to see if i can resolve this

K2
 
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tinkerdan said:
For Kae, remembering in exacting detail had become a rote vicious circle.
For Kae, remembering in exacting detail had become a vicious-rote-circle.
Click to expand...

Hmm... Yes, it is, but in this case being glaring narration (as in a narrator telling the story vs. passing along what Kae is thinking/feeling), I'm not so sure it's as 'clinical/detached' as 'compulsively.'

K2
 
Thanks everyone once again for your help, which due to, I think I've found what I was seeking. For those curious (or wanting a laugh), here is where it fits as a lead-in to a chapter where Rokka-Kae is dreaming:

Rokka-Kae’s life was not a unique one. Proportionally rare to be sure, yet when you speak of billions of people, a million here or there seemed inconsequential. What was rare is she survived. Such accomplishments for expendable ‘things,’ are always exceptions, never the norm. In Kae’s case, like some cruel joke, the brutality and suffering of today, always seemed to prepare her for tomorrow’s atrocities.

Now that the world had changed, Rokka-Kae thrived. The whole of humanity had devolved down to her level. This side of mankind is what she had always known; practical life experiences she wished never to remember. Then again, how could she forget? For Kae, remembering in exacting detail had become compulsively rote.

Secluded and detached from typical society much of her life, her world very small and spartan, left Kae with what she called, ‘a lack of imagination.’ When Kae’s mind was idle or when she slept, unlike everyone else, she did not imagine, fantasize, or look to the future. All Kae knew to occupy her mind, was to rehash every second of her life, every event, and every face, over and over.
Click to expand...

Thanks again everyone... that reads wonderfully 'to me.'

K2


 
Also coming late, but this statement by @K2 "there may NOT be a single word that states what I'm looking for. " sums it up for me.

I'm not ready to make it a general Rule, but I've been observing in myself that when I'm reaching for just the right word to characterize a person, event, scene, feeling, and nothing quite fits, it's time to re-think the passage. This may apply to no one but myself, but I'm recognizing that I'm trying to take a shortcut. I'm trying to make a single word or phrase do work for me when I should be doing the work myself.

To take the easy example, where I say "she was happy" we all can recognize that the writer really ought to do some more work. Let us see her behavior and then we'll know more than that she was happy, we'll know what sort of happiness and will know the reason why. Her happiness will resonate.

IOW, when I'm hunting for just the right word, it may be time to call off the hunt and approach the matter on a different horse.
 
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