how healthy am i? - we have to compare it with some state..
how fat, tall, fair.. rich, successful.. am i ???
everything needs something to compare with... and what do we compare it with? are we even aware of it?
and, we can compare our reality with things/concepts/standards from a fantasy world our brain can create. and reality often becomes 'mundane' if matched with the 'fantasy images' that we are capable of generating.
and of course, everyday, movies, and other media creates such fantasy images and concepts by the dozen for us to consume. its a competition, where the winner of the day / week, walks away with millions, as the most fantastic fantasy grabs headlines, gets people to buy products connected with it and provides another miracle cure.
the funny thing is, 'association'. our brain has this crazy capability of associating - diverse elements, to create a smooth flow of happenings... associate to connect together.
thus, when we see a video of someone buying a diamond ring and expressing job and hope for life-long happiness, without realizing our brain associates them together. diamond ring and eternal happiness are associated, even though the video we saw depicts just one instance, just one story.
and when each aspect of this happy ending is mostly pleasant, we forget to re-check that association.
for example, if a video shows someone with a cold, getting punched on the face with a resultant bloody nose, but as completely recovered from that cold.. we don't assume that, yes. yes... you get it. the unpleasantness pain part makes us check the association that may form - and thus helps us to discard an association that, getting punched in the nose cures cold.
am i mentally healthy? that's another question to ask self. because these comparisons unknowingly can create chaos with how you perceive yourself, your life. as often we remain unaware of the comparison standards we are checking ourselves against.
so, beware - be more aware... ;)
6 comments:
What's the standard to use when we want to judge whether or not we're mentally healthy? Isn't comparison an inevitable part of any judgement?
The bit about the association is quite fascinating, well presented with suitable examples:-) another one of human mind's cognitive shortcuts?
there is no set standard to use... and we have to keep judging / evaluating, to deal with this world. we have to accept all that - and 'try' to be as aware as possible not to grossly misjudge... (but its a trial and error approach for each one of us.. as some one said, to err is be human...)
Isnt that the whole point of advertising? You are an expert on this stuff!
Isnt that the whole point of advertising? You are an expert on this stuff!
this is indeed a very important question to ask oneself. one of the challenges is - when we compare ourselves with the majority or what the norm is. if the majority norm itself is not healthy, comparison with it is futile because you will always appear "normal". (when in fact - normal is unhealthy)
i think the question 'am i healthy' can be extended to the collective - we could ask together 'are we healthy?'
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