* Breaking a Pattern *
-- Jacob, switch your wrist watch to the other wrist. Wear it this way all day. Ask yourself,
What amount of time does it take for me to accommodate this new signal from my other wrist and finally begin to ignore it "most" of the time? --
** Rick, it'll take not too much time because I'm flexible in my routines. **
-- What psychological aspects of my life are "new inputs" and are subject to this same process of becoming inured to the dynamic? Would there be a long term payoff to discovering how to slow this process or stop it entirely? --
** Every new input must become old in order to permit newer input to be registered. That is why a happy experience does not last long as a feeling. Negative experiences tend to impress longer because their physical effects remain for a prolonged period and/or because our mind attempts to make them "unhappen" with the "If I had done this or that..." Should the "ifs" last more than what the individual considers reasonable, there is probably a deficiency in his serotonin-epinephrine neurotransmitters.
As you notice, I avoid references to psychological mechanisms, the reason being that emotions are by definition psychological, but when their patterns differ from the social standard, a neurochemical anomaly is probably at play. **
-- What secondary processes are affected by this switching? How often do I look at the wrong wrist before I develop the new habit? How do I feel about myself when I mistakenly look to the wrong wrist? --
** Sixty years ago, the following experiment was performed at the Pavlov Institute. A volunteer was furnished eyeglasses to be worn all the time, and which inverted the images, upside-down. After some time, not too long, the images normalized, so that it took some time again to revert to normal after the glasses were removed. The brain is quite flexible at adaptation. **
-- What part of me resists this experiment? Why does a "comfortable" pattern "argue" with me about this? --
** Volunteers are usually payed, so that they don't argue. **
-- How many patterns do I have that I have never "gone against?" -- ** Only one: Not caring about going against patterns.
After reading "The Pliable Animal" (H. sapiens) I checked my routines and found one worth changing: using less the car and walking more instead. **
-- How do most of them get "in there?" --
** By inertia. **
-- If I could instantly erase any pattern I have by merely "wishing it away," how would I use that power right now to better my life? --
** Patterns serve a function; they are not abnormal. The point is to be aware of their existence, and breaking them when deemed necessary. There is no guarantee of a better life. **
-- How much wisdom do I have, that I believe in my judgement how I should change? Am I that wise? --
** We look for happiness, i.e., contentment. If changing means becoming more content, there is good reason to change one's ways. Epicurus considered interesting conversation with a friend the greatest joy. He was a scientist-philosopher, whose ideas were as advanced then as D-SP's are now. I just have more tools to substantiate those ideas, and a few new ones. **