When presented with evidence contrary to their beliefs, people have been known to come out stronger in augmenting the particular belief that was being disputed. We bend ourselves over backwards for consistency, however misleading + misinformed the path of consistency may take us towards.
We like to think of ourselves as reasonable, good, decent, jolly people. Hence we like to externalize blame. It’s the environment, it’s other people, it’s the way we’re treated, etc. But there is always a choice – A choice between reacting and, taking a step back and assessing the situation from a detached perspective. Feelings and emotions have only so much value.
The computational theory of mind says that the lifeblood of the psyche is information rather than energy. Emotions are adaptations, well-engineered software modules that work in harmony with the intellect and are indispensable to the functioning of the whole mind. The problem with the emotions is not that they are untamed forces or vestiges of our animal past; it is that they were designed to propagate copies of the genes that built them rather than to promote happiness, wisdom, or moral values. We often call an act “emotional” when it is harmful to the social group, damaging to the actor’s happiness in the long run, uncontrollable and impervious to persuasion, or a product of self-delusion. Sad to say, these outcomes are not malfunctions but precisely what we would expect from well-engineered emotions.
To remain self-composed in the face of indignity is not to give others liberty to hurt and/ or to break us – It is not to turn the other cheek literally – But simply to rise above and accept the reality of things. Make do. Adapt. Adjust. Strive. No compromises on how you feel. But go forward. And negotiate with reason and intellect. Encounter feedback. Encounter setbacks. Then do it again.
At our core, human beings are meaning-seeking animals.
If we know the why we’re living, then we can put up with any HOW. It doesn’t matter if we’re rich/ good-looking/ dating the hotbods/ wearing designer clothes/ enjoying career success/ cool or not, sooner or later we have to all realize that happiness comes from within. To realize that happiness comes from within is not to indulge in self-delusion, but to fully accept that no one was put on this world to make you happy – To live your life for you – That we’ve been fed so many myths by our friends, families, schools, workplaces, the media, etc… That it takes courage to call bluff when everyone else is just looking the other way.
To believe that we’re nothing but the recipients of what life is throwing at us, that we’re nothing more than slaves to socioeconomical, socialisation, emotional, religious, etc. forces is to don the Emperor’s New Clothes.
Need to go study a bit for now. :p
