Spuriously Genuine?
Just yesterday i had this long, zero-value-add debate with one of my friends... The moot point of the debate was something i have been grappling to understand for quite some time now. The issue under question is the genuineness of what we think we really think or even more abstractly, what we "feel". And by no means i am questioning the intentions here. But i guess sometimes we become manipulative to even ourself and that too out of our knowledge. The reason might be knowing too much about the way a particular thought and/or a feeling is interpreted. I mean, it is very much like a dynamic psychometric test which people scrap through for jobs and all. Because as a candidate i know how my answer to a particular question would be interpreted, i change my answer for it to fall in line with what is expected. If i do that intentionally, i am just committing a fraud, no doubt, but what if that is not intentional? i believe our education/training or whatever you may call it, makes us immune to this realization and it becomes automatic to fraud.
Let me give an example. Just before two months or so, i was on my way back from HK to India with a stop at Singapore. the first leg of journey was nice and smooth, but on the flight from Singapore, when everyone was having dinner, the plane started wobbling a bit too much for comfort. The pilot announced that the weather was turning very bad and we might be compelled for an emergency landing and should get ready for it. The trays were pushed back and the crew started giving instructions about what to do in case of emergency landing. Now, even if you know all this before boarding a flight, this is something when you feel a pit in your stomach. I just tried to go through basic flight information being displayed on my screen and realized it was of no relevance. Five more minutes and the wobbling was ever increasing or that is what i felt. And then i closed my eyes and tried to relax...one more arbit swing of the plane and kind of everything my life has been till now flashed in front of my eyes... some faces, some places. Obviously, it was a split second kind of thing and i find it worth a laugh now, considering that the plane did not require emergency landing and everything returned to normal soon.
But, this got me thinking once i was at home and had enough time. Why only those faces and those places? A popular story offers some "insightful" explanation - claiming those persons and places being something i really care about and do not want to get away from. Interesting! Now tell me one thing... as i knew this even before this incident happened, isnt it possible that my brain(ok, i give in...it was me,myself) tricked me into seeing those faces and places because i wanted to make my associations with them more authenticated and natural?
i have elaborated one incident here which i feel was strong enough for me to raise this question. But we see the kind of things i've been talking about everyday. Remember that kid you met some days back who "likes" nothing but science and astronomy (because his parents told him that it was cool) and that guy next door who just realized that he was in love because he had suddenly lost all his sleep and just one thought occupied his mind! Duh, gimme a break! Again, i am not doubting anyone's intentions here. But don't you think that kid or that guy are just victims of the results driving the causes?
i have something more to say on the issue and feel i've not done justice to the topic. So would continue in the next post... (ha ha, as if you really care! )
Let me give an example. Just before two months or so, i was on my way back from HK to India with a stop at Singapore. the first leg of journey was nice and smooth, but on the flight from Singapore, when everyone was having dinner, the plane started wobbling a bit too much for comfort. The pilot announced that the weather was turning very bad and we might be compelled for an emergency landing and should get ready for it. The trays were pushed back and the crew started giving instructions about what to do in case of emergency landing. Now, even if you know all this before boarding a flight, this is something when you feel a pit in your stomach. I just tried to go through basic flight information being displayed on my screen and realized it was of no relevance. Five more minutes and the wobbling was ever increasing or that is what i felt. And then i closed my eyes and tried to relax...one more arbit swing of the plane and kind of everything my life has been till now flashed in front of my eyes... some faces, some places. Obviously, it was a split second kind of thing and i find it worth a laugh now, considering that the plane did not require emergency landing and everything returned to normal soon.
But, this got me thinking once i was at home and had enough time. Why only those faces and those places? A popular story offers some "insightful" explanation - claiming those persons and places being something i really care about and do not want to get away from. Interesting! Now tell me one thing... as i knew this even before this incident happened, isnt it possible that my brain(ok, i give in...it was me,myself) tricked me into seeing those faces and places because i wanted to make my associations with them more authenticated and natural?
i have elaborated one incident here which i feel was strong enough for me to raise this question. But we see the kind of things i've been talking about everyday. Remember that kid you met some days back who "likes" nothing but science and astronomy (because his parents told him that it was cool) and that guy next door who just realized that he was in love because he had suddenly lost all his sleep and just one thought occupied his mind! Duh, gimme a break! Again, i am not doubting anyone's intentions here. But don't you think that kid or that guy are just victims of the results driving the causes?
i have something more to say on the issue and feel i've not done justice to the topic. So would continue in the next post... (ha ha, as if you really care! )
posted by vaibhaV at 3:33 PM
2 Comments:
Do hell with the genuineness..who cares about it...Just do/think whatever u feel like n enjoy the life
Well, I do not much agree with the thought that u posted but yes, those questions keeps propping up in minds… are we “manipulative to ourself(ves)” ??? Well, I think every individual has his own thoughts, opinions, feelings whatever u may call it but at the same time he expresses them in the language of the person for whom they are meant. For e.g., if I want to go to, let’s say, Switzerland. To a person who is rational (or rather more rationally inclined) I would say if we go to Switzerland we can finish our assignment early, get a break from monotony, meet our colleagues and friends, n see some places blah blah…n if I am talking to an emotional thinker I would rather talk about snow covered hills, fun etc and hinting about the job. In both the cases the underline thought is about visiting the place but still they are conveyed in different ways…in the way which the recipient understands…there is no question of my feelings being genuine or spuriously genuine.
Talking about the psychometric tests, I agree that we all manipulate our answers to match the requirements of the job. But at the same time, it is us who are thinking “what is expected of us?” which varies from a person to another because we feel and think differently. We try to deal with the questionnaire in the way “we expect” the answers to be without even knowing the person who will be interpreting and evaluating our responses. Don’t you think in the answers we are actually reflecting ourselves? It is for this reason that you have no two same (or even similar) responses to the same questionnaire for the same job.
The flight incident is an example of most genuine thought that you are ever going to have. At that point of time, you were talking to yourself. There was no barrier of words or emotions that were to be interpreted. You were not waiting for anyone to judge you. Those things (good or bad) were important to you and you know them. Your brain flashed back those images because you have strong association with them. A great part of your identity is from them. In a way, yes, it was an “authentication” of their importance but not that you wanted to make that that test.
I don’t say that whatever we think is genuine to 100%, but the thought is genuine and is different for every new individual…
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home