Music Production, DJ, Live PA and Random Ramblings
Archive for November, 2009
Stereotypes
Nov 19th
The stereotype has such a strong presence in much of society. Right or wrong, they dictate a lot of perceptions and belief systems which can be both amusing and catastrophic. I will use some of the stereotypes of Jewish people as an example since I am a Jew so I can J
Us jews are seen as somewhat a thrifty bunch. Knowing a few jews I can both confirm and deny this stereotype in equal amounts but of course, the collective mind likes to generalise about a few examples and in a secondary fashion, generalise about the most recent occurrences as well. By this I mean that most people will take the most recent memory of something occurring such as a person being sick and go make the generalisation “you are always getting sick, what wrong with you”. In fact, all that needs to happen is that the mind attaches the stereotype of sickness to that person when it happens in recent memory and perhaps once before, possible even quite a while before.
The generalisation powers of the mind are some of our greatest strength and greatest egoic weakness.
Based on partial information we are able to generalise a system, situation or action to the point where we can plan, strategise and apply logic. Our ability to do these things is why we are so successful as a species. We are able to generalise the action process needs to track a ball travelling through the air and actually catch it through a reactionary instinct that has taken millions o years of evolution. It sounds so trivial but try get a robot to do the same thing. Yes you are right, it hasn’t been done yet because the mind’s parallel computer and vision system and mechanism by which actions performed over time become “common sense” are pretty hard to replicate.
Of course, the greatest weakness comes in when the stereotypes lead to a desire for separation and an incorrect feeling of superiority caused by the ego’s need to distinguish itself from others. With specific references to the Jews, the Holocaust is an easily identifiable case in point.
But between both extremes lie some of what effects most of our life. Those little generalisations that come out after a few too many drinks or in casual conversation. Those stereotypes of jews, blacks, whites, women, homosexuals etc etc. You know those ones, you have them too. We all do at some time.
Of course they affect how we interact with people who are part of that generalisation and it is pretty difficult firstly, to realise that a certain reaction is due to the stereotype you have and then secondly, to acknowledge it and try make a decision independently of it.
I have a particular issue with a very specific person at present and although I am aware of the stereotype in my mind and the effect it’s having on our interactions, I still choose to act in a certain way because of it. That is my fault and I need to resolve it. I cannot change them but I can change myself and how I respond to this person. Again this is my ego’s need to separate at work in trying to prove to me that because I do not act like them, I am therefore “better” than them. This is all ego, this is not me.
Hopefully this will be the last post on this current theme that I seem to be on, I will probably be boring all 3 of my readers to death by now J
Problem Solving
Nov 11th
I have been wondering what the best way to approach any problem is. Is there an optimal way to solve an issue or will it always be context dependant? I think a lot about how I approach things and although I sometimes think that I over-analyse and give myself too much to consider, I am also pretty happy with what I have achieved at this point in my life, which must be at least partially due to how I solve problems.
I do try and see every problem as an opportunity to learn and I am the first to admit that this is not always easy, especially when the pressure is on and I haven’t handled something the way I probably should’ve.
If, in the moment of crisis, struggle or mental upheaval you step outside the thoughts and think about what you are thinking about, you might be surprised how insightful you actually are about the way you do things and the way you think about things. But first and fore mostly, thinking about how you are solving the problem actually takes away the problem to an extent because in that moment, there is no problem, there are only thoughts and thoughts are never the issue, it is your emotional reaction to those thoughts that can be the issue.
Think about that for a second. If you control your emotions, then over time you can control your reactions to any situation even when you are challenged in a way that seems to threaten your ego’s sense of ownership, entitlement and desire to be the victim. That is powerful because you have not only changed how you “think” for the better but you changed it without actually changing your personality or being hard on yourself for how you think.
You can’t really change how you think and by this I mean you cannot control a thought that comes into your head but by changing how you react emotionally, over time, those negative, pessimistic thoughts that cause mental anguish and disease just subside on their own and all of a sudden you realise that you don’t think those thoughts any more.
Negative, compulsive thinking is everything that is wrong with the current world in my opinion and if you look around at the increasing number of people getting cancer, getting divorced and living unfulfilled lives, then surely this is all too obvious.
Knowledge contained in books like “The 7 habits of highly effective people” by Stephen Covey, “Mind Power” by John Kehoe and “Emotional Intelligence” by Daniel Goleman and “The Power of Now” by Eckhart Tolle should be the foundational knowledge upon which all other knowledge in life is based. Everything else is less important and reciprocally, everything else will become more achievable if your emotions can be mastered.
It’s certainly a life-long battle and I am always learning more and getting it wrong all the time but that what it’s about. Enjoying and treasuring the journey because you will never reach the destination so rather embrace that concept now and let go of the reward at the end of the tunnel. There is no reward at the end, the reward is happening right now whether you are aware of it or not.
