Have you ever played an RPG with multiple endings? The ending depends on choices you make during the game. I usually like to save the game before those choices and play out all the different endings. I believe that I am attracted to RPG’s because of how it imitates real life. During our lifetime we are forced to make an almost infinite amount of choices ranging from mundane to life changing. Each choice we make has some sort of effect. Sometimes these effects are so small that we do not even notice them.
I can not help but wonder what lies at the other end (or ends) of the choices we make. According to some theories in string-theory there are an infinite amount of parallel worlds. Some of you might have seen the movie called ‘Sliding Doors’. What if each of these parallel worlds, represent a different choice with a different outcome. Would they all converge on the same ending like in the movie? Can an infinite amount of choices lead to a finite amount of endings or does it lead to an infinite number of endings? How much effect can my choices have on the rest of the world? Does the ‘butterfly effect’ really apply?
These are questions that, as yet, have no answers but it is clear that our choices have a great effect on our own lives. In an ideal world, we would have all the information necessary to make an informed choice, to choose the outcome that we would prefer. On one hand, it irks me that I cannot always predict what the outcome of my choices will be, or which choice is the best.
We use the resources we have at the time, gather information, compare and weigh, list pros and cons, just to decide whether we should get the vanilla or the choc-mint ice cream. It is always easy to say you should have chosen differently after a choice was made, but even then, you can not be a 100% sure the outcome would have been preferable.
Every choice we make has a price but we rarely know what that price is. What do you sacrifice by choosing one thing over another? What things do you miss out on by going one way rather than another? Can one choice determine that you will never be happy or will there always be a chance to return to happiness? People suffering from decidophobia are so afraid of making (wrong) choices that they depend on others to make their choices for them.
You can spend a lifetime second-guessing your own choices. That is why I decided not to regret any choice I make. In this world, this one continuous moment of consciousness, I will make my choices and stick with them, even if the outcomes are less than desirable. Perhaps there is a me in one of those parallel worlds that made all the right choices and is living the best life imaginable. That thought is enough…for now.
Friday, July 2, 2010
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
What do you see through those eyes of yours?
I must admit, I do not think this is very impressive for an opening post but it is what I have and what I give to you.
Your perception of your world, your worldview or frame of reference, colours every aspect of your life. It determines how you react to other people and how you behave in certain situations. None of the above should be earth shattering news. Extensive psychological studies have been done on this topic. I will not list them nor will I claim I have I read them. Psychological analysis is not my intention, although the psychological content is high
How do I perceive the world around me and how does that affect my life as a whole? To answer this question it was necessary to make an attempt to analyze my own behaviour and those of others as objectively as possible but as you will realize objectivity is not only impossible but counter-productive to this exercise. If you do not know the colours of your own filters, it is impossible to identify the filters of others.
As a bit of background information, this is not an idea that I came up with last month or even last year. It is a concept I have juggled with, consciously and subconsciously since my early teens.
The thought process started with the following question: How do other people perceive me? I want to make it clear though, this was not in order to seek validation or acceptance through others. Quite frankly I couldn’t care less what they think of me but I am however still interested in the answer to the question. Call it academic interest if you like.
The reason for this question stems from the fact that I believe I know myself very well. I believe there is nothing about myself that I hide from myself. Unfortunately I cannot prove this to myself. Only through interaction with others can it be proved or disproved, but even that is not what bothers me. My question is this: Can they see the things that I know about myself? Am I living my life so true to myself that their perception of me comes close to my perception of myself?
I believe this question applies to every one of us although I also believe few people can be bothered to find the answer. In attempt to discover the answer I tried to take on other people’s perspective, tried to determine in what colours they see me. Needless to say I have only had limited success. In order for there to be any success at all you have to know the other person very well. There aren’t that many people who I am that close with.
That is not to say I did not learn anything. Identifying differences in worldviews can be quite enlightening in terms of the inner workings of your own and other people’s minds. Reactions can be predicted to a certain extent. Even failure to predict a certain reaction can be insightful.
So now that I sound like an asocial pseudo-scientific experimenter I feel it is important to say that gaining insight into the thought processes of others is something that came to me in my teens. It has become a second nature to the extent that I am not even aware that I am doing it. It is only in hindsight that I review situations and draw conclusions. How would I have acted in reverse rolls? Why would I have acted that way? What are my underlying motivations? Are they valid? In this I learn more of my own worldview and the worldview of others intrigue me even more.
Are some worldviews better than others? I think some worldviews make it easier to live life while others make it more difficult. Something to remember is that another person’s reality is not something you have any influence over. You can not make someone else see things differently if their reality does not allow things to be different. The only reality you can have control over is your own. It is not easy to change your reality but control over your reality can increase with time.
I believe my own worldview has become an amorphous concept that changes and adapts as necessary. How do I see the world? It differs from day to day. The parts that seem good and the parts that help, tend to be more solid. I try to keep the negative parts of my worldview fluid. It is difficult to change any part of your worldview that has already solidified. Once you believe it is true, it becomes true for you. It is a trap that I would not like to fall into, again.
I would really like to go into some of the worldviews that I have come across but I am not a full fledged psychologist (nor will I probably ever be) and describing them will take more thought on my part. Perhaps another time ;)
Your perception of your world, your worldview or frame of reference, colours every aspect of your life. It determines how you react to other people and how you behave in certain situations. None of the above should be earth shattering news. Extensive psychological studies have been done on this topic. I will not list them nor will I claim I have I read them. Psychological analysis is not my intention, although the psychological content is high
How do I perceive the world around me and how does that affect my life as a whole? To answer this question it was necessary to make an attempt to analyze my own behaviour and those of others as objectively as possible but as you will realize objectivity is not only impossible but counter-productive to this exercise. If you do not know the colours of your own filters, it is impossible to identify the filters of others.
As a bit of background information, this is not an idea that I came up with last month or even last year. It is a concept I have juggled with, consciously and subconsciously since my early teens.
The thought process started with the following question: How do other people perceive me? I want to make it clear though, this was not in order to seek validation or acceptance through others. Quite frankly I couldn’t care less what they think of me but I am however still interested in the answer to the question. Call it academic interest if you like.
The reason for this question stems from the fact that I believe I know myself very well. I believe there is nothing about myself that I hide from myself. Unfortunately I cannot prove this to myself. Only through interaction with others can it be proved or disproved, but even that is not what bothers me. My question is this: Can they see the things that I know about myself? Am I living my life so true to myself that their perception of me comes close to my perception of myself?
I believe this question applies to every one of us although I also believe few people can be bothered to find the answer. In attempt to discover the answer I tried to take on other people’s perspective, tried to determine in what colours they see me. Needless to say I have only had limited success. In order for there to be any success at all you have to know the other person very well. There aren’t that many people who I am that close with.
That is not to say I did not learn anything. Identifying differences in worldviews can be quite enlightening in terms of the inner workings of your own and other people’s minds. Reactions can be predicted to a certain extent. Even failure to predict a certain reaction can be insightful.
So now that I sound like an asocial pseudo-scientific experimenter I feel it is important to say that gaining insight into the thought processes of others is something that came to me in my teens. It has become a second nature to the extent that I am not even aware that I am doing it. It is only in hindsight that I review situations and draw conclusions. How would I have acted in reverse rolls? Why would I have acted that way? What are my underlying motivations? Are they valid? In this I learn more of my own worldview and the worldview of others intrigue me even more.
Are some worldviews better than others? I think some worldviews make it easier to live life while others make it more difficult. Something to remember is that another person’s reality is not something you have any influence over. You can not make someone else see things differently if their reality does not allow things to be different. The only reality you can have control over is your own. It is not easy to change your reality but control over your reality can increase with time.
I believe my own worldview has become an amorphous concept that changes and adapts as necessary. How do I see the world? It differs from day to day. The parts that seem good and the parts that help, tend to be more solid. I try to keep the negative parts of my worldview fluid. It is difficult to change any part of your worldview that has already solidified. Once you believe it is true, it becomes true for you. It is a trap that I would not like to fall into, again.
I would really like to go into some of the worldviews that I have come across but I am not a full fledged psychologist (nor will I probably ever be) and describing them will take more thought on my part. Perhaps another time ;)
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