rain_and_snow | (no subject)

According to my Social History of Ideas lecturer/tutor
1. We do not see the world as it really is, but as we want to see it.

2. We do not see others as they really are, but as we want to see them.

The first interests me, as I do not see the world as perfect, and I am fairly sure that I do want it to be perfect. I like the idea of justice, and would rather that things were just. But maybe I just like the idea of wanting to change things, and having ideas about things. Makes sense, though. Us projecting things. Our own interpretations.

The second causes me a little more concern, because I cannot see reason for hating people, thinking they're stupid, annoying, plastics, and so on. More than that, though, I do think it makes some sense. It is difficult to experience something without thinking about it, and as interacting with people tends to involve responding, we're thinking about it before we even begin. I cannot imagine meeting a group of people entirely different from myself/people I know, and experiencing them without making comparisons. It gives interesting implications for personal relationships, though. Fairly commonly seen in abusive relationships, the attachment and denial, or accidence. And how our own spawn are darlings, and you just can't see why those other parents think theirs are so great. And how you're less likely to see commonly perceived 'negative' traits in your partner, when others can see them so easily and cannot understand why you do not.

That said, I have already come to the conclusion that either the world exists, or it does not, or that I exist, or do not, and I actually don't care either way, as I still seem to be experiencing something. Thank-you ToK, year 11. It's been rather useful, I think. I don't need to spend too long contemplating things. I like just being able to go with "whatever makes me happy", or "whatever feels right". We were talking, in History of Ideas, about what happens before we preform an action, and reasons for action, and how we choose what to do. Easy answer for me, "whatever fits in with my values." Which leads to the part where I don't have regrets, because they simply don't make sense. Making a choice at the time, as informed as you were are the time, and you couldn't have made any other choice, really. Maybe that's a little deterministic. I've been trying to imagine someone else living my life (ie, same events) in my body (same physiology) and I come to the conclusion that it's impossible for them to turn out any different to me. There goes the spirit idea, I guess.

Having got there, I am totally sick of having this depression thing. And I've recently been wondering weather or not it exists. Or if this is the 'normal' existence, and I'm just unimpressed by it, or lazy, or weak. And then I have another episode, and I'm convinced that the feelings of the time are all that exists, and nothing is worth it at all. And I can think about it later and recall that I don't always feel that way, and given it does impact upon my functioning, maybe it is legitimate. But maybe it's just normal. I have these kind of thoughts with some regularity. Again, I'm not sure I care either way, but I would rather *not* have episodes. Or whatever you'd like to call them.

And to Old Lady:

"My world view is based around some of the people in my family, and how I have had to deal with them - basically, people with autism, and Asperser’s. And it's been difficult because people on the autism spectrum don't have emotions".

"Medication is totally useless in treating or managing mental illness anyway!"

"But people with psychological abnormalities are more violent and dangerous than those people who do not!"

YOU ARE WRONG. I do not know what you are doing in a psych course if you refuse to learn. If you already know everything there is to know. Please, please just listen to the lectures, the tutor, and do the reading material. I understand it may be challenging your world view, and therefore you are likely to reject it, but take the facts first before spreading lies. People with ASD *do* experience emotion, they do, however, tend to express it differently to most people. Medication has been incredibly useful in treating a number of mental illnesses. Not all illnesses, and not all cases, sure, but this doesn't make it ineffective all of the time.

The last is just blatantly not true, as our tutor just explained to you. People with psychological abnormalities are statistically LESS likely, as a group, to be violent or dangerous, to those who do not. This is likely because psychological abnormalities tend to be characterised by a lack of motivation, and/or an inability to organise their thoughts functionally. Therefore, they may *want* to be violent, but can't be motivated, or they simply cannot make the thoughts go "in the right order".

But what about that case in Preston where the patient killed his psychologist? Well, that would be a statistical anomaly. Rare. Unusual. And, don't use the word patient. Use client.