Reality is both of those things...
The natural routines of daily life...
And, the "people being people" elements... that command much of our thinking... and most of our anxiety... at least since having (mostly) culled the polar bear population from inside village limits.
Not everyone wears stress the same... or have learned how to live with it...
But, I've learned that... as many things... that's mostly a choice... how much weight you give things... and how much of that weight you determine is your fair share to put on your back... how much time ($, blood) you're willing to allocate to the effort in carrying it... for others... given normal people are not mostly doing work for themselves, only... but are mostly "doing the right thing" within the limits of their ability to apprise, for themselves and others, what that is. Others, of course... NPC's... sociopaths... operate under different rules.
One of my more surprising (and, funny) conclusions, after long study and proof by experience... [that perhaps applies only to that small sub-set of the population who value thinking, intellect, and their products... which you might assume I expect includes most here... or it wouldn't be worth my time trying to communicate ?]
Having better raw ability, or more focus on, or more practice in, and a steeper learning curve in learning how to learn... often tends to generate egocentrism in "thinking" people... often following along the lines of "since I thought about it, I'm obviously right, and since you clearly haven't, or don't have the ability," etc. All of which, of course, predisposes us to "Great Moments in Unintended Consequences"... built on that ignorance we failed to properly recognize. But, it also predisposes us to... an inability to communicate... some as "IQ gap" is a real thing... some as any specialized focus creates specialized language... that others don't speak.
The point:
Thinking people think themselves better in that way... as just thinking... constantly... while others don't.
What I've noted is...
It's not really possible to think, constantly. Thinking consumes a lot of energy... while forcing your brain into adopting new configurations... like running builds muscle, while tediously retreading steps repeatedly until its made routine... so "thinking" work can give way to a rote and mindless repetition of prior patterns... leaving you to push beyond them...
But, once you realize that... and figure out that most of our lives are not spent thinking, but mostly following well worn patterns in behaviors we've learned that, not only don't require thinking, don't work unless without.
So, assuming you judge yourself among the "elite" in humans who are applying themselves to thinking at a level that others don't... how much of your day... is spent in "thinking" ?
I thought about that... and came up with... it can't possibly exceed 1%... for most people is far less... with nuance in variation in the percentages making huge differences both quantitatively and qualitatively.
At / near that limit... you run into a lot of people who are so challenged by the demands imposed... that to sustain the effort... they have to start dropping out bits of time or elements in behavior most people find "normal". Think of it as the "absent minded professor" problem... which is very real. Rewiring your brain to enable you to do competitive level work in extra-dimensional physics... means you have no time... or no neural paths left to apply... to tying your shoes properly, or seeing the utility in meeting other norms of polite society... bathing occasionally, wearing a clean shirt once in the odd while, etc.
A lot of people engaged that way... appear they are only able to survive because they have others in their lives who are willing to take care of them, and do those things for them. That, or the lack of that care by others, also likely why physicists have among the highest suicide rates... as, in spite of the effort made, or re-doubled, progress often remains not just elusive... but hopeless... where more work being done taking up more of every day... or working harder in the time spent... might only tax you more, exposing greater weakness and failure.
It is not just babies who need occasional eye contact and touch... but also, teenage girls and early middle aged physicists... in some minimal quantity that there's still some obvious enough value in surviving ?
So, it is important to maintain life balance... and balance in one's thinking and range of experience in the real world... deliberately... while escaping limits in thinking [imposed by deliberately adopting prior patterns, as what you were taught to believe]... without that "pattern" applied in "escaping limits" justifying escaping other limits... like those in social norms, morality, reason... ?
That need for "life balance" includes "thinking" being channeled into a sufficient diversity of things... that it doesn't pose risk in being captured by the artifice in new constructs adapted from old ones to "fit" the structure of one problem: In physics... seeing the world as "only" worth seeing as standard model particles... or the problems as "only" soluble by finding some impossible to determine variant in string theory... each a problem, but, not the point ? The most obvious exemplar of that error being made, in result of Einstein... where public awareness of relativistic functions in physics... was almost immediately mal-appropriated to be applied in almost every thing in which it could be misapplied... including "moral relativism"... which is particularly ignorant.
The point of which, here, is..."don't be ignorant"... is not used as a pejorative. Everyone IS ignorant... with everyone denying it... supplying proof in the opposite... relatively :<)... in some degree. I know "something" about a lot of things in which I am no expert... where "a little knowledge can be dangerous"... and, in other things, where I focused more effort, I know more about them than most experts... often because "better thinking" is a function not just of ability... but of a broader awareness than others, deliberately adopted, as means I seek, and often have more information... as well as better perspective... enabling better analysis.
And, as soon as you're certain you have it figured out... you'll learn that "superior" awareness was clearly better than others... only still missing that one bit that mattered more that what you got right. Because... thats how reality works... when you are not omniscient. So, knowing that... likely to induce a lot of stress as you see others preparing to herd the lemmings over the cliff...
Which is why its useful to allocate your 1% to what you can... in a balanced way... without accepting responsibility for others errors... and, even, without beating yourself up for getting it wrong once in a while... rather than learning to value that... and learn from it, faster ?
That leaves the other 99%... assuming you manage to keep breathing, etc., without focusing on it... as also requiring some deliberate effort in enabling balance... not just washing, exercising, but, singing at the top of your lungs without being self conscious about it...and, doing that, and everything else you do, with the deliberate intent of enjoying each little element of it as much as possible...
Too much attention, I think, paid to "living in the moment"... as requiring some sort of spiritual or religious transformation... that you lack the information to enable in your self... thus, making your inability into a source of even more stress ?
But, yes... you need to focus on priorities... making changes...
So, maybe, this... To Live Deliberately: Thoreau’s Philosophy Remains Relevant
AND this... What Does it Mean to Live Deliberately?
But, still... while following Thoreau's example in how he made his choices, for himself, as knowing himself... rather than thinking its useful to duplicate his choices, as if its a recipe ?
For now, I've got a lot of new ideas to digest... so, likely to do what I do, then... and quit working on it to let it work itself out, inside me... while I focus on thinking about other things... and/or focus on not thinking...
Having been tested often enough... I trust myself to make good judgments...
Then, later... go over it again... see what's there... what else needs work ?
And as part of that... all of it... not just the "thinking" part... but the "balance" part...
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It's a treasure to be able to see world, again, through the eyes of a two year old...
Replaying every episode of "Bluey" endlessly... until the adults conversation turns to nuances in differences between episodes... with random octopus references interjected here and there ? Well, at least its better than going to sleep with "Daniel Tiger" theme music stuck in your head.
The world I grew up in... sucked... so will hers... as everyone's, everywhere, ever, has... but, at least... she'll have the benefit of the wisdom gladly passed down to her... a family that loves, values, and supports her... while ensuring she's learned how to enjoy it. And, she'll learn about "choices"... in being optimistic or pessimistic being not dictated by the circumstances... that "you are what you think you are"... and to be careful in making her choices. She was "late to arrive"... my daughter for a time thought as you... but, her husband, with better judgement about life... and, biological clocks working as designed. I was afraid my daughter would live her life without ever knowing any of the joy a mother (and father) experience. But, I know my daughter... and avoided any direct expression of such... as clocks ticked. And, now... of course... her view is changed... along with her life, and both her understanding, and her need for understanding... and she knows now how much of life's best she almost missed... and appreciates her parents challenges and efforts SO much more, too :<).
Because... "raising kids is easy".
It's trite, of course, that "the kids are our future"... but, while "eye-rollingly" true... clearly not all of them are our best hope for the future... That hope will necessarily be invested in some small percentage of them... who've been equipped with the tools to participate, meaningfully... and good examples... in the "how to" of life.
So, all those not willing to make the commitment / investment... of time, $, yourself... ? Please don't ?
I just tucked my granddaughter in for a nap... after reading her "Nibble, Nibble" by Margaret Wise Brown.
If the rabbits can figure it out... act without over thinking it... as Thoreau did... shouldn't we be able to ?
Achieving poetry... in the way we live... means, not much hurt in choosing to incorporate it into your life... as part of seeking to achieve it ? |
