August 2, 2012: Post 569 (2012 Day 215)
August 2, 2012
Daily Comment
Sometimes I wonder whether it is only the people I grew up with who understand me at all.
That thought is, of course, predicated on the idea that the people I grew up with do understand me. Those who've been commenting on this blog seem to, and they've known me longer than anyone. So do some of my oldest friends, the ones I still talk to from Elementary and Junior High School.
On the other hand, friends who only knew me after high school - knew someone whose interpersonal relationships were quite different than the one people grew up with.
Some of that has to do with drugs. I smoked pot in high school, but after high school, I expanded my experimentation quite a bit.
A lot more of it has to do with broader cultural changes that everybody was dealing with. I was a full-on, self-defined hippie, That meant a certain degree of alienation from the mores I grew up with, as well as a different relationship to all authority figures (except the ones I excepted. Bad mistake on my part - nobody I was listening to was giving me anything useful).
Of course, people who came from the same environment that you did have insights that those who didn't, don't.
(Sorry to digress, but I think that last sentence ended in poetry. I'm re-reading it).
I'm not sure there's anything more than that involved. Newer friends don't get all my jokes, and frequently make wrong assumptions when considering my wants or needs. There is a general, human, tendency to think that anybody we aren't immediately repelled by is just like us. That I am a member of their tribe.
Humans are tribal. Even when they don't recognize their 'tribe,' the tribal imperatives, forcing a 'them and us' perspective, causes a lot of grief in this world.
There is a check that I think may be universal when one person meets another. I think it is something that happens as an unconscious genetic imperative: When meeting someone new, the first impression, as it is, begins with an answer to the question (with all its subjective perceptive filters): "How much is this person like me (and, by extension, my 'tribe')?"
From there, it is just a neuron-flash away from a host of assumptions.
It all reminds me of the old Animals song, "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood.".
That thought is, of course, predicated on the idea that the people I grew up with do understand me. Those who've been commenting on this blog seem to, and they've known me longer than anyone. So do some of my oldest friends, the ones I still talk to from Elementary and Junior High School.
On the other hand, friends who only knew me after high school - knew someone whose interpersonal relationships were quite different than the one people grew up with.
Some of that has to do with drugs. I smoked pot in high school, but after high school, I expanded my experimentation quite a bit.
A lot more of it has to do with broader cultural changes that everybody was dealing with. I was a full-on, self-defined hippie, That meant a certain degree of alienation from the mores I grew up with, as well as a different relationship to all authority figures (except the ones I excepted. Bad mistake on my part - nobody I was listening to was giving me anything useful).
Of course, people who came from the same environment that you did have insights that those who didn't, don't.
(Sorry to digress, but I think that last sentence ended in poetry. I'm re-reading it).
I'm not sure there's anything more than that involved. Newer friends don't get all my jokes, and frequently make wrong assumptions when considering my wants or needs. There is a general, human, tendency to think that anybody we aren't immediately repelled by is just like us. That I am a member of their tribe.
Humans are tribal. Even when they don't recognize their 'tribe,' the tribal imperatives, forcing a 'them and us' perspective, causes a lot of grief in this world.
There is a check that I think may be universal when one person meets another. I think it is something that happens as an unconscious genetic imperative: When meeting someone new, the first impression, as it is, begins with an answer to the question (with all its subjective perceptive filters): "How much is this person like me (and, by extension, my 'tribe')?"
From there, it is just a neuron-flash away from a host of assumptions.
It all reminds me of the old Animals song, "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood.".
Please leave a comment if you visit my blog. Thank you!
Food and Diet Section
Today's Weight: 203.4 lbs
Yesterday's Weight: 204.6 lbs
Day Net Loss/Gain: - 1.2 lbs
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| Year 2012 daily weight from December 31, 2011. |
Reversed yesterday's gain (exactly). Ate a light breakfast due to the postponed lunch out.
Food Log
Breakfast
Chia gel.
Lunch
At Ling-Ling Chinese Buffet:Chia gel.
Lunch
 |
| Chicken and pork with broccoli, mushrooms, sprouts, onions and peppers. Kimchee. Not shown: A salad with lettuce and hard-boiled eggs and ranch dressing. |
 |
| Chili (beef, black beans, tomatoes, mushrooms, spinach, spices) with peas. Not shown: Cole slaw and Peccorino Romano cheese. |
A cocoa-kale protein shake (almond milk, whey protein (24g protein), kale, cocoa, vanilla, cinnamon, stevia-inulin blend).
Liquid Intake
Coffee: 30 oz, Water: 116+ oz
Please leave a comment if you visit my blog. Thank you!
posted by Reverend Ken at
7:58 PM
3 Comments:
Isn't it possible for two people to "meet" without resorting to the conditioning our minds have become identified with - the duality of our subjective mind? Can we agree That we are" All Bozos on This Bus", and relate accordingly? Can we be free from the condtioning influences (not necessarily imperatives). I think you know the answer and how to realize it. - my love to you Both
I think we grew up in a very unique place and time. I haven't met anyone who seems to have shared the experience I had. Of course, I tend to meet people who went to college and on to graduate school but even others- started later in their lives and weren't so engaged in the idea of a new world.
I don't think it is possible to meet without resorting to the condition our minds have become identified with. I think their are unconscious processes that occur over which we (at leastI) have no control that determine our reactions. My love to you both
Joan -I don't think it is possible to meet without resorting to the condition our minds have become identified with. I think their are unconscious processes that occur over which we (at leastI) have no control that determine our reactions - this a brilliant response and is causing me to rethink everything. and i mean Everything. I suppose this response is also programmed in the unconscious processes.
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