WISECRACK CANARY

October 5th, 2018

Humor provides a very important function, beyond entertainment, for human relationships. The comedy within a group of any size of people provides a unique perspective that can register an important metric about the group’s mentality and health.

In the age of Kings, the court Jester walked a difficult path of providing entertainment by pushing boundaries without going so far as to piss off the king to such a degree that the jester would lose his job and potentially his life – the most extreme form of censorship.

When the mental tone of a group starts to veer towards a composition that historically looks like totalitarianism, it’s the journalists, along with the comedians who are the target of censorship first.  But we need not look at such a large scale of people to see the effect and need of humor within a human group.

Just as the jester pushed the boundaries in the court, most humor is an attempt to push some kind of boundary.  The most tempting question might be to try and ask what exactly this boundary is, but any answer is far less informative than the more obvious answer to the question of which direction is the boundary moving?  Comedy is often an attempt to push this boundary out, to expand the circle of conversation.  One function of humor may simply be to arouse a good feeling while we introduce a difficult or unpleasant subject to the realities of language.  This good feeling evoked by humor may be incredibly important for the very reason that the difficult or unpleasant subject would never enter the world of conversation otherwise.  This expanding and inclusionist function of comedy may very well be one of the most important mechanisms we have for hauling problems into a light where we can see them clearly enough to try and solve them.

When the boundary of conversation is moving in the other direction, comedy, like journalists, functions like a canary in a coalmine.  If comedians are being shunned, censored, or worse, we can be fairly certain that the scope and breadth of conversation for that group of people is getting smaller.  Suddenly issues that were in the conversation that might have been solved, begin to be erased from the public sphere, perhaps because some larger, overarching answer to problems claims to have been found.

While these ponderings about comedy appear geared to large populations, the same ideas may apply very well to much smaller groups, right down the the smallest group of just two people.  We might ask how much is available for conversation when humor is not a possibility between two people.  Humor might not be present between two people, but it’s more important to see if humor is simply not possible. If humor becomes less possible between two people than it’s probably a fairly reliable sign that something deep has gone sour.  After all humor is generally a hallmark of good friendships.

Comedy may even have something fundamental to say about a single individual’s mind and if it is set on expanding to a more generous context or not:

It’s simply impossible to make fun of someone who is going to genuinely laugh along with you.

Perhaps this is why it’s so easy to make fun of wannabe dictators.

Their shrinking minds are so easily… trumped.

This episode references Episode 163: What the fool believes. 

ALWAYS WITH YOU

October 4th, 2018

When we feel very good, when we are happy.  Where exactly does the feeling, the experience and the sensation exist?

If we concentrate on the experience of happiness in the most specific sense, what would our answer look like?

Most people would probably report a feeling of lightness in the chest and the body.  Maybe a sort of bubbling feeling somewhere around where we expect the voice to originate from.  Maybe a kind of relaxation and ease with our external circumstance, and of course, probably a big smile.

This need not be some kind of deeply inaccessible circumstance that we must mine out of life.  All of these sensations are very close to any other state of being. 

We might also think about the reverse.  What does sadness or anxiety feel like.  Chances are we’d report a certain heaviness in the chest or a sinking frenzied feeling in the stomach area.  A choking up of our voice, perhaps even a welling of sensation around the eyes and a tight brow.

We must regard these as bodily sensations first and foremost beyond anything else.  They are separate from any external circumstance that we feel might be their cause or trigger.  It’s very important to realize that there is no direct mechanism between any external event and the way we might feel that does not involve some kind of physical alteration of our body.  Although even those who have suffered major bodily trauma still find it within themselves to feel the satisfying feelings of levity and happiness, which works further to show just how untethered our emotional state is from circumstances outside of our direct control.

Happiness is always with you.  If you so chose. 

Phrasing it as such might feel aggravating for those who find it difficult to activate within themselves.  We might wish to phrase It another way:  the physical mechanisms that allow us to experience happiness are present in our body and in our mind wherever we take them.  Recognizing that the mechanisms for happiness are not directly connected to external circumstances is one of the most important realizations to come across. 

We might be convinced that getting sideswiped by a car, or not getting the promotion or being unfairly criticized by a spouse are good reasons to feel aggravated, annoyed, disappointed or downright depressed, but all human lives are peppered with an unending stream of things both big and small to get upset about.

When we dwell on such things in a way that perpetuates feelings of unhappiness, it is akin to keeping a hand too close to a fire as opposed to having the wisdom to back away.  One circumstance is far more pleasant and dwelling beyond the obvious lessons of the past never reveals any deeper wisdom that can be applied to our present or future.

Luckily the paths to happiness are varied and stable, and with practice such paths become increasingly short so that we may call up a nearly perpetual feeling of wellbeing if we so choose.  While the obvious and often recommended ingredients of exercise and good diet, meaningful work, well balanced time with friends and the healthy relationships within family are a good start, the most direct path is the quickest and most enduring:  the realization that no external circumstance need dictate our emotional state. 

Given any adversity it is possible to calmly smile. 

Remembering that possibility is always with us can, with time and practice, grow to become the way we enjoy the process of living.

INSPIRATION

October 3rd, 2018

What is the very first thing we do when we open our eyes in the morning?  Well, really we’ve been doing it all night, but when the eyes open in the morning, the first thing we do is breathe.

In order to get up and go, we have to take something in.

The literal case here is

respiration,

but there’s something similar to be said about

inspiration.

The middle of both words are from the Latin root ‘spirare’, meaning ‘breathe’.

For some, staring at a blank canvas, or a blank sheet of paper is not a big deal.  There’s a thoughtful pause, and then the work begins.  But this is usually an ability that is developed from practice.  Individuals unpracticed with this sort of void-ful situation may be quick to think about writer’s block.

We need only think of situations when we are all too quick to respond.  A debate among friends, or thoughts after a movie, or a book.  Everyone always has an opinion and generally we’re more than willing to take the spotlight and pontificate on the subject if given the chance.

We might say we become inspired in such situations.  And while it may not be the literal breath that we are taking in, we are taking in something in these situations.  Dynamic content that sparks within us some flame of opinion.  In this sense breath takes on a much more mythical and symbolic meaning which may be more in accord with the use of the word from ancient times.  For instance, God breathes life into Adam.  Perhaps in much the same way that we come alive in a heated argument. 

For those looking to create, some exploration is required first.  Just as the little kid spills out all the legos to see what resources are available before throwing pieces together, we too can systematically cure an apparent lack of inspiration by mindfully engaging with the wide world of human and natural creation.  Usually, one need not look very far before an itch of reaction rises in the mind.

The key here then is to tailor this diet and maintain it, sometimes with repetition.

Inspiration isn’t something that appears out of nowhere as though a person has invisible antennae set to pick up some divine channel.  Inspiration is a conscious intake of the world around us, an attempt to fill a void, like an empty lung, so when it comes our turn to make something, we do not freeze, we generate.

This episode references Episode 93: The Generator.

THE COMFORT SIGNAL

October 2nd, 2018

“Don’t work too hard.”

“Take it easy.”

Many have commented, written and ranted about how bad such phrases as these are for our communal psychology.  Such commentary always ends with the prescription to do the opposite.  To work hard and not take it easy.

But there is a deeper aspect of these notions that is overlooked.  The good intention behind each statement is a wish for someone to be happy and comfortable.  Working hard is not easy and far from comfortable,  but in most endeavors, progress depends on hard work which presents a paradox in the prescription we advise one another with. 

Comfort is the key concept behind these notions.  We wish for our friends and family to be comfortable because the built-in assumption of the alternative is negative, something painful.

The word ‘comfort’ came to have the meaning of physical ease in the mid 17^th century, but the word derives from late Latin and means something akin to ‘strengthen.’

This original definition hints at a nuance that exists between comfort and hard work.

The problem stems in part from our love of absolute categories, this is seeing the world in black and white, good and bad and leaving no room in our mentality for the grey space.  We want something to be either this or that because existing in both or shifting at different times is more difficult to keep track of, but if we can equip our concepts with semi-permeable membranes, they become much more dynamic in relation to one another.

Progress, for instance, is never a straight smooth path towards a goal.  Just as any person trying to achieve a certain physique or strength goal will hit plateaus that must be endured and broken, progress is usually a series of staggered improvements.  Breakthroughs during the attainment of a skill, for example is generally attended or achieved by a kind of relaxing with the activity after a strenuous effort to achieve such proficiency.  Anyone who remembers learning how to ride a bike or ice skate for the first time might remember how much more comfortable everything felt when we finally get the hang of it.  Comfort suddenly seems to invoke it’s older definition in these cases.  By enduring the hard work, something in our ability has strengthened, and as a result, we can now do our new skill with a sense of ease and comfort.

Comfort and hard work are not antithetical to one another, they are complimentary.  Comfort in any endeavor is a signal that hard work has paid off and some kind of levelling-up, however small, has occurred.

But the signal should be interpreted two-fold.  If something has become easy, then we are ready for the next challenge.

Just as we sleep each night to rejuvenate the body and mind for the next day, achieving comfort should be celebrated and enjoyed, but never should it be the final and perpetual end goal. 

Those two phrases that so many have taken the time to hate on should merely be combined and shifted a little. 

Instead of not working too hard and taking it easy,

we might want to remind ourselves to take it easy after the hard work.

Doing so also gives us the space of mind to thoughtfully consider where we should concentrate next.

This episode references Episode 133: The Right Track, Episode 42: Level-Up, Episode 54: The Well-Oiled Zoom, and Episode 72: Persevere vs. Pivot

PRACTICING INSANITY

October 1st, 2018

Notice for a moment the similarity between the way insanity and practice are defined.

Insanity, it’s often stated, is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.

How is this any different from practice?  Practice is doing something over and over with the hope that some kind of improvement will occur.  With practice, our concentration can be on doing something we have never actually done before.  This fits the colloquial definition of insanity a little less snuggly because such a person is trying to do something different every single time in order to get the desired result. 

But, generally, once some skill is acquired, the hope and goal of practice is to ensure we can do it exactly the same over and over. We practice in order to maintain proficiency or move towards expertise.

When we begin practicing something that we have no proficiency with, it requires a faith in some kind of different and better future in order to continue.  We often stop pursuing something because we lose faith in the possibility of this new and better future because our feedback from reality provides no obvious evidence that such a future will manifest.

A previous episode of Tinkered Thinking describes a concept termed the Infernal Parking Meter, a parking meter that appears broken, and does not begin to work until hundreds of dollars have been deposited.  Most people will deposit a second coin just to make sure a meter is broken but rarely a third, because that’s just wasting money.  As an analogy for practice, this maps nicely to the behavior people have when we give up pursuing some new endeavor: we put in some effort, nothing happens, we put in a little more effort, still nothing happens, so we stop.  But there’s just no way to tell when the meter of success will start functioning. 

Investing more and more time into any endeavor is risky since time is our most valuable resource which is simultaneously the reason why people give up on things and the reason why people keep doing things that they should abandon, i.e. the sunk cost fallacy.

There is one important aspect of any ‘practiced’ behavior that is key to figuring out whether something is going to improve.

Will the change we seek come from an external or internal place?

If we are practicing something with the hope that some internal change will occur inside ourselves, then chances are quite high that entertaining some insanity will eventually yield some good results.

But, if we are seeking some external change, chances are probably lower that repeated behavior will produce an effective result.  Take for example the often prescribed and ill-received advice that family and friends will give a smoker.  They simply say “stop smoking.” And the result is resistance.  Changing strategies is probably a better idea in order to achieved the desired result of a healthier friend.

However, sometimes perseverance and repetition is exactly what is needed for an external result.  Most podcasts and blogs, for example, peter out before the platform ever finds an audience and the lack of success becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.  The sunk-cost fallacy is a far more important concept for external endeavors than it is for endeavors that aim for some kind of internal change for the simple reason that all personal experiences can be framed in ways that strengthen an individual whereas time wasted on external circumstances may simply be a waste of time.  Though even that experience can become a useful internal one.

What the juxtaposition of practice and the colloquially defined insanity reveal though, is that the mass wisdom behind doing the same thing over and over is not always right, and perhaps in most cases it’s wrong.  Especially when it comes to efforts to change something internal, though one’s faith might dwindle, doing the same thing over and over raises the probability that something new will happen.

This episode references Episode 78: Infernal Parking Meter.