Mental paralysis?
Jan. 16th, 2008 01:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
morslaSometimes, it seems like I live in a tightly bounded little pocket of reality - prevented from doing things because I either don't know how to, or because I do know what the consequences are...
I've noticed it before, when thinking about the things that seem easier for kids to learn. Acrobatics are easy to figure out if you don't worry too much about the effects of gravity. I'm guessing that most of the people who know how to do cartwheels and handstands learned how to do it before their brains convinced them that upside down + falling = ouch. When we grow up, we rationalise it as being sensible - not doing the things that seem likely to fail, even if we could potentially learn how to succeed at them.
It's an interesting exercise - learning to recognise when your gut instinct says 'that's impossible' or 'I can't do that' and figuring out whether impossible is all in your head. Boundaries might seem like they get in the way of growing and changing, but that's only if you let them. The fact that they're so clearly marked could also be a good signpost saying 'I don't know this yet,' which sounds awfully like 'I should learn this.'
I noticed the boundaries again today, while fumbling my way through setting up two email accounts for http://www.purple-mantis.com.au. Reading a (fortunately outdated) help page, I came across advice like:
Of course, being sensible is entirely optional. After realising what I was doing, I decided to sit down and learn some more about what I'm doing. So I'm still walled in by the limitations of what I know, but at least I get some input into where those walls go...
I've noticed it before, when thinking about the things that seem easier for kids to learn. Acrobatics are easy to figure out if you don't worry too much about the effects of gravity. I'm guessing that most of the people who know how to do cartwheels and handstands learned how to do it before their brains convinced them that upside down + falling = ouch. When we grow up, we rationalise it as being sensible - not doing the things that seem likely to fail, even if we could potentially learn how to succeed at them.
It's an interesting exercise - learning to recognise when your gut instinct says 'that's impossible' or 'I can't do that' and figuring out whether impossible is all in your head. Boundaries might seem like they get in the way of growing and changing, but that's only if you let them. The fact that they're so clearly marked could also be a good signpost saying 'I don't know this yet,' which sounds awfully like 'I should learn this.'
I noticed the boundaries again today, while fumbling my way through setting up two email accounts for http://www.purple-mantis.com.au. Reading a (fortunately outdated) help page, I came across advice like:
...open up prefs.js in your favorite text editor ... blah blah blah ... tweak the settings for this new identity according to taste...If I knew more about what I was playing with, sure, I'd 'tweak the config settings according to taste.' If I knew less about the consequences of randomly tinkering with things, I'd probably give it a shot as well. But here in the middle ground, unhelpful instructions like that immediately trigger the 'back away slowly' response.
Of course, being sensible is entirely optional. After realising what I was doing, I decided to sit down and learn some more about what I'm doing. So I'm still walled in by the limitations of what I know, but at least I get some input into where those walls go...
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no subject
Date: 2008-01-16 03:30 am (UTC)I quite like finding that I don't know how something works - it means I can then rise to the challenge of finding ways of not-fucking-up. If I knew everything there is to know about doing my job I'd be so bored I'd have to quit and find a completely different job/industry to meddle with. :)
no subject
Date: 2008-01-16 03:58 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-16 04:21 am (UTC)I think most people who know how to do cartwheels as adults have known how since they were kids - back when they were invincible, and didn't think too hard about what might go wrong. The kids who did think too hard about that are the ones who never actually learned how to do them at all (like me...).
There don't seem to be many people who failed to learn a cartwheel as a kid, but then managed to learn how as an adult. Maybe that's just because "grownups" avoid things they regard as childish, but I think the mental blocks they established early on still play a large part in stopping them from trying again later.
no subject
Date: 2008-01-16 08:14 am (UTC)Even if I was flexible and thin and had enough upper body strength to support my weight now, I couldn't do it - I've lost some of that taste for risking falling on your head backwards.
I'm not sure I even could have done it then if it wasn't that the other girl who could do it was my sworn enemy.