There is a kind of feeling that one might have periodically; the heavy chest, the increased breathing rate, and the floating toughts (which seem to be more negative than mere daydreaming). And usually those thoughts tend to associate with your current situation, or what you are most worried about. And usually, what you would be thinking about, would be the worst of all situations dawdling in your mind.
I cannot help but express my disdain for such a feeling; it is certainly an unpleasant one, and has the tendency to beg the question of how you view life, and how life views you. You would feel unhappy, worthless, and lack a sense of belonging nor purpose in the world. You feel anxious; about problems that are currently happening (or lack thereof) and you assume the worst. You feel sad, lonely, that everyone in the world is against you, or just don't understand you. You become selfish, cynical, irritable, and vengeful. You become insane in your own mind. You are paranoid.
Paranoia is, as most would understand, a psychological phenomenon that affects your ability to reason and think coherently. Paranoia is when you think of something bad that might happen, even though in reality that bad thing doesn't exist in the first place. It is pessimism taking over optimism (or more likely, "perceived" realism taking over "delusional" optimism. Or maybe it is delusional in itself...) I do not believe that paranoia exists alone, but more likely exists as the result of, or concurrently with anxiety and depression.
This of course is something that most students would be able to relate to- the pressure of schoolwork, the bleak future, the realities of real life, peer pressure, etc. Post-School-Examination-Paranoia is one thing that I believe most students would be suffering from, especially for those who did not study (or DID study, but are kiasu enough to suffer like this). They lack the ability to shrug it off, because there is nothing they can do. Some of them even seek solace by going to religious temples and pray for good luck before and AFTER the exams. Whatever helps them reduce the anxiety though. But what would most likely be playing in their mind?
Other than the gradual loss of sleep (which would worsen the condition) these students may start to think about the distant future; what would happen if he or she failed? What is the solution? What is the solution if THAT solution fails? And what is the failsafe plan if all else fails? How am I going to get a job? How much do I have to pay? What would my parents think of me? What would my friends think of me? Eventually this anxious behaviour would lead to depression, and from then on, life becomes bleak. This is even worse the longer the exam results are held back, and it's the holidays, in a situation where you're stuck at home with no one to console you. Good grief! Get a grip!
Other than the exams, something else may spring into mind. Something that at least a few or shockingly most students may relate to. The subject of friendship and social acceptance. It's the holidays, and you're not going to see your friends for quite some time. You're done with your video games and vacations, then you get bored. During this stage you start to feel as if life is pointless because there's nothing to do. You've got no mood to pursue your hobby. You hope the holidays end earlier so you can go back to school to do work (I might digress; I'm so bored I actually miss schoolwork). Then you start to think of your friends. You suddenly feel lonely, with no one to talk to. You start to sit in front of the computer (internet addiction, but that's another issue), waiting for your friends to come online. You become happy when they're online.
However, one thing about instant messages is that they are vague, cold, and usually misleading. Prone to misunderstandings.
You become very sad when they don't respond to your IMs. Or you are not satisfied with their answers, which seems rather cold (unless there's an emoticon that follows it of course). Then you don't see them online for quite some time, and you begin to wonder if they had blocked you. Then you start thinking about all the possible reasons why they could have blocked you and ignore the alternatives, like, they've got a LIFE outside the computer. Or they are just "AFK- away from keyboard". You begin to think about what you said earlier that might have triggered this cold shoulder. Or what you might have NOT said. or what you SHOULD have said. This "should and shouldn't have (SASH)" phenomenon even occurs when you're not using IMs. Like how you spoke to your friend and lunch today, and then you start analysing the person's response (or lack thereof). Then you start to send the man SMS later in the day, and when you don't get a prompt response, you start to panic "OMG THIS PERSON HAETZ MEEEE WAT DID I DUUU".
This situation is even worse during the holidays when you're at home with nothing else to do. Locking yourself up will not solve the problem, and panicking will not solve it either. During this panicking stages you begin to wonder if other people view you the same negative way. If you are the kind who is especially conscious and concerned about how others view you, you are screwed. You may have the desire to act according to what society perceives as tolerable and normal, in order to fit into that society. You just want to fit in. You fear rejection. And you already feel rejected. Maybe because you rejected yourself.
You think of all the worst things you did in college and all the possible things you could have done (good and bad) and then think of the solutions to it, and the if that fails, you think of the solution to that solution... you're paranoid. Suddenly all your close friends had turned against you (in your head). You feel betrayed, you feel lonely. You start to dread going back to school. Your self esteem becomes crap.
I must say that this "peer pressure" paranoia is actually worse than exam stress. Simply because it emotional in nature, while exams are abstract facts. Friendship is something that constantly evolves, and is difficult to repair once broken.
It may not affect some people, but it's a heavy hitter for those with very low self esteem. In fact some may even contemplate suicide. Pathetic? Then I must be one too, for having been through this before.
However, it is ironic how most eccentric people, who are obviously deviants of society, seem to be full of themselves. They don't care how others think about them, and refuse to be normal. They are always happy and unnerved by others. So what's their secret? I think we've heard this before; they accept themselves. And for some reason they happen to have lots of friends too. Ask them if they are paranoid, they'll deny it all.
So you've got to accept yourself before you expect others to accept you. Go figure. But its easier said than done. I've heard this before, but it didn't seem to work for me during my pre U year when I was sidelined/alienated from my entire class.
In order to accept yourself, you have to stop being paranoid. You have to learn to be more optimistic. Learn to be delusional, because that may actually benefit your sanity, contrary to what others may say.
Basically, the bane of Paranoia is to take your mind OFF the problem, and focus it on something else, like a hobby or work.
Aha! Get it now why boredom during long holidays is bad? Because you've got nothing else to think about! So you think of the bad things, so you become paranoid. When you are in school, you're so busy with your schoolwork that you don't have time to be paranoid!
Another way to combat paranoia is to learn to trust others. That's right, you have to learn to be more naive. Okay seriously, if you're the kind who has difficulties in trusting others, then you're gonna lead a sad, lonely life. Life is about putting trust in others. Not completely, but enough to pull you through. Trust that others will not backastab you or betray you. Trust that others are capable. Trust that others are not capable of becoming the demons of your thoughts. Because the biggest demon is in your mind.
Or if paranoia really seems to bother you, then you could probably settle for psychoactive drugs like caffeine.
Coffee seems to work for me whenever I fall into this paranoia depression trap. I start to forget about my worries, or start to think about them but I don't feel bad about it. It's as if I don't give a shit anymore. I hear that Green Tea also provides this benefit minus the adverse health effects (and it was what I took during my horrible, HORRIBLE pre U year).
Then you could try some sulbutiamine. Try looking it up.
I also heard that Yoga and some light exercise can do the trick- while I don't do Yoga, I do Dance Dance Revolution. Trust me, it works like a charm. And you get to appreciate and enjoy music. :)
If there are better solutions to combat paranoia, feel free to comment.
What I can conclude for now is that Paranoia, Anxiety, Depression, they are all interrelated. It's like a chain, or a domino effect. One thing can lead to another. It's not healthy, nor beneficial in any way to be paranoid. There's more to life than you'd think.
By the way, NEVER EVER ask advice from your parents regarding this peer pressure issue- While they are wise and they provide their honest concerns, they don't have Facebook or MSN, so they'll give you the crappiest and most obsolete advice ever- "your friends are worthless and you shouldn't think of them because once you leave university you'll never see them again. It's Hi and Bye." Intriguing because most successful people keep in contact with their friends... and parents who give these advice usually never kept in touch either.
Friday, May 8, 2009
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Judging books based on covers (part 1 of many)
The crowd was skeptical. The judges were bored. She wanted to become a professional singer, but they laughed at her. She had no star quality; her age, her messy hair, her broad face, her cockney accent and peachy attitude. Then she held the mic and sang, and the jeers turned to cheers, then some to tears. She wooed the crowd with her beautiful voice. Though outwardly she wasn't beautiful, on the inside she was. Susan Boyle has reminded the world again why judging a book by it's cover is the most fucked up mentality you'll ever want to have.
Maybe it's the stereotyping. Maybe it's the belief that ugly people are bad, and the beautiful people are honest and kind. But watching Shrek would probably help us think again. The ugly people are good, and the beautiful people are bad. Yes, we grow up in a world where there are these stereotypes, whether or not based on race, religion, skin color, nationality, body build, gender, or whatever. Going back to Shrek, it's a good example to show the reverse of our initial perceptions on beauty and the beast. But then again, that doesn't prove that Ugly people are good and Beautiful people are all bad. It would be preposterous. It would be terrible to think like that. It's best to keep to the ideal mentality, which is to understand that there are good and bad people out there, ugly or beautiful.
A few years ago I went to the DVD store and saw one of those pirated "4 in one" discs at the "children's shows" category. They had Barney & Friends, Teletubbies, etc. Then there was a disc that had Finding Nemo, Team America, and A Bug's Life. Okay, that's cute, they have... wait. Team America? Isn't that an adult satirical comedy movie involving puppet characters? What is a mature movie doing in a collection of kiddy movies? Oh right. Pirates are idiots. They don't know what they're dealing with. The picture shows puppets, so it must be a kids show! Yeah! A show that has the word FUCK YEAH as part of its theme song!
A few months ago a student was robbed in college. She was approached by two men who were wearing classy student clothing, and from what I heard and interpreted from gossip, they probably wore ties. Interesting exaggeration, but apparently the guards fell for it and let these robbers cum students enter the building, giving them the chance to feast on their prey. They took her jewellery and ran off, and the unsuspecting guard couldn't catch them. I do not know what fate befell the poor guard, but I hope he learnt his lesson in judgement. Men in business suits are all crooks. No wait, that didn't sound right...
A few weeks ago I met a guy in college who wore cool, black, goth clothing, he decorated his shirt with pins. His fingernails were painted black. His pants had chains hanging all over them. His boots were high. He looked like he could take out a gunsword and summon the ancient beasts from god knows where. Yeah, he's THAT cool. And he has a cheerful personality, and was VERY open about his culture, which he calls "goth". Quite different from the stereotype one holds towards goths; they aren't the vampires and satan worshippers as portrayed in the media. That guy has a mission to prove to the world that we should never judge a book by its cover. I salute to that and wish him good luck. Alot of good luck. Because it's not easy, especially when it comes to stubborn hypocrites that exist in the world.
Just recently I pasted a new wallpaper on my new Asus Eee PC 1000H, a picture of the Joker. It looked dark, cool, and it complemented the black casing. But my family saw it, and boy, was I given a huge scolding. They considered it bad, negative, and it would affect my mentality and make me a bad person. Yeah, going all "subconscious mind" on me. They said it would also give a bad impression if others saw it.
So let me think, THEY don't like it, and they give me advice on what THEY think is right to them, and they generalise it with everyone whom they consider as ideal people. They are freaked out by the picture which I like, and they try to force it out on me on the basis that it will change my mentality to the negative. That it would be bad to always look at a "ghost" everyday. Well, I can say for sure it does have a bit of a stressful impact sometimes on the eyes, but man, I love it. They hate it. And to top it off, I was given advice to put more "jovial", "happy" pictures like Doraemon and all the fucked up cutsie stuff. While I LOVE Doraemon, the idea of putting up a wallpaper almost made me puke.
Let's look at this situation closely. They don't like it, they think others don't like it too, they think it will affect my subconscious, and they want me to put a picture that they like.
Now, I respect their advice, but I have the right not to follow it, because I don't think it suits me at all, as their ideals and my ideals differ in many ways. It's my life I'm leading, it's their life they are leading. Forcing me won't do it at all, and yelling at me for not following their advice ironically doesn't foster the good harmony that they have been looking for and trying to instill in me.
I got so worked up that I told them its not right to judge someone based on how their wallpapers looked. If I put a picture of a puppy, and the person behind me has a phobia of puppies, wouldn't that person consider it horrifying? Each to their own preference I suppose, but how I wish my family respected that. So I told them about the goth guy in my school, and boy, did I get worked up even more. My assumptions were right; they made a wild assumption that the goth guy harbours dark secrets and he is only cheerful in front of me and dark in secret. Is that even fair at all?
So, according to their ideals, a dark picture of the joker is scary and evil. They already gave their judgement based on my wallpaper. Now they want me to change to something more cheerful. Okay, what if i changed it to something like this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadow_Star_Narutaru
It looks cheerful, it looks happy. But the storyline of this anime? Full of gore. But do they know that? I don't think it really matters, as long as it makes them hap- er, it has a "cheerful look" to it.
So let's analyse the next part, which is that the joker will give off a bad impression. So if other people were to look at my wallpaper, they will think I am a murderous bastard with harbours dark secrets. What!? No way! I don't harbour dark secrets! So they generalise what they think with everyone in the world. WOW, wonderful sampling with reliable validity! Okay, what would happen if I put up a picture of Doraemon instead?
For one thing, they don't know my friends nor the people I'm dealing with, therefore I have every right to disregard their ridiculous opinions. There, I said it, ridiculous opinions. They can give good advice sometimes, but too often than not those have let me down, and do not make much sense in the modern world.
It all boils down being biased. It all boils down to ideals and selfish opinion. I am selfish in a sense that I like these things. They are also selfish in a sense that they like the cutsie stuff. I'm stubborn, so are they. They want me to change, but I want them to change. The world works that way. I don't like to make too many compromises. I already make lots of compromise when I'm with my friends, and I certainly don't want to compromise too much at home. I don't want that to be controlled at home. I think that's why I find more freedom outside in the company of friends who are able ot make compromises with me too.
Its 10.40, I'm tired, I'm gonna just post this up.
Maybe it's the stereotyping. Maybe it's the belief that ugly people are bad, and the beautiful people are honest and kind. But watching Shrek would probably help us think again. The ugly people are good, and the beautiful people are bad. Yes, we grow up in a world where there are these stereotypes, whether or not based on race, religion, skin color, nationality, body build, gender, or whatever. Going back to Shrek, it's a good example to show the reverse of our initial perceptions on beauty and the beast. But then again, that doesn't prove that Ugly people are good and Beautiful people are all bad. It would be preposterous. It would be terrible to think like that. It's best to keep to the ideal mentality, which is to understand that there are good and bad people out there, ugly or beautiful.
A few years ago I went to the DVD store and saw one of those pirated "4 in one" discs at the "children's shows" category. They had Barney & Friends, Teletubbies, etc. Then there was a disc that had Finding Nemo, Team America, and A Bug's Life. Okay, that's cute, they have... wait. Team America? Isn't that an adult satirical comedy movie involving puppet characters? What is a mature movie doing in a collection of kiddy movies? Oh right. Pirates are idiots. They don't know what they're dealing with. The picture shows puppets, so it must be a kids show! Yeah! A show that has the word FUCK YEAH as part of its theme song!
A few months ago a student was robbed in college. She was approached by two men who were wearing classy student clothing, and from what I heard and interpreted from gossip, they probably wore ties. Interesting exaggeration, but apparently the guards fell for it and let these robbers cum students enter the building, giving them the chance to feast on their prey. They took her jewellery and ran off, and the unsuspecting guard couldn't catch them. I do not know what fate befell the poor guard, but I hope he learnt his lesson in judgement. Men in business suits are all crooks. No wait, that didn't sound right...
A few weeks ago I met a guy in college who wore cool, black, goth clothing, he decorated his shirt with pins. His fingernails were painted black. His pants had chains hanging all over them. His boots were high. He looked like he could take out a gunsword and summon the ancient beasts from god knows where. Yeah, he's THAT cool. And he has a cheerful personality, and was VERY open about his culture, which he calls "goth". Quite different from the stereotype one holds towards goths; they aren't the vampires and satan worshippers as portrayed in the media. That guy has a mission to prove to the world that we should never judge a book by its cover. I salute to that and wish him good luck. Alot of good luck. Because it's not easy, especially when it comes to stubborn hypocrites that exist in the world.
Just recently I pasted a new wallpaper on my new Asus Eee PC 1000H, a picture of the Joker. It looked dark, cool, and it complemented the black casing. But my family saw it, and boy, was I given a huge scolding. They considered it bad, negative, and it would affect my mentality and make me a bad person. Yeah, going all "subconscious mind" on me. They said it would also give a bad impression if others saw it.
So let me think, THEY don't like it, and they give me advice on what THEY think is right to them, and they generalise it with everyone whom they consider as ideal people. They are freaked out by the picture which I like, and they try to force it out on me on the basis that it will change my mentality to the negative. That it would be bad to always look at a "ghost" everyday. Well, I can say for sure it does have a bit of a stressful impact sometimes on the eyes, but man, I love it. They hate it. And to top it off, I was given advice to put more "jovial", "happy" pictures like Doraemon and all the fucked up cutsie stuff. While I LOVE Doraemon, the idea of putting up a wallpaper almost made me puke.
Let's look at this situation closely. They don't like it, they think others don't like it too, they think it will affect my subconscious, and they want me to put a picture that they like.
Now, I respect their advice, but I have the right not to follow it, because I don't think it suits me at all, as their ideals and my ideals differ in many ways. It's my life I'm leading, it's their life they are leading. Forcing me won't do it at all, and yelling at me for not following their advice ironically doesn't foster the good harmony that they have been looking for and trying to instill in me.
I got so worked up that I told them its not right to judge someone based on how their wallpapers looked. If I put a picture of a puppy, and the person behind me has a phobia of puppies, wouldn't that person consider it horrifying? Each to their own preference I suppose, but how I wish my family respected that. So I told them about the goth guy in my school, and boy, did I get worked up even more. My assumptions were right; they made a wild assumption that the goth guy harbours dark secrets and he is only cheerful in front of me and dark in secret. Is that even fair at all?
So, according to their ideals, a dark picture of the joker is scary and evil. They already gave their judgement based on my wallpaper. Now they want me to change to something more cheerful. Okay, what if i changed it to something like this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadow_Star_Narutaru
It looks cheerful, it looks happy. But the storyline of this anime? Full of gore. But do they know that? I don't think it really matters, as long as it makes them hap- er, it has a "cheerful look" to it.
So let's analyse the next part, which is that the joker will give off a bad impression. So if other people were to look at my wallpaper, they will think I am a murderous bastard with harbours dark secrets. What!? No way! I don't harbour dark secrets! So they generalise what they think with everyone in the world. WOW, wonderful sampling with reliable validity! Okay, what would happen if I put up a picture of Doraemon instead?
For one thing, they don't know my friends nor the people I'm dealing with, therefore I have every right to disregard their ridiculous opinions. There, I said it, ridiculous opinions. They can give good advice sometimes, but too often than not those have let me down, and do not make much sense in the modern world.
It all boils down being biased. It all boils down to ideals and selfish opinion. I am selfish in a sense that I like these things. They are also selfish in a sense that they like the cutsie stuff. I'm stubborn, so are they. They want me to change, but I want them to change. The world works that way. I don't like to make too many compromises. I already make lots of compromise when I'm with my friends, and I certainly don't want to compromise too much at home. I don't want that to be controlled at home. I think that's why I find more freedom outside in the company of friends who are able ot make compromises with me too.
Its 10.40, I'm tired, I'm gonna just post this up.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
The Changing Mindsets (part 1 of possibly many) through personal experience
Before I begin, let me first clarify that what I am about to pour upon you are some of the thoughts of a young teenager who had barely entered into the Psychological field of study. What I am about to write is based on my own experience and assumptions of what I believe exists in the minds of people. Seeing as I am still young and inexperienced, I highly doubt that I would still keep the same mentality for long. As I progress through life and experience new things, my mentality would constantly change as well, and such is the nature of the human mind. Humans, are indeed, hypocrites by nature. Therefore, do not be alarmed if the ranting you see today contradicts with what you see tomorrow.
Some of you might be thinking, why in the world am I even reading a blog that was written by someone who deoesn't even have a degree or PhD? Actually, you don't really need to have a pretty huge dick (PhD) to understand human nature, because human nature is what we are always experiencing. Studying in a university helps us understand it better from many aspects, but it still doesn't answer all the questions, as some questions are rather ambiguous. We are here to tackle this ambiguity. It doesn't take experiments to prove a theory. We know it ourselves, and as hypocritical people we can always adapt to newer theories that challenge us, because the true answer is never absolute. Too many coincidences, too many events, seem to happen at the same time that causes a particular behaviour, and it would be a lot easier if we stop trying to find an impressive scientific term to describe certain behaviour and just see it as it is, while at the same accept it from different perspectives, coming to a flexible conclusion. Please do not view the words of amateurs with floccinaucinihilipilification, because Australians didn't see how awesome Steve Irwin was until he died, and then only did they regret not supporting him and tried to make a big funeral for him, which was actually too late.
Look at yourself in the mirror and ask yourself, "am I stubborn"? If you are a teenager, most likely you are, but not to an extent that you would never change your mindset. For example, you probably were taught that caffeine is bad for you. You grew up with that mindset and never touched coffee. Not even when people suggest it to you. But if you're like me, who eventually looked at the benefits of coffee and acquiring a taste for it, you would eventually drink coffee, and even learn to love it. So you are swayed in this manner of persuasion. You may not listen to other people but you can "listen" to articles written by people with permanent head damage (PhD) and adopt it as your profound belief as if it were yours in the first place. Then you become stubborn that coffee is good for health and you start arguing with others who used to have the same mentality as you were before you started drinking coffee. Then the cycle goes around again. That is a classic example of being a hypocrite. But seeing this new behaviour as good or bad is subjective. Scientists would tell you that the reason why teenagers are stubborn or easily swayed is because of their undeveloped frontal lobe which deals with reasoning abilities. Good excuse. Now we can use it as a defence mechanism when our parents start scolding us!
So what is it about hypocrisy? Is it a bad thing? It depeends, really, but through my experience and what I had learned over the years is that hypocrisy has been used as a negative term to describe someone who behaves in such manner. I have been called a hypocrite for the wrong reasons. I used to make fleeting statements when I was younger on another forum about something I disagreed with, and during that time, subjectively my opinion was a bad one. But in the next post, without warning, I changed my mind completely to something better, and some bloke on the other side of the computer yelled at me online, saying that my hypocrisy was getting louder and louder. What I believe is that hypocrisy isn't a bad thing when it is done for the greater good.
Take an example of a guy I met on Youtube. He was once an American racist bastard. Trippin on blacks and pissing on all thing Asian. Ignorant fellow, that old chap. Then he mentioned that since taking a vacation overseas, he had broadened his horizons; seeing these blacks, asians and other ethnics outside of America behaving in a manner which he hadn't expected. They were polite, calm, friendly, unlike the wish wash trash that he had the misfortune to encounter back in his own country. Then his perceptions changed forever, and on Youtube he went on to protest against people who trash talked ethnics who weren't caucasian. So isn't it a mindest that was changed for the better?
Let's look at another example that may be considered as a valid form of proof. Enter Robert Byrd, a senior politicion of the US Senate. He was once a member of a racist group, but eventually changed his mentality and even endorsed the current US President, even giving a long apologetic speech about his previous allegience to the racist group.
What about the opposite? I have been to another forum, and this dude was talking about how he used to protest against racist people. He used to defend black people, until one day he got mugged by the people he was trying to protect, and now he hates these people and loves the racists.
Basically, hypocrisy is merely the change of perception of an individual towards a particular subject or area of interest. The good and bad sides are still subjective, but it is an example of how stubborn people are not unable to change their minds.
Heraclitus once said, "There is nothing permanent except change.The only constant is change.Change is the only constant.Change alone is unchanging. "
I just wrote this in the library, inpromptu, and I don't give a damn about proper writing style. This is what (currently) I think, this is how I think, and if I can think like that, then so can others. My theories may be wrong, but it is what I believe in as of now, and if you have anything to say about that, that's what the comments are for. I'm prepared to be swayed, because I'm a fucking HYPOCRITE =D
Some of you might be thinking, why in the world am I even reading a blog that was written by someone who deoesn't even have a degree or PhD? Actually, you don't really need to have a pretty huge dick (PhD) to understand human nature, because human nature is what we are always experiencing. Studying in a university helps us understand it better from many aspects, but it still doesn't answer all the questions, as some questions are rather ambiguous. We are here to tackle this ambiguity. It doesn't take experiments to prove a theory. We know it ourselves, and as hypocritical people we can always adapt to newer theories that challenge us, because the true answer is never absolute. Too many coincidences, too many events, seem to happen at the same time that causes a particular behaviour, and it would be a lot easier if we stop trying to find an impressive scientific term to describe certain behaviour and just see it as it is, while at the same accept it from different perspectives, coming to a flexible conclusion. Please do not view the words of amateurs with floccinaucinihilipilification, because Australians didn't see how awesome Steve Irwin was until he died, and then only did they regret not supporting him and tried to make a big funeral for him, which was actually too late.
Look at yourself in the mirror and ask yourself, "am I stubborn"? If you are a teenager, most likely you are, but not to an extent that you would never change your mindset. For example, you probably were taught that caffeine is bad for you. You grew up with that mindset and never touched coffee. Not even when people suggest it to you. But if you're like me, who eventually looked at the benefits of coffee and acquiring a taste for it, you would eventually drink coffee, and even learn to love it. So you are swayed in this manner of persuasion. You may not listen to other people but you can "listen" to articles written by people with permanent head damage (PhD) and adopt it as your profound belief as if it were yours in the first place. Then you become stubborn that coffee is good for health and you start arguing with others who used to have the same mentality as you were before you started drinking coffee. Then the cycle goes around again. That is a classic example of being a hypocrite. But seeing this new behaviour as good or bad is subjective. Scientists would tell you that the reason why teenagers are stubborn or easily swayed is because of their undeveloped frontal lobe which deals with reasoning abilities. Good excuse. Now we can use it as a defence mechanism when our parents start scolding us!
So what is it about hypocrisy? Is it a bad thing? It depeends, really, but through my experience and what I had learned over the years is that hypocrisy has been used as a negative term to describe someone who behaves in such manner. I have been called a hypocrite for the wrong reasons. I used to make fleeting statements when I was younger on another forum about something I disagreed with, and during that time, subjectively my opinion was a bad one. But in the next post, without warning, I changed my mind completely to something better, and some bloke on the other side of the computer yelled at me online, saying that my hypocrisy was getting louder and louder. What I believe is that hypocrisy isn't a bad thing when it is done for the greater good.
Take an example of a guy I met on Youtube. He was once an American racist bastard. Trippin on blacks and pissing on all thing Asian. Ignorant fellow, that old chap. Then he mentioned that since taking a vacation overseas, he had broadened his horizons; seeing these blacks, asians and other ethnics outside of America behaving in a manner which he hadn't expected. They were polite, calm, friendly, unlike the wish wash trash that he had the misfortune to encounter back in his own country. Then his perceptions changed forever, and on Youtube he went on to protest against people who trash talked ethnics who weren't caucasian. So isn't it a mindest that was changed for the better?
Let's look at another example that may be considered as a valid form of proof. Enter Robert Byrd, a senior politicion of the US Senate. He was once a member of a racist group, but eventually changed his mentality and even endorsed the current US President, even giving a long apologetic speech about his previous allegience to the racist group.
What about the opposite? I have been to another forum, and this dude was talking about how he used to protest against racist people. He used to defend black people, until one day he got mugged by the people he was trying to protect, and now he hates these people and loves the racists.
Basically, hypocrisy is merely the change of perception of an individual towards a particular subject or area of interest. The good and bad sides are still subjective, but it is an example of how stubborn people are not unable to change their minds.
Heraclitus once said, "There is nothing permanent except change.The only constant is change.Change is the only constant.Change alone is unchanging. "
I just wrote this in the library, inpromptu, and I don't give a damn about proper writing style. This is what (currently) I think, this is how I think, and if I can think like that, then so can others. My theories may be wrong, but it is what I believe in as of now, and if you have anything to say about that, that's what the comments are for. I'm prepared to be swayed, because I'm a fucking HYPOCRITE =D
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