Hello there! Hope you are doing well amid these challenging times!
Today I don't intend to write a post sharing any gyan whatsoever. Rather, I just want to have a fruitful discussion with you people. A discussion seeking answers to some of the questions that keep on coming into my mind at (ir)regular intervals. I hope you will participate in the discussion.
You might have observed that there are times when we know that we should or shouldn't do something, even then we end up not doing or doing those things respectively.
I would suggest you to think of any such instance, where you know that you should not do a particular task. It might be as naive as indulging in some extra calories (your favorite dessert) even if you are dieting (or suffering from diabetes). Or the case of a (arguably) bad habit like Smoking, Drinking etc. which you know that you shouldn't pursue, even then you crave for indulging in those habits.
In these times of Coronavirus (COVID-19) we all know that we should follow strict physical/social distancing. Even then we have more and more instances of violations of such restrictions. We can even forgive those who are ignorant about the risks associated with their actions, but, what about those who are well aware, supposedly educated, and still end up flouting the restrictions without any justifiable compulsions ? I usually refer such people as uneducated literates!
Coming back to our individual lives, there are instances when we know that we should study or do regular exercise (workout) etc. Even then we end up not doing so and regretting sometime later. One possible explanation can be that it is very natural human tendency to postpone your tasks for some other time in case there is no foreseeable emergency to do that task.
But what about those, who know/realize the importance of a matter, but still end up postponing it ? I will cite a personal example here. While preparing for Civil Services Exam, I knew that I must follow a strict plan. I realized its importance as I have been pursuing this dream for past many years. Even then, there were times when I would simply ignore things and end up wasting the day to be regretted a day later or so. What can be a possible explanation for such a 'criminal' negligence? I am sure you must have some similar instances in your lives where you must have felt the same.
Not making this piece further lengthier, I would attempt some explanation to the above instances. First, we end up doing what we supposedly should not do because, those very indulgences provide us almost instantaneous experiences/pleasures (immediate gratification). Take the case of eating a dessert even while one is suffering from diabetes. The dessert will give us immediate pleasure, while the sugar levels that it will raise may not be fatal in the short term. (It might, however, be damaging for some vital organs which we don't foresee at that time).
Similarly, in case of things that we should do and end up not doing are often the ones whose immediate results (pleasures) are not available. Moreover, the long term benefits/pleasures though foreseeable are not visible immediately. And we as humans have a natural tendency to mostly go for immediate rewards rather than some future returns.
However, there are exceptions to each of above cases and naturally so. But, I am unable to find some convincing explanations to those. So, I invite you to share your wisdom and some possible explanations. I am sure this contemplation and discussion will be mutually beneficial for us all (me, the readers and the one's who would go a step further and participate in the discussion). So Tell me Why?
Looking forward to having a fruitful discussion.
Wishing you the best of health !
Today I don't intend to write a post sharing any gyan whatsoever. Rather, I just want to have a fruitful discussion with you people. A discussion seeking answers to some of the questions that keep on coming into my mind at (ir)regular intervals. I hope you will participate in the discussion.
You might have observed that there are times when we know that we should or shouldn't do something, even then we end up not doing or doing those things respectively.
I would suggest you to think of any such instance, where you know that you should not do a particular task. It might be as naive as indulging in some extra calories (your favorite dessert) even if you are dieting (or suffering from diabetes). Or the case of a (arguably) bad habit like Smoking, Drinking etc. which you know that you shouldn't pursue, even then you crave for indulging in those habits.
In these times of Coronavirus (COVID-19) we all know that we should follow strict physical/social distancing. Even then we have more and more instances of violations of such restrictions. We can even forgive those who are ignorant about the risks associated with their actions, but, what about those who are well aware, supposedly educated, and still end up flouting the restrictions without any justifiable compulsions ? I usually refer such people as uneducated literates!
Coming back to our individual lives, there are instances when we know that we should study or do regular exercise (workout) etc. Even then we end up not doing so and regretting sometime later. One possible explanation can be that it is very natural human tendency to postpone your tasks for some other time in case there is no foreseeable emergency to do that task.
But what about those, who know/realize the importance of a matter, but still end up postponing it ? I will cite a personal example here. While preparing for Civil Services Exam, I knew that I must follow a strict plan. I realized its importance as I have been pursuing this dream for past many years. Even then, there were times when I would simply ignore things and end up wasting the day to be regretted a day later or so. What can be a possible explanation for such a 'criminal' negligence? I am sure you must have some similar instances in your lives where you must have felt the same.
Not making this piece further lengthier, I would attempt some explanation to the above instances. First, we end up doing what we supposedly should not do because, those very indulgences provide us almost instantaneous experiences/pleasures (immediate gratification). Take the case of eating a dessert even while one is suffering from diabetes. The dessert will give us immediate pleasure, while the sugar levels that it will raise may not be fatal in the short term. (It might, however, be damaging for some vital organs which we don't foresee at that time).
Similarly, in case of things that we should do and end up not doing are often the ones whose immediate results (pleasures) are not available. Moreover, the long term benefits/pleasures though foreseeable are not visible immediately. And we as humans have a natural tendency to mostly go for immediate rewards rather than some future returns.
However, there are exceptions to each of above cases and naturally so. But, I am unable to find some convincing explanations to those. So, I invite you to share your wisdom and some possible explanations. I am sure this contemplation and discussion will be mutually beneficial for us all (me, the readers and the one's who would go a step further and participate in the discussion). So Tell me Why?
Looking forward to having a fruitful discussion.
Wishing you the best of health !
May be the our animal instincts(seeking immediate pleasure) dominate our wisdom, which is a reminder that we are not that different from animals after all. People fighting over toilet paper just proves that we are not as sophisticated as we often claim to be.
ReplyDeleteQuite Possible. After all we are animals who have evolved to some higher levels of cognition. We do pursue some intellectual stimulation, only after our survival is somewhat secured. But, Animal Spirits are very much alive in all of us. In fact the basic instincts of survival and security are common among all living beings.
ReplyDeleteWell, the blog is well articulated. The following can be other explanations
ReplyDeletea) the future is deemed as uncertain, whereas the present gives a certainity. Therefore, many times we endup doings things which certainly satisfy our cravings rather then waiting for uncertain higher end benefits.
b) lively experience:
e. g. Smoking kills. But a smoker has not yet experienced the death,However, he has many times experienced the thrill of smoking. Therfore, he continues to pursue that lively experience. A lively experience is being considered as the only reality.
I do agree with your arguments. Uncertainty about future, immediate gratification and Lively experiences (so called thrill) are likely some the major reasons.
DeleteThank you so much for your participation and sharing your thoughts.
One explaination could be having fearless attitude. Fear is not good for great but having some fear rather we can say a precautionary mindset could be capable of avoiding our usual compulsions like seeking momentarily pleasures, disobeying others or being disloyal to ourselves also. This precautionary mindset could be developed by some external guidance or by self exploration. But yes keep going in a right way on a path full of distraction is still a challenging task.
ReplyDeleteHi Rishab. I do agree with you on having fear as a deterrent to keep us away from treading wrong paths. Remember, the prayer during our school days? "Itni shkati humein dena daata... neki par chalen aur badi se darein" ... In fact all our religious scriptures preach us regarding having fear as a deterrent to prevent people from doing wrong. I find it appropriate for checking wrongful deeds, but what about the other part?
DeleteHaving fear as a prime motivation to do things which we should do may not always be a good thing. In this case it might lead to fear psychosis and limit our own capabilities. Consider the case of a Child whose parents keep on intimidating him/her to study. In such a case, it might inhibit the real/holistic growth of this child.
So in my opinion, fear as a deterrent has its own limitations!
And thank you Rishab for sharing your perspective.
DeletePlease feel free to add any other argument :)
Feeling demotivated towards what we should be doing ( for e.g studying for an exam or completing a task at hand) people wander here and there and stumble upon these things which gives them instant/short-term pleasures.
ReplyDeleteThese short-term/instant pleasure giving tasks is defined as living life by the people but that is a completely different topic.
I think you should write about this
"what living life is?........
Hi yuvraj, hope you are well. Remember that test by tiwari sir of philosophy titled "Who are we".
DeleteSome wrote very philosphical answers including me. And i remember your straight away answer:- "we are human beings". I Just remembered that funny incident. :).
Wish you best of your future my friend.☺
Hey Yuvraj ! Thank you for sharing your perspective.
DeleteWhat I understood from your comment is that you have focused on the case where we do experience tremendous pressure about doing a thing (take study for instance). In this case (especially while studying for an exam) we tend to contemplate about the outcome and focus too much on this part. It creates unnecessary pressure in our minds, which we seek to get away with, by indulging in instantaneous gratification things (momentary pleasures). However, we do regret it some time later.
In fact, today only, while reading a book I came across this hypothesis that our happiness and pleasure is regulated and determined due to biological phenomenon whereby hormones like serotonin, dopamine, oxytocin etc. decide our pleasure and happiness. Also this level of happiness is limited and is different from person to person...
In short, if we spend too much of our hormones in seeking short term pleasures, our long-term happiness and contentment is bound to be affected.
However, as I said, it is just another hypothesis and must have many counter-arguments.
I hope I was able to make some sense here.
Hi Rishab, Long time Man
DeleteHope you are still dancing to that video, you used to do in college.
Yeah I remember that incident😅😅
but i will answer the same if I face that question again. (still not philosophical)😬😬
Hi Sharma ji, Totally agree with you.
DeletePeople watse too much time and energy on these short-term/temporary things that they just don't feel to go for that long term goal they used to have.
And all this because those short term pleasures are coming in less time and with very less efforts.
And yes, thank you for the suggestion, I will try to write something about the topic you suggested, of course with some further inputs from you.
ReplyDeleteYes sharma ji.... Please go ahead
DeleteI will surely help with whatever i can.🤓🤓
Hlw Akshay ,well introspected, but there are certain things which we intially take as amusement bt they later turned out to as curse for us . We always desire to get rewarded as soon as possible despite foreseeing the efforts and perseverance required to accomplish that. meditation resulting into self control can turn out to be a miracle in the bizarre and we ourself will be reluctant to deter things.
ReplyDeleteHi ! Thank you for the compliments.
DeleteYes, you do have a strong point regarding meditation as way to calm our mind and regulate our activities .
From my personal experience, it is easier said than done. However, as you said we should try to focus and meditate. Afterall it can be practised without a cost and its gains are immense.
Thanks for sharing your perspective.
I personally feel that it depends on human to human .Personally we all know about this,we all feel regreted after doing unnecessary things and wasting time but we all are surrounded by innumerable pleasures.Someone's allegiance to his work/commitment makes him successful to that work /commitment..sacrificing is necessary for attaining something..some outer vigilance should also be there be it parents /mentors etc who keep a watch on the performance of that person and due to that the very person will also have a fear about it..
DeleteI think those imperfections also play a big role in our life. "Perfection" is a subjective thing. If a person is truly able to control his/her senses, that state would be 'stith-pragya',which is the goal . All the above discussed actions are lessons learnt in the realisation of that goal.
ReplyDeleteSummed it up effortlessly! In fact, the sherr belief that we have perfected something makes us unreceptive to any further knowledge in that domain which is quite undesirable.
DeleteIn that sense, Imperfection and more so its realization is usually a good thing.