Sunday, March 02, 2014

God Complex - yes or no ?

Since it's saturday night, and I'm here at all the wrong times, doing all the wrong things, I'm going to be giving food for thought only :

For a doctor, does a god complex make you unapproachable ? Or does it actually help you think clearer and help you make important healthcare decisions ?
Is it a pain-in-the-ass part of achievement or is it indispensable to being a good decision maker ? Is that what gives you the edge over the common thinker ? Does it free you from all unnecessary emotions ? Or does it wipe out empathy ?

I'm personally in love with the idea of a clear mind.

-A

Saturday, March 01, 2014

Do you see what I see ?

There is a lot of speculation on to perception - the way each one of us sees things.

Sometimes I feel an inexplicable feeling of dissociation, I feel I'm on a psychotropic drug. I know we're all part of the same human entity, yet we're all so unique. We are unified by compassion, love and togetherness yet we also ARE a variety. It's strange that as much as we understand what another person sees, hears and feels, I have a nagging age old doubt that has struck me as well. It took me a long time to realise that I'm not alone in this.

Do you see what I see ?

Is my yellow your green ?
Is my small your big ?
No I'm not talking about color blindness or any medical disorder, I'm just speaking the simple language of perception.

Do you hear what I hear ?
Are our neurons wired in differently so what I peceive as music you would perceive as noise ?

Do I see satisfaction ? Do I understand it ? Maybe you do. Maybe I do. Maybe I can't.

Do we all perceive our thoughts, feelings and fears in the same manner ? Maybe not - and that's probably where compatibility issues arise from.

If artists didn't see what they saw, how would they create ?
If painters didn't see vivid colors and strange images in their heads, would we have the beautiful works of Mannerism ? Did Michaelangelo and Da Vinci see what we see ? Did they even see the same thing at all ?
If Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Mark Knopfler didn't hear what they heard in their heads, would music have variety ?

Dr. Vilayanur Ramachandran talks about mirror neurons, in this Ted talk : [ http://www.ted.com/talks/vs_ramachandran_the_neurons_that_shaped_civilization.html ], and more in detail in his book, which somewhat does help me understand why we could feel things in common. Empathy, perspective, yet..I feel so out of your zone. Wonder why ? Is there a mirror neuron that you have to understand my sense of dissociation too ?

Aarthi