DR. TORPOR'S BLOG
The last developmental stage of life (described by developmental psychologist, Erik Erikson) is “integrity versus despair.” According to this view, one may either feel generally good about the life they lived or look back with deep regret and remorse for a variety of reasons. Of course, like most things, in practice this is not so clear cut. For example, people may experience varying degrees of both sentiments. Also, a person may delude themselves into feeling they have been a good person when the opposite is true. Just as a deeply honorable person may be wracked with guilt over perceived errors they made, blowing small missteps out of proportion. Additionally, these two inner perceptions of one’s self, integrity and despair, is something that is felt periodically throughout life not only toward the end. In any case, if you feel despair about the course of your life, it’s not too late! You will need to reckon with the grief and accompanying losses of the past. But you can still do things to essentially make amends. Within the sphere of what you are capable of doing, you can pursue actions with a sense of purpose to help others and make the world a better place. It may be most satisfying of all to do things directly related to the mistakes you believe you have made. For example, there are people who used to belong to gangs and did things that they are ashamed of. But periodically, you will hear about a person with such a past who has dedicated their life from hereon to helping young people find better options.
When something is supressed, this is done with conscious deliberation. For example, I feel angry at a person and am afraid that if I continue to feel angry that I will express it. So, I choose to purposely suppress the anger. I push it down, so to speak. I try to distract myself from the anger by directing my attention elsewhere, trying to be polite instead, or whatever self-control tactics I might use in such a situation.
With repression, the removal of an emotion from consciousness is done without any conscious awareness of the emotion being present in the first place. So, someone who has repressed hostility and then expresses hostility has no recognition that they are in fact being hostile. For example, have you ever been the target of a hostile “joke?” And when you object to the joke, the person says, “I was just kidding.” If you press this person on what was supposed to be humorous about their hostile jab, you may see the person get defensive, become confused, more strongly deny hostile intent, and so on. They might even feel hurt by your accusing them of being hostile!
man in front of his mirror in shadow white background
Bad sleep has been linked with entrepreneurship. Insomnia may lead to ADHD type symptoms which in turn may drive entrepreneurial behaviors. From Gunia, Gish, & Mensmann (2020) in the Journal “Entrepreneurship: Theory & Practice.
In a 2018 review (Cardena, E.) of meta-analytic studies published in American Psychologist (Vol. 73, No. 5) the researcher concluded there was proof for effects of parapsychological phenomenon beyond what would be attributable to chance. And that an effect greater than chance was evident across different varieties of parapsychological phenomena.
You may truly want to do good but try to anticipate any foreseeable unintended consequences. Dr. Frankenstein was so enthralled with his project, he neglected to consider this.
It is easy to think of taking control as if it’s an obvious steering wheel you just need to grab. Instead, control is more like a small item that is easily lost. We are left not knowing where it is. Control can be hard to find because there are so many other factors and forces that affect what you do. These are all the other objects on the counter among which control is hidden.
Something happening a certain way once does not mean it will happen that same way the next time.
As if haunted by the banshee of Kellog, soon after my last post about a Cheez-It variant I learned about a new abomination. “CHEEZ-IT PUFF’D.” It also qualifies as a mutilation. Because these barely resemble Cheez-Its at all. They are square versions of those cheese puffs that are like tubular styrofoam and practically melt in your mouth before you can chew them. I’ve always preferred Cheetos because they have more substance, are fun to chew, taste good, and remind me of how my toes look. Cheez-It Puff’d could be used as little pillows in a doll’s house if you weren’t concerned about cleanliness. This product also commits two crimes against grammar. Not unusual in American advertising and marketing. But apparently we cannot count on Kellog to break the chain of inter-generational transmission of psychopathology. First, instead of “PUFFED” we have “PUFF’D.” At least they were decent enough to include an apostrophe. Perhaps the graphic designer, hungover from the previous night, suddenly realized there was not enough space for all six letters but they at least had room for an apostrophe. The second grammatical skullduggery is more pernicious and subliminal. The hyphen usually present in “CHEEZ-IT” here is replaced by an image of a Cheez-It itself. Presumably a puffed – or puff’d – one. This stunt had me questioning my sanity and a lifetime of memories. Until I confirmed that other “CHEEZ-IT” variant packages do use a hyphen. I no longer felt the need to get my Risperdal adjusted. More bad news, or good news if you have a mean streak and want your brothers and sisters to be deprived of Cheez-Its should they be possessed of a predeliction for them, there is reportedly a Cheez-It shortage due to supply chain problems. In short, it continues to be a sad time for Cheez-It Puritans. But if you’re a Cheez-It pervert, there are so many permutations of this once predictable cracker you can freely wallow in Cheez-It degeneracy. Or maybe it’s pluralism. Or diversity. Or Cheez-It fluidity.
For ages Cheez-It was a product of Sunshine Bakery and Cheez-It crackers were a predictable and reliable commodity. Once bought by the Kellog conglomeration, the once venerable Cheez-It fell victim to the infinite permutation disease for which Oreo cookies has been a poster child. One of the variants is Extra Cheesy. I had to try this, imagining the inside of the adorable square crackers now being somehow soft and dense. Hopefully packed with some form of non-perishable junk-food cheddar. Instead, all Extra Cheesy turned out to be was regular Cheez-Its with the same finger-caking cheese dust that you find on Cheetos. Rather than making the Cheez-Its more cheesy, or even tasting better in any way whatsoever, the result was a counterproductive clash of flavors. The wonderful taste of a basic Cheez-It and the unmistakable dusty, chalky, and twangy taste of Cheetos cheese dust cohabitating in strife. It would have been better to simply get a big bowl and mix a box of Cheez-Its and bag of Cheetos together. Instead, the Cheez-It flavor was done violence by the invading Cheeto dust that simply made my taste buds wonder where the crunchy bodies of the Cheetos had disappeared to.
Both The Joker (2019) and Unhinged (2020) contain an alarming message that the stress and alienation a person feels in contemporary society justifies violently lashing out at strangers. Indeed, life is not fair and many of us get dealt a bad hand. However, the idea that this legitimizes what is essentially terrorism is a dangerous notion that undermines the need to take personal responsibility. It’s as if these movies say, the world sure doesn’t owe you anything but if you are disgruntled with your circumstances you can feel free to take it out on others.