Articles
Again this week, I’m somewhat struggling for inspiration. I have thoughts and possible article themes running around my head like Usain Bolt in a weird Inner Space remake. In fact I have a whole list of them written down on a piece of paper stuck to my printer. Things that have popped into my head at some point, and I’ve thought,
“Hmm… that’s interesting. I’ll let that settle for a while then come back to write an interesting and engaging article on the subject when I’ve pondered a bit more.”
But here we are, I’ve had a few weeks to ponder… and nothing more has come to mind (not which I’ve been able to instantly jot down lest I forget anyhow). Therefore I think I will engage in an exercise practised a few weeks ago, where I start talking about the subject matter, and just see what comes out. Hopefully the ramblings I will have spewed on to the keyboard won’t be too difficult to arrange into some sort of modern art piece. I wouldn’t serve it at the dinner party anymore, but it might make an interesting centrepiece (as long as I’m able to hide the fact that it is actually vomit).
The subject is the psychological phenomenon of our human minds being horrendously interested, perhaps on the brink of infatuation with something, getting stronger and stronger, until the God-loving day it is finally ours, when the same thing suddenly becomes as welcome as a nutty turd in a swimming pool.
Why want what we can’t have?
Examples of situations can stretch further than Armstrong, so let’s start off with the more obvious.
Love and Relationships
People have affairs all the time. They’re horrible things. To even be able to say to a person who trusts you unquestioningly, that you are, have always been, and always will be faithful to them, then destroy that confidence and trust so easily, so free from question or guilt (not enough guilt to stop it from happening), should really be pastime akin only to the murderers, rapists, and tax collectors of this world. But no! Many people do it. I’m not going to bother doing the research as it’s pointless. But think about it. What percentage of people would you expect to hear had ever cheated on a partner? I wouldn’t be surprised to hear somewhere near 40-50%. That to me is a shocking number! Even if your estimate was lower, I can guarantee you’ve shocked yourself by revealing just how much faith you have in humanity.
Having established that it’s a horrible thing to do... as well as the fact that it happens, we can see the two being incredibly unbalanced. Why could it be? Perhaps just for the experience.
Food
The same could be said for food. Sat in a restaurant, perusing the menu, there’s only one thing on there you want, one option, that could correctly answer the specific question posed by your stomach. Everything else offers the same culinary expectation as an ashtray. As soon as the food comes, and you see another person’s ashtray platter, it doesn’t look so bad. They’ve spruced it up a tad, but some lettuce on it and a nice dressing. Why oh why didn’t you order the ashtray you think moodily, slumping into a position possible to physically kick one’s self.
Love and Relationships (again)
Of course it goes beyond simply seeing something and instantly needing to indulge in having it. For example, the art of attracting the opposite sex. It is a well known method for many people in attracting mates, that less is substantially more. Although this is subject to taste (a lot of people have none), that a shop window filled with bare products, taken from and placed atop their boxes, will do far less business and therefore must result in offering much lower prices, than shop windows hardly involving the product at all. Opting instead for a stylish and interesting display, setting the style and tone of the store as a whole, enticing people inside to buy whatever is offered. And in case the analogy has been lost in my ramblings, the girl in a respectably sized frock and demure style is more attractive an option than the girl with her tits looking like they’re on day release from their polyester prison.
The psychology doesn’t end there. It’s not just the sordid and seedy affairs of people’s personal lives subject to change by the desire of the unknown, it’s the intellectuals as well.
Education
There’s always more to learn. More skills to master, more theories to understand, more languages to speak, and more tools to use, all of them seeming so romantic and desirable in their foreign attraction. Stood at the fence you long to roam free on the other side, but once you take that chance and jump over, it’s never as expected. After falling flat on to your face into a pile of seconds old doggie treat, you realise the grass, far from the plush, thick stuff viewed from afar, is just as pale and common as your original side.
Once learning a new skill, like a new trick, it just becomes another thing you can do. Even if it can be put to some kind of use, it’s only ever forgotten about and assumed you always had it. Only ever coming to light when someone points it out, and even then you don’t believe them.
“WOW… You’re juggling chainsaws, on fire! That’s brilliant!”
“What? Oh yeah, no I’ve always been able to do this, it’s nothing special.”
“It fucking is! That’s amazing!”
…
“What do you want?”
Answers
After letting the thoughts spill out on to the page, I’d hoped I may have an answer, or at least a theory by now, but I’m falling short.
It can’t just be the mystery of the unknown anymore. The unknown’s shit. People should know this. I’m not suggesting no one try new things, or dare to dream or anything like that, but don’t expect something to be fantastic just because you’ve not had it before. It’s one extreme to another.
Possibly the desire to have and to do more comes from the dream created from modern life. Everything from films and adverts to magazines and books tell us we can have perfection if we want it. It’s the capitalist way. All it takes is a little bit of hard work, and you’ll get what you want.
It’s obvious a lot of people flat out don’t understand capitalism. For anyone to get what they want (if you assume everyone wants everything) then everyone else must get nothing. So how can everyone be getting everything with just some hard work? This is how great capitalist cultures like North America work, by inventing iconic cultural themes, such as ‘The American Dream’ and patriotism, then doing all they can to sustain them. America can’t go 5 minutes without some sort of war because having their citizens in conflict for the good of the country as they put it is so valuable. It crowds everyone together, onto the same side. “We’re fighting for freedom” they might say. “The freedom to live in a free country”. Which is this free country they speak of? Is it a country addicted to war despite 70% of the population being vigorously opposed to it?
Oh shit, it turns out this harmless rambling about psychology has turned into an anti-war demonstration… I didn’t mean for that to happen, and now feel like I must stop. But you get the point.
Ok, so there isn’t a point either.
The Grass is Always Greener – Brought to you by James Wormald -