I am at odds with relief that man experiences when landing on ostensibly plausible explanations in science for things rather inexplicable. Who said we were born to find fitting elucidations to inquisitions, reject all other that is beyond us and master the art of complete universal manipulation? Is it not presumptuous to create black and white verdicts about the one entity that drives creatures? How can we mock and imprison it? Do we see the soul that’s connected to it? Do we dare accommodate mystical possibilities before discarding them? It’s our brains that refuse to be put under the microscope – they don’t take scrutiny well, for they weren’t made to be scrutinized. It’s our brains that refuse to let us fathom them, yet trick us into false triumph – in my opinion the “bliss” that is ignorance. You know what I hear at the end of every “nearly” successful psychological study attempting to understand the depths of us? I hear trumpets of delusion in a half-hearted reverie. Those who once claimed the earth was flat now explain our emotions to us based on serotonin levels and MRI scans.
There’s no denying the imperative part chemical balances and neurotransmitters play in the regulation of our emotions and brain function, but they in no way weigh heavier over years of developing ideas, thoughts and experiences. How does an MRI scan justify a recurring thought or a memory you can’t unshackle from your flesh? In terms of the dopamine levels it may circulate? Proving causality has always been condescending from the scientific perspective – and quite unsuccessful, too – but assume, thee shall. I say dreams are every bit as concrete as reality because they stir emotion in us. How do we define reality? Tangibility? To the sense of touch do we owe our ideas of “real”? Emotion is as real a “sense” as touch, and if dreams were to evoke in us true emotion, who dares deny us of that reality? People sitting behind desks who decide which drugs we must adhere to? If thoughts or memories stir in us emotion, how are those thoughts and memories less real than occurrences? Neurochemistry, for the alleged grandeur of it, has always attempted to provide foundation and hence, the answers to many disorders, including depression and bipolar.
I have studied neurochemistry with regards to psychological disorders – and I render it arrogant and sneering. It’s the empty vase, the illusion of glory with an empty inside that makes your voice echo for years. Cut your wings and limit your vision, adhere to all that’s objective, and abuse the universe. How do you justify the soul? The mind? The subconscious? No, instead of entertaining these concepts before proclaiming conquest over all, it merely shies away – disregards ideas that could open eyes to the possibilities of “what if” and infinity. It is infinity that science runs from, the countless ideas that it cannot validate, a thousand emotions that it cannot rationalize.
Science is in the now, always striving to explain, to legitimize. The before and the after, both unknown foes to it. The “norm” it keeps as foundation to base all relativities on may be just as unreal as it deems the concept of a soul, or the subconscious? What if there was chaos since the beginning of time and this is chaos that we live – even the silence with the eerie cricket sounds deep in the night which seems like calm to us, is in reality, chaos in another world – but because of no absence of it, we have believed it to be the 0 on our scale to prove its neutrality, purely to back scientific findings and feed our sanity, the 0 being the benchmark for us. Why does the “now” always have to be neutral? Real? What if since the beginning of time, man has known no peace? Why is there more solidity in the majority?
What are the preestablished standards of normalcy, and who established them? Humans? Science? God? What’s to label one human as normal and the other as one who suffers from a certain mental disability? Why are high levels of norepinephrine and serotonin normal and a lack of them alarming? Is it for the desolation it brings, or the desolation that is responsible for the imbalance in the first place? Is happiness normal and depression shunned? What if your happiness comes from imprudent bullshit and complete foolishness that brings no one any benefit, you die without playing your part? Wouldn’t you rather embrace your despair as warriors embrace their scars, and let them enlighten you? To understand, to see, to feel, to open yourself up, to feel your own insignificance, to hear the voice of the universe, even if it means letting go of the limited sight and breaking free of the shackles of the controlling science, and asking within yourself the most terrifying questions?
Thoughts are welcome.
Deep thoughts, i over think alot and struggle to stay in reality sometimes being one who has experienced this my whole life, understanding is hard but can be achieved. Be well and live strong. Steem on. @aymen.mazhar
Wonderful comment - thank you!
Thank you as well...
i often lose my ability to think what is real and what is not. This is not some philosophical crap. The struggle for me is real. Sometimes it feels like i am losing grip of reality and that the earth beneath me has vanished and i am lavitating... i guess asking too many questions within yourself yeilds some terrifying answers.
Very good article. I can totally relate to it. I thought i am the only one who thinks like that
Precisely. It may be terrifying but as opposed to what?
Thanks :)
Once again, an amazing post, Love how you have the ability with your words the provoke thoughts of your readers. Normalcy depends from person to person, depending on what they have been through or what seems normal to them, as far as science goes, it will only explain that which can be calculated.
I love your comments on my posts. I love how you deconstruct my work and discuss it with me, gives me perspective.
@aymen, once again another amazing and thought-provoking post! I love it! One section in particular stood out to me:
This is exactly the kind of questioning I have had for years now. I've come to the conclusion that the DSM is nothing more than the product of a bunch of people "up top" who decided to set their own personal standards on what humanity should be like, or what should be considered "normal." Those old dirty bastards....who are they to tell people that they have a disease just because they way that they are doesn't match up to society's perception of what is normal or acceptable?
Very true! The DSM is broken and pathetically shallow for something that is expected to hold up as a universal measuring tool when considering mental health. It's incredibly demeaning, and it's a vicious cycle for those who struggle.
Adhering to these standards and norms I think is what Bukowski meant ..."some lose both and become accepted." when referring to the soul and mind.
Thank you for such a wonderful comment, you're always so appreciative, it makes me feel ultra warm <3
Of course Aymen! I appreciate good content, and you never fall short of that. Literally everything I've seen you post has blown my mind. I love how deep you go and how intellectual and philosophical your posts always are. The way you put words together to relay certain ideas is stunning! It's always such a pleasure to read them! <3
Hahaha thank you, I try.
And the feeling is very mutual. :p
Very insightful! You've really thought this all out. This helped me put things into perspective especially considering my latest article about mbti .https://steemit.com/mbti/@snowpea/who-are-you-understanding-mbti Anyway thanks for the post! :)
Yesssssss you've found @aymen!!! Her posts are always so amazing and thought-provoking! If you're not following her, you should definitely consider checking out her profile and doing so ;)
Hahaha omg stahp.
I did haha!! Yes I'm following her now...;)
Thanks a bunch!!
Loved your post and responded to it.
this is so amazing
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Nice, you got a 5.0% @minnowbooster upgoat, thanks to @aymen.mazhar
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Intriguing.... be that as it may - and, may I say, that may very well be - is it simply so . . . perhaps, at best, disillusionment & the hyperbole of grandiose holographic existence...
Nice post, but I haven't read it completely sry, its too heavy English for my CPUs to process, maybe later on with an upgrade it will work :]
Its okay botty thank you <3
Don’t upgrade your CPU, it might not work there as well.
@aymen, this is brilliant, honest and quite true. I am sure this would resonate with many; me being one of that lot. I never questioned normalcy, good and the bad for a long time but since the past few years, I have found myself in situations and have seen others in circumstances that made me rethink hat we define as right and wrong, and question its authenticity. From what I have found out, I believe now nothing is right and wrong, good and bad. Something can be normal for you but abnormal for me. Nothing is definite and the beauty of life for me now is to just accept things and people the way they are. This gives me at least some peace to live a calm life.
@sharoonyasir thanks!! Ah precisely. It is wrong to hold rigidity when it comes to things we may never fully comprehend. Besides, it completely puts individual differences and personalities and thoughts and beliefs on the backend to do so. That's wrong and juvenile, because everything in this world is relative and you could begin to broaden your perspective, you'd keep discovering. Nature wouldn't cease to surprise you.
I think we become trapped in the mirrors of our own minds, what they reflect and whisper, while not realizing that, within infinity, there is plethora unseen, even to ourselves.
Trapped, yes..
What are the preestablished standards of normalcy, and who established them? Humans? Science? God?
I guess time, standards of normalcy change with the passage of time or by some unknown powers who control us, may be! (Excluding the religion part, my thoughts might be different if I include it)
Normalcy? Behaving according to the expectations of people, nothing more than that! I would be assumed foolish and abnormal if I dance due to my appearance (Though I never wanted to) but others would be considered normal doing the same thing! That's how a common person thinks and I believe we don't want to be different!
You're right and maybe consider this example and blow it up to a macro perspective, considering societies and how norms differ in each, the example stands true. In one society what's considered normal in reference to mental health and existential meaning may not be in another. But I am beginning to realise that one way or another, with varying frequencies, it might just be a universal thing...