Never mind what was originally meant by "Survival of fittest"...Today we all know, it means one has to be stronger, bigger, faster, better at everything to survive our respective jungles..I mean lives,work or whatever else one can apply this theory to.
I want to talk about different kind of Jungle today...Jungle of social networking - where survival of the fittest is no longer the game, we play games of mind and I strongly believe this jungle is all about "Survival of sane mind".
It all started few years back , when some virtual jungles called social networking sites came into being, primary among them is Facebook, the more dominant among all other jungles worldwide.In the short span of 8 years, it changed the way people live their lives and as the rule of survival is, had to evolve and create their virtual beings to survive in this new form of jungle.
So I am not sure how much I am a part of this evolution and Survival of sane mind game ( and whether i am loosing it or there is hope ?!!). But, All of us are in this game at some level, No-one can say I am in it but just sitting on the fence observing,not playing, not affected at all ! just enjoying the good things that this jungle offers... Well slowly you may discover that it might be a lie!
What I find incredible is though its a fairly new phenomena, it has largely taken over the lives of most of us. So what makes it successful , its positive aspects of "keeping in touch","networking","finding old friends","making new friends etc"....I would like to say yes but no! its the not so brighter side of this world that attracts us more.
Its the ability to stalk people without any risk and judgement, bieng voyeuristic, narcissism with overwhelming acceptance of other narcissistic s of virtual jungle, exhibitionism, ability to project a desirable or alternate personality or image, instant gratification, ability to shield real emotions.....and other such traits...and few more may come into being as this jungle evolves further.
And this is where the game of "Survival of sane mind" begins. Somewhat like cigarette addiction, the Facebook or other such virtual jungle addiction may damage you internally at so many levels that you may be blissfully unaware of...unlike smoking which one starts mostly out of curiosity, peer pressure etc...Facebook is started on more positive note but once you get addicted to it , just like smoking you do not know what all damages it is doing inside you ( and its area of effect-ion is of-course not lungs) !
Per neuroscientist Susan Greenfield, " We know how small babies need constant reassurance that they exist." " My fear is that technologies are infantilising the brain into state of small children who are attracted by buzzing noises and bright lights, who have a small attention span and who live for the moment."
Though her observation was mostly for teens and children who have grown up or growing up in this jungle , and probably in future may have totally different brain structure than most of us who adopted this virtual lifestyle later in our lives broadly put say 25-50 age group.
I, however have a theory, totally unscientific and probably illogical. Well its my theory and I stand by it. This is to test how badly affected/damaged you are with...hold on ,no, actually it is to test how you are faring in the game of " Survival of sane mind" !
You do it yourself...this more of a self-evaluation categorized broadly in two parts.
One - Test of Comparison.
I want to talk about different kind of Jungle today...Jungle of social networking - where survival of the fittest is no longer the game, we play games of mind and I strongly believe this jungle is all about "Survival of sane mind".
It all started few years back , when some virtual jungles called social networking sites came into being, primary among them is Facebook, the more dominant among all other jungles worldwide.In the short span of 8 years, it changed the way people live their lives and as the rule of survival is, had to evolve and create their virtual beings to survive in this new form of jungle.
So I am not sure how much I am a part of this evolution and Survival of sane mind game ( and whether i am loosing it or there is hope ?!!). But, All of us are in this game at some level, No-one can say I am in it but just sitting on the fence observing,not playing, not affected at all ! just enjoying the good things that this jungle offers... Well slowly you may discover that it might be a lie!
What I find incredible is though its a fairly new phenomena, it has largely taken over the lives of most of us. So what makes it successful , its positive aspects of "keeping in touch","networking","finding old friends","making new friends etc"....I would like to say yes but no! its the not so brighter side of this world that attracts us more.
Its the ability to stalk people without any risk and judgement, bieng voyeuristic, narcissism with overwhelming acceptance of other narcissistic s of virtual jungle, exhibitionism, ability to project a desirable or alternate personality or image, instant gratification, ability to shield real emotions.....and other such traits...and few more may come into being as this jungle evolves further.
And this is where the game of "Survival of sane mind" begins. Somewhat like cigarette addiction, the Facebook or other such virtual jungle addiction may damage you internally at so many levels that you may be blissfully unaware of...unlike smoking which one starts mostly out of curiosity, peer pressure etc...Facebook is started on more positive note but once you get addicted to it , just like smoking you do not know what all damages it is doing inside you ( and its area of effect-ion is of-course not lungs) !
Per neuroscientist Susan Greenfield, " We know how small babies need constant reassurance that they exist." " My fear is that technologies are infantilising the brain into state of small children who are attracted by buzzing noises and bright lights, who have a small attention span and who live for the moment."
Though her observation was mostly for teens and children who have grown up or growing up in this jungle , and probably in future may have totally different brain structure than most of us who adopted this virtual lifestyle later in our lives broadly put say 25-50 age group.
I, however have a theory, totally unscientific and probably illogical. Well its my theory and I stand by it. This is to test how badly affected/damaged you are with...hold on ,no, actually it is to test how you are faring in the game of " Survival of sane mind" !
You do it yourself...this more of a self-evaluation categorized broadly in two parts.
One - Test of Comparison.
(Since we showcase and make public our entire lives/personality in one page with timeline effectively capturing our life events, there is bound to be comparison with others much like real life but more minute, detailed and hard to ignore)
-Say you are single and apparently not happy and regularly find your news feed filled with couples and newly marrieds flaunting their love and their respective spouses,girl/boyfriends through pics & posts...after months of this onslaught , you do not even slightly feel empty,jealous,unfair,irritated or any other not so nice emotions...then hurrah you are doing great in this game
- Say you are unemployed or not so desirably employed and unsatisfied , and you find your peers, old friends, school friends in positions you cant even dream of currently....then find more such people proudly flaunting and updating their new designations,successes etc...and you do not even find it least bothering, unfair, jealous, inadequate and any other not so nice emotions...then good news, you have a mind of a Zen !
- You can do this test for any of your life scenario where one may have the tendency to compare with others...like you are stuck in a rut and others are posting their exotic vacation pics, you have no kids others are making sure you don't loose track of their baby pics/posts, you are struggling to make ends meet others are flaunting their newly acquired properties/cars etc, you are struggling with weight others are flaunting their sexy bods...list can go on.
So if you come out with flying colors in test of comparison, then as I said , mind of a Zen...you have great hope in this game.
Two - Test of abstinence
(Since one spends several hours of the day in this jungle, apart from liking posts/pics, posting status/pics, browsing news-feed which may take few minutes and occasional chats , what does one do for remaining of hours one spends here. We all know individually what takes most of our time, and excess of anything is not good hence, test of abstinence )
- Say you are addicted to stalking your friends, reading their posts, looking at their pics... and though it is all there for public consumption...you do know this is sick and unlike real world where stalker may end up in jail , you are perfectly within your legal limits here but may be crossing the sane limit of your mind. Try the test of abstinence by not checking out your one or two or few friend's profiles you regularly stalk ( specify the time frame yourself depending on the severity of your case !)
- Say you cant help posting every mundane detail or significant development of your life and wait for people to like and comment for some kind of approval, acceptance, cheering etc...you do know this only helps you get instant gratification, appreciation or approval probably lacking in your real life and also effects you with not so nice emotions if you don't grab desirable attention in your virtual jungle. Try to abstain and If you come out unfazed...then you may be playing an ace game.
- You can do this test for whatever secret addiction you may have on Facebook or your favorite virtual jungle and know or think it may not be treading the path of Sane-ville but taking you towards the road of screw-ed-up town, then try the test.
And mind you it can be tricky cause unlike smoking addiction you are going to practice selective abstinence, only those bits which are creating piles of nicotine trash equivalent in your mind.
Again let me reiterate and warn you this is my very unscientific and unproven(yet) self-evaluation of " Survival of Sane mind" in this Jungle of a other kind where the stronger may not kill you but your own mind may defeat you.
- Say you are addicted to stalking your friends, reading their posts, looking at their pics... and though it is all there for public consumption...you do know this is sick and unlike real world where stalker may end up in jail , you are perfectly within your legal limits here but may be crossing the sane limit of your mind. Try the test of abstinence by not checking out your one or two or few friend's profiles you regularly stalk ( specify the time frame yourself depending on the severity of your case !)
- Say you cant help posting every mundane detail or significant development of your life and wait for people to like and comment for some kind of approval, acceptance, cheering etc...you do know this only helps you get instant gratification, appreciation or approval probably lacking in your real life and also effects you with not so nice emotions if you don't grab desirable attention in your virtual jungle. Try to abstain and If you come out unfazed...then you may be playing an ace game.
- You can do this test for whatever secret addiction you may have on Facebook or your favorite virtual jungle and know or think it may not be treading the path of Sane-ville but taking you towards the road of screw-ed-up town, then try the test.
And mind you it can be tricky cause unlike smoking addiction you are going to practice selective abstinence, only those bits which are creating piles of nicotine trash equivalent in your mind.
Again let me reiterate and warn you this is my very unscientific and unproven(yet) self-evaluation of " Survival of Sane mind" in this Jungle of a other kind where the stronger may not kill you but your own mind may defeat you.
