Meditation, Mind, and Matter

     All of this talk about torture has reminded me of the common phrase, "mind over matter," and I simply wonder if it is even possible to do such a thing. People usually say this quote when someone is attempting to endure great amounts of pain. It is a way to stress that it is only physical pain, and one can overcome it if they have enough concentration. Evidently, some people claim to be able to do this, and say that they can get past torture or extreme pain by getting into some sort of trance-like state. In my anthropology class this week, one girl gave a presentation about the Native American sundance. In the sundance, men from the community get pierced through the chest by bits of bone, and this bone is tied to wire. The wire is then slung over some sort of structure, and on the other side men pull so much that it lifts the man in the air, hanging by his chest. They would leave the man in the air until the force became so great that his muscle would rip out of his chest and he would fall to the ground. The men who did this thought they were taking pain away from their tribe by doing it, and therefore did it willingly. These Native American men and Westerners who now practice body suspension claim that they go into a trace during the whole ceremony and do not even feel pain. This is pretty unbelievable that someone would not feel the immediate pain of their chest muscle being yanked out. But, perhaps it is not so unbelievable for those who support the whole "mind over matter" notion.
     We are after all, souls that inhabit a physical body. By being able to block out the physical world and explore our minds, we can escape the world around us. Consequently, we do this at night while we are sleeping, for we live out our dreams in our heads. The sundance also reminded me of the yoga class I took last semester. At the end of every class, we would meditate for ten to fifteen minutes. During this time, if I was not too engulfed in my stressful thoughts, I was able to truly meditate. It really is an odd feeling to describe, for I would lay there with no thoughts in my head, and simply exist. Once I broke out of the meditation it was odd, for I could feel myself coming back into my body, which at first felt like a foreign object. This relates to the fact that while trying to create a conscious robot, scientists have been able to figure out everything except for how to give it a soul. It is one huge mystery that no one has been able to solve. So, while many reject notions of the supernatural and gods, perhaps they can exist if we are somehow this living, nonreplicable force inside of a physical shell. Have you ever been able to meditate? If so, how do you think it works? How are we able to disconnect our mental body from our physical body?

Gettin' Lucky

In response to Katie Russell's question,"Do you believe that there is such a thing as luck? Why or why not?"...

     In short, no, for I believe that everything in the universe is truly up to chance. Some argue that there is a god who determines what happens in our lives, but it commonly believed that there is not enough evidence to prove his existence. Honestly, I just believe what happens to you, happens to you, and whether it is good or bad has nothing to do with "luck." What is luck anyways, some mysterious force people claim exists? I simply believe it does not exist because some of the greatest people in the world get the "worst luck." There is a woman I have known for a long time who attends my church. She is an incredibly person, but within the last year her family has gone through some of the worst events imaginable. Her father suddenly passed away, and both her husband and son have been in the hospital for an extended amount of time. While I have been here at college, I learned that she herself has gotten two types of cancer simultaneously. Basically, my conclusion is that luck is yet another concept people have constructed to make themselves feel better when they loose or win a game, for instance. While there are many things in this world we do not understand, it seems people construct many fantastical notions to justify things to themselves and others.

Torture on Television

     All of this talk about torture has reminded me of my favorite television show which ended a couple of years ago: Prisonbreak. I love action movies and shows, and that is probably why I enjoyed it so much, for watching someone break out of three different prisons was incredibly fascinating and a thrill. But, this show also involved a huge amount of violence, and when the show first came out, I was in seventh grade. That year, I ended up watching Prisonbreak and Lost and loving both shows tremendously. My parents on the other hand strongly disapproved of me watching Prisonbreak. They did not understand as to why me, a seventh-grade girl, would want to watch a violent prison drama. Truth be told, it is odd that I enjoyed watching a show where people were constantly being shot, stabbed, or getting beaten. However, the show was not just violence. It was also a love story between the main character and the doctor at the prison. It was a story of brotherly love between a wrongly accused inmate and his brother who actually committed a crime so he would be sent to prison where he could break his brother out. It was a story of innocent people who were targeted by a secret organization and a corrupt government. This, was what I loved.
     This has got me thinking though, why is it that people enjoy watching people be tortured on television shows? I know for myself I would sometimes look away if the torture got too graphic, but I did not turn off the television and walk away. Why was this? I think it may be because people realize that television and movies are truly fiction. They forget the fact that the actors are portraying real-life scenarios and get lost in the fantasy world. It is obvious that if they were to watch someone actually be tortured, they probably would not be able to handle it. This also reminds me of the saying, "It was so bad I just couldn't look away." Often people say this when talking about a "train-wreck," or one scenario that is playing out in front of them in which one person is suffering, usually from extreme embarassment. That then reminded me of when my sociology professor last semester told my class that people truly are obsessed with death. This is true, for if someone dies in public, there is often a large crowd of people who surround them. People slow down on the highway to get a better glimpse at the fatal car crash on the side of the road. If someone in public is having an emergency, most people stop and stare at them instead of trying to get help. This is called the bystander effect, in which everyone in a crowd will assume that someone else will get help so they do not need to. Obviously, this can lead to deadly results if everyone is assuming someone else will get help and therefore no one does. Why do you think that this happens? Why are humans more prone to stand back and watch than actually help in an emergency? Relating this back to what I discussed earlier, why do humans voluntarily watch extremely violent shows and movies in which people are being tortured?

An Interesting Dilemma...

In response to Cameron Hamlet's question, "If the person you were taking torture from was better at being tortured would you still take it for them?"...

     I hope that I never, in my entire life, have to go through torture. Obviously most people would agree with this statement, but I feel like it would seem even truer for those like myself who have a low pain tolerance. For years I always thought my pain tolerance was the same as most, but I have come to realize recently that I do have a lower pain tolerance than most of my friends. However, I hate that this is the case and when I am in pain, I try to appear as if I am not feeling it to the severity that I am. Essentially, I have conditioned myself not to tolerate it, but to act like I am. Though I am not afraid of needles or anything of the like, my pain tolerance is why I have never given blood or gotten a tattoo. If I needed to I would, but I choose to not subject myself to the temporary pain.
     So, it is evident as to why this question Cameron posed is such a difficult one for me to answer. I do not know if I would take torture from someone I knew could handle it better. It probably would depend on who the person was. If it were my mother or my best friend for instance, I would certainly take the torture instead of having them suffer. But, if it were someone who I felt less of a connection to, unfortunately I would let them take the pain if I knew they could handle it better than myself. I know this sounds horrible, but the reality of the matter is, humans do anything they can to avoid pain. If it is unnecessary for us to feel it, we make sure that we do not. Nevertheless, it is miraculous that we can be so devoted to another member of our species that we would endure agony to keep them safe. Some people perpetuate their own mental or physical pain, though it is sometimes unintentional. Such people sometimes claim that they actually like the pain. Do you think it is possible for anyone to ever truly "enjoy" pain, or do they just trick themselves into believing it is so?

Torture...

     Which is form of torture is worse, being physically harmed or being mentally harmed? This question was posed today in class and I will admit that it is an intriguing one. It is also incredibly difficult to answer. This is because, quite frankly, no one would prefer being locked in a coffin when they are claustrophobic to being punched in the face. In reality, neither one is quite pleasant. So, perhaps it would be helpful to analyze them individually. First, we will start with mental forms of torture, which can include anything from making someone believe their child is being tortured, to having a person who is deathly afraid of rats be strapped down and covered in them. The type of agony that comes out of this torture is unique. It is the type that makes one hyperventilate, have a heavy ache in their chest, and sob in frustration and anguish. While it is not physical pain, it is pain nonetheless. Often, people say that mental, or emotional pain is "not as bad" as physical pain. It actually is, for as humans, our minds and bodies are connected. Therefore, the pain we feel physically can be just as unbearable as emotional anguish.
     Physical pain is pretty easy to imagine, for we all have experienced it to some degree. In extreme amounts, such as when someone is being tortured, this pain can be so severe that it can make someone wish for death. In fear of being tortured, most people will even confess any information that the torturer wants to hear. Some though, such as experienced terrorists, have the capacity to withstand this pain. They do the whole technique of "mind over matter" and somehow endure it. In some respects, it seems that physical pain could be worse than mental pain because physical violence often results in death. After mental torture, generally speaking, the person will come out of it alive.
     Basically, I believe that being physically harmed and being mentally harmed can be equally as bad. Our minds inhabit our bodies, so therefore any type of torture is horrible. So, I do not understand how people are able to strongly withstand either. If they can, they are clearly stronger people than myself. Would you ever let yourself be tortured to keep a relative or close friend safe? 

Parents, The Good and The Bad

In response to Jenny Beers's question, "Will you raise your children similar to how your parents did for you?Or is your goal to raise your children in a completely different way?"...

     I have to say, I love how my parents raised me. So many of my friends complain about their parents constantly, and while I occasionally do when they do something particularly annoying, for the most part I fully appreciate their years of hard work. As cliche as it might sound to say it, one of my role models truly is my mother, and every day I find out that I am more like her than I initially thought. While we obviously do have some differences in personality, how I socialize, my view on life, and my opinions on many things are exactly the same as hers. She is an incredible woman and I am proud that I have somehow subconsciously adopted some of her amazing traits. It may seem like I am gushing about her, but I have good reason to. My friends complain about their "helicopter parents" and say that they will never raise their children like their parents did. But, my parents truly did prepare me for the world. They taught me how to work hard, be independent, and have a complete sense of maturity about matters. Growing up, I have had so many teachers tell my parents how mature I was for my age, and even when I spend time with my friends I sometimes feel like I have grown up a great deal quicker than them. For instance, I know how to manage my finances, work hard, multitask, manage time extremely well, get to places on time, and handle situations professionally. My friends are not so lucky to have learned these skills, and I wonder if it is because of the age of their parents. My parents are in their late fifties while most of my friends' parents are in their late thirties or early forties. I know from personal experience that some of these younger parents do not know how to manage their money and handle a great deal of parenting situations in a fickle, childish way. On the other hand, the rare friends I do have who have parents the same age as me, are very similar to myself in many aspects. They automatically seem to have a different, more mature world view.
     So, if it is not clear thus far, I definitely will raise my children like my parents and I have thought this way for years. Obviously my family is not perfect, and I do believe I will make my husband or father of my children not be as rash and close-minded as my own father. Nevertheless, dealing with my father has made me have the capacity to deal with many short-tempered individuals. I truly do love my parents, and for that precise reason, I do not fear having children like many of my children do, but see it as a happy experience that is far in my future. Do you think that your parents' age had anything to do with how you were parented and how they handled certain situations? How have your parents shaped how you see the world?

The Young and The Old

In response to Shannon Ciuk's question, "What is your first impression when you see a young female with an elderly man or the opposite, a young male with an elderly woman? Thanks to the media and stereotypes I bet most people think the younger person in the relationship is in it for the money. Do you agree or disagree?"...

     As unfortunate as it is to admit it, when I see an elderly person in what seems to be a relationship with a young person, I think what many of us probably do, "What is he/she doing with him/her?" As Shannon mentioned, in our society our perceptions have been shaped so that we assume that the young should not be in relationships with the old. In some evolutionary sense, it makes sense as to why the pairing would seem so odd to us. First of all, when looked at from a eugenic viewpoint (and I am not saying that it is correct to think this way), the young ("fit") should mate with the young (also "fit") to produce the strongest children genetically. Additionally, if the young mate with the old, the old are likely to die sooner, which would leave the young to take care of the child by themselves. Not to mention, older women often cannot even produce children with a younger man. So, perhaps some of these perceptions are automatically built into our minds, causing us to feel such uneasiness when we see a young woman with an old man, for instance.
     However, I also believe that we see the relationship as odd because "looks" are such an overpowering force in a relationships, as much as we would like to deny it. After all, we do not think the relationship is odd because of the personalities of the individuals, but rather because of how they each look. In other words, we do not understand why a young, and in our view, and automatically more attractive person would want to be with an older person, who we automatically assume to look worse because of their age. Considering this, we do not see young paired with young as odd, for they are considered both relatively attractive. We do not see old paired with old as strange because they are on the same level of attractiveness in our minds. So, young and old is processed in our minds as an odd pairing.
     Personally, I do not agree with Shannon's statement that most people would assume the younger person in a young and old pairing to be in it for the money. I feel like primarily people feel subconsciously uneasy about the pairing for the reasons I have mentioned, and some, in an attempt to justify it in their minds, attribute the pairing to money for they cannot think of any other explanation for it. I know when I see a young man with an older woman I do not automatically assume that he wants her money, but instead I first register how different of a couple they are. However, with media promoting Hugh Hefner and the Playboy Bunny, it makes sense as to why people would assume this money connection. Imagine there were two suitors available to you and you had to pick one of them to marry. Would you choose the very attractive, poor individual or the very rich, but highly unattractive person?Do not take personality into account.