Period as a semi-retired pensioner: 50 days
This week the topic for Ruminant Pink Friday™ relates to some deep introspection regarding some recent events in my life. I will start with the principle of synchronicity from the psychologist Carl Jung:
“We attract experiences to ourselves which can allow us to become conscious of any limited or restricted parts of ourselves to allow us to transform”
Much as you may try to control and plan your life, stuff happens to all of us all the time. Some of this stuff is not related to anything you do but comes down to the randomness of the universe or the deck of cards you were dealt with at birth such as the fortunately manageable genetic disease, hemochromatosis that I was born with. Unless you somehow choose to believe that this is related to what you did in past lives you cannot logically say that you attract these experiences.
However, when it comes to interpersonal experiences then your behaviour, personality, mistakes, and values will shape your relationships with other people and society. Humans function by creating narratives and making value judgements about other people. Shortly after Nerine (my future wife) and I met one of her friends said to her, “nice guy, wrong planet”. Instead of heeding this wise value judgement she married me anyway and dismissed the ominous warning signs and my suggestion that our wedding vows should be in Klingon.
Some value judgements about people are subjective. You could say Donald Trump is a wonderful chap or alternatively you could say he is a cretin (I was warned by Grammarly that some people may find this term offensive). You will be able to find people who will passionately argue both points of view. Which of these is objectively true? In reality neither or both because these are subjective judgements.
Some value judgements are less subjective. You could say Donald Trump is honest and truthful or that he is a bullshitter (also offensive to the reader for which I apologize in advance). Here the scientific method can help with your opinion. There has been a lot of fact checking of what he says. One can scientifically defend the proposition that he is a bullshitter. Regarding president Trump’s views on the use of disinfectants for Coronavirus there have been accounts of low-flying Klingon star ships and talking daffodils from patients in padded cells that are more verisimilitudinous. Some of those who think he is a wonderful guy may even concede this point but point out that the bullshit is there to advance a worthy cause. Decide for yourself.
Should you make value judgements about other people? Although some may argue you should not, we all do, and I would argue that it is a necessary mechanism for navigating the world. Who do you share these value judgements with? Just yourself? The person in question? A trusted inner circle? All and sundry?
If your value judgements are purely subjective you can defend them as your opinion. If you venture into value judgements where fact checking should be applied, and you do not do that properly and you pronounce your judgements to all and sundry, then you may attract certain experiences to yourself which may allow you to become conscious of limited or restricted parts of yourself. Or not.
Thank you for all the helpful suggestions and comments. Please keep them up.
Regards
Bruce
Ruminant Pink Friday 