A Nose... Wouldn't I like to be one?

Well, we are not talking about childhood dreams today...  but we are talking a little about it.

When I was younger, I wanted to be "A Nose".  To be A Nose, one would need to be able to distinguish quite a lot of smells (~500, if I recall correctly).  Wikipedia has this lovely definition -- "The perfumer is effectively an artist who is trained in depth on the concepts of fragrance aesthetics and who is capable of conveying abstract concepts and moods with fragrance compositions."  By the way, go click on the Wikipedia link (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perfumer) to look at a perfumer's workstation.  Cool, right?  Sure beats a desk full of papers and books etc. 

Anyway, today, I came across one of my all time favourite shops (Perfect Potions) in a somewhat local shopping mall.  How this shop qualifies as all time favourite beats me because I had only been to the original shop once in my life while today would be my second visit to a Perfect Potions shop.  Now, this shop used to be cool shop for me years ago -- I felt like a child in a candy stall, being able to mix and match, chop and change, jiggle this and wiggle that...  However, today, I was a little disappointed.  Not only can I not do the above, apparently, there is no perfumer who will come up with a scent for me (just for me).  In my defence, I had been physically incapacitated yesterday (vomited twice and had a massive 36hr headache marathon with myself); thus, was out trying to get some herbal remedies.

Well, I can get some basic aromatherapy oils and mix them myself.  I did consider the latter option BUT I decided against it for a good reason.  I have come to realise that my previous keen sense of smell has become less sharp (okay, I accept that it is duller -- but less sharp sounds less demoralising).

I used to be able to distinguish smells just like that... but today, I was struggling to work out this from that...  Lavender, I can do it with my eyes closed.  Orange, come on.  Cloves, that's a walk over.  These are smells from my childhood.  These are smells that must be locked into my brain's filing cabinet.  However, I struggle with the others -- names that I had heard of but never really smelled before.  Guess what I found???  Yes, I am right...  as we get older our sense of smell goes downhill (read http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2579627/).  I am sure there are articles similar to this. 

There goes another childhood dream!

Can we learn from history?

Dr Phil is famous for saying on tv something like "If you do what you always do, you will always get what you've always gotten".  Thus, the question is "Can we learn from history?"  Yes, we can...  However, I think the biggest problem is that we suffer from amnesia.  If we do not have significant amnesia before we hit the age when most of us have dementia, dementia is bound to get most of the remaining survivors. 

We can predict with some degree of certainty the likelihood of future offending by looking at past behaviour...  Of course, forensic psychologists cannot always get things right because there is always going to room for human error because psychology is not a physical science but rather a social science (http://psychology-resources.blogspot.com/2010/01/psychology-is-social-science-not.html).  This means that there are significant variations and factors to account for which makes it impossible to work out how things will turn out.

This is much like suicide risk assessment.  There is no absolute but the educated assessments are better than guesswork. 

In short, can we learn from history?  Yes, we can...  but do we and are we able to apply everything that we learn daily... maybe not.

Habituation...

Alright, habituation is a word... in layman's explanation, it is simply the desensitising of one's senses after repeated or prolonged exposure to the same stimulus.  For example, after using the same perfume or EDT for some time, you may probably no longer smell it as acutely as you did.  You still spray x number of times (everyone is different - some spray 5 times, other spray continuously) at the same spots.  Now, just because you cannot smell it on you does not justify you spraying more times.  What you need to do is just spray as many times as you would normally -- no need to increase the number of sprays.  What you are experiencing is simply your sense of smell being less responsive. 

Well, one issue with habituation is that I now no longer get as excited smelling coffee because I drink it daily.  I did struggle with the perfume scenario but I managed to work on a "life hack (I have worked out that this is a cool term to use instead of "problem solve")" around this.  My life hack is to buy a few different perfumes, then chop and change.  I have also worked out how to wear a few different perfumes at the same time without smelling like a smelly bouquet. 

Habituation has an evolutionary value...  it helps us to tune out of common everyday scenarios so that we can focus on new tasks or challenges.  Remember how difficult it was to learn to drive a car.  Now, you can drive and still be able to keep an eye on your GPS. 

My olfactory sense is a little problematic.  I seem to habituate to nice scents which increase my productivity but struggle to habituate to offensive odours which decrease my cognitive capacity.  Thus, when I have a migraine, I find that I need to keep smells at bay. 

I am also photosensitive -- my computer screens always have to be dimmed significantly before I can actually work because I get headaches looking at bright screens.  It is hard to believe but, for some screens, I can turn it to "0" brightness and "0" contrast and still find it bright.  I cannot really sit out in the sun for extended periods of time.  I avoid going out during the day.  I dim my mobile phone screen too.  My current life hack around this issue is a pair of polarised sunglasses but it comes with problems too.  (BTW, isn't it annoying that some car companies use the really bright headlights which blind other drivers?  Should this even be legal?)

I used to be able to hear my quartz Swatches tick like crazy and had to keep them in my drawer before I can actually fall asleep at night.  I don't habituate to that...  If I hear one ticking in my meeting, I just struggle to concentrate.  Thankfully, I have now upgraded to automatic watches -- less noisy and more classy (I guess).  No life hack on this problem of mine too.

Alright, not going to go through every sensory life hack that I can think about...  Remember that if it is your problem, only your solution will fit.

Ciao!

$1 loaf of bread, anyone?

If you paid attention or read all my blogs, you will now know that I am a bit of a hoarder (a bit means not enough to seek professional help but enough to be problematic).  So, apart from hoarding material possessions which can be seen (remember we learned that objects have weight and take up space), I also hoard emotionally and psychologically. 

In order to illustrate my point, I am using the example of $1 loaf of bread.  Back in the good old days, a loaf of bread would go for about $1.  These days, I go to my local store and expect to find $1 loaf.  I hold on to those good old days.  Of course, apart from the $1 loaf of bread, there's also other groceries that were cheaper.  Do you hold on to the good old days for sentimental reasons or worry about what happens if you move on? 

Now, in the year 2014, you must realise that computers are getting cheaper (though mobile phones are getting more expensive).  Isn't it funny how we just never think about that at all? 

My point is that, as humans, we choose to make salient the points that objectively benefit us the most?  In addition, we choose to ignore or put aside the other points which we dislike possibly because those do not benefit us.  If we like something, we can think of a million and one good things to say about it... and vice versa. 

Gone are the good old days...  let's create more good old days starting from now, so that when we look back in the years to come, we can say that every day that we live from here on is a good old day in the making.

Going for broke... emotionally bankrupt

If you live in Australia and work a regular job, you must have been enjoying a long weekend from Friday to Monday.  I don't know I enjoy taking a break because not working leaves me with a lot of time to think...  Don't know why but I have been thinking about many unpleasant things which occurred in the last couple of years. 

Today, I find myself forcing myself to leave my home...  to get out for some fresh air.  Thankfully, I did not meet anyone I know when I was out...  Don't want to meet my colleagues because I see them from Monday to Friday usually.  I also am one to compartmentalise -- so colleagues are to be seen from Monday to Friday (having said that, there are exceptions -- I do work on the odd Saturday). 

You can say that this long weekend has led to me breaking my emotional bank.  Such bankruptcy is operationalized by low frustration tolerance, perennially annoyed look, melancholy, lethargy, negative cognitions...  Not depressed...  just emotionally bankrupt.

Note to self:  Maybe I should learn not to go for broke before the start of a long weekend, or any weekend for the matter.  I tend to give it my all especially when I know that the weekend is coming up.  Maybe when I go for broke on Friday, I should anticipate being emotionally bankrupt over the weekend. 

Korean Teacher commits suicide after being rescued from ferry disaster

Hi all, I think you must have read by now the South Korean ferry disaster.  Not sure if you are aware that what followed after was the suicide of the Korean teacher?  Read http://rt.com/news/korea-ship-suicide-dead-388/. 

It is likely that the teacher had committed suicide out of survivor guilt.  So, what is survivor guilt?  As I mentioned earlier, I do not try to paraphrase or rewrite things that are already well explored on the internet (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survivor_guilt,

If you followed the news of the ferry disaster, you will also be aware that the Captain and crew of that ferry actually abandoned the ferry (read http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-04-21/korean-president-says-ferry-captain-actions-like-murder/5401880?section=world).  Now, there is already widespread uproar about this.  My money is on my hypothesis that the Captain and the crew will also experience survivor guilt.  Thus, I urge my readers to not be harsh on these survivors who may have survived the tragedy but may or may not survive this guilt. 

I also note that the Captain and crew left a brave but inexperienced third mate in charge.  It is likely that this third mate may experience some form of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (or PTSD).

My heart goes out to all affected -- the people who lost their lives, their parents, the crew etc.  Having said that, I also must say that it is human nature to flee.  I understand that all sea vessel captains and crews would have had extensive training about what to do if something like that happens.  However, not every one of them would have had the experience to manage such chaos in their careers.  It is like your pilots may know how to execute an emergency landing BUT, I assume that, not all pilots had to do that in their careers. 

I hope that my readers can understand that humans err.  Admittedly, the Captain and Crew made a big mistake on this occasion.  However, if you agree with me that all lives are precious, I hope that you will dig deep to understand that accidents happen and this is time to support one another because more suicides may follow if this is not managed properly.  It is human nature to attribute blame somewhere but let's just channel our efforts to support those who need us.  I do hope that media will reduce the reports of this tragedy to give everyone some room to breathe.

Empathy Disturbance/Disorder

I remember asking someone many many years ago the following question... 

 

Is empathy like
(1) an ever flowing fountain OR
(2) a pie that is baked daily?

 

 

In response to a statement that the significant other who works in a caring profession appears to have a lot of empathy at work but none left for him. 

 

In the ever flowing fountain analogy, I can currently think about a colleague whom I had just gone out on a home visit.  I saw sincerity in her eyes, genuine concern for a fellow human and empathy.  My colleague is married and has children.  From my shallow understanding of my colleague, I sense continued care and warmth towards her family.  That, to me, is what I consider an ever flowing fountain. 

 

In the pie that is baked daily analogy, I think of one who struggles with empathy.  At times, there is sufficient for the work day (but maybe insufficient to spill into personal life).  Other times, there is insufficient to last the day.  At times, the empathy is half-baked (in that it is not really useable and may crumble apart at the most untimely of moments or that empathy is compartmentalised for use in different areas and in varying proportions).  Other times, the empathy is un-useable.  At times, the empathy wears that person down. 

 

You will not believe, in the course of researching this post, I found the following relevant information about Empathy Deficit Disorder (EDD) (of course, not a real psychiatric disorder but one coined by a few professionals):

• http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-new-resilience/201004/are-you-suffering-empathy-deficit-disorder,  Personally, I disagree that "EDD grows when people focus too much on acquiring power, status, and money for themselves".  My thoughts are that many significant life events (e.g., suicide, death, significant loss, trauma) or neurodevelopmental issues (e.g., ASD, ADHD) can lead to EDD.
• http://edition.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/personal/06/18/o.empathy/index.html

My personal thoughts on this matter, being one with baked empathy, is that I believe that humans have evolved over time to not be a "one size fits all" model.  I hypothesise that some of us (human race) are empathy fountains while others are empathy pies.  When we look at evolution, we clearly see how the fountains among us are the nurturers (as my colleague clearly is) while the pies among us are more geared towards less emotion-intensive and more solution-focussed modes.  Don't get me wrong.  My colleague is very good at coming up with solutions.  (In fact, she takes so many facets into account that I wonder how she does it!)  However, if we draw inspiration from a factory production line, what we see is that productivity may well improve when we start specialising.  From the evolution perspective, we also see that pies among us usually have to take the tough decisions without bringing emotion into it. 

If we follow the life of the production line, we can see that specialisation brings along issues too.  It is difficult to replace a sick production line worker due to the degree of specialisation.  In addition, specialisation leads to boredom which can, over time, decrease productivity (read this as hamper evolution).  Thus, in order to the combat the abovementioned flaws, workers are made to learn a different job; then they swap jobs when things become too monotonous and predictable.  Hence, back to my hypothesis, there may be some of us who are not pure fountains or pies -- but rather a combination of both. 

 

Of course, there is also another aspect to the empathy pie analogy -- that is, there are some of empathy pies that do not fit in to the evolutionary picture.  By this, I refer to people with certain personality disorders (see http://www.healthyplace.com/personality-disorders/malignant-self-love/empathy-and-personality-disorders/).  Alternatively, I could be wrong because it can also be argued that people with certain personality disorders do fit into the evolutionary picture in that they have lost the ability to bake empathy in order to survive this world which may be perceived as cruel, dangerous and unpredictable.  Afterall, some narcissists and psychopaths do end up being parents. 

Something else for you to read:

• http://healthland.time.com/2011/05/30/mind-reading-psychologist-simon-baron-cohen-on-empathy-and-the-science-of-evil/
• http://bradhicks.livejournal.com/454817.html.

So, there you go...  My dear colleague, if you are reading this, you know I am writing about you.