Friday, August 13, 2010

Human Behavior

Recently I went on a trek, with few friends, I met a couple of new people and spent the day with friends. The place was beautiful, the environment was amazing and the ambiance was spell-bounding. Scores of cascades, chaparral ways encountering stunted trees, shimmering rain, were a perfect recipe for an awe-inspiring trip. Coming back, I was, hammered by a couple of thoughts, the way, my friends & I, reacted to, the situation, the environment, and the various pranks played by us. Why was it so, that every one, behaved in a totally different manner, reacted in a unique way.

Contemplating on the situation, I thought of human behavior with respect to situations. When I talk of behavior, I actually connote the manner of acting in a situation or controlling oneself. Yet again, manner & control are an integrated part of human beings, which are largely controlled by our nervous system. Since childhood, the way we react to things has changed dramatically, which happens, mainly due to external reasons. In my perspective, there are three major spheres that affect our behavior, first one is, the child, second, the elder and third, the aspiration.

The child inside us awakes, when we are happy and the environment supports our happiness, say snowfall while we are on a hilltop. The child gets active, subconsciously, and overtakes the weathered, matured person. The child reaction is, generally, an unexpected reaction from us, but this is the reaction that was got inoculated in our mind, during our childhood. This is a way, in which we want to react, when we feel happy, but often don’t, because of the elder behavior.

The elder inside us, often, tries to overtake the child. This elder is impregnated in our conscious mind, by, as expected, our elders. We are tinctured with the perspectives of our elders, who are majorly, our parents, family members, teachers and other elders, with whom, we spend time. Since the elder, apparently, is in our conscious mind, we consciously, react to situations in a manner we are told to and gradually, the tellings infuse in our sub-conscious mind and become our behavior.

The aspiration is more of individuality. Everyone does have a role model, or wants to reach heights in life, it’s that aspiration, which makes him behave in that fashion. If we idolize someone, then we try to behave in the way, our idol would have behaved. It’s the desire to be like him, which gives us pleasure in reacting to the situation.

The child in us, makes us happy and gives us joy, it’s important, to keep it alive to lead a happy life. The elder teaches us discipline and the way we must behave in society, so as to thrive, by pleasing others. Last but not the least, the aspiration, carves our path to success.

6 comments: