CSI Lessons: Anatomy is Destiny

It’s not all the time that you pick up something interesting or good in whatever you are watching on the tube. Conservative and traditional parents would often say that watching too much television is not good for you; it corrupts the mind and pollutes it with nonsense and violence.

I admit I have been watching way too much CSI, but I did pick up a couple of “learnings” in some of its episodes; which for me is not nonsense at all. Thus, I would like to share with you…

 

Anatomy is Destiny - Sigmund Freud

 

Sigmund Freud was a neurologist who was known to have developed theories about the unconcisous mind, a person's dreams and ego, and created the discipline of Psychoanalysis or Psychotherapy. In one of his works, it was mentioned that Anatomy is Destiny, that one's personality and behavior is determined by the gender.

Do you believe that your personality, character traits, and behavior in Life, is all determined by what your gender is? Basically this is the gist of Freud’s theory.

So as a male, I am expected to be like a brute or a caveman. To mention a few things:

• Men don’t cry
• Men do not watch movies like The Notebook
• Men do not hold hands with other Men
• Men should not get a manicure or pedicure
• Men don’t dance or sing
• Men are fearless
• Men will never ask for directions
• Men don’t wear pink or tight jeans

If I am really lost and would not ask for directions, what destiny awaits me? If I cry, does that really make me less of a man?

Now of course, this is just a theory. Do you think the culture or environment around you plays a role? I believe it does. Take for example; if you send a woman to military training, no matter how feminine she may be when she was born, she will be disciplined and battle-hardened into a soldier.

But there are indeed certain things that men can do and women can't, and vice versa:

Men can:

• wear a beard
• go topless in public
• pee while standing up
• sleep around and be called a player

Women can:

• get pregnant
• flirt with the bouncer when trying to enter a club
• can wear men's clothing
• can dance together on the dancefloor

I am not quite sure how genetics would affect one’s personality or behavior. Genes will possibly affect the physical attributes but definitely not one’s character. I have even read stories of physically challenged males that achieve feats that other able bodied men have not. That’s because their behavior in life probably revolves around perseverance and commitment, a behavior which most likely was cultivated through the years and not because they are born as males.

I guess this is what Freud's theory speaks of, when there are certain things that men and women were gentically meant to do and live by. Where it is the law of Life that you need to follow, thus might affect one's personality and behavior.

When the Guilt keeps us Sharp

We have encountered so many mistakes and failures in our lives, but for some reason, we are able to pick up the pieces and keep on going. Quotes such as practice makes perfect, try and try until you die, or as Yoda said “do or do not, there is no try.” Of course failure is always not an option, but from these failed experiences we actually learn and adapt.

Now there are the usual mistakes in Life, which is easy to rebound from. Then there is what we call actions triggered by bad faith or the impulse to commit something that we know is wrong but we still do it, or worse, plain stubbornness and negligence. Thus, we are guilty of such actions; and why should this be a good thing to happen?

Well, for one, it’s not for us to do it again. But the guilt of committing the said action, prompts us to change our ways, be alert and vigilant in ensuring it does not recur.

Although it is quite honorable or commendable that you take accountability for your actions, but if you keep committing the same thing over and over again, taking accountability will already mean that you are confirming to your superiors that you are not competent enough to address the problem and just keep acknowledging that it is your fault. This is where the guilt should be used to keep ourselves sharp.

We are guilty of some shortcomings and on rare occasions, totally being neglectful of what is expected of us. We are told that this is how things should be done, but we do it differently. (Probably because of familiarity, when we are not used to something being done a particular way, we seem to stick to what we know and resist the changes being suggested) because our belief is that at the end of the day, what matters is the output; if I am able to deliver, then you should no longer question how I brought it there.

But if we are fully aware that we employed a particular tactic or process that is quite unusual, guilty as we are, we should use this as an opportunity to inspect what we expect on how things should be properly executed.

Now here is a dark and evil perspective to this. Of course, when an individual knows that his or her actions are purely criminal in nature, the guilt of doing the said criminal acts makes them sharp in a sense that it keeps them on their toes so as not to be caught. They become very methodological, develops an obsessive-compulsive behavior, and tends to have unbounded attention to detail.

But who says that it only applies to criminals. One can actually acquire these "attributes" if the particular guilt is so overwhelming, that you would do anything at your capacity to clean it up and ensure it does not happen anymore, right?

In other aspects of Life, our guilt keeps us in check in relation to simple tasks such as remembering an anniversary. (You’re guilty of forgetting already, so there is no more room for debate, just stay focused for a year and save the date for next year.)

So when the guilt arises, it’s a sign that you should stay sharp moving forward.

“Guilt is the price we pay willingly for doing what we are going to do anyway” – Isabelle Holland