“Intellectual Senses. Connecting The Polarities "or" How To Start Loving Your Job? "

2024 Author: Harry Day | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 15:43

When I began to take my first steps in practical psychology, I began to come across psychologists and psychotherapists who loudly and persistently asserted about the harm of “thinking”. One of the main, striking arguments was the opposition of thoughts to feelings. As if they are two loudly arguing polarities and (certainly !!!) feelings act as good, but thoughts - as evil. As in the good old American cartoons: an angel sits on one shoulder, an evil devil with a pitchfork on the other.

What am I? At the first encounter with such an idea, I was, of course, upset. Like, how is that? What is it - to throw in the trash your own love of knowledge, the accumulated algorithms of the picture of the world and the sweet delight of solving Japanese crosswords? On the second collision, I was genuinely offended. I got angry. Because no - I will not throw anything away. This is my head, I love my head - it helped me out many times and, in all honesty, I confess that I am very grateful to her for a lot.

I still continue to meet this point of view in articles and communication - sometimes it even seems to me that the further, the more often. In today's society, an unpretentious and well-known mechanism is triggered - love for extremes in all their manifestations. With the emergence of firms and corporations, a large and powerful class of office workers, managers for every taste and color, arose. Today this class has created a phenomenon known in the West "work or die". The title sounds terrifying, doesn't it? The essence of it is a little more than corresponds to it: work in large companies (the same Google) becomes a whole life - campuses are set up around work offices, work turns into a home, and colleagues into closest friends. In less prestigious places, the picture looks even more threatening: even those who are still in the process of searching for themselves and have no idea what they would like to do, are forced to work at least somewhere - otherwise they simply will have nothing to exist for.

Of course, the first place where society rushes with such problems is the other extreme: emotions, feelings and body. Anything that is irrational in nature. Office clerks go to do yoga at lunchtime so that the back does not hurt so much from the chair - and how sweet it is at this hour to think about the corruption of thoughts and the beauty of harmony with the body and feelings! Idealization of feelings and demonization of intellect and thoughts - this is exactly what can be comfortably bought by such a target audience, is perceived with a bang and successfully spread to the masses. Free spaces at various retreats are snapped up in three clicks, and the courses of Vedic women are gaining millions of views on YouTube.

But. Health is not in extremes. Health is somewhere in between. For example, there is such a mental process as an intellectual feeling, in the very name of which there is already a claim to a potential peace between two psychological phenomena.

Intellectual senses - these are specific experiences that arise in a person in the process of his mental activity. Even more - they are not only a product of our mental activity, but also an engine of development. For example, they push us to solve this damn horse equation puzzle on Facebook - thus increasing our chances of solving it next time, perhaps not on Facebook, but, say, at work. Thus, we not only satisfy the need for knowledge, but also develop.

So what are these emotions? Let's take a look at some of them:

1. Surprise - the impression of something unexpected, strange and incomprehensible, in other words, "waiting error". Initially, it can be unpleasant, and then, activating mental activity, it becomes pleasant. For example, if a famous pianist, five minutes before a concert, discovers that half of the keys on the piano are not working, I think he will get upset at first. And after that, he will begin to look for a solution and, possibly, create a masterpiece.
2. Curiosity is the desire to learn, to see something new, to show interest in something “here and now”. Through curiosity and curiosity, we can genuinely become interested in something - perhaps even for a long time. In many ways, it was thanks to this emotion that scientists made great discoveries - the craving for knowledge captivated them so much that they were ready to look for answers to questions of interest to them all their lives and enjoy this process.
3. Sense of humor – the ability to understand funny. It reflects a person's attitude to something, helping to make the serious frivolous. With a sense of humor, we release tension and try to look at the situation from the other side. For example, by making fun of politicians on social media, we deal with our own anxiety about their irrational actions.

As you probably already guessed, we can use intellectual senses in order to reconcile our own minds and feelings, and try to enjoy our own "head work". To do this, start:

- Be surprised. Notice new little things and connections that you have never noticed before. For example, you may notice that men in your store buy tomatoes twice as often as women. Or that Excel in the new version is much more functional than the previous one.

- Curious. Analyze problem situations. Arrange a brainstorm on your own or in a team - throw in ideas for solutions. Try to understand the essence. Find out how your company is arranged inside and out, how it works. Be sincerely interested in areas that are related to your work - this knowledge can form something interesting at the intersection.

- Laugh. Humor is not only a stress reliever, but also a great simulator for creativity.

- Doubt and seek. Critical thinking is essential in our information-packed world. Don't be afraid to ask yourself questions and look for answers.

- Enjoy all of the above. Try to look at the world with spontaneity and sincerity, like a child looking at a colored pyramid. And do your job with the same enthusiasm with which a child assembles the long-awaited Lego constructor.)