When you can't
predict the future, the importance of choosing situations rather than
fretting individual actions is crucial.
In First is the Worst, I talked about how human nature causes one's perspective and
expectations to change when power is mixed in. In my view, there is
something deep about human nature that leads to this phenomenon, and
it applies to any influence we are exposed to, including when we are
empowered.
So what do I mean
when I say choosing situations should be the focus of concern rather
than individual choices?
Well, to begin, when
I say “situations,” I am referring to the environments, including
location, people, and other forms of information, one is exposed to
at a given time. A situation might be getting on an airplane, or
going out to a bar to party. It could be hanging out with Joe and
Jane, or dating Lisa. It could be watching CNN or spending most of
your time on Facebook.
Regardless of the
specific situation, my argument is that situations themselves set you
up for certain outcomes. In terms of better or worse outcomes for
your life, I am thinking of risky situations or beneficial
situations. More importantly, how can I get a handle on setting
myself up for meaningful outcomes according to my own wishes, rather
than feeling trapped and “set up” by risky situations that end up
in unfortunate outcomes.
Situations, More than Individual Choices, Drive Probable Outcomes
Every child has
probably heard something along the lines of: “Don't go to such and
such part of town, or “Don't go alone to such and such place at
night.” The common warning from parents is an example of how
avoiding risky situations can be much more effective than worrying
about how to deal with a situation once bad stuff starts to happen.
The idea is if you
avoid a high risk situation such as walking home alone in the dark at
night, you are less likely to be bothered by those wishing to do
harm.
This sort of
situational management is central to my thoughts in this article. The
idea is you set yourself up for failure if you put yourself in a high
risk situation in the first place. Avoid the high risk situation and
you do not have to worry about coping with all the specific ways shit
could hit the fan.
Take drinking for
example. Alcohol is not dangerous because I know for sure this time I
drink something bad will happen, but rather because of the changes in
behaviors it causes can set you up to get into bad situations. There
can be countless times you drink and nothing happens. However, the
behavior has to be seen as rolling the dice each time. You can set
your life up around dealing with the dice roll, or you can just avoid
rolling the dice altogether and not worry about it.
Before I continue, I
thought I'd mention that I am not advocating for an overcautious
state where you stay locked in your house in order to avoid risk.
Everything, technically, is risky. I'm not advocating the avoidance
of everything.
Rather, since life
is short and we can only make so many choices, why not focus on
minimizing outsized risks, while learning how to maximize rewards?
Instead of avoiding all risky situations, be more thoughtful and
strategic about what you are exposing yourself to.
Cut out those
behaviors or activities you think have a large potential to affect
your life negatively, and you free yourself up for more of the
activities that contribute positively to your life. These choices may
change and evolve over life too and the things you avoid at one point
at time could be things you participate at others when the timing is
better.
Again, its all about
how you are managing things to your benefit to the best of your
ability at the time.
So far, I've talked
about how managing situations can set you up for avoiding unnecessary
risks. But what forms can “situations” take. I've talked about
the obvious physical actions like whether you drink or whether you go
to a dangerous part of town or hang out with bad influences, but what
about informational exposures? It seems clear to me that what we see,
hear, and read can also be a major component of the probable outcomes
in our thoughts and opinions, which drive our actions.
The phenomenon of
what we expose ourselves to affecting our thoughts and ideas ties
into why some people convince themselves the world is going to end
tomorrow, that is the hyper-negative and pessimistic people who can't
see a silver lining. Its hard not to feel that way if you watch 24/7
news all the time. News, especially bad news, draws eyeballs and so
media outlet cater their coverage to meet our curiosity for negative
information by showing us a lot of bad news.
Problems continually
prop up. Concerned talking heads debate about how the choices being
made are hypothetically inferior to their alternatives. The news
needs to create news just as much as it needs to report on it.
We see this in how
presidential candidates are prodded to sling mud at each other by
journalists or why Donald Trump cannot seem to stay out of the news
by being a continually burning dumpster fire, just hot enough to keep
the cameras on him.
Mass shootings fall
under this category too. Media outlets sensationalize and over report
these shootings, a trend which many psychologists believe encourages
more shootings to occur.
The internet is
another good example of how your initial attention can shape what
information you are exposed and how you shape your perspective and
opinions on the world. The internet is arguably a place where you can
find people to back up any perspective or opinion.
You think 9/11 might
have been a conspiracy? Well, as long as you have that initial
belief, there are countless websites ready to supply your attention
with “facts” and opinions to reinforce your initial assumption.
How to weigh the
quality of information should be taught in schools because the
internet will likely reinforce whatever assumptions you have to begin
with. This means the burden of censorship lies squarely on your
shoulders. One should be very careful about what they are paying
attention to online. If you are not diligent, your imagination can
quickly be carried away to dark and misleading places just like when
you watch the news too often or are always looking for ways the world
will fail.
This is a sad way
that life works because often an unbalanced negative view of the
world signals serious mental health issues like depression. I know this
was the case for me. When I was depressed, I thought the world was
going to sh*t and everything around me sucked. What is sad is that in
this state can reinforce itself as one seeks out more things that make you even more sad and apathetic.
How You Create Your
Own Wants and Needs
Avoiding risky
situations in our thoughts can also relate to how our attention can
create and shape our wants and desires. I proved this idea to myself when
I experimented with dating websites. In using the site, potential
matches, real women, are presented to you as lines of images like
Amazon shopping products. You click on a profile and, if you haven't
decided your interest superficially from their still photo, you read
a little of their profile resume and decide if you want to make
contact.
It became very clear
to me that anxieties surrounding romantic relationships and dating
were heightened while using the dating website. Another way to put
this is: I worried more about my relationship status while using
these sites, than not.
Now, you may think
it odd that simply using a dating website would itself encourage you
to keep using the website and to remain insecure in your dating life.
But, this was my experience. My initial actions to participate on the
sites led to me worrying more about dating...most importantly, when
it was unnecessary to do so.
Since deleting my
account, I have thought significantly less about dating, and I am
much more naturally secure in my relationship status- if only because
I'm not prompted to think about it.
Out of sight, out of
mind is real, in my opinion, and you can use harness it to improve
your life!
This discussion
reminds me of how advertising works. Advertising is very much about
into sight, into mind. When you are scrolling your favorite websites
online, you will see ads for products sellers think you might want.
Sometimes this can be helpful by connecting you to items you actual
could use. Most of the time, however, they are there to prompt you to
think about them. If you think about those items, you are more likely
to buy them, plain and simple.
Here again, we see
how simple exposure to something like an advertisement is
effective for changing your behaviors. Its no wonder we plow money
into beauty products, status symbols, and other products when we are
constantly being exposed to the idea that what we already have is not
enough in advertising.
A Call for Intentionality and Putting the Odds in your Favor
Ok, so we can see a
vague outline of what could be done to improve one's life. Pursue the
beneficial situations, or at the least, eliminate the most obviously
risky ones. No one is omniscient and we cannot totally predict what
will happen by exposing ourselves to X, Y, or Z influence or event.
However, we can gain some benefit from harnessing probability. Rather
than rolling the die on risky or detrimental behaviors, we can focus
on playing for the rewarding ones.
You may just end up
feeling a little happier, a little more in control of your life, a
little more relaxed. You may drink a little less, eat a little less
fatty foods. You may decide not to talk to that toxic person when you
thought of doing it and you may look a little less often for the
negative shock and awe horrors that the news shows us everyday.
The important part
is not perfection, but it is subtlety shifting the probability, so
beneficial things, rather than detrimental things, come your way. I
think this is the best we can do in life. It just takes a little
intentionality- a little micro-intentionality. Don't be an empty vessel lost to the four winds.
Lay “traps” for
yourself that surprise you in positive ways. Make yourself feel “set
up” the next time something pleasantly surprises you. You may just
find that little satisfaction of knowing you played a part in your own success- a feeling that drives you forward. And, even when the bad times inevitably
come, allow yourself to connect the dots, so you can see what to avoid
for next time, so you learn how to better play the odds. Before long,
you'll start getting where you want to go. I guarantee it!