The Pendulum Complex
This is a fairly straightforward point, something I've observed in quite a few people to varying degrees. It seems like it may be a natural tendency in most people. It's perhaps not as clear and difficult to accurately demonstrate as some of my other theories, but I'll start here anyway.
The Pendulum Complex is basically the idea that a person's character and the behavior they use to define themselves carries with it a kind of “psychic momentum,” which is analogous to momentum in the physical world. And, as with a pendulum in real life, when opposing forces in a persons psyche halt the unidirectional progression of one swing, it starts to glide back in a different direction. That sounds a bit confusing and vague, I know. The best way to explain this concept is probably through example.
Say, for instance, that a person has a tendency towards strongly aggressive behavior, a very combative mode of dealing with others' actions and ideas when they don't directly coincide with his own. The response he uses when confronted with a concept that is at odds with his learned way of thinking is to reject it out of turn, with no consideration, and to tear down the idea, or perhaps the person presenting the idea if he feels threatened enough.
Now, one day, this person wakes up and suddenly realizes that this isn't the way he wants to behave any longer, he wants to be open minded enough to at least consider new ideas, and he wants to halt his behavioral response of aggression when a varying concept seems outside of his natural comfort zone. Why he's decided he wants to change isn't really important, maybe he read that it's better that way on the back of a cereal box at breakfast that morning. The important point is, his desire to alter his habitual patterns of response is genuine.
He'll tend to do what most people do. He'll assume that in order to change, he must do a complete 180, radically altering, perhaps even reversing his ingrained skepticism and aggression. The pendulum that is his behavior will begin to swing in the opposite direction, and he'll try to modify his thoughts and actions so that he's not automatically rejecting new ways of thinking out of turn. Sounds like a good plan, right?
In this case, maybe it is good. But the level of moderation and restraint that is necessary for healthy behavior will be ignored nine out of ten times, and if our former skeptic is serious and successful with his change, the psychic momentum will carry the pendulum that is his original pattern of response all the way past the equilibrium position, and back towards the opposing point of the oscillation. He'll now (after an adjustment period while he trains himself not to react with skepticism and aggression, the back swing,) be more accepting of ideas, listening to them and hearing them out before drawing a conclusion. He won't respond with angry words any longer, whether directed at the idea or the person presenting it.
The problem comes about in this way: Instead of logically weighing the new concept against his beliefs and opinions with an open mind, his tendency will be to shun anything that reminds him of his old ways. He won't weigh the new idea against his old ones, because he'll have started to see just the act of comparison as combative, and therefore to be avoided. In one form or another, his new behavior will be influenced by all his old tendencies—just in the opposite way. The pendulum has swung the completely opposite direction.
The more extreme the initial position of this psychic mass of habits and tendencies, the more generally extreme the reaction is when the person tries to alter the behavior. What is seldom considered though, is why a pendulum swings in the first place. It's trying to achieve balance. Indeed, the actual technical term for the point at which the pendulum is at rest is the equilibrium position. In nearly every instance, an extreme of any kind is less efficient, less healthy, and more likely to cause damage than a moderated response. There are endless parallel analogies that demonstrate this idea. No water, and a person dies of dehydration. Too much water, and a person flushes all the necessary electrolytes out of their system, in the extreme also leading to death. But in moderation, the right amount of water is essential for the person's survival.
This moderation is integral to the health of the mind, and is an important aspect of allowing the psyche to remain nubile and fluid, capable of processing and adjusting to new kinds of input, as well as for accepting new evidence for an old situation. So the next time you feel like the pendulum that is your mind swinging heavily one way or another, remember why it swings—because it's current position isn't one of maximum stability, and it's naturally trying to find a position that is.
The Pendulum Complex is basically the idea that a person's character and the behavior they use to define themselves carries with it a kind of “psychic momentum,” which is analogous to momentum in the physical world. And, as with a pendulum in real life, when opposing forces in a persons psyche halt the unidirectional progression of one swing, it starts to glide back in a different direction. That sounds a bit confusing and vague, I know. The best way to explain this concept is probably through example.
Say, for instance, that a person has a tendency towards strongly aggressive behavior, a very combative mode of dealing with others' actions and ideas when they don't directly coincide with his own. The response he uses when confronted with a concept that is at odds with his learned way of thinking is to reject it out of turn, with no consideration, and to tear down the idea, or perhaps the person presenting the idea if he feels threatened enough.
Now, one day, this person wakes up and suddenly realizes that this isn't the way he wants to behave any longer, he wants to be open minded enough to at least consider new ideas, and he wants to halt his behavioral response of aggression when a varying concept seems outside of his natural comfort zone. Why he's decided he wants to change isn't really important, maybe he read that it's better that way on the back of a cereal box at breakfast that morning. The important point is, his desire to alter his habitual patterns of response is genuine.
He'll tend to do what most people do. He'll assume that in order to change, he must do a complete 180, radically altering, perhaps even reversing his ingrained skepticism and aggression. The pendulum that is his behavior will begin to swing in the opposite direction, and he'll try to modify his thoughts and actions so that he's not automatically rejecting new ways of thinking out of turn. Sounds like a good plan, right?
In this case, maybe it is good. But the level of moderation and restraint that is necessary for healthy behavior will be ignored nine out of ten times, and if our former skeptic is serious and successful with his change, the psychic momentum will carry the pendulum that is his original pattern of response all the way past the equilibrium position, and back towards the opposing point of the oscillation. He'll now (after an adjustment period while he trains himself not to react with skepticism and aggression, the back swing,) be more accepting of ideas, listening to them and hearing them out before drawing a conclusion. He won't respond with angry words any longer, whether directed at the idea or the person presenting it.
The problem comes about in this way: Instead of logically weighing the new concept against his beliefs and opinions with an open mind, his tendency will be to shun anything that reminds him of his old ways. He won't weigh the new idea against his old ones, because he'll have started to see just the act of comparison as combative, and therefore to be avoided. In one form or another, his new behavior will be influenced by all his old tendencies—just in the opposite way. The pendulum has swung the completely opposite direction.
The more extreme the initial position of this psychic mass of habits and tendencies, the more generally extreme the reaction is when the person tries to alter the behavior. What is seldom considered though, is why a pendulum swings in the first place. It's trying to achieve balance. Indeed, the actual technical term for the point at which the pendulum is at rest is the equilibrium position. In nearly every instance, an extreme of any kind is less efficient, less healthy, and more likely to cause damage than a moderated response. There are endless parallel analogies that demonstrate this idea. No water, and a person dies of dehydration. Too much water, and a person flushes all the necessary electrolytes out of their system, in the extreme also leading to death. But in moderation, the right amount of water is essential for the person's survival.
This moderation is integral to the health of the mind, and is an important aspect of allowing the psyche to remain nubile and fluid, capable of processing and adjusting to new kinds of input, as well as for accepting new evidence for an old situation. So the next time you feel like the pendulum that is your mind swinging heavily one way or another, remember why it swings—because it's current position isn't one of maximum stability, and it's naturally trying to find a position that is.