(Disclaimer: This is not a talk or discussion made by a
psychologist or even a sociologist for that matter. This is simply a noted musing of an
individual while doing his laundry. Yes,
laundry.)
“Man is a social being / animal/
individual / entity / specie.” Whatever
term used, bottom line is man lives and thrives with and for interaction with
his fellow man in the basic sense.
With that said, man is known to
be sociable despite the exemption on some individuals behaving
differently. Man will always interact in
his own way with another individual or even to a specie that may be less in
intellect for that matter. How he
interacts is simply a reflection of his communication skills derived from
experiences, community, intellect and plain observation.
Some of you may ask as to what or
where I am driving this musing to. I
also asked myself that same question when the seed of thought came through
while doing your usual act of manual washing and I came to realized why it came
about. The cause of this line of thought
is actually a musing on someone’s possible reaction(s) to a response made from
a given answer. Think of it as a query
answered by another query. Not the
proper response you may say BUT it
may be apt if there is a need of clarification or one is avoiding the direct
and obvious way to response because s/he will be placed on a situation that
s/he is not in good light.
Man will react to a stimulus in
ways he is comfortable or what he thinks is appropriate to the situation,
especially if the stimuli is another individual with the same bodily functions
even if the intellectual capacity and level is not of the same edge. And even if the intellectual level is the
same, there is still that factor of having the last or final say just to show
his/her edge. Why the opening thought,
you may ask. The reason behind that is -
it is one general idea that reflects man and his interactions despite the
numerous factors affecting or leading him/her to that reaction. Since this is not a psychologist-therapist or
a sociologist making the musing, I opted to simply keep it in the confines of
plain individual (meaning mine) observation.
The challenge of being sociable is the number of possible doors of
reaction that may open based on the stimulus presented. Reactions may be loud,
subtle, calm, questioning, judgmental, haughty, elusive, with undertones, with
understanding, with patience, irritation and stone-faced for that matter. Then there is the matter of the answering response
to the response given to the initial stimulus.
Still with me (I hope)?
Again, how one is geared to be
sociable dictates his/her own way of reacting to any given situation. The next question is, can you comprehend the
possible factors that led to that resulting reaction? If your answer is yes, then you are one VERY
UNDERSTANDING individual. In the
vernacular, walang masamang tinapay para sa iyo. You are the type who will and would be
patient to all. When I say all, I mean
ALL. If your answer is no, then that is
not a fault or a mistake on your side unless things are fairly obvious and you
just want to ignore one blaring truth.
Not understanding someone else’s reaction is not a fault and should not
be an excused to put someone down . . .though . . .placing someone in his right
level and social standing is excusable in some (NOT ALL) situations.
It is easy to accept things if one is understanding or at
least made the effort to understand the given situation or scenario. Now that is a very idealistic idea! Let us be real. Not everybody
have the time and energy to fully analyze things to be able to fully
comprehend and reach an objectivity level that may lead to a type of reaction
that is fair and square to all. HELLO!
Every square frame of your life event or scene is not a courtroom drama wherein
you can ponder and analyze things in an even extended time. You react instantaneously to things! How you react is a quick processing of your
mind to the stimulus, matched to that of your experience file + your training
(at home, in school, with your community and even religion) +
self-control. That is the sociable man.
You might say, “I
thought it is a communication skill.” (I did mention that on the opening
part of this musing). My response to
that is . . . isn’t reacting a way to convey/ show/ express your thoughts to
another party and isn’t that a form of communication? (My
claws are quite retracted while I was writing that line, just to let you know.
Even my brow is relaxed and not arched in an intimidating way.)
Being a social being, one also has the luxury to simply
observe scenarios and watch things unfurls / expose / unfold and even explode
and simply learn from the different reactions displayed for viewing and ponder
on the great “what if” to make things different. I repeat, there are a good number of things
affecting man’s way of reacting to any given stimulus. Some reactions may be constant to a good
number of individual. While some may slightly differ and there are those that
may boggle your mind (may lead to brain
stump. I rather have brain freeze
moments, thank you!). Still it will
show man’s need to be sociable and interacting.
I will leave you with one question as I end this musing of mine on this
line of thought . . .
“If you get to
understand the way how one interacts and demonstrate his social skills and needs
would you expect them/others to understand you as your own social being?”
