Mental paralysis?
Sometimes, it seems like I live in a tightly bounded little pocket of reality - prevented from doing things because I either don't know how to, or because I do know what the consequences are...
I've noticed it before, when thinking about the things that seem easier for kids to learn. Acrobatics are easy to figure out if you don't worry too much about the effects of gravity. I'm guessing that most of the people who know how to do cartwheels and handstands learned how to do it before their brains convinced them that upside down + falling = ouch. When we grow up, we rationalise it as being sensible - not doing the things that seem likely to fail, even if we could potentially learn how to succeed at them.
It's an interesting exercise - learning to recognise when your gut instinct says 'that's impossible' or 'I can't do that' and figuring out whether impossible is all in your head. Boundaries might seem like they get in the way of growing and changing, but that's only if you let them. The fact that they're so clearly marked could also be a good signpost saying 'I don't know this yet,' which sounds awfully like 'I should learn this.'
I noticed the boundaries again today, while fumbling my way through setting up two email accounts for http://www.purple-mantis.com.au. Reading a (fortunately outdated) help page, I came across advice like:
...open up prefs.js in your favorite text editor ... blah blah blah ... tweak the settings for this new identity according to taste...
If I knew more about what I was playing with, sure, I'd 'tweak the config settings according to taste.' If I knew less about the consequences of randomly tinkering with things, I'd probably give it a shot as well. But here in the middle ground, unhelpful instructions like that immediately trigger the 'back away slowly' response.
Of course, being sensible is entirely optional. After realising what I was doing, I decided to sit down and learn some more about what I'm doing. So I'm still walled in by the limitations of what I know, but at least I get some input into where those walls go...
I've noticed it before, when thinking about the things that seem easier for kids to learn. Acrobatics are easy to figure out if you don't worry too much about the effects of gravity. I'm guessing that most of the people who know how to do cartwheels and handstands learned how to do it before their brains convinced them that upside down + falling = ouch. When we grow up, we rationalise it as being sensible - not doing the things that seem likely to fail, even if we could potentially learn how to succeed at them.
It's an interesting exercise - learning to recognise when your gut instinct says 'that's impossible' or 'I can't do that' and figuring out whether impossible is all in your head. Boundaries might seem like they get in the way of growing and changing, but that's only if you let them. The fact that they're so clearly marked could also be a good signpost saying 'I don't know this yet,' which sounds awfully like 'I should learn this.'
I noticed the boundaries again today, while fumbling my way through setting up two email accounts for http://www.purple-mantis.com.au. Reading a (fortunately outdated) help page, I came across advice like:
...open up prefs.js in your favorite text editor ... blah blah blah ... tweak the settings for this new identity according to taste...
If I knew more about what I was playing with, sure, I'd 'tweak the config settings according to taste.' If I knew less about the consequences of randomly tinkering with things, I'd probably give it a shot as well. But here in the middle ground, unhelpful instructions like that immediately trigger the 'back away slowly' response.
Of course, being sensible is entirely optional. After realising what I was doing, I decided to sit down and learn some more about what I'm doing. So I'm still walled in by the limitations of what I know, but at least I get some input into where those walls go...