Psychology – Breakaway Consciousness

#Quote Of The Day | #Happiness | #Emotions | #Anger

“For ever minute you are angry you lose sixty seconds of happiness.”
– Ralph Waldo

Poker & Life: Pulling The Mask Card, Wearing The Poker Face | #Culture | #Poker | #Life

“People seldom change, only their masks do. It is only our perception of them and the perception they have of themselves that actually change.”
– Shannon L. Alder

“You wear a mask for so long, you forget who you are underneath it.”
– Alan Moore

BreakawayIndividual.com
Zy Marquiez
April 17, 2019

In poker, like in life, people wear masks. In both, every single individual wears masks of different types. Due to that, when individuals do decide to pull the proverbial ‘Mask Card’ from the poker deck of life is an intriguing proposition to consider.

Some of these masks are worn as a defense mechanism; some are worn to hide pain; some wear masks to cover up myriad emotions; some wear them only with dealing with specific people; others wear masks to get through the bog that life can provide at times; others wear masks simply because they’ve worn it all their lives and got used to them and forgot they were masks all along.

Nigh ever individual can relate to many or most of the above. Irrespective of reasons, masks are something that help individuals fight through the tides of the day, battle the waves that are ceaseless as we drift among the seas of life.

My argument is not that masks do not have a place, not at all. How people live their life’s is their business. I am merely bringing up this topic because I feel it deserves discussion, or at least ponderance at length.

Due to recent circumstances the last few days dealing with worries and concerns I’ve found myself under some of the premises above. In fact, sometimes, it’s very easy to forget you have a mask on. That said, it often takes someone you know to realize something is amyss before you yourself realize it, or some random circumstance that reminds you, “Hey, you still have that mask on, don’t forget.”

Some people might argue, shouldn’t you be authentic the whole time? What is the use of masks? One moment, and we will address that in a bit.

First: Riddle me this batman: do you know of any single place in which people are 100% authentic, and if so, what takes place in that locale? Ponder that for a minute.

With the above in mind, my contention that follows is that people wear masks all the time, for the most part. Some might instantly argue, “Well how do YOU know what most people do?”

It’s not just me that knows, but many people in fact, those that are least exposed to it. What do I mean by this?

What’s the one place where individuals can see people of myriad backgrounds showing their true colors? Facebook. People will do and say things on Facebook that they would never carry out in ‘real life’ in a million years. Keyboard cowboys abound many screens, and trolls are out in force. There is no better place to see what people will do when they do not wear masks than on Facebook and social media.

There is no better place to see this war rage between individuals in myriad social strata than in Facebook, it’s always an endless flame war. Words said in endless waves of anger, tirades made from the most hateful thoughts that individuals can manifest, all of which lead to no understanding, no common ground under which to move forward. While many arguments aren’t that intense, a lot of arguments hold no regard for human dignity and respect. This is (1) a failure of communication, (2) culture principles, (3) common sense, (4) education, (5) and the manipulation of the divide and conquer left-right paradigm. Each of those incisive elements, concurrent with other ones, al provide the veritable foundation upon which the flame wars burn and lead to the very division that the powers that be revel in.

All social media platforms provide a veritable armor under which most people feel safe to share their true feelings; feelings that many times people wouldn’t share with complete strangers in real life but waste not a nanosecond in telling strangers online in far larger numbers. This is not everyone, not by a long shot, but a sizeable part of individuals on social media platforms do this.

This type of circumstance seems to showcase why masks in society have a place.

Imagine what would happen if people went around their days doing in real life what they do in social media? To say all hell would brake lose, would be putting it lightly.

Such circumstances show why maybe its okay for people to be a little reserved in their thoughts by wearing masks. Not because they shouldn’t air out their thoughts, but the way it’s done is nothing but adding gasoline to fires that will never be put out, not under the current circumstances.

Perhaps its just how society is evolving with the fusion of traditional communications with social media platforms, perhaps its something else. But the same way that masks help society from becoming overly antagonistic (in modern times at least), masks help individuals from having to deal with uncomfortable situations that they understandably don’t want to deal with [1][2].

With the above in mind, we can gather that masks certainly have a place in society. When an individual chooses to wear is their business, but to say that masks have no place in society is akin to saying people have no right to privacy, or people on poker tables shouldn’t have a poker face.

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[1] I say, ‘In modern times at least’, because I think that if we were to take individuals from a century ago and transpose them on modern social media, the discussions that would take place would blow out of the water anything people do in modern times. The average discussion would be much more enlightening because they were a culture of character, and not a culture of personality. The distinction of this was learned by me from Susan Cain’s phenomenal book on introverts called Quiet – The Power Of Introverts In A World That Can’t Stop talking, though the idea stems from another author. Psychologist Cain expounds upon it saliently, however. This book is highly recommended.

[2] This was reference with me not wanting to vent with certain people in person about my current situation, though I did and do certainly vent to others.

[3] I deliberately used the Phantom Of The Opera type of mask in the post as a symbol for the individual having to wear a masks throughout most of life, just like in the story. Moreover, I love the mask because (1) I enjoy ever variation of the Phantom Of The Opera Story, whether it is the movie, the play, the video game, or in a book; (2) the opera and story make a great metaphor for life, and (3) the mask serves as a fantastic representation for Halloween, which is my second favorite Holiday between Thanksgiving and Summer time. I would also like to write an analysis on this story and turn it into a much larger metaphor, but we will see about that.

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Suggested Reading:

Have You Ever Walked On The Moon?
Never Underestimate The Power Of Imagination, The Power Of Dropping Seeds
Stranger On The Moon
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Why A Sound Mindset Is Crucial: The Light Side Of Mindset Vs. The Dark Side Of Mindset
Mindset Mindset Mindset!
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Mindwaves & Mindfulness
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How You Deposit A Truckload Of Black Pearls Into An Emotional Bank Account
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Emotional Bank Accounts: Mutual Funds
Emotional Bank Accounts: Deposits & Withdraws
Emotional Bank Accounts: Gems Gems Gems, Babies Everywhere!
Emotional Bank Accounts: I Call Your 7 Cents & Raise You A Dollar
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Imagination Unleashed
The Inherent Power Of Curiosity
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Poker FlashBack: Swimming With Sharks, Swimming With Whales
Imagination Rises Out Of The Jaws Of Defeat
What’s Your Story?
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Harry Potter Fans Trash Talk? Say WHAT?!
Consciously Creating The Road Of Change, The World Of Tomorrow
What Are Your Personal Defaults?
A World Of Grays
The Opening Salvo, The First Minute
The Seeds Of Today, The World Of Tomorrow
Assumptions Are Mother Of All F@!$ Ups
Piercing Perspectives #1: Taking Things For Granted | Health & Mindset
Piercing Perspectives #2: You The Individual Are Extraordinary
Piercing Perspectives #3: The Divide & Conquer Left Right Paradigm
Piercing Perspectives #4: Poker As A Mirror For Life
The Individual, The Foundation Of Society

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If you find value in this information, feel free to share it. This article is free and open source. All individuals have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Zy Marquiez and BreakawayIndividual.com

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About The Author:

Zy Marquiez is an avid book reviewer, inquirer, an open-minded skeptic, yogi, and freelance writer who aims at empowering individuals while also studying and regularly mirroring subjects like Consciousness, Education, Creativity, The Individual, Ancient History & Ancient Civilizations, Forbidden Archaeology, Big Pharma, Alternative Health, Space, Geoengineering, Social Engineering, Propaganda, and much more.

#Book Review: Quiet – The Power Of Introverts In A World That Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain | #Introvert | #Thoughts | #Reflection

BreakawayIndividual.com
Zy Marquiez
April 17, 2019

Quiet – The Power Of Introverts In A World That Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain is masterful read into the inner workings of the reflective introverts that populate society.

This book by Susan Cain delves into the paradigm that has been glossed over in the “Culture Of Personality”.

Cain begins the book outlining the fact that we as a society have transitioned from a Culture Of Character to a Culture of Personality, which thus left us facing myriad issues from which society still faces today.

The book even elucidates that the world personality was not part of our vocabulary until the 18th century and that “the idea of “having a good personality” was not widespread until the twentieth.” This goes to show that the notion of ‘personality’ is quite modern indeed.

Throughout the entirety of the book the author also enumerates countless examples of research and studies that have taken place which shows the notable differences between introverts and extroverts. Its quite intriguing considering how wrong western culture has been about introverts over the last many decades, if not longer.

Even the school system has been tailored to fit the ‘culture of personality’ rather than the ‘culture of character’. That has done a great disservice to many folks, because as the book mentions, between a third to a half of all people are introverts, and yet school is not only geared to push the personality paradigm, but people that are introverts get run over by the system due to people thinking there’s something “wrong” with just wanting to do work by yourself, or perhaps in a less noisy environment that fosters greater inner growth for such individuals.

In fact, the book names a few examples where parents, or people, thought something was “wrong” with a particular individual, when that was just their nature. Not only that, but introverts, in many facets, outdo extroverts due to their inherent nature. That’s not something that you will hear the modern media expound upon. It’s not that there are inherently smarter than them, its that their process of critical thought is more efficient in many ways, not unlike two people each having a Ferrari to drive, but one isn’t capable of handling the vehicle at much higher speeds.

Ironically enough, Cain mentions how “we perceive talkers as smarter than quiet types – even though grade-point averages and SAT intelligence scores reveal this perception to be inaccurate.”

Cain also covers the interesting topic of the “Bus to Abilene,” which shows people’s penchant for following others who carry out actions – any actions. These circumstances are the staple of extroverts by and large.

The author also covers the topic of The New Groupthink, which is given a cursory glance.

Within her thoughts, she gives her concerns for the system, which is constantly giving precedence for group work – “team work” – all at the expense of the individual, as it claims that ‘creativity and intellectual achievement’ only come via teamwork. Nothing could be further from the truth. The author covers facts that tackle this rather incisively.

This has taken place because America has wholly shifted en masse unfortunately to teachings that reflect the business community, rather than what’s best for the individual and culture as a whole. What’s worse, Common Core will only further these agendas in order to make sure everyone’s ready to help corporations make even more profits at the expense of true learning. Let’s digress however.

Another example of how introverts shine is how top performers are often the ones that have the solitude that they require that isn’t available in many working environments. When freedom of interruption is available, these people overwhelmingly perform better than in environments where excessive stimulation takes place, which hinders production/learning.

Other notions examined are the one of Deliberate Practice, which can only be accomplished by being alone. This notion is discussed at length in Talent Is Overrated – What Really Separates World-Class Performers From Everybody Else, by Geoff Colvin.

Deliberate practice is not only when individuals identify tasks to be done, but when individuals push beyond comfort and traditional boundaries to raise their performance level, whilst monitoring their progress and adjusting accordingly in order to be able to achieve what needs to be done.

This not only requires deep motivation, but can lead to incredible mastery of subjects. It does, however, require a great commitment in many cases if one wants to achieve true expertise.

The book also covers how many extroverts were behind what took place in the 2009 economic downturn, and how introverts wouldn’t have been as careless with money. It also covers how people tend to link velocity of speech with knowledge, but how that is a big mistake.

Group brainstorming electronically is also delved into, as well as the fear of public humiliation and how large of a role that plays a role in interactions between introverts and extroverts, how important temperament is, as well as the intricate subject of highly reactive children. Also the topic of pseudo-extroverts is also covered. This is important, because many people who seem rather extroverted, are in fact incredibly introverted.

If you’re a teacher, a leader, a manager, or any person that needs to know the inner workings of how introverts and extroverts interact on a daily basis, and how to take advantage of each of their strengthen, then this book is definitely for you.

I absolutely love this book and reference it quite often, and I hope that any of you who end up getting it get as much value yourselves. It really is well worth the read.
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Suggested Reading:

Talent Is Overrated – What Really Separates World-Class Performers From Everyone Else by Geoff Colvin

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About The Author: