Just sit down and listen
I look at the world and I see stimulus and response. Different degrees, different forms, different mechanisms, however, all reactions. To rise above this, as humans we start to understand patterns. Some are small like knowing that after a green light comes yellow for a brief period, then finally red and one can assume through past experience that after every green light is a yellow and a red. A small simple pattern in life.
In the social sphere we have the same stimulus and response reactions. I say “fuck you” with a straight face and you’ll respond with offense at my rude comment. This is a simplified observation because ideas such as tone and context always come into play. However, are there patterns we can observe in the social sphere? What’s the yellow before red in a conversation? What’s the power of knowing before that red light ever hits you? Read on and I hope to explore that…
Looking at past statistical analysis to infer where a situation is going allows you to prep for something not being presented at the moment. This is absolutely key to the success of any analysis. You observe, analyze and formulate theories based on patterns you observe. From these theories one can then hope to prove or disprove core ideas of that theory. If a theory proves to be incorrect, you simply have cut down the finite number of possibilities that would have erred you. As these theories become more refined, they are the keys to building up a reservoir that you can refer to in practice.
This is where you find a crowded place and sit down. Some place where you can sit without being in the way. Close your eyes. Depending on where you are, you may hear urban sprawl, perhaps the crashing of waves on a beach or the sound of wind blowing through suburbia. Either way, it’s the sea of voices that surrounds us almost everywhere we go that we are focused on now. At first white noise, more voices than you can concentrate on. Slowly start to pick apart different tones, high pitches, low pitches, start to pull males from females and then ages. Start to listen to the nature of the conversation.
Anywhere you go is your sample population. Life provides you with almost absolute randomness when it comes to a random public place. Those around you can typically be a good cross section of the population of your area. Understanding these people is a way to start to understand the whole (yea all 6.5 billion of us).
Here’s the harder part:
Now you really need to listen. At this point it helps to have your eyes open. Start matching the voices you’ve categorized with the true person to whom it belongs. How good were your assumptions? Not good? Modify according to what you now know. Whenever you have two bases of comparison you have room for growth. You have your preconceived notion and you now know the true fact. Seeing the discrepancy is really knowing what you need to adjust.
Start to listen to the way different people talk, watch how it effects the way they move, look at who they’re with. Put together a life story. A complete fiction. Keep modifying it the more you find out. Use a deterministic method. Watch for small actions which require you to fabricate a fiction to explain them. Consider where that action comes from, the story of how the person learned it habitually. Think about why that person is doing it now and then weigh that against every other action you’ve observed. You’re looking at a brief snapshot of a total stranger and forcing yourself to fill in the huge gap which is the life you don’t know.
They key is to do this every chance you get. Start to do it in situations that allow you to interact with the people you’re creating stories for. This allows you to slowly adjust the complete fictions you’ve created. Keep in mind every action you observed and every explanation you created. Try to verify each story by listening to and / or engaging in conversation.
Patterns start emerging. As your theories get sharper. There is no way around it. Start watching, start observing and analyzing. Pull yourself beyond simply reacting. You’re preparing yourself for a different way of thinking. You piece together scenes and play them out in your head, the more you do it the more these scenes mimic real life. (That’s the best I can do for telling the future) Statistically, however, you rarely need 100% probability for something to be close enough that you’re “on the mark”. As your theories get sharper and the overall stories that they influence become more accurate, you are opening a window into a theoretical world most cannot see and understanding others to an extent that’s not commonly possible.
Just realize this immense encyclopedia of knowledge right in front of you. Everywhere you go, anything you do, people are somewhere around. Another life, another story, another set of variables, and another chance to refine what you already know.
Take caution as you walk down this road of observation, people have a nasty habit of being far more predictable than we’d like to think.
More to come.
