What complex beings we humans are.

T’s.” View
What complex beings we humans are. Last week I wrote about people seeing only what they do for others and often not seeing what others do for them. This week I'd like to qualify that. What we don't see is what the other person is doing RIGHT, but we sure do see what the other person is doing WRONG. And the funny (not really) part is how we don't see what we're doing wrong ourselves. How often we criticize a person for doing what we perceive as "wrong" and then we turn around and do the same thing ourselves without thinking anything of it. Somebody once said that what bothers us most about other people is something we're usually guilty of ourselves. I remember introducing two ladies who I thought were so much alike and figured they'd like each other because they had so much in common—both prided themselves on being good cooks and having only the best in clothes and furniture. It turned out they couldn't stand each other, each saying the other was a braggart about her cooking and possessions. Someone else once said, "What bothers us most about other people is that they're not just like us: Most people would probably deny that last quote (forgive me for never knowing the sources of my quotes) but when you think about it, that does seem to be true. (Am I getting too confusing? Too preachy? Actually I wasn't prepared to write a column today because I didn't realize Monday was a holiday and the deadline was pushed back to Saturday, so forgive me if I'm rambling.) - I guess that's where the complexity of the human being comes in, because while we'd really like the other person to be like us, what bothers us is that the other person is often just like us but it's a side of ourselves we choose not to acknowledge. It seems we all set our own code of ethics and then expect everyone but ourselves to follow the rules. Anyway, I find this whole business of being human a fascinating subject and it never ceases to amaze me how complex we are. Someday I'd like to take a bunch of psychology courses and really learn about what makes us tick. For now, all I have to go on is gut feelings and simplistic observations. I'd also like to study that great computer in our heads, the human brain. We marvel at the latest technology and what a computer can do, when actually it's still got a long way to go before it can even come close to the capacity of the human brain. And you know what they say—a computer is only as good as its program. Since we have the power to program those computers in our heads, every choice we make has an effect on our programs. It's an awesome thought.
 *Terri the Typesetter
T-Views - Week of June, 3,1984