If your life has no substance, and you just float around aimlessly you're sure to get bored and depressed. You have to have something that you care about. I feel like this is true. -Byron
Without a doubt - I think it applies to humans. If humans have nothing to do, they're going to be depressed. People want to do things, we're wired to crave something to do and have stimulus. It's why things like sensory deprivation chambers and isolation chambers cause people to go crazy. I think to a degree what is said can be applied to everyone.
Depression comes for fish when they lack stimulation. Depression can come to humans for a variety of reasons. Depression for both fish and humans causes a lack of motivation. Similar to how the fish do not reach the line in the tank, humans do not get out of bed, do not clean their room, and do other activities that are normally easy to accomplish.
I like Mrs Elm's honesty with Nora in this chapter. When Nora asks to try a life where she isn't "stuck", Mrs Elm responds, "Aren't you supposed to tell me?" Nora expects a librarian to know the ins and outs of her life just as much as her own library. The reality of life will show you that know one has the time of day to set aside their own agenda to find what brings you fulfillment and joy. The fish that they speak about at the beginning of the chapter are helpless creatures that don't have the ability to do that for themselves. Mrs Elm doesn't want Nora to chose the life of being a stuck fish below the line. She tells Nora that you can chose choices, but not outcomes. Nora may not get every outcome she desires. But, if she chooses to find what curbs her depression, she will be one step closer to being like the fish above the line. -Lizzie Jones
I partly agree with what this chapter was conveying, specifically when Mrs. Elm said, “The only way to learn is to live”. I understand the analogy of fish being stuck in a tank, but the reason for their sadness is more likely to be an environmental one. They’re not in their original habitat, and their needs aren’t met as if they were wild, so they don’t really have much to do... I’d be sad too. But I absolutely agree that as living beings ourselves, we have to explore and not just “float in a tank”, because we have that option. If we stay in one place and not learn anything about ourselves or the world around us, then there’s nothing new or stimulating. Having new experiences will help us grow as human beings, which is a problem that Nora seems to struggle to solve. As soon as something isn’t as perfect as she hoped for in the reality she stepped in, she blocks it from her entirely and avoids trying to fix/heal it. No matter how hard we try, we will always fail in some way, but you have evolve from it in order to get better.
Humans might not find themselves in physical fish tanks yet they can be no less trapped by mere walls of glass. Only the walls aren’t real they’re ones built within our minds. Sometimes poor outcomes or social pressures prevent us from doing an action. Like walking up and talking to a stranger for no reason, sure you can, but few others will, and things might go poorly. These mental barriers can be good, you want yourself to be as hesitant to murder as possible obviously. In the analogy it’d be like being a fish in an aquarium that is an exact replica of nature save for a barrier so far away you’d likely never see it. However the more barriers you put up subconsciously the less room you have to move in, and therefore the less you can do. Humans and fish alike hate being trapped and when you lack stimuli enough you will go insane. A famous torture method used by countries who want to appear “humane” without giving up the true benefits of torture, is called white room torture. It doesn’t touch your body but instead robs you of stimulation to the point it breaks your mind so badly most will never recover. Stimuli is vital to mental health, and that’s part of the reason why locking yourself inside your room alone can be so damaging for mental health.
If your life has no substance, and you just float around aimlessly you're sure to get bored and depressed. You have to have something that you care about. I feel like this is true.
ReplyDelete-Byron
Without a doubt - I think it applies to humans. If humans have nothing to do, they're going to be depressed. People want to do things, we're wired to crave something to do and have stimulus. It's why things like sensory deprivation chambers and isolation chambers cause people to go crazy. I think to a degree what is said can be applied to everyone.
ReplyDeleteDepression comes for fish when they lack stimulation. Depression can come to humans for a variety of reasons. Depression for both fish and humans causes a lack of motivation. Similar to how the fish do not reach the line in the tank, humans do not get out of bed, do not clean their room, and do other activities that are normally easy to accomplish.
ReplyDeleteI like Mrs Elm's honesty with Nora in this chapter. When Nora asks to try a life where she isn't "stuck", Mrs Elm responds, "Aren't you supposed to tell me?" Nora expects a librarian to know the ins and outs of her life just as much as her own library. The reality of life will show you that know one has the time of day to set aside their own agenda to find what brings you fulfillment and joy. The fish that they speak about at the beginning of the chapter are helpless creatures that don't have the ability to do that for themselves. Mrs Elm doesn't want Nora to chose the life of being a stuck fish below the line. She tells Nora that you can chose choices, but not outcomes. Nora may not get every outcome she desires. But, if she chooses to find what curbs her depression, she will be one step closer to being like the fish above the line. -Lizzie Jones
ReplyDeleteI partly agree with what this chapter was conveying, specifically when Mrs. Elm said, “The only way to learn is to live”. I understand the analogy of fish being stuck in a tank, but the reason for their sadness is more likely to be an environmental one. They’re not in their original habitat, and their needs aren’t met as if they were wild, so they don’t really have much to do... I’d be sad too. But I absolutely agree that as living beings ourselves, we have to explore and not just “float in a tank”, because we have that option.
ReplyDeleteIf we stay in one place and not learn anything about ourselves or the world around us, then there’s nothing new or stimulating. Having new experiences will help us grow as human beings, which is a problem that Nora seems to struggle to solve. As soon as something isn’t as perfect as she hoped for in the reality she stepped in, she blocks it from her entirely and avoids trying to fix/heal it. No matter how hard we try, we will always fail in some way, but you have evolve from it in order to get better.
Humans might not find themselves in physical fish tanks yet they can be no less trapped by mere walls of glass. Only the walls aren’t real they’re ones built within our minds. Sometimes poor outcomes or social pressures prevent us from doing an action. Like walking up and talking to a stranger for no reason, sure you can, but few others will, and things might go poorly. These mental barriers can be good, you want yourself to be as hesitant to murder as possible obviously. In the analogy it’d be like being a fish in an aquarium that is an exact replica of nature save for a barrier so far away you’d likely never see it. However the more barriers you put up subconsciously the less room you have to move in, and therefore the less you can do. Humans and fish alike hate being trapped and when you lack stimuli enough you will go insane. A famous torture method used by countries who want to appear “humane” without giving up the true benefits of torture, is called white room torture. It doesn’t touch your body but instead robs you of stimulation to the point it breaks your mind so badly most will never recover. Stimuli is vital to mental health, and that’s part of the reason why locking yourself inside your room alone can be so damaging for mental health.
ReplyDelete