Monday, April 15, 2013

All I Need's A Crystal Ball & Some Tinkly Earrings

At work one snowy, blowy night in March, just before a trip into town, a resident with a history of mostly good-natured male chauvinism, made a casual comment to another staff, meant to subtly imply a lack of faith in my (feminine) driving skills.

I gave him my patented raised-eyebrow, cocked-head look, inviting him to go on.

"Aw, man," he said, sputtering a bit. "I am so glad we're not related or married or anything..."

Another raised eyebrow, now with my arms crossed over my chest.

"...because you always know exactly what I'm thinking."

It was a terrible thing to say to me because I already half-believe I can half-read minds. It's neither necessary nor wise to encourage me in this belief.

Though people around me are sometimes impressed (or distressed, depending on the circumstances) by my ability to guess thoughts and anticipate actions, this ability is not some paranormal parlor trick. After nearly twenty-five years of parenting four children, not to mention twenty-six years of marriage, and, oh let's say 44 1/2 years of general people-studying, it's only natural that I would've developed some people-reading abilities. My talents are at least partially explained as the product of my inborn curiosity (some would call it nosiness) about the world in general and human nature in particular. And some credit can go to my memory for details (some would say trivia).

The real secret, though, is that most minds aren't all that difficult to read. We are all of us more predictable than we would like to believe. It's true that the building blocks of human nature can be assembled in infinite combinations, influenced by environment and personal preference and a million other variables. But the building blocks themselves seem to come in surprisingly limited varieties--our basic wants and needs, requirements and desires are more similar than our surface differences would suggest. We are most of us more alike than different. Mind reading is not a magic trick, it's just a matter of paying a little more attention.

M is for Mind Reading

10 comments:

  1. Agreed and well said! In my daily interactions with 13 year olds, they sometimes appear astonished at what I know. Really, kiddo? Do you think I am that stupid? Really, it's about observation and experience.

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  2. Especially when one is as gullible as I am. I am sure that I am fairly transparent to anyone who pays a little more attention. Living on a mountain for thirty plus years makes me even more so. Fun post!

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  3. Hello, my friend.. yes, experience makes us great mind-readers, does it not? I should be super reader, then at my age. I enjoyed your post. Best regards to you. Ruby

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    1. It's one of many benefits of getting older, I think. :)

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  4. sometimes i wish i couldn't read some people's minds so well---nice post :)

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  5. Ha-ha age does enhance our ESPN, as my hubby calls it. I once correctly guessed the name of a student's girl friend based on how he talked about her, much to his amazement (and the laws of averages). Her name was Jennifer!!! Woot!
    Spooked him.
    But I still am not the best judge of character, since I tend to expect the best from people, or expect them to behave reasonably well. Some do, some don't. My karmic revelation of the day. Sigh.

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    1. I know what you mean, Melanie, about the judge of character thing. It's so hard to sort how we want people/things to be from how they often turn out being. The expecting hoping for the best of people can definitely create enough static to drown out the psychic waves a good mind reader needs. ;)

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  6. Excellent M post! My kids would hate it that I could read their minds... that wasn't that hard!
    Connie
    A to Z-ing
    Peanut Butter and Whine

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    1. It's kind of funny how transparent kids especially can be--especially when they think they're not being transparent at all. ;)

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