Theory of Mind
Salaams people,
Hope everyone is in good health and emaan inshaAllah,
Been a while again since i wrote something...but i think you all have got used to that right...?
Anyway 'tis been a eventful few weeks since i last wrote something..the major news was that i Finally passed my Derivatives exam...! My god, it was Such a relief..the exam itself was even harder than the previous one and once i finished i thought i had no chance so i didn't even open the envelope until i got to the tube station when i thought i might as well confirm my fail...and lo and behold it said i had passed...!!!
The feeling i had at that moment in time...! subhanAllah...!! I'm a firm believer that whatever situation you find yourself in, you can have a "religious" experience...so here i was feeling on top of the world and feeling an amazing Amazing rush all in a millisecond when i opened the envelope and saw the word "pass"...and to think of how low i would have felt if i read the word "fail" instead...just the fact that the body can do this and all the complexity of the human mind and body just astounds me. A friend of mine recently lost his phone and he was pretty down about it as he lost all his contacts etc etc but i was thinking again how from this you can have a "religious" experience in that one realises how attached we are to material things and how at one moment in time we feel powerful and strong, but in a split second it can be all taken away from you and you're back on square one. Subhanallah
The name of this entry "Theory of Mind" is related to the above discussion...in a very simple version it refers to a psychological term which looks at how people think about what other people are thinking and how this compares to what they themself know...an example of how this develops is when a kid covers their eyes and because they can't see you, they think you can't see them too, but obivously the knowledge that the other person Can see you because They haven't got their eyes covered develops with age...
Psychology is soo interesting...the way the mind works; emotions, feelings, memory, language, consciousness etc etc...memory for instance. I've read that random things like music, a smell, a taste can suddenly bring back strong memories of a distant past..i actually remember a funny incident re this. It was in my first week at Cambridge and when i came back from lectures to my room i came in and smelt the disinfectant the cleaner had used on the floor and instantly i had this flashback and it felt like i was back in primary school...!! i guess this was because this was the same disinfectant they used in my primary school but for 10 years i hadn't smelt it...it was a bizarre moment..so bizarre that i'm writing about it now...
Music too...i don't listen to much but when i do you can feel how different genres of music puts you in different moods; happy, sad, aggressive etc...all from the varying combinations of different notes. Emotions is another crazy one..the way you can be on top of the world when some good news occurs...and then as low as you think you can get when something bad happens...subhanAllah
Anyway that's enough of me talking nonsense. Alhmamdulilla the job is going well and all else seems cool.
Salaam
Hope everyone is in good health and emaan inshaAllah,
Been a while again since i wrote something...but i think you all have got used to that right...?
Anyway 'tis been a eventful few weeks since i last wrote something..the major news was that i Finally passed my Derivatives exam...! My god, it was Such a relief..the exam itself was even harder than the previous one and once i finished i thought i had no chance so i didn't even open the envelope until i got to the tube station when i thought i might as well confirm my fail...and lo and behold it said i had passed...!!!
The feeling i had at that moment in time...! subhanAllah...!! I'm a firm believer that whatever situation you find yourself in, you can have a "religious" experience...so here i was feeling on top of the world and feeling an amazing Amazing rush all in a millisecond when i opened the envelope and saw the word "pass"...and to think of how low i would have felt if i read the word "fail" instead...just the fact that the body can do this and all the complexity of the human mind and body just astounds me. A friend of mine recently lost his phone and he was pretty down about it as he lost all his contacts etc etc but i was thinking again how from this you can have a "religious" experience in that one realises how attached we are to material things and how at one moment in time we feel powerful and strong, but in a split second it can be all taken away from you and you're back on square one. Subhanallah
The name of this entry "Theory of Mind" is related to the above discussion...in a very simple version it refers to a psychological term which looks at how people think about what other people are thinking and how this compares to what they themself know...an example of how this develops is when a kid covers their eyes and because they can't see you, they think you can't see them too, but obivously the knowledge that the other person Can see you because They haven't got their eyes covered develops with age...
Psychology is soo interesting...the way the mind works; emotions, feelings, memory, language, consciousness etc etc...memory for instance. I've read that random things like music, a smell, a taste can suddenly bring back strong memories of a distant past..i actually remember a funny incident re this. It was in my first week at Cambridge and when i came back from lectures to my room i came in and smelt the disinfectant the cleaner had used on the floor and instantly i had this flashback and it felt like i was back in primary school...!! i guess this was because this was the same disinfectant they used in my primary school but for 10 years i hadn't smelt it...it was a bizarre moment..so bizarre that i'm writing about it now...
Music too...i don't listen to much but when i do you can feel how different genres of music puts you in different moods; happy, sad, aggressive etc...all from the varying combinations of different notes. Emotions is another crazy one..the way you can be on top of the world when some good news occurs...and then as low as you think you can get when something bad happens...subhanAllah
Anyway that's enough of me talking nonsense. Alhmamdulilla the job is going well and all else seems cool.
Salaam
posted by Me at
9:53 PM
6 Comments:
Ma sha Allah -- great to hear that you pulled the trigger on the exam this time round... Congratulations!
You bring up an excellent topic... our mind and spirit are indeed a powerful combination - why else do you think Allah provides so many parables in the Qur'an?
I need du'as for my imminent exam - possibly the most important in doctoral study... pls do remember me!
By
Anonymous, at 10:52 PM
jzks bro...inshaAllah your exam goes well....so harsh though on how so much can ride on a few hours whilst you do the exam...
another aspect of psychology i wanted to bring up was perception (not sure if it's called this..) like all those visual puzzles where one line looks longer than the other..but isn't and so on (there's so man..!) and also how sometimes you can think one way, but another person viewing the same object or incident can view it sooo differently...it amazes me how often i'm in a situation where i can't believe the other person thinks x and y and they can't believe i think like z...but we're both sure we're correct..! subhanAllah at the limits and the amazing feats of the human body and mind...
By
Me, at 8:38 PM
Jzks - yes, please do make du'a...
Perception is amazing, as is subjectivity... some people will consider x to be absolutely gorgeous while others can be absolutely repulsed by x... But that said, I must admit that I am seldom impressed by experiments by psychologists (but maybe that's just because I'm an economist ;) )...
Be well, bro! Wassalaam.
By
Anonymous, at 2:45 AM
Mabrook on the good news, mashaAllah! I began my undergraduate degree as a psychology major, but after one semester realized it was too heavy for me... so ended up as an anthropology major instead, which proved to be even more fun and interesting. In any case, the human mind is fascinating and along the lines of how our perceptions can vary from each other so greatly, is also how much religion can play a role in one person's life versus another's. You can put two completely rational and intelligent people side by side, and one can be a devoted Muslim, Christian, etc. and the other an athiest, subhanAllah.
By
bushraaa, at 6:05 PM
salaam
I noticed that the links for parts two and three of "Sheikh Nuh notes" in the sidebar do not work. Could you post those again? I'd really like to get a copy of the notes.
Jazakallahu Khairan
By
Anonymous, at 7:02 PM
Yeah i agree that psychologists seem to explain things in a convaluted way whenever possible..i suppose using techincal jargon makes them feel more important...lol. What you mention is something i've often thought about too-that how can rational, intelligent, sensible people be as convinced as us, if not more, that their religion (be it christianity, judaism etc) is the correct one and they are completely and utterly devoted to it. Then obviously the whole question about what happens to "good" people who aren't Muslims arises e.g. Mother Teresa...Allahu a'lam
By
Me, at 1:06 AM
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