Philosophy
Interesting question popped up in a conversation last night and wondered what you folks thought about it.
Is stress a choice? Do you choose to be stressed out by something or is it something that is not a matter of one's own control? We can practice stress reduction techniques, but do they alleviate the stress or just distract you from it? We tell people who are stressed about something we don't find stressful to relax, and we use the imperative form commanding them as if they could simply throw a switch and not be stressed by that particular stressor. But can you? If you use meditation, primal scream, or whatever other tool, are you masking the stress or actually eliminating it? Is that question even meaningful, that is, is stress nothing but the feeling of being stressed and therefore losing the feeling is equivalent to losing the stress? Or is choosing not to deal with something that would still cause the stress if faced head on? In Through the Looking Glass, the White Queen claims to believe six impossible things before breakfast. This is nonsense because we cannot just choose our beliefs. Is stress the same way?
- Testing And Stress
Guest-post today from Jim B. Steve?s post from two weeks ago, ?Campus Mental Health and False Urgency?, brought to light some interesting correlations between course work and an increase amount of mental illness on college campuses.?That while students...
- Stress And Health
I was listening to an interview with Stanford neurologist Robert Sapolsky on NPR a few weeks back and it really struck me. Sapolsky who studies the relation between the neurological and the social in primates told a fascinating story in discussing his...
- A Comedist Request
Brothers, Sisters, and Transgendered Comedists Everywhere, This weekend, I, the Irreverend Steve, come to you for advice. I am in need of pastoral counseling from my flock. We stand a mere eight weeks from April 1, Saint Shecky's Day, the holiest...
- From The "dumbest Ideas Ever" File
Fred Thompson, tv actor, former Senator, and likely Republican candidate for President, argues that it was the lack of guns at Virginia Tech that we should look to when we want to explain how the tragedy occurred. there are a lot of people who are just...
- The Lifecycle Of The Academic Philosopher: Flowchart
Because I am still tired out from a long post yesterday (or from being dumb and not ingesting any caffeine today), I have created another flowchart. This one includes color-coded stress-levels. There will be a legitimate post tomorrow . . . probably....
Philosophy
Is Stress a Choice?
Interesting question popped up in a conversation last night and wondered what you folks thought about it.
Is stress a choice? Do you choose to be stressed out by something or is it something that is not a matter of one's own control? We can practice stress reduction techniques, but do they alleviate the stress or just distract you from it? We tell people who are stressed about something we don't find stressful to relax, and we use the imperative form commanding them as if they could simply throw a switch and not be stressed by that particular stressor. But can you? If you use meditation, primal scream, or whatever other tool, are you masking the stress or actually eliminating it? Is that question even meaningful, that is, is stress nothing but the feeling of being stressed and therefore losing the feeling is equivalent to losing the stress? Or is choosing not to deal with something that would still cause the stress if faced head on? In Through the Looking Glass, the White Queen claims to believe six impossible things before breakfast. This is nonsense because we cannot just choose our beliefs. Is stress the same way?
- Testing And Stress
Guest-post today from Jim B. Steve?s post from two weeks ago, ?Campus Mental Health and False Urgency?, brought to light some interesting correlations between course work and an increase amount of mental illness on college campuses.?That while students...
- Stress And Health
I was listening to an interview with Stanford neurologist Robert Sapolsky on NPR a few weeks back and it really struck me. Sapolsky who studies the relation between the neurological and the social in primates told a fascinating story in discussing his...
- A Comedist Request
Brothers, Sisters, and Transgendered Comedists Everywhere, This weekend, I, the Irreverend Steve, come to you for advice. I am in need of pastoral counseling from my flock. We stand a mere eight weeks from April 1, Saint Shecky's Day, the holiest...
- From The "dumbest Ideas Ever" File
Fred Thompson, tv actor, former Senator, and likely Republican candidate for President, argues that it was the lack of guns at Virginia Tech that we should look to when we want to explain how the tragedy occurred. there are a lot of people who are just...
- The Lifecycle Of The Academic Philosopher: Flowchart
Because I am still tired out from a long post yesterday (or from being dumb and not ingesting any caffeine today), I have created another flowchart. This one includes color-coded stress-levels. There will be a legitimate post tomorrow . . . probably....