Intermarkets' Privacy Policy Support
Donate to Ace of Spades HQ! Recent Entries
Tuesday Overnight Open Thread (10/15/24)
Birdfluencers Cafe Quick Hits Asked About the Murder of Laken Reilly, Bill Clinton Fails to Position Kamala Harris for Success Trump Releases Campaign Ad Decrying "WOKE" Military, Using Clips from Full Metal Jacket; Stanley Kubrick's Daughter Denounces Him. Wait, My Mistake: Stanley Kubrick's Daughter Defends Him. Trump Pauses Campaign Event While Several Attendees Are Escorted Out for "Medical Emergencies;" Kamala Harris and MSNBC Claim Trump Had a Senior Moment Final Proof That Kamala Is a DEI Hire: She Has a Massive Plagiarism Problem Ben Weingarten: The US Government Is Funding Foreign Entities Which In Turn Censor American Citizens Incredibly, Kamala Harris's Staff Again Puts Out the Word That Biden is Failing to Position Her for Success The Morning Rant: Minimalist Edition Absent Friends
Bandersnatch 2024
GnuBreed 2024 Captain Hate 2023 moon_over_vermont 2023 westminsterdogshow 2023 Ann Wilson(Empire1) 2022 Dave In Texas 2022 Jesse in D.C. 2022 OregonMuse 2022 redc1c4 2021 Tami 2021 Chavez the Hugo 2020 Ibguy 2020 Rickl 2019 Joffen 2014 AoSHQ Writers Group
A site for members of the Horde to post their stories seeking beta readers, editing help, brainstorming, and story ideas. Also to share links to potential publishing outlets, writing help sites, and videos posting tips to get published.
Contact OrangeEnt for info:
maildrop62 at proton dot me Cutting The Cord And Email Security
Moron Meet-Ups
|
« Last Night on Stump the Chump With Tucker Carlson... |
Main
| Oh Dear, Make the Stupid Stop Already »
February 24, 2017
On Political PanicBumped. Some people specifically asked to post this so that the "day-walkers" could see it. When I first read about panic -- I had panic, in a bad way, but had misdiagnosed myself with the related-but-distinct condition of anxiety -- I read that people who suffer from panic become calm when they're in airports, waiting to board a flight. People who have panic don't have panic due to air flights? Huh? Why? I realized at that point I must have panic, and not anxiety, because I actually experienced this same feeling of calm in the airport, awaiting a flight. I'd be panicky getting ready to call a cab, driving to the airport, etc., but the minute I got into the airport -- no panic. I read the reason for this. Panic tends to strike younger people shortly after college, especially if those people get jobs with low levels of certitude about the day's schedule. Actors, for example -- they live a kind of unstructured life. Med students in their residency get panic a lot -- their tours of duty at the hospital are often irregular and even when they're regular, they're weird. Like they might have to work two back to back shifts, then get four hours to sleep in a closet, then work another shift. Even if you're scheduled for that every week, it's hard to get used to that. The cause of panic, it is speculated, is going from an environment in which one's hours are generally accounted for each day, and the days tend to unfold with predictability and stability, maybe even a dash of boredom. And then moving from a regime in which one's hours are regularly scheduled, and one knows more or less what is expected of one (that is, one knows there's going to be some ugly cramming at the end of a semester), and then moving to a circumstance in which one's hours are erratic, unpredictable, and full of uncertainty, and even the standards of what constitutes "good work" are unknowable. In college or high school, an aspiring actor knows what will get him a decent grade in acting class (or any other class): attend class, memorize the lines, work on some technique. Even if you're not that great, just doing the work should get you a B. But what about the real world? You can do all the work you like, but that audition is completely unpredictable. You have very little control over your own fate. You might have prepped for days and even done that thing where you "live" as your character to get "into his skin," but the fact is, the casting director might have taken one look at your face before you even sat down and decided "He's just not right." So that's what causes panic: Moving out of a stable circumstance in which one knows what is expected of one and feels a certain level of positive control over one's success or failure, and moving into an erratic, chaotic, unstable circumstance in which one has very little idea of what the hell one is even supposed to be doing and having very little idea if any of one's efforts are even a factor in whether one rises or falls. By the way, getting back to the airport: The reason the airport not only doesn't produce panic but rather produces calm is that the airport is a highly bureaucratized and regularized process full of queues and roped-off lines and expected events like checkpoints. Yes, it's unpleasant, yes, it's annoying, but -- here's the thing -- it's all calmingly predictable and boring. And you kinda know the minute you walk into an airport what's expected of you, and what's going to happen. It's also reassuring that you're not in control anymore, not really. This is different than not being in control in a competitive and erratic field -- in those, you can kind of do things to influence things in your favor or not, but that influence is weak. You can fail, and it's largely out of your hands, but your failure will still feel like your failure. You'll still own it. But in an airport, with The System shepherding you through, you can't really screw things up, unless you do something really dumb like just to to the wrong departure gate (which, btw, I've done). There is A Plan in place, and A Regimen, and A Machine just kind of sweeping you along passively from one area to the next. If there's some problem with an airplane, that's someone else's fault, not yours, and you can't be blamed for it. It'll suck, absolutely -- but it's not your fault. You may have to take a seat and wait another six hours, but you don't have to take the blame. Anyway, given all the agita and hysteria and the quite-frankly insane kind of behavior I see in a lot of people at this moment, I wonder if they've come down with a sort of existential panic, a case of formerly knowing where one fit in and who one's allies were and what "The Rules" of advancement were -- a clear view of the lay of the land -- to feeling to be on unstable and shifting ground and surrounded by fog and wondering where the hell one even is. The solidity and predictability of the world has been stolen out from beneath their feet, and now they're lurching about a bit madly and frenetically trying to grope on to something that might give them some balance and bearing. Just an idea. I'm not married to it or anything. But I do kind of notice this same shift from the predictable and routine to the unpredictable and unexpected, and I know that sense of dislocation produces at least one psychic malady. I wonder if there are other versions of it. | Recent Comments
Ben Had:
"Pug, you will both be missed. I so enjoyed seei ..."
four seasons: " Internet has been out all day, so probably this ..." Pug Mahon, Balding American: "It pains me and the missus that we won't be in Tex ..." [/i][/b]andycanuck (hovnC)[/s][/u]: "She is bleeding badly in the working class SE of t ..." TeeJ: " - Sagan and his ilk. He would have been so excite ..." Dave in Fla: "Looking forward to that hug :) ..." Stephen Price Blair: "[i]you do know what your obligation is, right?[/i] ..." Dave in Fla: "Yeah, I was pulling ammo out of the gun safe for t ..." Ben Had: "Stephen Price Blair, you do know what your obliga ..." Stephen Price Blair: "[i]Then y'all can suffer through my bitching about ..." Ben Had: "Dave in Fla, we are a respite for the road weary ..." Eromero: "She is bleeding badly in the working class SE of t ..." Recent Entries
Tuesday Overnight Open Thread (10/15/24)
Birdfluencers Cafe Quick Hits Asked About the Murder of Laken Reilly, Bill Clinton Fails to Position Kamala Harris for Success Trump Releases Campaign Ad Decrying "WOKE" Military, Using Clips from Full Metal Jacket; Stanley Kubrick's Daughter Denounces Him. Wait, My Mistake: Stanley Kubrick's Daughter Defends Him. Trump Pauses Campaign Event While Several Attendees Are Escorted Out for "Medical Emergencies;" Kamala Harris and MSNBC Claim Trump Had a Senior Moment Final Proof That Kamala Is a DEI Hire: She Has a Massive Plagiarism Problem Ben Weingarten: The US Government Is Funding Foreign Entities Which In Turn Censor American Citizens Incredibly, Kamala Harris's Staff Again Puts Out the Word That Biden is Failing to Position Her for Success The Morning Rant: Minimalist Edition Search
Polls! Polls! Polls!
Frequently Asked Questions
The (Almost) Complete Paul Anka Integrity Kick
Primary Document: The Audio
Paul Anka Haiku Contest Announcement Integrity SAT's: Entrance Exam for Paul Anka's Band AllahPundit's Paul Anka 45's Collection AnkaPundit: Paul Anka Takes Over the Site for a Weekend (Continues through to Monday's postings) George Bush Slices Don Rumsfeld Like an F*ckin' Hammer Top Top Tens
Democratic Forays into Erotica New Shows On Gore's DNC/MTV Network Nicknames for Potatoes, By People Who Really Hate Potatoes Star Wars Euphemisms for Self-Abuse Signs You're at an Iraqi "Wedding Party" Signs Your Clown Has Gone Bad Signs That You, Geroge Michael, Should Probably Just Give It Up Signs of Hip-Hop Influence on John Kerry NYT Headlines Spinning Bush's Jobs Boom Things People Are More Likely to Say Than "Did You Hear What Al Franken Said Yesterday?" Signs that Paul Krugman Has Lost His Frickin' Mind All-Time Best NBA Players, According to Senator Robert Byrd Other Bad Things About the Jews, According to the Koran Signs That David Letterman Just Doesn't Care Anymore Examples of Bob Kerrey's Insufferable Racial Jackassery Signs Andy Rooney Is Going Senile Other Judgments Dick Clarke Made About Condi Rice Based on Her Appearance Collective Names for Groups of People John Kerry's Other Vietnam Super-Pets Cool Things About the XM8 Assault Rifle Media-Approved Facts About the Democrat Spy Changes to Make Christianity More "Inclusive" Secret John Kerry Senatorial Accomplishments John Edwards Campaign Excuses John Kerry Pick-Up Lines Changes Liberal Senator George Michell Will Make at Disney Torments in Dog-Hell Greatest Hitjobs
The Ace of Spades HQ Sex-for-Money Skankathon A D&D Guide to the Democratic Candidates Margaret Cho: Just Not Funny More Margaret Cho Abuse Margaret Cho: Still Not Funny Iraqi Prisoner Claims He Was Raped... By Woman Wonkette Announces "Morning Zoo" Format John Kerry's "Plan" Causes Surrender of Moqtada al-Sadr's Militia World Muslim Leaders Apologize for Nick Berg's Beheading Michael Moore Goes on Lunchtime Manhattan Death-Spree Milestone: Oliver Willis Posts 400th "Fake News Article" Referencing Britney Spears Liberal Economists Rue a "New Decade of Greed" Artificial Insouciance: Maureen Dowd's Word Processor Revolts Against Her Numbing Imbecility Intelligence Officials Eye Blogs for Tips They Done Found Us Out, Cletus: Intrepid Internet Detective Figures Out Our Master Plan Shock: Josh Marshall Almost Mentions Sarin Discovery in Iraq Leather-Clad Biker Freaks Terrorize Australian Town When Clinton Was President, Torture Was Cool What Wonkette Means When She Explains What Tina Brown Means Wonkette's Stand-Up Act Wankette HQ Gay-Rumors Du Jour Here's What's Bugging Me: Goose and Slider My Own Micah Wright Style Confession of Dishonesty Outraged "Conservatives" React to the FMA An On-Line Impression of Dennis Miller Having Sex with a Kodiak Bear The Story the Rightwing Media Refuses to Report! Our Lunch with David "Glengarry Glen Ross" Mamet The House of Love: Paul Krugman A Michael Moore Mystery (TM) The Dowd-O-Matic! Liberal Consistency and Other Myths Kepler's Laws of Liberal Media Bias John Kerry-- The Splunge! Candidate "Divisive" Politics & "Attacks on Patriotism" (very long) The Donkey ("The Raven" parody) |