I dunno,I'm sleep deprived, if you dont understand what im saying that's probably why.. and NO IM NOT ON DRUGS
2007-02-28 00:25:58 · 8 answers · asked by smiley56 1 in Social Science ➔ Psychology
You mean a 'moment of perfect clarity" or "perfect insight"? Interesting, and since you are in the Psychology section of Yahoo I guess you can handle me answering a question with a question (the essential psychologist's technique...).
Do you think that it was a 'real' moment of clarity or insight, or do you allow for the possibility that it was just your body/mind tricking you into thinking that for a moment? You'd have to acknowledge that for someone to say they have 'perfect clarity or insight' is often evidence of delusion or psychosis. In fact psychology has the power to describe any normal or even 'inspired' human behaviour or insight as pathological and sick.
Probably the best response is to treat psychologists and psychology with extreme caution and look for the pragmatic benefits in your experience. Can you recreate the circumstances of the moment of insight? Can you apply that power to problems you (and others) are facing? Can you get 'answers' from these moments, see 'directions' or 'signs', or is all you are left with after these moments a 'feeling' that you knew everything but can't remember now what it was?
Just a final thought. Human beings are probably the most powerful, highly developed pattern recognition machines on the planet. That's to say, we evolved by succeeding in seeing the patterns in nature around us, spotting prey that was hiding from us, anticipating the moves of animals and each other because we saw 'patterns' in our behaviours. We understand speech and writing (and codes) because we understand patterns of noise, or the shape of ink on pages.
We are so good at it that we sometimes see patterns where there are in fact none intended - for example we arrange stars in patterns (constellations) which makes it easier for us to recognize them, but the stars in a single constellation are not 'linked together' in any way, but billions of miles apart. That pattern recognition 'circuit' in our brains can sometimes go into 'overdrive', and we can imagine we heard something, or saw something (just a noise, or just a shadow). But that 'power' saved our ancestors time and time again, when the shape was not just a shadow, but an animal hunting us.
Is the 'moment of clarity' then in fact a state of mind (even a chemical state of mind) that kicks in when the pattern-recognition process is satisfied that it has 'solved the puzzle', and turns off the 'puzzling circuit' for a moment. So I'm talking about two 'conditions' of the human mind, puzzling and understanding for want of a better name, and the notion that the 'understanding' moment can hit us 'out of the blue' even when we weren't consciously 'puzzling' just before that moment. Which suggests it might be a mis-firing of the brain circuits (you get the 'good feeling' but you didn't do anything to deserve it), or more likely that you were unconsciously puzzling over something, and some piece 'just fell into place'. The trick then is to remember what the piece was and where it fitted.
Ah, now you talk about being sleep deprived. I'd suggest that'd take you closer to the condition where you were unconsciously puzzling things through, and that - in that case - the moment of clarity could hit you like a steam train. But you still have to find the pieces of value in the 'insight'. Sleep on I'd suggest, there's good evidence that if you 'set yourself a question' before you go to sleep, it will 'come to you' during the night.
One last thing - really - about that moment of insight, where the unresolved pattern resolves into the recognizable thing (the problem solved, or the optical illusion resolved, or even when you 'get' the meaning of a joke after being puzzled about it for a while) essentially the 'aha!' moment. It kinda feels good, I'm wondering if it isn't originally an adrenalin-kick-in moment, where the body (or at least our ancestors body) at last recognizing the prey or the predator and gets ready to do something about it. So it'd be a very 'awake' moment, eyes wide open, focussing, hearing acute, bit of a head-rush in fact.
2007-02-28 01:15:36 · answer #1 · answered by nandadevi9 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes I have. One did stand out and stay with me too. It's like the sky opened and I could see the "whatever". I think you and I had one of those Epiphanies. Made an impression on me and I won't forget it. Now I wonder what yours was!! @8-) Here's to More Epiphanies!!
2007-02-28 01:04:01 · answer #2 · answered by Dovey 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes I have. The feeling that accompanies it is one of inner peace and a calm that comes over me like a warm, soft blanket.
I wish I could have that all the time.
2007-02-28 02:09:11 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Sure! This is Enlightenment, Even for a moment.
2007-02-28 00:33:02 · answer #4 · answered by Alice in Wonderbra 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yup
2007-02-28 00:34:02 · answer #5 · answered by denxxchua 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
"To see the universe in the palm of your hand
and experience eternity in an hour"
Willam Blake
Yeah happened to me many times - Work to free your mind...
2007-02-28 00:35:44 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yes, and then it's all gone before I can record it or write it down.
2007-02-28 00:34:25 · answer #7 · answered by lisateric 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
yes your're not the only one
2007-02-28 00:30:55 · answer #8 · answered by brittany w 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋