Under Pressure

One theory that I have for the reasons why we have so much human discord and confusion is that a person under pressure is very likely to lash out after reaching a particular threshold (let's call it a boiling point). Essentially this is expressed as anger, yelling, bad feelings, thoughts and other actions that impact our behavior with strangers, friends, family, co-workers and even ourselves.

Hypothesis:
People in and of themselves attempt to maintain a self-image that is typically an idealized version of their true selves (some refer to this as their soul or moral center). In this idealized state (let's call this normal), humans will exist in harmony with their environment and other humans. However, when acted upon by an external force that causes physical, mental or emotional stress (I term this pressue) -- humans tend to respond with physical, mental or emotional responses. The act of the external pressure on a person can cause internal and external manifestations to appear in response to said pressure.

Examples of the propagation of such stresses are clear in everyday life. A customer calls your boss with a complaint. Under threat of a loss of business the boss complains to your supervisor, the supervisor yells at you -- you get defensive in response to this pressure and yell at the supervisor or in many cases carry the resulting emotional stresses around with you until it is released by someone asking a question or performing a slightly off-kilter activity that may set off the built up pressure. The person receiving this released pressure then absorbs it and passes it on to the next person in the chain of human connectivity (a friend, a neighbor, a stranger, a waitress, etc.)


Next Steps:
It is about time that we realized as humans that inherently we all want to be thought of as good people. The customer who complained in the above example was naturally simply exorcising the built up pressure which had been previously absorbed. Without such pressure we would all no doubt lead happier lives. Given that it is difficult to expect that everyone can understand the nature of this physio-emotional-mental pressure and understanding that the conflicts which result do not emanate from within oneself but are the result of external pressure -- it appears that we need a way to manage this force so that it does less harm in our human societies.

One idea I propose is that we simply acknowledge to ourselves that the other person is under the influence of this external pressure. We ought to recognize that the pressure is not intended for us as a result of who we are but rather that the pressure exists as an external discordant force travelling among humans. When placed in the proper perspective this realization of pressure and its roots will not stop us from framing an initial response of anger, defensiveness and resentment but it will allow us to free ourselves of the prism of transferring this energy to others.