Science fiction. Always stay positive

Science fiction : Always stay positiveUntitled Part 1

Science fiction : Always stay positive

This blog post is inspired by the book titled, "The Courage To Be Happy" written by : Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga, whose use of analogies and style of writing by citing Adlerian psychology, is remarkable.

Where both writers enter into an argument about offering autonomy to children when it comes to their decision making, where they believe they are the masters of their destinies and they are gifted with this power to rely on self made decisions at individual levels, without seeking too much involvement from teachers or parents.

However, my argument is based on facts that do not contradict these beliefs portrayed or explained by both writers, but my chief argument rests on one fact, that in reality, the sun shines, it scalds too, it can shine harshly and sometimes turn pleasant. But a child who only knows that the Sun shines, would fail to tackle this fact of reality in the Sahara desert. Where the Sun is the same, it shines, it is bright too, but when you are cast in it in the unforgiving reality of the Sahara, the place turns extremely hostile and you are against the elements where everything wants to consume you.

This reality is difficult to comprehend for a child who is growing and is in his/her teens.

However, there are exceptions, because few people are built differently and their brains and will power is at different level. All due to genetics, and upbringing, I guess. And thinking that every child can be like these select few, is a psychological blunder. No matter how hard one tries, you cannot grow lilies in the Sahara desert, that is why nature has cacti for the Sahara desert, and they too bear extremely beautiful flowers.

By the way, few cacti produce flowers that are extremely bright in colour and one is spellbound on seeing them. And if you are a flower lover, and you bring one of these cacti to your home in England, you better build a greenhouse.

And that is exactly the point, a child who is still growing and learning, achieving a green house like adaptation is impossible.

Again, a select few can. But, everyone is not designed to achieve this adaptation. Maybe it is a genetic gift possessed by a few, because if this gift is offered to everyone, the world will lose its social balance.

However, it does not mean that all others should sulk and not excel in their lives. Excellence, according to me, can be achieved by everybody, provided he/she knows what he/she is good at. But it comes with caution, there are few who for some reason believe they are good at nothing, it is not that they really are not good at something, but in reality, they are knowingly playing a serious psychological game, where they know, that by playing this innocent person, they gain sympathy of few individuals who have committed a part of their lives to supporting him/her. And when this person realises it, he/she becomes a compulsive and habitual manipulator, sometimes quite vicious with predatory attitude. Without realising its obnoxious consequences, both at personal and social level.

And as children, we are more susceptible to evolving into these manipulators if they are not offered proper guidance. Because their minds, for genetic reasons and other social factors; mostly family dynamics, tend to pick these tendencies easily, compared to positive ones.

And it is here that an educator plays a pivotal role, and according to me this is where Adlerian psychology does not hold valid. Because at times, it makes a reader believe that a cactus imported from the Sahara desert will survive in the open, in the winter of the United Kingdom. Now that is a fantasy where reality is propounded as the greatest fantasies of all.

Indeed a good fantasy, and imagining a fantasy does not cost anything, it is free. But reality, costs, it can even cost someone his/her life. For the pleasure of reading, I am letting the cactus die, in the freezing cold of winter in the UK, and not someone else.