So in case there is anybody that reads my blog that doesn’t
read my facebook (doubtful :P) I am currently interning in a Neuroscience and
Cell Biology lab, which has been absolutely the most incredible experience of
my life. Yesterday, my mentor and I were discussing research as a profession,
and the conversation drifted to how we felt about using mice for research. He
then proceeded to muse about how he used to have mice as pets and had really
loved them, and noted the striking differences in the way he had handled his
pet mice and the way he handles the mice in the laboratory.
This prompted me to think about how two things that are
entirely them same can mean totally different things to us based on how we
perceive them. We watch commercials about child hunger and the homeless and
react with horror and sympathy to their sad state of being. But when we see
them on the corner of the block, starving and in rags, we throw a few unwanted
pennies and cross the street to avoid them.
We are the ultimate hypocrites, but often, we practice
hypocrisy without realizing it. And sometimes, this hypocrisy, this mental
compartmentalization is necessary to continue living. Just because one
situation merits a certain response doesn’t mean another situation will. The
power of perception and of decision-making is essential to what makes us human,
and though they may be conflicting, the ability to change our minds is what
allows us to grow. By arguing with ourselves, forming opinions, being flexible
to change, and adapting to different situations, we allow ourselves and society
to improve. So, in a strange way, maybe this hypocrisy is essential after all.
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