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I’ve been trying to understand why sometimes a person does something and then regrets it. Why doesn’t the person just act in harmony with himself?
I think that I finally understood something about it.
Imagine a computer which has many programs on it. The computer has a CPU which runs the programs. But it’s limited in power. So you can only run like 5 at once (for example). So even though you can keep 100 program on your harddrive, you can’t run all 100 all at once. And it’s because CPU processing power is limited. So if you want to say that 5 programs are running at once, you could say: “5 programs are getting the CPU time”. Others are just inactive in the background.
A person could be compared to a computer figuratively speaking. And he/she could have 100 programs inside so to speak. Each program is responsible for certain actions. For example, 1 program makes you be able to walk. Another program makes you be able to eat. Another program makes you be able to analyze the risk of any given situation. Another program makes you be able to put yourself into another person’s shoes and makes you feel what the other person feels. Another program makes you be able to think through a situation and to come up with a solution. Another program makes you be able to organize things. Another program makes you be able to be polite to others. Another program makes you be able to understand and laugh at jokes.
BUT, there is only limited CPU power. So only a few of these programs can run at the same time. (That’s why they say: don’t text and drive, or don’t drive and talk on the phone, because you can’t concentrate on both things at once very well).
So, something in the environment activates some of these programs and makes them run as a package. So for example, 7 of your programs are running at this moment. Or something happened, let’s say some situation that you need to be able to handle. Then the other set of programs gets activated. Some of the previous seven are not running anymore. So you may have only 5 programs running now. Let’s say that one of these programs is a strong thinker who can analyze the situation quickly and come up with the best solution. Well, this program is a huge one, so when it runs, the CPU doesn’t have power to run too many other programs. So some of them become deactivated. For example, social program (the one which makes you be nice to others) can become deactivated. Or empathy program can become deactivated. So this person will solve the problem, but he will be a jerk while doing it (since his social and empathy programs are not running).
But this same person could be really nice when there is no trouble. So at another time, when he meets a friend of his, his empathy and social programs get activated and he is very nice. (But he can’t be a strong thinker at this moment).
It’s different for different people. Some have more CPU power and more programs can run simultaneously . But my sister for example, is VERY slow. Her processing power is so slow, so when she speaks or does anything it’s ALL v-e-r-y slow.
Others are said to be “quick on their feet”, can think of solutions fast. Some are multitaskers, some can only do one task at a time.
So, I believe that this is the reason that some of the very smart people are jerks. They just don’t have enough CPU power to run programs responsible for good social behavior as well as programs responsible for their strong analytical skills. So it’s either one or the other.
Or take criminals for example. They are capable of love, but only in certain situations. So when they are put in the environment with the people they love, certain loving programs get activated. But when they are put in the other situations, a bunch of cruel programs are running and “love” programs get deactivated. Some of them don’t have empathy programs running. So they don’t have any idea how they make others feel and they don’t care during that time.
Different situations (aka: environment) activates programs. So you can’t really decide which programs you will turn on. They just get activated as a package by the situation, different packages at different times in different circumstances. All you can do is to observe yourself and learn which package turns on when.
You know how you sometimes do something and later regret doing it? So who is it who does the actions? And who is it that regrets them?
Well, it’s your programs, they are in conflict with each other’s goals and actions. The goal of the analytical program is to solve the problem at any cost. The goal of the empathy program is to not make others hurt. And these are in conflict because they have different goals. And if they run separately, the analytical program will cause lots of hurt to others. But when the empathy program gets activates, it now feels all that hurt and now regrets the actions of your self (which you did while the analytical program only was running).
If there is enough CPU power to have them run together, everything will be fine. They will work together and so this person will be able to solve the problem AND BE NICE about it.
One last thing: sometimes when the analytical program is running, but the social and empathy programs are not, the person could still sense them somewhere in the background. So it’s like they are speaking to him and saying: you are doing this wrong, please don’t do it, you need to stop… BUT, while he is hearing them, they don’t actually have CPU time. They are not actually active at the moment. So the person can’t act them out. He can’t do what they tell him. He can only be aware of their wants, but he can’t do what they want. Because the analytical program has the CPU time and is making him do what needs to be done from its perspective. It is not aware of the other programs. It is not working together with them. So a person could act like a jerk and be aware of it. But not be able to change anything.
It really is a very useful theory. You should blog about it and try to get it published mainstream because it could really help people understand themselves and each other a little better.
the five programs overlap one another, and often freeze up , fear is the virus in the background
we arent very good at deleting history, or defragmenting.
I like the way you lay it out like that, OP. I've had advanced education in human behavior, and I don't think I've seen judgment and motivation outlined in that way before. It's a neat little allegory.
It kind of makes me think of "Data" on Star Trek: Next Generation (he's an android, for those who don't know). He has an ethical program that ensures that he always acts in an ethical way, even in emergencies. But in a few episodes someone nefarious, or some malfunction would disable his ethical program, and he would then still have all the skills and abilities he always did, but he would act without regard to ethics, or what's accepted as right and wrong. Later he acquires an emotion chip, after never having emotions, and he learns that emotions can be overwhelming, so sometimes he has to shut the program down to be able to function effectively (i. e. run other programs, like protect his fellow crewmen from danger).
In your allegory, where people on average might only be able to run 5 programs at a time, I can definitely see them closing down their ethical program when some other programs take over, like sex drive (wife, what wife? Of course I'll cheat), extreme greed (I can justify taking this money from my evil rich company that doesn't even deserve it), or addiction (beg, borrow, steal, sell my body for my drugs). Actually addiction may take up a lot of CPU space, and disable lots of other programs, like ethics, generosity, empathy, honesty, caring for one's family. I focus on the ethical program so much because in my experience, it's when people have breached their own sense of ethics that they are the most regretful. It seems to be that "program" that stopped functioning when you hear these people asking "Why did I do that? It wasn't like me! I'm not like that."
Maybe some of us (I'd include myself in this category) have a very strong ethical program, maybe it's backed-up really well and has lots of antivirus protection. I tend to be extremely ethical, even when presented with a strong drive, and even in emergencies. Some people have similarly strong empathy programs--maybe those people who can pray for people who hurt them, turn the other cheek, or try to "understand" someone who rapes and kills their child. Whereas for a lot of us the victimhood program might temporarily disable the empathy program.
Wow, we could go on and on. Feel free to take any of this; I'm just thinking out loud and typing out of my butt. the use of Data might be helpful. He has programs for everything, like a program for "relationships" and then when he tried to have a girlfriend, he wrote a specific subroutine for her within his relationship program.
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