Why Do People Find Things Interesting?

[Driven]

i was wondering whats the physiology behind me finding something interesting but another person does not? what factors come into play here? does it have to do with a person traits and characteristic which was bough forward from early child experiences? whats the thinking behind this? how can i find one book interesting but my friend does not? and if we are able to reach the core reason why a person is interesting in one thing and not of something else and what causes a person to be interested in something, would we be able then to somehow use that piece of info to now make them interested in that thing? (providing incentive doesn't count)

[Henri]

All this is due to karma.

Strange are the ways of Karma. The more you understand it, the more amazed you become. It brings people together and also separates them. It causes some to be weak and some to be strong. It makes some rich and some poor. All the struggles in the world, whatever it may be, are the bondage of Karma.

Karma cuts across all logic and reasoning. This understanding will lift you from getting stuck to events and personalities and help you in your journey to the Self.

The Three Types Of Karma

Good or bad things happen based on Karma. When times are good, even enemies behave like friends. Sometimes, people for whom you have done so much good become your enemies. And there are people who help you whom you have not done any good for. Time has its role to play.

Only humans have the ability to change the effect of time and be free of Karma. And only a few thousand aim to be free from it.

Some Karma can be changed while others cannot.

The first step towards this is to know the different types of Karma: Prarabdha, Sanchita, and Agami.

Prarabdha means "begun"—the action that is already manifesting. Prarabdha is the Karma that is yielding its effect right now. You cannot avoid or change it as it is already happening.

Sanchita Karma is the "gathered" or "piled up" Karma—what we have brought with us. Sanchita is collected Karma that can be cleared by spiritual practices like meditation.

We can also eliminate our Sanchita Karma, which we have as stored tendencies, through prayers, service, and sharing our love and joy with people around us in nature. Satsang (the company of the truth – essentially the company of the wise and compassionate, in whose presence we feel uplifted and joyful) burns the seed of all negative Karma.

"Agami" literally means "not come". Agami Karma is the Karma that has not yet come: one that will take effect in the future. If you commit a crime, you may not get caught today, but will live with thoughts of the possibility that you may get caught one day. This is the future Karma of the action. Certain impressions, strong impressions in the mind, remain, and they form future Karma.

Some Karma can be changed and some cannot.

When you prepare a dessert, if sugar or ghee (clarified butter) is too little at the pre-cooking stage, you can add more. If some other ingredient is too much, it can all be adjusted and repaired. But once it is cooked, it cannot be reversed.

Milk can become sweet yoghurt or sour yoghurt, and sour yoghurt can be sweetened. But neither can be reverted to milk. Prarabdha Karma cannot be changed. Sanchita Karma can be changed through spiritual practices.

Getting rid of Karma means getting rid of impressions. Sanchita Karma manifests as a tendency or an impression in the mind. As human beings, we have the ability to erase impression and fear through meditation. Meditation is there to rectify painful Karma, at least reduce their impact or effect.

The inward journey (of meditation) nullifies our negative Karma. You are just washing out everything when you meditate. Then there is nothing. You become so hollow and empty that whatever fear is there will just dissolve and disappear and thin down all that is laid on the self. This is very precious.

Through meditation, bad Karma can be washed off right now, here. Before the body drops, get rid of Karma and erase the sheets of ignorance that surround you.

[Electron]

@Driven I think its just due to the stories in your head about that thing in the external reality which compels you to act a certain way towards that thing. 

[FindingPeace]

On 06/03/2016 at 6:59 PM, Driven said:

i was wondering whats the physiology behind me finding something interesting but another person does not?

I like this question. Maybe there are social conditioning factors, genetics, environmental, historical.

Will have to think about this for a while.

[Philip]

First of all :

@Henri Your answer has nothing to do with the question he asked. Or if it does, you never explained how, in any way. That doesn't make communication really productive, from my opinion.

Then :

@Driven I think the most relevant psychology concept here is conditioning.

From the moment of your birth, you have been conditioned at every second, over and over, in order to have the personality and interests you have now.

And because our universe is such a complex and chaotic one, if you ask why you have the interests you have today, the answers can go as far as your birth, and can seem like random, insignificant and mundane events. But because they affected the early trajectory of your life, now you have been going in this particular direction for several years. But if a few random events in your childhood had happened differently, then today you would be a totally different human being.

So your interests, which you might tend to see as coherent, valuable, or even sacred parts of who you really are, are actually caused by details which are so futile you can't even remember any of them. Most of them were forgotten during the same hour they happened. But all of them, each day, contributed to forge the micro-structure of the brain you possess now, which is literally who you are as a person.

And it may seem depressing  and nihilistic at first, but actually it means you can become who you want. And as you asked in your comment, yes you can make someone interested in something new, by linking it to something else the person is already interested in. You can even do it for yourself.

So I wish you good luck, not in finding your interests, but in creating them...

[Henri]

@Philip  One can write books about it when you deal with the question from a philosophical point of view.

The same taken from a sociological, cultural, biological or psychological point of view.

Millions of answers can be given but the best answer in the context of spiritual or personal development is just; due to karma. It`s just a layer of answering, one that keeps you moving on because every other answer will give rise to many more questions.

An even deeper layer of answering would be; it`s all illusion mate, but that`s too way up and not even really answering the question.

So from our place of being, regarding the average person visiting this website my best answer to the question is it`s all due to karma. And from there say a little bit more about the aspects of karma.

It`s not the only answer but to me the best answer in this context.

[Philip]

@Henri Yeah I'm not a fan of bringing the illusoriness of existence into any random conversation either. But at least, the answer "It's all an illusion" brings a new perspective on the subject.

But karma doesn't have anything to do with interests, quite frankly. Karma has to do with what you offer the world, and what the world will offer back. Interests are about what you like. No one is "lucky" because they like chess instead of sports.

So I see three possibilities here. 1) You just felt like writing about karma and you didn't really give a fuck about the original question. 2) You are confused about the meaning of the question, of your own answer, or of both. And now you act like it's not the case. 3) There is an obvious link between karma and interests and I'm the oblivious one who makes irrelevant comments.

You seem to agree to the third possibility, so I'd really like you to explain the link between karma and interests, which you haven't. At all. Ever. That's actually all I'm waiting for. Such a point would be interesting to hear

[Henri]

@Philip  The reason your born is due to karma...

Your (probably?) a Canadian, karmic reasons...

You are a man, karmic reasons...

Your talents, misfortunes, habits, thoughts, passions, relations, and a big YES.., your interests, all due to karma.

Your physical body, your mental body, your energy body and your emotional body; all due to karma.

The one thing that is not under the influence of karmic tendencies is your spiritual body or Anandamaya Kosha.

Karma is terribly misunderstood by western people.

 

[Henri]

@Philip