Compulsive perspective-taking syndrome

[Carl-Richard]

I've noticed a weird phenomena that I think most people can relate to in some way. So we all probably have experienced something like this: you watch a YouTube video and you have the thought "ah, I should show this to this person". Then as you keep watching the video, you start taking the perspective of the person you were thinking about and trying to understand the video as if you were them. If this is say your little brother, your understanding is probably contracted and limited down to some point, and you will be watching the video from that contracted level of understanding until you snap out of it, because you don't have the processing capacity to watch the video simultaenously from both perspectives (your own level of understanding and his level of understanding).

So, I've noticed something similar happen when I took a statistics class in university, and it was very annoying, because it was of course interfering with my ability to learn. Here is how it usually worked: some student would ask a question about something they didn't understand in the lecture, and I would tune in to that level of understanding and sort of construct their perspective based on the question and how much I knew about this person from before, etc., and then I would keep watching the lecture from that contracted perspective for no reason, and I would have to consciously snap myself out of it to return to my own level of understanding. This is very annoying, and I can't really control when it happens.

The worst part is that I don't even need any concrete external cues to get into that contracted mode of understanding, because I used to have this belief like many people have that "math is difficult, I don't understand math", and it's like I can sometimes connect to this mental archetype spontaneously during a lecture and it will interfere with my understanding in a similar way. Said more simply, I can sometimes have intrusive thoughts that destroys my confidence and puts me in a bad mental frame  Other times, it's just a general vibe I will pick up on, an infectious cloud of incompetence floating across the room.

Anyways, I also see connections with this and the autism-psychosis spectrum (see my previous thread). As a person "on the spectrum" (the psychotic end), If you're very used to creating elaborate mental frames based on subtle cues, that is what mentalizing is, that is what conspiratorial thinking is, what paranoid persecutory delusions are, what perspective-taking is, hence "compulsive perspective-taking syndrome"  

Edited March 7, 2023 by Carl-Richard

[integral]

+1 But then when you actually send the video it plays out nothing like the prophecy ?

[Gesundheit2]

I don't know. Almost the opposite of that happens to me every time I do the thing you described. Every time I try to answer a question and/or take someone else's perspective, I get a meta perspective rather than a contracted one, which is one of the main reasons why I come to this forum regularly. It helps me become/go meta. My original perspective does not go away, rather I gain a new, or at least a more nuanced understanding.

Edited March 7, 2023 by Gesundheit2

[Carl-Richard]

31 minutes ago, Gesundheit2 said:

I don't know. Almost the opposite of that happens to me every time I do the thing you described. Every time I try to answer a question and/or take someone else's perspective, I get a meta perspective rather than a contracted one, which is one of the main reasons why I come to this forum regularly. It helps me become/go meta. My original perspective does not go away, rather I gain a new, or at least a more nuanced understanding.

It doesn't happen very often. It's like a mode I can get into. Have you seriously never done that though (watching a YouTube video from somebody else's perspective)? It has to be something decently intellectually challenging, like one of Leo's videos, and preferably a person you know pretty well. In fact, I remember watching almost the entire video on SD stage purple once from my little brother's perspective (he said he listened to it at work once, and I wanted to see how he would've experienced it).

Edited March 7, 2023 by Carl-Richard

[Gesundheit2]

1 hour ago, Carl-Richard said:

Have you seriously never done that though (watching a YouTube video from somebody else's perspective)?

Nope. I don't think I ever did. I notice that when I consume information, I tend to want to absorb it mainly for myself. But if the content reminds me of someone or some discussion that I've had with them, then I take a mental note and try to deliver as soon as possible. Ideally, I would send a message with the link or use the mention function. I also tend to assume a certain response based on our previous interactions. But this is almost exclusive to the people I know personally. I don't generally assume the kind of responses to get from people I don't know well enough. I don't know if that would mean I'm somewhat autistic. I think I might be, never got checked up on that. However, I've developed my emotional intelligence and I am now capable of guessing and attuning to people's emotional states, even if it's just a block of text and I don't know them at all. So, I guess I wasn't originally an empath, but my empathy grew from all the spiritual work that I've done over the years.

[aurum]

@Carl-Richard

I’ve noticed myself doing this before to a small degree. It doesn’t seem compulsive or problematic for me. I feel I am able to switch perspectives fairly easily and at will.

[Rafael Thundercat]

I get myself wishing to share with someone in mind but very often i let go of this urge and surrender to the fact that I am ok with only me understanding the topics of my interrest and well, if some of my peers end up to be interested in something they go and look for themselfes. Most of the time I dont think others will understand some stuff or appreciate as I do. Leo videos are one of this videos that I think about sharing but when I hear the kind of stuff people talk about around me I can clearly see that if I would share Actualized videos with them they would not treat it as precious as I do. Yes I a bit arrogant from my part and distrustfull in the capacity of others to be openminded and curious as I am.  I hope one day I find apreciators around me that can have the patience to listen for long videos with their mouth shut and really listen. One time I was listening with one person and rigth in the beggining the video the person asked: How long is this video? When I said the timing he said: Oh no!! To long for me. So, yeah, most people dont even give a fuck, so whu will I bother to lose my time to nudge them into wisdom and they are rolling shit as ot was gold? 

[Carl-Richard]

2 hours ago, Gesundheit2 said:

Nope. I don't think I ever did. I notice that when I consume information, I tend to want to absorb it mainly for myself. But if the content reminds me of someone or some discussion that I've had with them, then I take a mental note and try to deliver as soon as possible. Ideally, I would send a message with the link or use the mention function. I also tend to assume a certain response based on our previous interactions. But this is almost exclusive to the people I know personally. I don't generally assume the kind of responses to get from people I don't know well enough. I don't know if that would mean I'm somewhat autistic. I think I might be, never got checked up on that. However, I've developed my emotional intelligence and I am now capable of guessing and attuning to people's emotional states, even if it's just a block of text and I don't know them at all. So, I guess I wasn't originally an empath, but my empathy grew from all the spiritual work that I've done over the years.

I guess that is one aspect of psychotics or artists: their identity is fluid and constantly changing. I had severe problems figuring out what I wanted to "be" in life. Took me a while to even get a clue.

I guess this is what actors feel when they lose themselves in a role. Bryan Cranston and Heisenberg? He said it changed him. Heath Ledger and The Joker? No need to say anything. Jim Carrey said that Jim Carrey was his best role 

[Osaid]

Oh yeah, it happens. Not just in regards to learning, but also their fears and worries. Certain perspectives are more "stickier" than others. Even if you come up with a reason as to why it's stupid, you can't stop filtering things through it sometimes, because you still have the desire to "test it out" and see how it fits in with your life. But some are easier to dispel. I suspect it's related to a lack of confidence in your own perspective. Some perspectives you can easily see through, but some perspectives you still have some part of you that relates to it and resonates with it, so you end up latching onto it subconsciously. I'm always trying to take people's perspectives into account. I've always just seen it as a necessary hurdle to traverse through, so I never interpreted it as a nuisance or even thought to intellectualize it this way. To me, it ultimately just helps to further my understanding so that eventually I won't be afflicted by it. And it's just a natural part of achieving that.

I'll basically "become them" in my head for a bit and steelman all their ideas, but I'll always have my original self critiquing everything in the back, so if something doesn't add up I'll just go "yeah that's stupid" or "that doesn't make sense". So I guess that creates enough of a sense of control to where I never really minded it too much, since that would filter out the more rudimentary perspectives. But, we are constantly bombarded with perspectives, and I've definitely caught myself getting assimilated by some of those more sticky perspectives. I intuit that there's something more intelligent about it though. Like, the only reason it sticks is because you still have some related karma and limiting beliefs to burn in regards to it, so it's like the universe is telling you to work on that by creating that resistance inside you. And you know, it's hard to avoid perspectives when you live with 8 billion of them, so you might as well get to work in transcending any limiting perspectives that latch on to you. It's a test in how well you can assert your own authority. 
 

 

[Danioover9000]

@Gesundheit2

4 hours ago, Gesundheit2 said:

Nope. I don't think I ever did. I notice that when I consume information, I tend to want to absorb it mainly for myself. But if the content reminds me of someone or some discussion that I've had with them, then I take a mental note and try to deliver as soon as possible. Ideally, I would send a message with the link or use the mention function. I also tend to assume a certain response based on our previous interactions. But this is almost exclusive to the people I know personally. I don't generally assume the kind of responses to get from people I don't know well enough. I don't know if that would mean I'm somewhat autistic. I think I might be, never got checked up on that. However, I've developed my emotional intelligence and I am now capable of guessing and attuning to people's emotional states, even if it's just a block of text and I don't know them at all. So, I guess I wasn't originally an empath, but my empathy grew from all the spiritual work that I've done over the years.

   Similarly to me, if I come across an interesting video, I watch it mostly till it's finished, think it over, and maybe share. Although I rarely share with anyone Actualized.org or any self help videos, I hoard them to myself until I rally trust the other person with this information. Sometimes, when I watch a movie, I partly think and become the characters, or one of them, in my life.

   What happened to your green tag? Stepped down from moderating? Did you put a good word in about me?

[Danioover9000]

@Osaid

1 minute ago, Osaid said:

Oh yeah, it happens. Not just in regards to learning, but also their fears and worries. Certain perspectives are more "stickier" than others. Even if you come up with a reason as to why it's stupid, you can't stop filtering things through it sometimes, because you still have the desire to "test it out" and see how it fits in with your life. But some are easier to dispel. I suspect it's related to a lack of confidence in your own perspective. Some perspectives you can easily see through, but some perspectives you still have some part of you that relates to it and resonates with it, so you end up latching onto it subconsciously. I'm always trying to take people's perspectives into account. I've always just seen it as a necessary hurdle to traverse through, so I never interpreted it as a nuisance or even thought to intellectualize it this way. To me, it ultimately just helps to further my understanding so that eventually I won't be afflicted by it. And it's just a natural part of achieving that.

I'll basically "become them" in my head for a bit and steelman all their ideas, but I'll always have my original self critiquing everything in the back, so if something doesn't add up I'll just go "yeah that's stupid" or "that doesn't make sense". So I guess that creates enough of a sense of control to where I never really minded it too much, since that would filter out the more rudimentary perspectives. But, we are constantly bombarded with perspectives, and I've definitely caught myself getting assimilated by some of those more sticky perspectives. I intuit that there's something more intelligent about it though. Like, the only reason it sticks is because you still have some related karma and limiting beliefs to burn in regards to it, so it's like the universe is telling you to work on that by creating that resistance inside you. And you know, it's hard to avoid perspectives when you live with 8 billion of them, so you might as well get to work in transcending any limiting perspectives that latch on to you. It's a test in how well you can assert your own authority. 
 

 

   That's what I really love about consciousness, how it's 'sticky' when it encounters some perspectives that are somehow very interesting. It's like juggling or multi tasking but in a mind, it's like if you're in a swimming pool and you had to make and maintain a whirlpool at both sides.

[Gesundheit2]

4 hours ago, Danioover9000 said:

Sometimes, when I watch a movie, I partly think and become the characters, or one of them, in my life.

@Carl-Richard Yeah, that used to happen a lot before my awakening. I would really adopt the character, almost literally become it. I would think like I am in their shoes and experience what I imagine would be their emotions. It was mostly the hero, but basically any character with a great deal of story and emotions. I literally suffered for the characters.

Then I awakened and consciously decided to stop this. I learned to detach myself and observe just for fun. Then I almost stopped watching entirely, cuz it stopped being fun. Now I mostly watch sitcoms, if anything at all. My latest attempt to watch something different was Naruto. And it's boring as fuck!

4 hours ago, Danioover9000 said:

   What happened to your green tag? Stepped down from moderating? Did you put a good word in about me?

Lol, no. But there were discussions about banning anyone that leaves OCD-triggering white spaces before each paragraph.

6 hours ago, Carl-Richard said:

I guess that is one aspect of psychotics or artists: their identity is fluid and constantly changing. I had severe problems figuring out what I wanted to "be" in life. Took me a while to even get a clue.

I honestly still don't know what I want to be. I think I could be anything, depending on the environment.

Like I know what I have to be and have to do, but it's not like I want that. I don't not want it either. I'm fine being a puppet for God. Haha!

6 hours ago, Carl-Richard said:

I guess this is what actors feel when they lose themselves in a role. Bryan Cranston and Heisenberg? He said it changed him. Heath Ledger and The Joker? No need to say anything. Jim Carrey said that Jim Carrey was his best role 

Yeah, I think so. Although, I don't have enough info about Jim Carrey. I don't think I've seen him in any movies yet.