The Copy Cats' Trap
Written by Rebecca Firegrave on Sunday the 16th of January 2011
No man is an island, instead we exist on a shared plane affecting and effected by each other. And one of the predominant features of social beings is our capacity to learn from the people around us.
Our brains are so efficient that we see things being done and learn to do the same without even trying. We tend to follow the leader, first being our parents, then role models and as our social world grows so do our sources of social influence. We mimick the behaviours we see around us, acquiring new habits and skills in the process.
But our super efficient brains come with a drawback. They do not always filter the behaviours that they echo. Good, bad or just completely useless, behaviours can be indiscriminately immitated. Infact, fixating on a particular behaviour you don't like will probably increase the odds of it rubbing off on you.
But we can use our magnetic personalities to our advantage. Load up the positive personalities by the barrell by matching the unresolved problems in your head to the people who you can see enjoying merriment in that area, not just those who happen to be nearest to you.
And when your actions and attitudes leave a bad taste in your mouth ask yourself who's cup you picked up by mistake and whether it's really going to do you, or anybody else, any good.