TWITCHER
“Since the self, in maintaining its isolation and detachment does not commit itself to a creative relationship with the other and is preoccupied with the figures of phantasies, thought, memories, etc. (imagos), which cannot be directly observable by or directly expressed to others, anything (in a sense) is possible…” —R. D. Laing
This one is about not reading others well, which is shown as looking but not seeing. The looking is the gaze that is not just in the eye of the beholder, or even in the space between the seer and the seen. But rather inside the seer, because when you, as a seer, perceive, it’s more than just sensing what’s out there, there is projecting—adding what’s in your head, remembering and fantasizing—to the image, too. You never just—if at all—see what is really there.
“We Don’t See Things As They Are, We See Them As We Are” —Anaïs Nin and others
And to make matters more confusing, when what you are seeing is a who, you must add what you imagine she is sensing, remembering, and fantasizing to the mix of emotions that’ll determine what you do next. OK, a lot of what determines what you do next is formed before you perceive it, but most times what you think and what you do seem to be “of one mind.” One measure of insanity could be how much they don’t.
“Ask the Outsider what he ultimately wants and he will admit he doesn’t know. Why? Because he wants it instinctively, and it is not always possible to tell what your instincts are driving towards.” —Colin Wilson
The twitcher is not just disaffected, lacking emotional awareness, He, at odds with that diagnosis, is curious, always on the lookout for something new. He’s hyper-focused and yet easily distracted so his life is not an easy one. It’s made worse because he doesn’t really know what he’s been looking for. But he doesn’t lack insight, he knows—rather than feels—he lacks the emotional tools to be in society and therefore stays on its fringes.
However—ever the optimist, albeit involuntarily—if he hears “birdwatching” mentioned by others, he will jump into their conversation. But as often as not he has misheard what they were saying—his remembering and fantasizing confound his sensing—and only succeeds in annoying the others and embarrassing himself. The latter only later as he’s not self-aware enough to know he’s being annoying as it happens.
“Oh, look, a feather!”
“…Whatever failures or successes come the way of the false-self system, the self is able to remain uncommitted and undefined. In fantasy, the self can be anyone, anywhere, do anything, have everything. It is thus omnipotent and completely free – but only in fantasy. Once it commits itself to any real project it suffers the agonies of humiliation” —R. D. Laing
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Why are bird watchers called twitchers? | Notes and Queries | guardian.co.uk
The Divided Self: An Existential Study in Sanity and Madness by R.D. Laing
The Divided Self Summary (7/10) — Unearned Wisdom
We Don’t See Things As They Are, We See Them As We Are – Quote Investigator
Alexithymia – Wikipedia
Disaffectation – Wikipedia
No, Really, I’m Fine (on Alexithymia) » NeuroClastic.
7 Emotions That Knock Us Off Our Feet
