Tutorial 1: Mind Mapping Vigilantes (Assignment 1: Exploration on Archetypes)

Here's our task given for our first tutorial (taken from the main contextual studies blog):

"1st Question

• What are the issues you're trying to tackle in this world? 
• How do you choose to tackle this issue? 
• Ex: rapist, how do you tackle this issue?
• What are your limitations and strengths? 

2nd Question

• Talk about your issues 
• How issues can shape a person?
• What are the solutions to rectify it?

What do you understand by:

• Hero archetype 
• Anti-hero archetype 
• Villain 

Are they all just a global misconception? Write an entry in your E-journal and bring your mind map to class."

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Some quick notescribbles I did during class last week using the UPad app:

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So, to start off I will  list down some issues I am trying to tackle in this world. Most of these relate to personal issues, but these issues that affect many other people too, some of which may lead to depression, the inability to perform, and in more severe cases, even suicide. All heavy topics here, but I feel that it all starts from little issues building up. If we can prevent things from happening on a smaller scale before it gets more out of hand, we wouldn't have to deal with serious issues such as teenage suicide and so on.

Also what I've noticed from listing out these issues are that they mostly pertain to psychological issues. But never underestimate the power of your thoughts. "Mind over matter", as the saying goes; albeit cliche, more often than not proves to be true. Placebos, self-fulfilling prophecies and the Law of Attraction are just some examples of the mind being stronger than the body.

At this point I still am not sure which direction I'm going, or what my "big issue that I'm trying to tackle" is. Perhaps this all pertains to matters of the mind? Negative mental issues, maybe. Alright, let's try going with that.

As to how to tackle these issues, I think the solution is simple, yet difficult to execute: counter negative thoughts with positive ones!

I feel strongly about feelings of inadequacy because it is an issue I tackle with almost every day. I feel like I'm surrounded by smart and pretty and talented people. People better than me. And I'm sure I'm not the only one who struggles with this.

In social psychology we learned about upward and downward social comparison. To explain this, think of a leaderboard. There are rankings from who's the "best" to who's the "worst". Upward social comparison is comparing yourself with those better than you (higher up the leaderboard). This can lead to either two things: you get motivated to push yourself further, or you feel overwhelmed by how much better everyone else is than you. Downward social comparison, on the other hand, is comparing yourself with those "worse" than you. More often than not, you'd feel a little better about yourself after that.

In reality, there is no "leaderboard" of life. There are too many aspects you can compare yourself to, and there are too many variables that determines that someone is "better" than the other person. Everyone is different and goes at their own pace, so trying to compare yourself to other people is sort of pointless. Especially if you don't react positively towards it. Some people like the adrenaline rush of competition, and that's fine. But to feel pressured by it is a really crippling feeling.

Again, it's a solution that seems easy to do, but actually isn't really. There's some sort of logical fallacy in that thinking that I'm still trying to figure out and get out of. There are many ways to rectify psychological issues, in fact. They can be as simple as calming your thoughts or meditating/praying, to elaborate solutions such as seeing a therapist or taking prescribed pills.

The funny thing is, your strength and your limitation in this case is entirely your thoughts, and how you choose to think about things. Once you've changed your thoughts, your environment and actions will change as well, whether for better or worse.

Issues can definitely shape a person. The things they go through with, and how they deal with it make them who they are. As an only child, I find it interesting how two siblings, although raised by the same parenting style and taught the same principles, can still end up having such different personalities. I suppose that's where the old Nature vs. Nurture debate comes in, but I won't go too much into that. I just think that the way you were brought up and the issues you face (nurture) effects how you already are in the first place (nurture).

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There's this one cool site I've been reading from time to time. It's called tvtropes.org, a site where lots of stereotypes and archetypes are listed, complete with examples from tv shows, movies, games, and sometimes even real life.

Not surprisingly, this site already has full articles on the three archetypes: The Hero, The Anti-Hero (plus the varying types of them), and The Villain.