The question: does it take an extreme event in a person's life to enact change?
Anecdotally, we hear stories about people who change their lifestyle and health habits after a medical diagnosis.
But what about other kinds of behaviours, such as social behaviours or even deep spiritual beliefs?
I think there are two thought experiments to walk through. I wonder how people would respond in such hypothetical (and possibly impossible) scenarios.
1. An extinction event - where all people are predicted to die due to some global catastrophe.
What would our reactions be? (Probably depends on how much time we have left as well)
- Get things off our chest - say things we've always wanted to say to people - catharsis
- Tick a few things off our bucket lists
- You wouldn't really be forming a "relationship" with our Gods and spiritual realms, but at least make up our minds about our conclusions and where our next stop is
- Act paralysed out of fear
- Act out some crazy shit knowing the world is about to end anyway?
I guess the underlying idea is that "nothing matters" - there are no consequences for our actions on the world at that point, assuming the fate of the world is doomed.
Would these actions reflect our true selves?
2. Groundhog day - all of a sudden, the world changed to a day in the past (still within living memory)
In such a case, will we do everything the same as we did the first time around, or are we going to do it differently?
- Will we change our behaviours for a greater positive outcome?
- Knowing how people responded last time, would we behave in a way more socially acceptable?
- Would we manipulate our behaviours to create a greater net benefit for ourselves?
Although these thought experiments could be uncomfortable, but to challenge our minds with these ideas might give us some of the answers that we have been seeking all along.