Comments on: Dirty Pictures

By: Reg

Reg — Mon, 26 May 2008 17:31:04 +0000

Phil, Ted, Bert, Tori & Karen,
All of you have lead me to look more deeply into the question.
In fact, I plan you incorporate your insights into my next post (with credits and links of course).
I appreciate you!
Reg

By: Phil Gerbyshak

Phil Gerbyshak — Mon, 26 May 2008 15:48:00 +0000

Very interesting to think about Reg. Looking at the van, my first thought is “Dang, who owns this dirtball?” My second thought was, “That’s cute. Someone took the time to write Wash Me but didn’t take the time to actually wash the van. Nice.”

I don’t know if it’s because of, or in spite of, the imperfections, that I’m drawn to these pictures. They definitely do help the mind wander, and wonder, what’s going on.

By: Ted Demopoulos, Blogging for Business

Ted Demopoulos, Blogging for Business — Sun, 25 May 2008 02:12:58 +0000

Well, part of it is that we notice different. For example a clean kid among a group of dirty ones would stand out too.

I think it’s more than just that, but that’s a big part. We been taught that clean is good, e.g. “Cleanliness is next to Godliness”

As a side note, my wife is out of commission, recovering from an operation for 6-8 week and I’m Mr Dad.

Kids are dirty than ever But their hygiene is probably improved. Stains on clothes? Who cares. Eating or snacking? Wash hands.

By: Bert Webb

Bert Webb — Sat, 24 May 2008 21:12:48 +0000

Dirty? No, not just dirty, but the negative, the nasty, the bloody, the messy — for most of us, anyway. We pass the same patch of flowers each day and hardly notice them, yet slowdown to look at an accident that occurred right in the middle of them. The entire evening news program is filled with negatively slanted stories — murder, robbery, annexation arguments — and editors/directors save one positive story with which to end the broadcast (remember “If it bleeds, it leads”?). Teachers have hundreds and thousands of students during the course of their career, but when tasked to remember them, the challenging ones rise to the forefront of our minds and we struggle to remember the good ones.

I don’t think it’s because we’re hard-wired for it. There are many people who still have that optimistic outlook, avoid the negatives in their lives and concentrate on looking at the good in every situation. They are proactive in keeping the negative out of their lives. I think the rest of us have been trained to be negative, trained by our parents, our peers, our environment and our media. When we are forced to see and hear the negative throughout most of our day, our brains then begin to filter for it. This, unfortunately, is a learned behavior.

By: Tori Deaux | MindTweaks

Tori Deaux | MindTweaks — Sat, 24 May 2008 18:29:30 +0000

I’d say we’re hardwired to notice things that are out of place, not quite right, not as they should be, and yes, dirt. It’s keyed into survival - in less privileged times, out-of-placeness can be cues to both food sources and dangers. I also remember reading some research last year about how the brain is wired to be repelled by contamination - and that intellect doesn’t over rule that wiring. Grocery stores cannot put toilet paper in the same aisle as canned goods, because the brain marks the toilet paper as a source of contamination, and therefore, food that’s close to it is “contaminated” too. Knowing that the TP is clean, and the food is sealed, doesn’t over rule the ewww factor. It’s more primal than that.

So.. as a mind tweaker… I’d say we notice dirty things because we’re hardwired to do so. What we do with the info depends on a lot of less solid sorting factors. Or something like that. Maybe. Kinda. Sorta.

(BTW… I agree with Mother Earth.. Leave the car dirty, wash the child’s face, and I’d add in… tell him its rude to stare!)

By: Mother Earth

Mother Earth — Sat, 24 May 2008 16:11:41 +0000

my very maternal side would definitely want to wash that lovely childs face, is that caring or is it perfection - I believe the child’s view would be hey I”m fine the way I am

for me it’s my desire to care for

i had a dirty phase in my life where I tried to get as filthy as I possible could — just because it seemed fun

parallel to being sortof grungy in HS - I did that too

hmmm what does that say about my temperment

mother earthy ??

the dirty vehicle? Wastes water to wash it - let it sit in the rain instead! Gave up on that one a long time ago!