Page 35 - Deep Thinking

What are the Reasons that Prevent Thought? 33

Looking at Everything with "The Eye of Habit"
And Therefore Seeing No Need to Reflect Thereon

When people come across certain things for the first time, they may
understand the extraordinary nature of them and this may spur them to fur-
ther inspect what they see. After a while, however, they develop a habit-
ual resistance to those things and they no longer impress them. In partic-
ular, an object or happening they meet everyday becomes ordinary for
them.
For instance, it makes a great impression on some prospective doc-
tors the first time they see a corpse, or the first time one of their patients
dies. This makes them ponder deeply. It may be that all of a sudden they
face the lifeless, almost stuff-like body of a person, who was, just a few
minutes ago, full of life, laughing, making plans, talking, taking pleasure,
eyes sparkling with life. The first time a cadaver is laid down in front of
them for autopsy, they think over everything they see in that corpse: that
the body decays so fast, that a repugnant smell comes out of it, that the
hair once so pleasant to look at become so unpleasant that it is repulsive
to touch, are all subjects they think about. This leads them to consider that
the composition of everyone's body is the same and everyone will meet
the same end, and that they too will become like this.
Yet, after seeing a few cadavers or losing some patients, these people
develop a habitual resistance to certain things. They begin to treat cadav-
ers, and even patients, as if they are objects.
Surely, this situation does not hold true for doctors alone. For the
majority of people, the same situation applies in many areas of their lives.
For example, when a person who lives in difficulty is granted a pleasant
lifestyle, he understands that everything he possesses is a blessing for him;
that his bed is more comfortable, his house has a beautiful view, he can
buy everything he wants, he can heat his house in winter as he wishes, he
can easily move by car, and many other things are all blessings for this per-
son. Thinking of his old state, he rejoices at each of these new things. Yet
someone who possesses these means from birth may not think so much
about their worth. So, his appreciation of these blessings does not become