Dissonance

Arun Kumar

Dissonance: A general feeling that a chord within is not in harmony with others and wants to play its own tune.

  

There are periods in our journey across space and time when the psyche is permeated by an undefinable sense of unease. It is a feeling of dissonance bordering on a visceral sensation that something is not right. 

Lying awake at three in the morning, seeds of dissonance suddenly sprout, and triggers could be many. They could be the vague feeling that something is out of place, or they could be an emerging sense of no longer knowing what the heck we are doing, and why.  

Or the trigger could be a growing realization of mortality that can no longer be kept at bay leading to a realization of the futility of some of our engagements, or of grudges we continue to hold. 

Then there are life transitions that are a fertile ground for the seeds of dissonance to germinate and thrive. 

With the feeling of dissonance comes the quest of how to put life back on track and regain a sense of balance. 

The alternative paths that offer to lead us away from the dissonant self generally offer contrasting choices. 

Take the realization of mortality. One potential solution leads to personal growth and a sense of equanimity. The alternative path is looking for ways to drown the emerging sense of mortality. 

Depending on which path we take, a dissonant self could be our friend or a foe. The outcome of a dissonance could be a constructive or a destructive journey forward.

One path forward out of the dissonant self is introspective. It is a path along which one could try to understand the reasons for the unease within and attempt to set it right. Taking this path is challenging, but eventually, a rewarding option of self-growth.

The other path is trying to drown the feeling of dissonance.  In our age, this path is so much easier to follow. Its benign versions are spending endless hours watching TV, scrolling through media feeds, keeping up with trivialities of others on social media. Other choices are self-medications - alcohol, mind altering drugs - lead to darker alleys and are not so benign. 

Which path to take? 

The choice, of course, should be obvious but to get going and overcome initial obstacles is easier said than done.  The biggest obstacle is our tendency to follow the path of least resistance, i.e., we tend to do what requires least effort. It is easy to get sucked down the path of making the wrong choice, and after a while, it becomes too much of an effort to extricate and change course. 

The moments of dissonance, and transitions, although discombobulating, but if handled intentionally and with care, are an opportunity for self-growth. They could become a springboard for a life enriching experience. And that too, no matter whether one is young or old.

Ciao.

Related

Choosing the path of virtue

Fading threads from my past

 

It is time again

to dust up  the keyboard, and
fold unwritten memories

wedged between 

the letters A and Z

and put them away, neatly 

in cardboard boxes

and take them to

the neighborhood 

Goodwill store.

Perhaps, there would be

a taker, or two

of fading threads

from my nondescript past.

Being old is …

 

…like being a newborn again.

Uncertain steps, 

learning to walk,

re-discovering to become

who you are,

and then,

there are visits to a dentist

for a new set of teeth

and perhaps, 

mashing up the food

so it is easier to eat.

And to top it all

living with dignity

does not get any easier

when before getting in bed

hands fumble to put on

an adult diaper.

The Economics of Flying

 Arun Kumar

34,000 feet (about 10 km) up above in the air I am on my way to Geneva. To put the height of the aircraft in perspective, the peak of Mount Everest measures 29,029 feet. 

Dinner has been served, everyone has been given their plastic bottle of water, and in a few hours, we will land in Geneva where I will be in transit and board another flight on the way to the final destination --Lisbon. 

If you are wondering whether I am on my way from Stockholm to Lisbon with a stopover in Geneva, you would be wrong in your guess. 

I am flying from Washington DC to Lisbon and my route to the destination flies me close to Lisbon but first it takes me to Geneva. I would then backtrack from there and fly to Lisbon. The route taken is a quirk of the economics of the pricing of airline tickets and the premium that is put on the perceived value of our time.

When I was checking the flights to have a week of vacation in Lisbon, the fares for direct flights from Washington DC to Lisbon were the most expensive. The flight time was around seven hours. 

Then there were other flight options that first took me to different cities in Europe, had a layover, and then continued to Lisbon. These options were priced cheaper, but their flight time to Lisbon ranged from 14-24 hours. 

You can see the logic of the pricing model here. If you are willing to sacrifice your time, then you could fly cheaper. This is one down to earth example of the saying that time is money. 

Being conscious of my wallet, I picked up the cheaper option; I opted not to pay a premium on the value of my time. After all, what else have I got to do? It is not that I am CEO of some start up and must fly to Lisbon to talk to some venture capitalist in the afternoon and then have another meeting lined up in the morning the day after in some other part of the world.

In picking up the economically cheaper option there was collateral damage. The cheaper option had a larger (personal) carbon footprint. 

Physics is simple. The carbon released in the atmosphere, and attributed to me, is proportional to the flight time I have in the air. But even though being a proponent of reducing carbon emissions I still took the option of a longer route.

I wonder if we can live in a world where the economics of flight would be different. A world where instead of putting a premium on time, airlines will have a pricing model that will put a premium on the carbon footprint – the price of ticket would be proportional to the carbon footprint. 

It would be a world where longer route options to get to a destination will be more expensive than shorter routes. Flying from Washington DC directly to Lisbon would be cheaper than flying there via Geneva.

You could argue that some pricing model genius would turn the logic upside down – the lower the carbon footprint is, the higher will be the price of the ticket. This model, however, would only work in an ideal world where its citizens cared about their carbon footprint over their wallets. And if we did, we would not be in the current mess of the climate crisis anyway.

An irony is that in an indirect way, by owning stocks through some index fund I have invested in the airline, and it is in my interest that they make profit and pay a dividend back to me. By doing that, I am also encouraging the current pricing model that puts a premium on our time.

We are getting close to Geneva and are about to land. The flight attendant is walking down the aisle one last time asking us if we would like to return the plastic bottle of water because they are passionate about recycling and saving the world. I dutifully deposit my empty plastic bottle in the trash bag and my conscience is that much lighter of guilt.

Ciao