{"id":291,"date":"2020-03-01T16:46:31","date_gmt":"2020-03-01T21:46:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.davidhowardpsychologist.com\/blog\/?p=291"},"modified":"2020-03-01T16:46:31","modified_gmt":"2020-03-01T21:46:31","slug":"temptations-threshold","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.davidhowardpsychologist.com\/blog\/?p=291","title":{"rendered":"Temptation’s Threshold"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nWhere would we be without our blessed acronyms? JND\u2019s and TPT\u2019s dominated the early days of grad school as Al Paivio (affectionately honoured by his students as \u2018Mr. C\u2019 \u2014 but that\u2019s another story!) hammered the importance of psychophysics into our stubborn wee minds. Who knew that just noticeable differences<\/em> and two-point thresholds<\/em> would have spiritual relevance, lo these five decades later. <\/p>\n

I floated a tentative experiment of another kind on this sunny, Sunday, March 1st morning: a return to the contemplative \u2018said Eucharist\u2019. This, the early, quiet, back to basics service predicated on the little red book (the BCP, not Chairman M\u2019s manifesto) that had caught my attention as I checked in to Salisbury Cathedral in the early 2000\u2019s after my forty-year sojourn in the wilderness. In keeping with everything else that\u2019s gone \u2018environmentally friendly\u2019, the green<\/em> BAS \u2014 Book of Alternate Services \u2014 is now the text. But it has the same meditative rhythm of its predecessor, crafted some four centuries ago.<\/p>\n

Nineteen of us sat dotted around the pews of St. Jude\u2019s. Harry, the celebrant, now in his 80th year, intoned his way thru\u2019 the prescribed liturgy, pausing midway to insert his message for this day in the year\u2019s early Lenten cycle. The annual \u2018giving up for. . . \u2018 plans had been crafted by most of us mid-week and, being only four days in, were making a serviceable start at sustaining our resolve for another five weeks. The usual candidates, chocolate and alcohol, had been earmarked for varying degrees of abstention ranging from Garrison Keillor\u2019s \u2018giving up giving up Scotch\u2019 to flat out temperance; from Oscan Wilde\u2019s proscription of temptation (\u2018the only way to deal with it, is to give in to it\u2019) to slightly more draconian measures of self-denial. <\/p>\n

The central theme of Harry\u2019s text skillfully tied the season to the intention, Lent to temptation. It linked a period of self-reflection, and stock-taking to the scriptural account of the prototypical struggle, pitting the siren song of desire against resistance and resolve \u2014 the temptation of Christ. <\/p>\n

So what of JND\u2019s and today\u2019s homily? To illustrate the relentlessness, cumulative nature, and subtlety of temptation, Harry introduced a metaphor: \u2018the winter birds of Niagara\u2019. This tale, even to a \u2018Peninsula boy\u2019 like myself, was news. In the chill months, the walls of mist rising from the Falls freeze, forming the cataract\u2019s signature wintertime ice bridge. It seems that the ubiquitous and legion gulls, in search of a drink and oblivious to the calendar, continue to swoop into the gorge at the base of the rapids for a sip. Each successive dive adds a thin layer of vapour now freezing to the birds\u2019 wings, insidiously building \u2014 until threshold is reached. Aerodynamics are trumped by ice and the birds plummet into the whirlpool. <\/p>\n

The process is gradual, just<\/em> barely noticeable<\/em> at first \u2014 until the difference<\/em>, the threshold between being airborne and earth- (or in this case, water-) bound is met. Harry likens the challenges, the temptations we face and that confront our resolve, to this cycle: a taste (or a sip) here, a keyboard click or a glance there. Building, expanding, displacing until. . . <\/p>\n

A second parallel exists and further binds psychophysics to temptation\u2019s prototype. As the story goes, Christ was at low ebb \u2014 40 days of denial will do that! And the antagonist in the narrative applies the \u2018layers\u2019 subtly, starting with low stakes, a loaf of bread. What are a few crumbs, no harm here. (Or, if you\u2019re a thirsty seabird, a sip of water.) The game intensifies moving to a literal \u2018leap of faith\u2019; and finally, to an \u2018all this could be yours. . . \u2018 scenario.<\/p>\n

What would a good acronym be without an equation to ground it in application? Enter Weber. In this case: <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\tJND = KI<\/p>\n

Our ability to perceive a change in any sensory state (sound, taste, illumination, etc.) is a function of a \u2018constant\u2019 (K) multiplied by the intensity (I) of the stimulus. Think the irritating neighbour playing his tunes full bore at 1 a.m. He\u2019s asked politely to \u2018turn them down\u2019; and straight-facedly maintains that he has \u2014 despite your experience that \u2018nothing has changed\u2019. The 120 decibel noise \u2018objectively\u2019 is now coming thru\u2019 your wall at a mere 115 db. No JND for you! For the neighbour to find redemption (in your<\/em> view) the amplifier knob would have to read 108 db\u2019s or 120 minus the noise coefficient (.1) times the loudness (120) \u2014 before you\u2019re going to invite him over for a beer and, in the spirit of this piece, forgive him<\/em>.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, you\u2019re sitting in a quiet, open-concept office, concentrating. Over a few cubicles, your coworker starts a telephone conversation \u2014 a shift from 50 to 60 db \u2014 and you notice<\/em> immediately (50 times .1 = 5 \u2014 more than sufficient to hit threshold<\/em>)<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve speculated a bit about the \u2018K value\u2019 of temptation. In short, what\u2019s it take for us to notice that we are being tempted. And equally, how ready are we to ignore the \u2018thin edge\u2019 \u2014 until we\u2019re spinning around in some pretty icy water. No surprise that this \u2018coefficient\u2019 will be specific to each of our respective \u2018achilles heels\u2019 (our \u2018spiritual sensory equipment\u2019) and to the nature (intensity) of the \u2018stimulus\u2019. A tiny uptick in something we really crave is all it takes. A truckload of something we\u2019re lukewarm about \u2014 no big deal.<\/p>\n

For me it raised a couple of awarenesses: Lent as a time to reflect on our particular \u2018vulnerabilities\u2019; and a time to fine-tune our \u2018sensitivities\u2019. For the thirsty gull, if we can anthropomorphize for a minute, paying attention to water now, in this moment, as less friend and more threat and taking note that it might be time to flip on the de-icers before the next take off. Only 39 days to go . . . with Sunday\u2019s off for good behaviour. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Where would we be without our blessed acronyms? JND\u2019s and TPT\u2019s dominated the early days of grad school as Al Paivio (affectionately honoured by his students as \u2018Mr. C\u2019 \u2014 but that\u2019s another story!) hammered the importance of psychophysics into our stubborn wee minds. Who knew that just noticeable differences and two-point thresholds would have […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davidhowardpsychologist.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davidhowardpsychologist.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davidhowardpsychologist.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidhowardpsychologist.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidhowardpsychologist.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=291"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidhowardpsychologist.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":294,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidhowardpsychologist.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291\/revisions\/294"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davidhowardpsychologist.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=291"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidhowardpsychologist.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=291"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davidhowardpsychologist.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=291"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}