I always knew that Darcy would eventually use her psychological training against me, and quite frankly I'm surprised it didn't start long ago. But it's started now. Allow me to set the scene:
We're in our apartment and Darcy lies to me. What about is not important, what's important is the events that transpire next. I immediately tell her that she's lying because I can always tell when she's not quite being forthright. Seriously, I can see through her like a 19th century London orphan sees through his gruel. (I've been thinking about Dickens a lot lately.) I'll let you in on the secret to knowing whether or not Darcy is lying to you: if she's lying she laughs. Uncontrollably. Whenever you make eye contact with her. It's really not that hard to tell if she's lying.
So Darcy lies to me and I call her on it. This happens fairly regularly and then it's over. Except that this time it wasn't over. This time she tells me that in Physiological Psychology under the tutelage of the esteemed Warren Brown she just learned about mirror neurons. She explained to me that mirror neurons are why yawning is contagious and why you laugh more if you watch a comedy with a group of people than when you're alone and why babies smile at you if you smile at them. She told me that researchers say mirror neurons are why humans can experience empathy. Then she told me that I was laughing and that her mirror neurons were the reason she couldn't keep a straight face while talking to me. And I believed her. It made so much sense at the time. It only took me a few minutes to realize I'd been had, but by then the damage had been done. I saw brief flashes of a future in which I can never win an argument because Darcy is able to summon an amazing array of information about neurological structures and synthesize vast amounts of research all to prove that I'm wrong about whose turn it is to wash the dishes.
This hellish scenario kept me up late into the night as I weighed my options, but suddenly it dawned on me. I could just wait it out. You see, Darcy hates learning about the physiology of the brain. In a few months she'll have forgotten everything she's learned about mirror neurons and the like, and things will return to normal. I can live with that. Then I fell into a deep and restful sleep.
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4 comments:
Just so everyone knows... I am not a liar in character. I strive for honesty in my life. But, occasionally I do engage in the behavior of lying... often in jest. Usually it doesn't work because he can tell that I'm lying but this time I tricked him!!! Who knew physio would lead to trickery?
Well, it was Halloween, right? As far as artists go, most of them probably aren't new to you because you're cool like that. Favorites on the ipod of late: Amos Lee, Sanders Bohlke, Joshua Radin, Iron and Wine, Death Cab, Postal Service, Michael Buble (not original but pretty amazing), Alison Krauss (bluegrass, beware), Jose Gonzalez, Ray Lamontagne, Sufjan Stevens, and of course Ben Harper and Damien Rice....oh and Joe Purdy and Brian Write. And Guster. And Nick Drake, Richard Buckner (take with a grain of salt), Tristan Prettyman, Wilco, and Snow Patrol. Now your turn. :)
I've always worried about that with Grete. She did psyc in undergrad. But she's mainly interested in animal behavior. I, fortunately, am a LITTLE smarter than the average gorilla, and a lot smarter than the average dog. So I can see her psychological ploys. heh.
My wife always knows when I am lying to her. . .
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