Are You Still Complaining? Part One

How many times have you complained about something someone has done to you?

I bet most of you have at some point in life. It is human nature to voice our concerns and air our views. Often we become frustrated, especially when it appears our complaints appear to be continuously ignored. 

Let us say a partner does something wrong. You voice your concern. In effect you are complaining about their actions or words they have said. But chances are they have heard you, but retaliate with something such as, “It was your fault I did this in the first place…or…it was his or her fault this happened.”

For every action there is a reaction – and behind all this there is a starting point. In effect, are we complaining over something someone did, when in actual fact our oversight or actions prompted the whole problem?

Let us look at a scientific experiment that was conducted over such a topic:

Two groups of psychology students were wired for recording purposes. They were assigned to socialise amongst their respective groups with a free spirit and discuss anything. They were told to “Act on impulse” and “say what you think. ” They were also prompted to “Discuss what you need to discuss but with free will and personal opinion and choice.”

However, the key here was that one of the groups knew what the experiment was all to do with – to measure the level of complaining humans make.

The other group had no idea what the experiment was all about, apart from to discuss freely amongst themselves and that they were being recorded by their tutors.  

Afterwards, both groups were shocked at how frequently they complained!

The group in the know complained almost as much as the group that were unaware of what the experiment was aiming to achieve. It is the oldest response in the book – literally!

The experiment discovered that when faced with our own choices and actions, we spontaneously start complaining about each other. 

They found that many of the students started saying things such as, “It was their fault, not mine; If they hadn’t…I wouldn’t have.”

Now let us look at the oldest book we know: The Bible.

In Genesis, Adam needed no lessons in the art of complaining. When Eve was tempted by the Serpent to take the forbidden fruit, she did and ate it. She then offered it to Adam. Both failed their first task in the eyes of God – to resist temptation.