Suspicion and psychological suggestion

This is the 3443th article of Da Yi Xiao Hu

Seeing a snake in a cup is a Chinese idiom, which comes from Huang Zunxian's "Ganshi" in the Qing Dynasty: "The hidden pain of the golden ring and the cold house; the strange injustice of seeing a snake in a cup." It is a metaphor for being suspicious and frightened.

In the Jin Dynasty, there was a man named Le Guang who invited his friend to drink in the hall. The two of them were very interested in drinking. After they broke up, for a long time, Le Guang saw that his friend had not shown up and had no contact, so he was very puzzled and went to visit him. Only then did he know that his friend had been ill since he drank with him, and was very ill. His friend told him that when he was drinking that day, he found a small snake in the wine glass, but he drank it all out of consideration. After returning home, he felt a stomachache. The small snake in his stomach gradually grew up and would give birth to many small snakes. His stomach was full of snakes, and he was afraid that he would not have much time left... Le Guang was shocked and full of doubts. He immediately ran back to the hall, sat where his friend was drinking, filled a glass of wine, looked down, and saw that there was indeed a "small snake" swimming in the wine glass. Looking up, it turned out to be a horn bow hanging on the beam of the hall, and the shadow reflected in the wine glass looked like a small snake. Le Guang was overjoyed and immediately drove his friend to come over. He sat in the same place where they had been drinking that day, and let his friend witness the real scene with his own eyes. His friend immediately became energetic and his symptoms disappeared! This is the well-known idiom story "The Snake Shadow in the Cup".

We can't help but ask, is Le Guang's friend sick? He is indeed sick, and seriously ill. He is bedridden, unable to eat or drink, full of doubts, terrified, and anxious all day long. He is about to die; we have to ask again, is he really sick? When he came to Le Guang's house again and returned to the scene at that time, he saw with his own eyes that the little snake in his wine glass was actually the reflection of the hanging "bow" in the glass. After he understood the true situation, he was immediately relieved and overjoyed. All signs of illness disappeared, he recovered without medicine, and left in high spirits.

Psychologist Pavlov believes that suggestion is the simplest and most typical conditioned reflex of human beings. From the perspective of psychological mechanism, it is a hypothesis affirmed by subjective will, which may not be based on facts, but because its existence has been affirmed subjectively, people will try their best to tend to the existence of this situation and recognize its authenticity.

In our daily lives, we are constantly receiving hints from various people, things, events, and scenes in the outside world, as well as hints from our own reactions and feelings. Such hints can be positive or negative, and sometimes can cause illness or even death.

The story of Le Guang's friend is a typical example. Whether a person is healthy or not, psychological factors account for a large proportion, and they are also very important. In the journey of life, there are nine out of ten things that are not as we wish. We must learn to adjust ourselves. When we are confused, depressed, anxious, irritable and helpless, we must seek help from a psychologist as soon as possible. Don't keep it in your heart and cause serious illness.

Author: Guo Shuzhen