Waiting (the anxiety of)
Created | Updated Sep 21, 2005
Waiting (the anxiety of)
Webster’s dictionary describes the word wait:
Pronunciation: 'wAt
Function: verb
Etymology: Middle English, from Old North French waitier to watch, of Germanic origin; akin to Old High German wahta watch, Old English wæccan to watch
1 : to stay in place in expectation of 2 : to delay serving (a meal) 3 : to serve as waiter for <wait tables>
In short (or perhaps just easy to understand words) waiting is the action of the word wait that means to be in a section of time in between when something/someone is expected and when it/they arrive (example: when expecting a letter in the post that was due last Tuesday and it is now Friday) or to be in the period of time prior to and event while feeling the anticipation of that event (example the days leading up to Christmas).
It is amazing how much anxiety waiting can create. This anxiety is often caused by not knowing the result of an action or event, the inability to predict the future. For example after a job interview the interviewee is in a state of flux when they wait for the decision of the potential employer to be informed to them.
Quantum physics has an excellent example of the state of flux experienced by someone who is in the process of waiting. It is the theory of Schrodinger's cat. In a nut shell, Danish physicist Erwin Schrodinger created a theory that involved placing his cat in an opaque box with one dish of food and one dish of poison that were exactly alike (except that the poison is deadly) so that the cat could not tell the difference for a period of time. The chances that the cat would eat the poison or the food are 50/50, but he could not tell which until he opened the box, which was true. While the box is closed Schrodinger cold not tell if his cat was alive or dead, so he surmised that the cat was both alive and dead at the same time. (See A306569, for more info in Schrodinger’s cat)
So in the case of our interviewee, until the employer informs him/her, he is both hired and not hired at the same time.
Ways of reducing the anxiety of waiting.
Webster’s dictionary describes the word wait:
Pronunciation: 'wAt
Function: verb
Etymology: Middle English, from Old North French waitier to watch, of Germanic origin; akin to Old High German wahta watch, Old English wæccan to watch
1 : to stay in place in expectation of 2 : to delay serving (a meal) 3 : to serve as waiter for <wait tables>
In short (or perhaps just easy to understand words) waiting is the action of the word wait that means to be in a section of time in between when something/someone is expected and when it/they arrive (example: when expecting a letter in the post that was due last Tuesday and it is now Friday) or to be in the period of time prior to and event while feeling the anticipation of that event (example the days leading up to Christmas).
It is amazing how much anxiety waiting can create. This anxiety is often caused by not knowing the result of an action or event, the inability to predict the future. For example after a job interview the interviewee is in a state of flux when they wait for the decision of the potential employer to be informed to them.
Quantum physics has an excellent example of the state of flux experienced by someone who is in the process of waiting. It is the theory of Schrodinger's cat. In a nut shell, Danish physicist Erwin Schrodinger created a theory that involved placing his cat in an opaque box with one dish of food and one dish of poison that were exactly alike (except that the poison is deadly) so that the cat could not tell the difference for a period of time. The chances that the cat would eat the poison or the food are 50/50, but he could not tell which until he opened the box, which was true. While the box is closed Schrodinger cold not tell if his cat was alive or dead, so he surmised that the cat was both alive and dead at the same time. (See A306569, for more info in Schrodinger’s cat)
So in the case of our interviewee, until the employer informs him/her, he is both hired and not hired at the same time.
Ways of reducing the anxiety of waiting.
