Potentiation by dilution

A really thought provoking article.

Potentiating by Diluting.

My temper had bestowed me notoriety. It had become the defining trait of my gregarious and rather overbearing disposition. Initially I took great pride in being able to intimidate and almost terrorise my subordinates. The anger would cascade as the object of my rage looked on helplessly. My ego would lust for that overwhelming sense of power, a sadistic joy  of  trampling all over the self esteem of the person at the receiving end. Such acts were in reality sado-masochistic as i realised later in life. Masochistic because such vulgar and unbridled display of negative vibes travelled inwards as well. Such acts resulted in flooding the circulation with adrenaline and similar neuro-endocrine mediators causing increased heart rates, increase Blood pressure. There was also  a feeling akin to a hangover after the the dressing down session had concluded. The work atmosphere remained vitiated for a few hours as other staff members worked in an uneasy silence. The frequency of such episodes kept increasing and after a while, the staff realized that they had to put up with  momentary lapses of reason. They developed a kind of resistance to this emotional extravaganza. The entire objective of such a brazen and unpleasant display was soon lost. And along with it I ended up losing important staff members too. The ineffectiveness of any therapeutic medication over a period of time is called Tachphylaxis. Its similar to development of resistant strains of bacteria due to the abuse of anti- biotics. There surely had to be a saner, more effective means to express displeasure without causing any collateral damage.
        I  reminisced about how petrified i was of my father as a child. He scarcely would raise his voice when he was upset. The appearance of a wrinkle on his forehead was enough of a cue to all of us in the family. Degree of anger was never subservient to a decibel system. Silence and facial lines very subtly but effectively conveyed their displeasure. An occasional expletive was the sole indicator of  extreme rage. The silent akinetic state kept us guessing and imagining all the possible outcomes. The dose of expressing their resentment was far too diluted. It was paradoxically much more effective than the rather generous dose that I administered to my subordinates. It reminded me of a very perplexing principle of Homeopathy. The basic principle of homeopathy is that a substance that triggers a certain disease can also be used to treat that disease, and diluting the substance increases its potency – a process referred to as potentization or succussion.
Dilution quite paradoxically increases the potency of the drug that is administered.
My mother's very subtle act of adjusting my blanket believing i was fast asleep made my young mind more acutely aware of her tender loving care than the priciest gift that i give my child. Frugality was the order of the day. Frugal means, frugal lifestyles, frugal expressions and frugal desires. The doses for any gratification were fractions of doses required in our present day ostentatious life. Yet the therapeutic effect on the degree of happiness was much greater. Dilution of indulgence was certainly increasing the potency of satisfaction. Dilution almost certainly eliminated the possibility of developing any form of tachyphylaxis. The lower frequency of eating in restaurants certainly ensured sustaining the degree of enjoyment. Indulgence is never the path to contentment. Contentment is a state of mind that empowers it to find happiness in temperance.
The  potency and efficacy of expression of any  emotion might lie in its subtlety. The next provocation saw me merely raising my eyebrows. My assistant scurried for cover, possibly in anticipation of my regular normal animated response. Or perhaps dilution actually potentiated my anger.

Dr. Deepak Ranade