Sensitivity
There are a number of different species in the Mimosa genus that are called "sensitive briar" due to the fact that their leaves will curl up when touched. They are sometimes called Catclaw Briar and they are a legume which sometimes colonizes where the land has been overgrazed.
I find them interesting because their flowers are showy and attract one to the plant and yet the leaves are sensitive to your presence. It sounds like a few people I know who do things to attract attention yet are sensitive when that attention occurs. Sometimes that attention drawing mechanism is in the form of clothing, or possibly piercings, tattoos or bright colors of hair. They want to be seen yet when given the apparently craved attention are defensive or even belligerent.
All of us are sensitive about some things and all of us crave attention. Sometimes that craving is misplaced and certainly is frequently misunderstood. Society conditions us to "blend into the herd" and yet we are designed to be predators, not prey. It is in our eyes -- literally -- they are set into the front of our face rather than on the side. Prey animals have eyes on the sides of their head which allows them better vision behind them as well as to the front. Predator eyes are set on the front of their face which gives them better ability to focus on a target.
Maybe that conflicted nature of drawing attention while being sensitive to it is a product of a society which attempts to make us something we are not built to be. It makes you question whether many of our social structures are the product of a higher level of predator which preys upon lesser predators -- namely those who are subject to the conditioning of that society.
In my opinion, much of our education system is designed to push people into that sub-predator category so they will be subservient to a more aggressive class of predators. It creates a "working class" designed to serve an elite which uses them to advance their own power. The system we see evolved as a result of the need for factory workers and it continues to evolve today in ways that push the boundaries of tolerance due to the conflicted nature between design and conditioning. It isn't only the educational systems -- much of which is a positive so please don't attack me for the comment -- it is in the media (currently the worst in my opinion is fake news on social media generated through AI by foreign and domestic adversaries), in literature, and in many other societal structures.
In some ways my words may sound like the beginnings of a manifesto of some kind. They are not meant to be, but they are meant to, perhaps, serve a cautionary note on the trends we see in society that are pushing many to revolt against what they believe to be an oppressed role. The balance between the needs of the economy and the nature of people is a sensitive one.
Just like the Sensitive Briar (Mimosa microphylla) which colonizes overgrazed land, perhaps the signs of strain in society such as rebellious behavior, are signals that people have been pushed too far. Those who see themselves as "normal" often see that behavior in a negative light when it might actually be a warning sign of deep systemic problems that must be corrected.
