Wormwood,
First off let me just say that life kind of took a shit on you with the whole epilepsy thing. I'd tell you to get over it and get on with your life, but we both know that point is moot. Be glad though, that you live in the age of advanced medicine. Consider that in the Dark ages you would be burned at the stake as a demon possessed evil-doer. Knowing what I know now, let me just tell you they may not have been far wrong. That's something else you will need to come to terms with.
As your life progresses you may note that what others consider wrong, you may see as just, what normal people cringe at is the kind of thing that will bring a smile to your face or a chuckle from your lips. That's not going to go away. In fact it will progress to a point where you feel you will need to let the "altar boy/boy scout" part of you die. Believe me when I say you will be better off.
You may also believe in Anarchism now, but understand that it's a stupid idea. Anarchism is just a convenient pet cause for you to use to put some distance between yourself and what is socially acceptable as well as your family. Believe it or not, the "cause" that will make you most comfortable is a religion; the last conceivable one you would expect, so prepare to shop around.
Know also that the people you're planning to kill right now will be the ones you come to accept and love despite all reason, and though you may still want to destroy them sometimes you will be glad you don't during birthdays and x-mas. Also know that a person can be a "friend" and nemesis simultaneously. Shane is one of those people.
Another thing to keep in mind is that you will NEVER have your sister's relentless motivation. However your level of bullheadedness and spite will keep you going even during the worst times. But despite the current lack of completed goals, the people you will call your friends are truer folk that will accept you for all your flaws in a way your own blood would never even consider.
Sitting here now, thinking back on who you were, I think I know how my Wormwood must feel. I cannot tell you the things you must do, only tell you what will end up transpiring due to the decisions you will eventually make. I guarantee you though that life will be much easier if you keep a very open mind and take care not to step on your shadow.
Good luck dumb-shit,
27 year old Wormwood (HS!)
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Games of Our Young
The youth of the world are being softened by those who raise them. Almost from the moment they escape the womb, children are taught that they are special and that they are living in a world where all people are created equal. We make games of their entire education. That might work for kindergarteners or pre-schoolers, who's motor skills are still developing. The truth is, we don't need to make up educational games for our children. They learn by playing. When their brains are developing, everything is a kind of game to them. You know what though? It's never too early to teach your spawn about the pain of disappointment or that the strongest and smartest are often victorious. But from what I've observed, we have our kids watching Bob the Builder and Dora the Explorer to teach them basic things. Is this because we, as adults can't be bothered to rear our own young or just because we want them to be silent?
All this seems to me, to be a terrible disservice to the children we generate. People seem to have no problem playing for hours on end with a puppy or kitten, but a baby human just seems to be too much bother or perhaps worse, it gets boring or frustrating to deal with. Upon birth we expose our kids to a non-serious, game-like mindset and then when they grow older and refuse to mature, we scratch our heads and ask 'what the hell?'. This shouldn't be surprising but it is. We raise our children to play games and then expect them to go out into the real world when they legally become an adult and be prepared to take on the challenges of life and nature?!
To be fair though, the youth do nothing on their own to mature except in order to impress the opposite sex. Yet they often can't figure out that life is built on conflict: conflict with circumstance, conflict with people, conflict with authority, conflict with nature. I could go on and on. Life is struggle, and as adults the best thing we can do for children is to put them in a situation where they are forced to shed their childhood. A serious situation which is life or death.
The unfortunate truth is that adults don't take children seriously, and children think adults are a joke. One side needs to show that it isn't fucking around, and it shouldn't fall onto the kids. Kids need to play and have fun until they grow out of it, which they will if adults stop making life into a game for them. Keep in mind, I'm not saying life isn't fun. Life's spectacular, but not always a game.
One way or another, the next generation needs to stop being pampered and played with...or a bear will eat it.
All this seems to me, to be a terrible disservice to the children we generate. People seem to have no problem playing for hours on end with a puppy or kitten, but a baby human just seems to be too much bother or perhaps worse, it gets boring or frustrating to deal with. Upon birth we expose our kids to a non-serious, game-like mindset and then when they grow older and refuse to mature, we scratch our heads and ask 'what the hell?'. This shouldn't be surprising but it is. We raise our children to play games and then expect them to go out into the real world when they legally become an adult and be prepared to take on the challenges of life and nature?!
To be fair though, the youth do nothing on their own to mature except in order to impress the opposite sex. Yet they often can't figure out that life is built on conflict: conflict with circumstance, conflict with people, conflict with authority, conflict with nature. I could go on and on. Life is struggle, and as adults the best thing we can do for children is to put them in a situation where they are forced to shed their childhood. A serious situation which is life or death.
The unfortunate truth is that adults don't take children seriously, and children think adults are a joke. One side needs to show that it isn't fucking around, and it shouldn't fall onto the kids. Kids need to play and have fun until they grow out of it, which they will if adults stop making life into a game for them. Keep in mind, I'm not saying life isn't fun. Life's spectacular, but not always a game.
One way or another, the next generation needs to stop being pampered and played with...or a bear will eat it.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
A real Medium?.....Rare.
People die. That's not news. Hundreds, thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of people die every day. You might say it sucks, but it has to happen. If people didn't die, think about about how hungry you'd be....forever. Generally speaking, people dislike death because it deprives someone of a loved one. Well that seems noble, I suppose. By definition we enjoy the company of our loved ones and don't want them to be gone forever. We all grieve those we love and lose.
But how many people die every day that you do not grieve? Thousands probably. Well you may say in your defense that you didn't know about those people. To which I would respond that I never knew them either, ergo I don't care at all about their deaths. The fact is people hate and fear death when it threatens them or those they love. When people die we do not grieve their loss of life, we grieve for their leaving us. How many of you have family or friends dying from the infirmities of old age? How many of you would take away their ailments so they may remain among you longer? Do you really think their lives are going to be more fulfilling for the little extra time you're giving them? Or are you just postponing the inevitable because you don't want to picture your life without them?
Everyone needs to understand that grief is a mask donned by selfishness. People can't picture living without their friends or family, nor can they stand being confronted with their own mortality. It is for this reason that the medium exists. Where the vulnerable stand in tears, the predator will swoop in to take what he may. They may take any form from a kindly gypsy with a crystal pendulum and Ouija board, or may take the form of a respectable man on a television show named whose initials are J.E. These psychic vultures understand that people have money and want hope, while they want money and can give hope. Seems like a fair trade, right? Hope is a good thing, right? Right. Hope is great until it's dashed upon reality like a piece of glass upon a stone. Hope is always a gamble, but when it pays off there's nothing like it...except maybe sex. False hope, however is an abomination. It is hope that cannot possibly pay off. Hope that is meant to be broken always hurts those who keep it close to their heart. Learning that your dead mother yet exists in heaven must be a real relief if you just want to leave it at that. But if someone really believes their mother is an angel, then they will pray to their mother, and ask her for advice, and talk to her like she's still alive. And if you aren't really expecting something to come of all this, that's fine too. But what if you're at least expecting some form of supernatural protection? What if you get hit by a car and get your collarbone, ribs, and legs broken, and liver ruptured? Did your angelic mother want this to happen or was she just lying down on the job? Or maybe she's just gone, dead, taking the big sleep, and beyond the pale? This is the cost of false hope sold to you by some psychic prophet.
I could go on forever about the evils of mediums. I will abridge myself though by saying that psychics and other mediums are only taking your money and giving you lies in return. They're similar to the churches except they don't care for your obedience. They want only the product of your ability to work so they themselves won't have to. There are many ways to assuage one's grief, but giving money to someone so they can take advantage of your heart ache is not one of them.
Hail, and good night.
But how many people die every day that you do not grieve? Thousands probably. Well you may say in your defense that you didn't know about those people. To which I would respond that I never knew them either, ergo I don't care at all about their deaths. The fact is people hate and fear death when it threatens them or those they love. When people die we do not grieve their loss of life, we grieve for their leaving us. How many of you have family or friends dying from the infirmities of old age? How many of you would take away their ailments so they may remain among you longer? Do you really think their lives are going to be more fulfilling for the little extra time you're giving them? Or are you just postponing the inevitable because you don't want to picture your life without them?
Everyone needs to understand that grief is a mask donned by selfishness. People can't picture living without their friends or family, nor can they stand being confronted with their own mortality. It is for this reason that the medium exists. Where the vulnerable stand in tears, the predator will swoop in to take what he may. They may take any form from a kindly gypsy with a crystal pendulum and Ouija board, or may take the form of a respectable man on a television show named whose initials are J.E. These psychic vultures understand that people have money and want hope, while they want money and can give hope. Seems like a fair trade, right? Hope is a good thing, right? Right. Hope is great until it's dashed upon reality like a piece of glass upon a stone. Hope is always a gamble, but when it pays off there's nothing like it...except maybe sex. False hope, however is an abomination. It is hope that cannot possibly pay off. Hope that is meant to be broken always hurts those who keep it close to their heart. Learning that your dead mother yet exists in heaven must be a real relief if you just want to leave it at that. But if someone really believes their mother is an angel, then they will pray to their mother, and ask her for advice, and talk to her like she's still alive. And if you aren't really expecting something to come of all this, that's fine too. But what if you're at least expecting some form of supernatural protection? What if you get hit by a car and get your collarbone, ribs, and legs broken, and liver ruptured? Did your angelic mother want this to happen or was she just lying down on the job? Or maybe she's just gone, dead, taking the big sleep, and beyond the pale? This is the cost of false hope sold to you by some psychic prophet.
I could go on forever about the evils of mediums. I will abridge myself though by saying that psychics and other mediums are only taking your money and giving you lies in return. They're similar to the churches except they don't care for your obedience. They want only the product of your ability to work so they themselves won't have to. There are many ways to assuage one's grief, but giving money to someone so they can take advantage of your heart ache is not one of them.
Hail, and good night.
Monday, March 29, 2010
When you walk into a door...of perception!!
Perception is one of the most powerful forces in the universe, aside from gravity and the other laws of physics. Words like "Good" and "Evil" are based upon forced perception. So let us examine what perception is and what it does to us.
Because I love quoting from the dictionary so much here's dictionary.com's definition of the word 'perception':
"per·cep·tion [per-sep-shuhn]
–noun
1.
the act or faculty of apprehending by means of the senses or of the mind; cognition; understanding.
2.
immediate or intuitive recognition or appreciation, as of moral, psychological, or aesthetic qualities; insight; intuition; discernment: an artist of rare perception.
3.
the result or product of perceiving, as distinguished from the act of perceiving; percept.
4.
Psychology. a single unified awareness derived from sensory processes while a stimulus is present.
5.
Law. the taking into possession of rents, crops, profits, etc."
Seems unusually convoluted, huh? Well it really is, but for the purposes of this writing, we'll only focus on the first two uses of the word.
Now a big problem with people's perceptions is that they can be conditioned. As I've mentioned earlier, words like good and evil are based upon perception. How can we intuitively know what is good and what is evil? Well outside of civilization, we can't. In the wild, other animals understand that surviving is 'good', though they don't comprehend the concept. More interestingly, in the wild, 'evil' does not exist. There are of course, genetic and socially deviant behaviors; but using words like 'evil' implies that such behaviors are performed with malicious intent. When a new male lion rises to dominance in a pride the first thing he does is kill all of the cubs. To us, this might seem wicked, but to him it's simply preservation of the species.
Words like 'good' and 'evil' were created by early society's leaders to make sure people felt rewarded for following the laws set before them. Otherwise, as we gathered together in groups, we would have fought each other for dominance and property (and probably more unsavory reasons, such as mental illness). We were taught from a young age to perceive actions such as stealing and murder as being evil and to refrain from being evil. In similar fashion we are taught to perceive our home nation as being superior to all others and worth killing for.
The more frightening thing about perception is that even when it's not controlled, it's still wildly chaotic. A good example is from Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet...kind of. I maintain that the movie West Side Story is a modern (for the time) musical remake of Romeo & Juliet. I've known people who claim that this isn't so, due to a few differences in the story. I believe that they're wrong. But when you look at the ending of the movie and the hero dies, but not the heroin you could say that it isn't Shakespearean at all. Maybe it's not, but from where I sit, West Side Story is Romeo & Juliet set in NYC with a bunch of fruity looking synchronized dancing (if only gangs really fought like that, we might just be living in a safer world).
Another interesting thing about perception is that it is the root of all justification. If you're at a bar and someone spills a drink on you, you could easily justify breaking his nose, if you perceive the spilling as being intentional and/or insulting.
That's yet another fascinating thing about perception is that if you can observe the way someone perceives things, you can get to know him very well without even exchanging words with him. For example if a man were to be dumped by his girlfriend via a "dear John" letter, and the man reacts angrily and violently; you could note that he is probably a very aggressive person who doesn't handle loss very well at all. In all likelihood, though the man's girlfriend just fell out of love with him. Or maybe she found someone better. Another great example of this is nearly any Abrahamic religion (Islam, Christianity, and Judaism). All of them have conflicting messages somewhere in their holy texts, or have some clergy who corrupts the messages of said texts. Christians can justify hate, condemnation, torture, death, misogyny, or almost anything just by turning to the right page of the bible (a book I use in this case because it is the text I'm most familiar with). Meanwhile another Christian can pick up the same book and use it to justify universal love and peace to all living things.
What you must keep in mind though is that perception is highly individualized. What's black and white to some may be shades of gray to someone else. What you need to remember about perception is that just because someone doesn't share yours doesn't mean you should tell him he's wrong. Perception, like faith is dependent on belief (or lack thereof). So unless someone's perception is hurting you, you should probably just leave people and how they see things alone. Everyone's entitled to two things: their opinions and their perceptions...even if they're wrong.
*credit for this essay's idea goes to PuNkTuReD*
Because I love quoting from the dictionary so much here's dictionary.com's definition of the word 'perception':
"per·cep·tion [per-sep-shuhn]
–noun
1.
the act or faculty of apprehending by means of the senses or of the mind; cognition; understanding.
2.
immediate or intuitive recognition or appreciation, as of moral, psychological, or aesthetic qualities; insight; intuition; discernment: an artist of rare perception.
3.
the result or product of perceiving, as distinguished from the act of perceiving; percept.
4.
Psychology. a single unified awareness derived from sensory processes while a stimulus is present.
5.
Law. the taking into possession of rents, crops, profits, etc."
Seems unusually convoluted, huh? Well it really is, but for the purposes of this writing, we'll only focus on the first two uses of the word.
Now a big problem with people's perceptions is that they can be conditioned. As I've mentioned earlier, words like good and evil are based upon perception. How can we intuitively know what is good and what is evil? Well outside of civilization, we can't. In the wild, other animals understand that surviving is 'good', though they don't comprehend the concept. More interestingly, in the wild, 'evil' does not exist. There are of course, genetic and socially deviant behaviors; but using words like 'evil' implies that such behaviors are performed with malicious intent. When a new male lion rises to dominance in a pride the first thing he does is kill all of the cubs. To us, this might seem wicked, but to him it's simply preservation of the species.
Words like 'good' and 'evil' were created by early society's leaders to make sure people felt rewarded for following the laws set before them. Otherwise, as we gathered together in groups, we would have fought each other for dominance and property (and probably more unsavory reasons, such as mental illness). We were taught from a young age to perceive actions such as stealing and murder as being evil and to refrain from being evil. In similar fashion we are taught to perceive our home nation as being superior to all others and worth killing for.
The more frightening thing about perception is that even when it's not controlled, it's still wildly chaotic. A good example is from Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet...kind of. I maintain that the movie West Side Story is a modern (for the time) musical remake of Romeo & Juliet. I've known people who claim that this isn't so, due to a few differences in the story. I believe that they're wrong. But when you look at the ending of the movie and the hero dies, but not the heroin you could say that it isn't Shakespearean at all. Maybe it's not, but from where I sit, West Side Story is Romeo & Juliet set in NYC with a bunch of fruity looking synchronized dancing (if only gangs really fought like that, we might just be living in a safer world).
Another interesting thing about perception is that it is the root of all justification. If you're at a bar and someone spills a drink on you, you could easily justify breaking his nose, if you perceive the spilling as being intentional and/or insulting.
That's yet another fascinating thing about perception is that if you can observe the way someone perceives things, you can get to know him very well without even exchanging words with him. For example if a man were to be dumped by his girlfriend via a "dear John" letter, and the man reacts angrily and violently; you could note that he is probably a very aggressive person who doesn't handle loss very well at all. In all likelihood, though the man's girlfriend just fell out of love with him. Or maybe she found someone better. Another great example of this is nearly any Abrahamic religion (Islam, Christianity, and Judaism). All of them have conflicting messages somewhere in their holy texts, or have some clergy who corrupts the messages of said texts. Christians can justify hate, condemnation, torture, death, misogyny, or almost anything just by turning to the right page of the bible (a book I use in this case because it is the text I'm most familiar with). Meanwhile another Christian can pick up the same book and use it to justify universal love and peace to all living things.
What you must keep in mind though is that perception is highly individualized. What's black and white to some may be shades of gray to someone else. What you need to remember about perception is that just because someone doesn't share yours doesn't mean you should tell him he's wrong. Perception, like faith is dependent on belief (or lack thereof). So unless someone's perception is hurting you, you should probably just leave people and how they see things alone. Everyone's entitled to two things: their opinions and their perceptions...even if they're wrong.
*credit for this essay's idea goes to PuNkTuReD*
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Vampires
By popular demand, here's my considered opinion about the vampires. Shut the fuck up about them already, world!! I'm over hearing about them. I admit I used to play Vampire: The Masquerade.....in High School! And really the only reason I did that is because I liked the super powers, and Machiavellian back-stabbing (that and I couldn't slit someone's throat or hit them in the ribs with a sledge hammer in real life). But how many people have seen earlier vampire movies? What's the big deal?
I just don't get the allure anymore. People think they're erotic? Nosferatu was not fucking sexy, he was about as deformed a creature as I've ever seen. The myth has also been kind of appended to the extent that a vampire's bite is supposed to bring an almost orgasmic sensation. Now I didn't make it too far into Bram Stoker's "Dracula", but from what I remember, getting bit by the him hurt like a mother fucker and left his victims paralyzed and unable to resist. As for their unnatural beauty, without fail, the only hot chicks in any vampire movie are the ones who aren't vampires. What does that tell you? Bella Lugosi was probably the last (if not only) mildly handsome yet believable creature of the night.
Maybe that's what people like so much. Vampires are hunters in the darkness. Well guess what people? SO ARE RAPISTS!! And I don't see any spooky-sexy movies about the guy in a ski mask who holds a knife at your throat while you're at the ATM at 2 a.m and fucks you against your will.
Perhaps the main draw with vampires is that they hunt living beings and kill them in order to sustain themselves. Jeffrey Dahmer did that too, and if we hear about anyone sexually attracted to someone like that we assume they're not right in the head. Here's some food for thought, vampires drain the blood from living beings in order to sustain themselves. Sometimes they don't even kill their victims. They leave said victims alive so they can drink from them again later. There's a word for people like that: parasite. That's right, vampires are basically super-powered humans with the feeding habits of a flea. Not something I'd consider hot.
I suppose one of the main draws of vampires nowadays is that they seem tormented. I'll freely admit that I got bored reading "Dracula" and stopped reading it. But from what I did finish, Dracula didn't seem all that tormented at all. From what I saw he actually reveled in his nature and was in fact trying to recruit the main heroin into his harem of undead brides. Not seeing much self-loathing here.
Now one of the more popular vampire stories these days is Twilight. I'd like to point out something about the main character from the movie previews I've seen. More than a fair amount of the movie takes place during the day time. Now by folkloric definition, vampires cannot go out during the day or they die. That's not an opinion, that's the very root of the vampiric mythology. The fact that the hero of the Twilight story, Edmund apparently spends his days doing anything other than sleeping kind implies that he's not a vampire at all, but more of a Highlander with Renfield's Syndrome (look it up. it's a real thing). And as the story goes, he's several hundred years old and a virgin! How on earth could one live that long looking like someone on his way to tryouts for some boy-band and not have gotten laid at least once over the centuries?! Is that even physically possible? Okay, maybe it's a moral thing for him, adultery and such. But then how the FUCK can you reconcile drinking the blood of a living human to stay alive and consider sex wrong? It defies rational thought. Seriously, I can feel my brain cells popping like a bowl of rice crispies just considering it.
Now don't get me wrong, I am quite fascinated by various folkloric figures. But you can bet dollars to pesos that not one of them has ever been a masturbatory fantasy for me. That being said, all you vampire lovers need to get your heads out of your asses and find something better to do with your time.
I just don't get the allure anymore. People think they're erotic? Nosferatu was not fucking sexy, he was about as deformed a creature as I've ever seen. The myth has also been kind of appended to the extent that a vampire's bite is supposed to bring an almost orgasmic sensation. Now I didn't make it too far into Bram Stoker's "Dracula", but from what I remember, getting bit by the him hurt like a mother fucker and left his victims paralyzed and unable to resist. As for their unnatural beauty, without fail, the only hot chicks in any vampire movie are the ones who aren't vampires. What does that tell you? Bella Lugosi was probably the last (if not only) mildly handsome yet believable creature of the night.
Maybe that's what people like so much. Vampires are hunters in the darkness. Well guess what people? SO ARE RAPISTS!! And I don't see any spooky-sexy movies about the guy in a ski mask who holds a knife at your throat while you're at the ATM at 2 a.m and fucks you against your will.
Perhaps the main draw with vampires is that they hunt living beings and kill them in order to sustain themselves. Jeffrey Dahmer did that too, and if we hear about anyone sexually attracted to someone like that we assume they're not right in the head. Here's some food for thought, vampires drain the blood from living beings in order to sustain themselves. Sometimes they don't even kill their victims. They leave said victims alive so they can drink from them again later. There's a word for people like that: parasite. That's right, vampires are basically super-powered humans with the feeding habits of a flea. Not something I'd consider hot.
I suppose one of the main draws of vampires nowadays is that they seem tormented. I'll freely admit that I got bored reading "Dracula" and stopped reading it. But from what I did finish, Dracula didn't seem all that tormented at all. From what I saw he actually reveled in his nature and was in fact trying to recruit the main heroin into his harem of undead brides. Not seeing much self-loathing here.
Now one of the more popular vampire stories these days is Twilight. I'd like to point out something about the main character from the movie previews I've seen. More than a fair amount of the movie takes place during the day time. Now by folkloric definition, vampires cannot go out during the day or they die. That's not an opinion, that's the very root of the vampiric mythology. The fact that the hero of the Twilight story, Edmund apparently spends his days doing anything other than sleeping kind implies that he's not a vampire at all, but more of a Highlander with Renfield's Syndrome (look it up. it's a real thing). And as the story goes, he's several hundred years old and a virgin! How on earth could one live that long looking like someone on his way to tryouts for some boy-band and not have gotten laid at least once over the centuries?! Is that even physically possible? Okay, maybe it's a moral thing for him, adultery and such. But then how the FUCK can you reconcile drinking the blood of a living human to stay alive and consider sex wrong? It defies rational thought. Seriously, I can feel my brain cells popping like a bowl of rice crispies just considering it.
Now don't get me wrong, I am quite fascinated by various folkloric figures. But you can bet dollars to pesos that not one of them has ever been a masturbatory fantasy for me. That being said, all you vampire lovers need to get your heads out of your asses and find something better to do with your time.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
The Global Connection
People rave about how the internet has connected the world into one giant, electronic, global village. Have people lost all desire for privacy and individuality? I know that I haven't. There are people who actually post everything about their lives on their blogs. That seems like kind of a waste of time and energy. Granted I'm sure they're never at a loss for things to talk about, but why? That question covers a lot of ground, so I'll elaborate.
Why do they feel the need to put their food preferences, their sex lives, and life in general on display? Does Joe Average really think that people care? Chances are if these people were of any consequence, they wouldn't be self-publishing their biography as it happens. We all know that's what the media is for. Not only that, but media has the power to make people's lives seem entertaining. Perhaps, Joe thinks he's connecting with people on a personal level?
Why does Joe Average think that having readers in Algeria or Norway is of more substance than connecting with someone in person? If I want to connect with people I'll go to a party, or a bar, or even just talk with a neighbor. If you want to connect with someone don't tell the world. The world is not a person, and no amount of hits on your website is going to be a substitute for talking with someone face to face.
Some people might say that their blog or Facebook or Twitter or what-have-you, allows people to feel a sense of community. Well if people want to feel a sense of community, why don't they get more involved with it? People talk about how the internet let's people connect as a group? Well there's a little website called meetup.com which exists for just that purpose! It exists solely for helping people with mutual interests get together in the flesh to engage in or discuss these interests. It can be anything from some silly activist movement to role-playing games, cooking, or anything you can think of. If you want to feel some community connection, go to this website, or move to a smaller town. Despite what the urban sprawl of the United States would have you think, there are still small burgs where everyone knows and cares about the business of everyone else.
Now one might argue that my own blog renders me hypocritical in such matters as these. After all I'm posting all these essays online where anyone can read them. Well to date I'm only aware of six, maybe seven people who have actually read even one of these essays. The difference though is that I understand why I'm posting these here. One: It's free.
Two: It saves room on my computer's already bursting hard-drive
Three: These essays are relevant. Not just to me, but to anyone with two working brain cells who find their way here.
Four: I need to give vent to my thoughts and this seems like a good enough place to do it. It's kind of like mental exercise.
But I don't delude myself into thinking that I'm making friends doing this. Hell if some far left activist came across this blog, I'd probably start receiving death threats. But this page is largely for my own benefit. But believe what you like.
My point is that if people are posting online journals that anyone can read, don't do so under the pretense of making friends. Just admit to yourself that you're an exhibitionist or just trying to make yourself feel important. I think I can safely say that the only time either of those things is wrong is if you're not doing anything to make yourself a better person. So to quote Edward R. Murrow, "Good night, and good luck".
Why do they feel the need to put their food preferences, their sex lives, and life in general on display? Does Joe Average really think that people care? Chances are if these people were of any consequence, they wouldn't be self-publishing their biography as it happens. We all know that's what the media is for. Not only that, but media has the power to make people's lives seem entertaining. Perhaps, Joe thinks he's connecting with people on a personal level?
Why does Joe Average think that having readers in Algeria or Norway is of more substance than connecting with someone in person? If I want to connect with people I'll go to a party, or a bar, or even just talk with a neighbor. If you want to connect with someone don't tell the world. The world is not a person, and no amount of hits on your website is going to be a substitute for talking with someone face to face.
Some people might say that their blog or Facebook or Twitter or what-have-you, allows people to feel a sense of community. Well if people want to feel a sense of community, why don't they get more involved with it? People talk about how the internet let's people connect as a group? Well there's a little website called meetup.com which exists for just that purpose! It exists solely for helping people with mutual interests get together in the flesh to engage in or discuss these interests. It can be anything from some silly activist movement to role-playing games, cooking, or anything you can think of. If you want to feel some community connection, go to this website, or move to a smaller town. Despite what the urban sprawl of the United States would have you think, there are still small burgs where everyone knows and cares about the business of everyone else.
Now one might argue that my own blog renders me hypocritical in such matters as these. After all I'm posting all these essays online where anyone can read them. Well to date I'm only aware of six, maybe seven people who have actually read even one of these essays. The difference though is that I understand why I'm posting these here. One: It's free.
Two: It saves room on my computer's already bursting hard-drive
Three: These essays are relevant. Not just to me, but to anyone with two working brain cells who find their way here.
Four: I need to give vent to my thoughts and this seems like a good enough place to do it. It's kind of like mental exercise.
But I don't delude myself into thinking that I'm making friends doing this. Hell if some far left activist came across this blog, I'd probably start receiving death threats. But this page is largely for my own benefit. But believe what you like.
My point is that if people are posting online journals that anyone can read, don't do so under the pretense of making friends. Just admit to yourself that you're an exhibitionist or just trying to make yourself feel important. I think I can safely say that the only time either of those things is wrong is if you're not doing anything to make yourself a better person. So to quote Edward R. Murrow, "Good night, and good luck".
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Climbing the pyramid
I'm in a class right now that's supposed to teach people how to be successful, both in school and in life. That's all it's supposed to do: teach people success. In fact, the class is called Student Success. Today I realized that only two people in my class have the potential for such success, assuming that others don't get their act together. Only two. That leaves about 28 sets of dreams dashed like so many pieces of broken china upon the hardwood floor of life. I won't detail who those two are, since they aren't relevant to what I have to tell you.
I was speaking with my professor before leaving class today and he mentioned that he was nearly done with the subject material he wanted to cover by the end of the semester, bear in mind, the semester is less than halfway over. He said that there just isn't much to teach about success. He normally teaches economics, see; and in economics, there's more to teach than just supply and demand. There's also theory. In fact there's lots of it. It's kind of like philosophy. The core of philosophy is generally 'who(are we?), what(does it mean to be?), and why(are we here?)'. Now that's just philosophy in a nutshell. Imagine the obscene amounts of philosophical theory!
Success is much more cut and dry. To be successful, you must perform and achieve your very best. If you can't or won't do that, then success will be forever beyond your grasp. More than that though, you must constantly expand on what you can achieve. Some people claim that they tend to crack if expected to perform under the constant pressure of performing at their peak. That's fine. Every company needs cubicle meat, and those are the lazy bastards that fill that very mediocre part of the ecosystem. Since life is constant competition, you must achieve more and perform better than everyone else who wants what you want. Despite what your kindergarten teacher and therapist tells you, not everyone is a unique snowflake. You wanna be a multi-million dollar singer? You want to be a doctor? You wanna be a teacher? Tough cookies! Millions of people want just what you want and may, in fact, be better qualified to get what you want more than you are.
You want success? Well you gotta get more well rounded and versatile than the competition. You also have to realize that the other people who want what you want are being your friends because they're trying to see if you know something that they don't. If you want to play your cards close to the vest, that's fine. Understand though, that if you meet up with someone who has some grand dream in common with you, you should try and see if you can pry any loose bits of information from them, also. You have to keep an eye on those who have the same goals you do. One day you may find you and them at a job interview, and if they know your weak area, you can bet that they've got it covered. That's right, the friends you make filling out a job application aren't just being friendly because you and them have something in common...he's scoping out the competition.
Also, you must realize that if you want to succeed you must smash the competition. You're kindergarten teacher may have taught you that as long as everyone plays we all always win. Anyone who's watched the Olympics, even once knows that only one person walks away with the title "Best in the world at _____". Everyone else returns home ashamed to train for another four years. So your teacher was full of bullshit, not to put too fine a point on it. In order to succeed, you must break some hearts. This means you will need to cause some hurt to others. For some of us, this might not be a problem (it might even be fun!), but many people raised in the bondage of conventional morality won't want to hurt anyone. And while it's true that we're all unique, we're not all special.
Finally, to win at life, you must know yourself. You might be thinking, 'hey I already know who I am, fuck you!' Well knowing your identity isn't the same as knowing who you are. You need to take your list of 'likes' and 'dislikes' and 'about me' sections and ask why you like or dislike them or why or how you are who you are. This tells you a little bit about your beliefs. From there, you need to ask yourself 'why' until there is nothing left to question. You also need to ask some very serious questions about yourself as a human being. This is much tougher than it sounds, since most people answer their own internal questions in a way that will avoid causing a negative self-image. I'll tell you now, if you ask yourself who you are and you like all the answers, you lied to yourself. I asked myself some very important questions about myself about a year ago ('What do I want?, What can I have?, Can I do more?' just to name a few) and I felt ashamed of myself and almost hated who I was. Now I know that I had only taken the first step on the road of success.
If someone hasn't told you already, I'm telling you now: Life is unfair. Life is made of hard work for pain when you'd rather just sit back and have a beer. I assume if you're reading this, you're looking for a profound truth. Well here it is: There is no secret to success, only a plan of action. If you want to succeed you must do nothing less than your best. You must also make sure that today's best is tomorrow's worst (in other words, constantly evolve). You also need to make sure you can do better than everyone around you. You must have the gravel in your guts to be able to smash the dreams of those who want what you want. Finally, and most importantly, you must know yourself. Now try filling up a whole semester with that and you'll see why I'm glad I'm not my teacher.
I was speaking with my professor before leaving class today and he mentioned that he was nearly done with the subject material he wanted to cover by the end of the semester, bear in mind, the semester is less than halfway over. He said that there just isn't much to teach about success. He normally teaches economics, see; and in economics, there's more to teach than just supply and demand. There's also theory. In fact there's lots of it. It's kind of like philosophy. The core of philosophy is generally 'who(are we?), what(does it mean to be?), and why(are we here?)'. Now that's just philosophy in a nutshell. Imagine the obscene amounts of philosophical theory!
Success is much more cut and dry. To be successful, you must perform and achieve your very best. If you can't or won't do that, then success will be forever beyond your grasp. More than that though, you must constantly expand on what you can achieve. Some people claim that they tend to crack if expected to perform under the constant pressure of performing at their peak. That's fine. Every company needs cubicle meat, and those are the lazy bastards that fill that very mediocre part of the ecosystem. Since life is constant competition, you must achieve more and perform better than everyone else who wants what you want. Despite what your kindergarten teacher and therapist tells you, not everyone is a unique snowflake. You wanna be a multi-million dollar singer? You want to be a doctor? You wanna be a teacher? Tough cookies! Millions of people want just what you want and may, in fact, be better qualified to get what you want more than you are.
You want success? Well you gotta get more well rounded and versatile than the competition. You also have to realize that the other people who want what you want are being your friends because they're trying to see if you know something that they don't. If you want to play your cards close to the vest, that's fine. Understand though, that if you meet up with someone who has some grand dream in common with you, you should try and see if you can pry any loose bits of information from them, also. You have to keep an eye on those who have the same goals you do. One day you may find you and them at a job interview, and if they know your weak area, you can bet that they've got it covered. That's right, the friends you make filling out a job application aren't just being friendly because you and them have something in common...he's scoping out the competition.
Also, you must realize that if you want to succeed you must smash the competition. You're kindergarten teacher may have taught you that as long as everyone plays we all always win. Anyone who's watched the Olympics, even once knows that only one person walks away with the title "Best in the world at _____". Everyone else returns home ashamed to train for another four years. So your teacher was full of bullshit, not to put too fine a point on it. In order to succeed, you must break some hearts. This means you will need to cause some hurt to others. For some of us, this might not be a problem (it might even be fun!), but many people raised in the bondage of conventional morality won't want to hurt anyone. And while it's true that we're all unique, we're not all special.
Finally, to win at life, you must know yourself. You might be thinking, 'hey I already know who I am, fuck you!' Well knowing your identity isn't the same as knowing who you are. You need to take your list of 'likes' and 'dislikes' and 'about me' sections and ask why you like or dislike them or why or how you are who you are. This tells you a little bit about your beliefs. From there, you need to ask yourself 'why' until there is nothing left to question. You also need to ask some very serious questions about yourself as a human being. This is much tougher than it sounds, since most people answer their own internal questions in a way that will avoid causing a negative self-image. I'll tell you now, if you ask yourself who you are and you like all the answers, you lied to yourself. I asked myself some very important questions about myself about a year ago ('What do I want?, What can I have?, Can I do more?' just to name a few) and I felt ashamed of myself and almost hated who I was. Now I know that I had only taken the first step on the road of success.
If someone hasn't told you already, I'm telling you now: Life is unfair. Life is made of hard work for pain when you'd rather just sit back and have a beer. I assume if you're reading this, you're looking for a profound truth. Well here it is: There is no secret to success, only a plan of action. If you want to succeed you must do nothing less than your best. You must also make sure that today's best is tomorrow's worst (in other words, constantly evolve). You also need to make sure you can do better than everyone around you. You must have the gravel in your guts to be able to smash the dreams of those who want what you want. Finally, and most importantly, you must know yourself. Now try filling up a whole semester with that and you'll see why I'm glad I'm not my teacher.
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