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*

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.

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".

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.

Take the goat by the horns

An acquaintance of mine recently asked me "What has Satanism done for you?" Well I often find it hard to answer that question, largely because I find myself focusing on myself rather than my religious leanings. This evening though, an answer came to me as I was shaving; and so I share it with you, dear reader.

Satanism didn't do anything for me. Satanism is merely a religious philosophy. Like any religion, philosophy, or ideal it can't do anything by itself. It's like momentum: it can move things or people as long as there are things to be moved. To put it more succinctly, Satanism is a tool. It can't do anything for you any more than a gun can deliver unto you a dead deer or a wrench can fix your plumbing. These tools can do nothing on their own. They can only give you the means to do what you want them to. In other words, Satanism can't make you sexier or smarter or a better human being. Nor can it give you the motivation to do those things. What it can do is give you reasons to do all of those things yourself.

So then you might wonder 'How did you use Satanism to help yourself?' Well Satanism is a religion that encourages selfishness. Rather than concern yourself with others, you should wonder more about what you can make Satanism do for yourself. Asking what it does for someone else should be relatively obvious; it gave me the tools to make myself the person I am today. If you like the person I am or hate my guts, either one is fine. Do not misinterpret me though, the Church of Satan does not make someone into anything they are not already capable of being. In other words unless you're already an outstanding individual, Satanism won't make you into one. You should also never tread the Left Hand Path lightly. Embracing Satanism because your hero is or because the love of your life has will only end in your own troubles. Those are the actions of sycophantic followers, and the Church of Satan has no room for such people. If you know a Satanist though, and are intrigued by the thought of what you can make of yourself on that path...well that's a different story.

So to conclude. The simple answer to the above question is this: Satanism didn't do anything for me. It enlightened me as to why I should do things for myself. Also, if you're potentially Satanic material; you should focus less on me and more on yourself.

Social Slavery

A common buzzword in use today is "Political Correctness". It's a silly concept really. You can't not minimize anyone all the time. Anytime you praise yourself, you immediately minimize everyone surrounding you. If you state that you prefer any culture over another, you're being politically incorrect. There's no escaping it.

I won't excuse those who go about intentionally insulting other races, cultures, ideas, policies or behaviors. But I will excuse their right to do so. That's our right to free speech. Unfortunately, not hurting peoples' delicate sensibilities seems to trump our freedoms. Mass media is beating our constitution to a pulp. Just how sad is that?

Mass media has put people into a position where we are vilified for having opinions that differ from others. This means that while you're still entitled to your First Amendment right, you will become a social pariah for exercising it. This is because inevitably there would be someone who feels offended by your opinion. No matter what you say, your hands are tied by political correctness.

What's more ridiculous is the fact that political correctness has no use to the common man. Look at that first word there: political. I could see political correctness being useful or even necessary if I were (just off the top of my head) a politician. But I'm not. There's no demographic I need to target or suck up to. Hence it's useless.

So keep this in mind: Every time you say 'people of color' or 'African-American' you may be sparing the feelings of some pansy black man, but you're also being the victim of the Thought Police. So exercise your First Amendment right, you can't possibly protect everyone around you. Trying to do so shows that you are only a slave trained by society at large. If you would be free you must throw off the shackles of political correctness. If you want to be politically correct, then you should just take a vow of silence.

-Hail,
Wormwood

Misery loves company

Misery visits all of us in our own time. Lets face it, happiness and fulfillment are impossible to feel 100% of the time. Such despondency can actually be fought off though. Mainly misery can be avoided by always finding something to accomplish or learn. It could be fought off by reading a new book, or cooking a new recipe, or spending time with a pet. Those always work for me. People only feel miserable because they allow themselves to.

It is said that misery loves company. I'm of the belief that this phrase was coined by those miserable people who spent as much time around others as they could, so they could spread to others the despair that they, themselves, felt. That being said one must always make an effort to avoid those afflicted with misery. You let a miserable friend in to comfort them and by the time they leave they'll have you contemplating a suicide pact. I know, I make it sound like a disease, right? Well it is. Misery is an emotional disease. Misery is an emotional black hole which sucks in productivity, strength and joy and spits out dependency, weakness and any negative emotion you'd rather not be feeling.

And believe it or not, the miserable are not to be blamed for this. They're just carriers. Plague dogs infected at the source. There isn't only one source of this epidemic either, that's why it's so scary. It can come from the media in the form of standards of beauty that are impossible to live up to. It can come from performance at work that remains un-recognized. The reasons are varied. The cure can be even more so.

Misery is an emotional disease, as I've already established. So the only way to get rid of it is an emotional cure. I mentioned learning something new. I also mentioned spending time with a beloved pet (not necessarily a non-human one). Nearly anything that can remind you of your self-worth can blow away the blues (not the music). However, it must remain said that no one can do this for you. If you weren't aware of that self-worth before, it's going to be even more difficult finding a reason to feel good about yourself and your life. These are primarily the people who end up losing all hope and looping a rope around their neck.

So keep in mind, that misery comes to us all. But only the strong brush it off like an annoying case of the common cold. The weak will carry it with them everywhere and spread it around just to validate their own feelings of worthlessness and try to make others feel as bad (or worse than) themselves. The weak despair of even making something of themselves or solving their problems. The strong will never question the purpose of their lives. The weak will question whether there even is a purpose. Just remember, everyone's life has problems, but all problems are fixable.