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Personal Exploration of People, Personalities and Meaning
Browsing All Posts published on »September, 2011«
Emancipate Yourself from Mental Slavery: Freethinker or Well Programmed Automaton
Like Rome of old, each one of us knowingly or unknowingly incorporates personal experiences into our existing playbook; the repertoire of who we are and how we interact with the world around us. It can be as mundane and innocent as incorporating lines from movies into day-to-day communications with friends. I can recall how 25-40% of my vocabulary with friends in high school was driven from endlessly repeating lines from movies or television shows like: Stripes, Caddyshack, SCTV, Blade Runner, Harold and Maude, Repo Man, etc. Why, because in that community of friends, it was expected. It was understood that if you wanted to engage with these folks successfully, you needed to have a familiarity with these kinds of movies or shows. People gained their sense of identify from being in that group.
Sometimes We Get Lost
September 18, 2011
There are times in my life when I can become almost paralyzed by a continual self-examination and the attempt to break down my own thoughts, actions and the motivations behind them. Other times, it can feel like days, months and even years go by with barely even a rudimentary acknowledgement of their passing or personal reflection back upon them. Why at times I am one way and other times I am another, I don't fully understand, but what I do know is that in this tumultuous life, it is easy to get lost. The worst kind of 'being lost' being when we do not even realize how lost we are, because in our own minds, we have deceived ourselves into believing we have it all together.
Modern Christianity: All Take and No Give
September 16, 2011
As human beings we all carry within ourselves a myriad of past experiences; some joyful and others painful, each uniquely shaping the way that we make sense of the world around us. All of our life experiences change us. Sometimes the effects are subtle almost imperceptible, while other times the influences are significant and life changing. We are changed, regardless of whether or not we are consciously aware of the impact or not. We live each day, we are altered and frequently, we are forced to develop more and more complex coping skills. These skill are employed on the hope that they can heighten our experiences of joy and lessen our experiences of pain.
Will the Real Me, Please Stand Up
September 14, 2011
You have this detailed image, a concept of who you are. You support it with a convenient set of memories of events which support your supposition. I am a decent, honest guy, trying to do the right thing, get through this life and hurt as few people as I can in the process. To continue believing that you also need to conveniently forget the times when you acted completely contrary to that carefully crafted image. You can think, for your entire life that you are one way and then in one defining moment, that glass house you have carefully built over the decades can be shattered. One day, you know who you are, everything is clear and you feel confident about your place in the universe; the next you are lost.
Christmas Tree Compromise
September 13, 2011
I know it's too early to start talking about Christmas, but I was thinking that many relationships or marriages are like picking out a Christmas Tree. These two roommates both love Christmas, but each of them has a very specific type of Christmas Tree that they like. One likes tall and thin trees while they other likes short and fat trees. Since they can't agree upon the type of tree that they like, they decide to compromise and a medium-sized tree and they both accept it but neither of them is truly delighted with it.
Does It Really Require Much Discernment to Separate the Authentic from the Counterfeit?
September 3, 2011
Even a casual watcher of American Idol Season 10 understands that there is a qualitative difference between a gifted professional singer and a hack. My definition of a hack being someone who seeks to convince others, along with themselves perhaps, that they are gifted at something which they are not. This lack of talent in that arena does not stop them from exercising it and even feeling good about their effort.
A Picture, Even if Painted with Words, Speaks Volumes
September 2, 2011
The human brain doesn't function/learn as if it had a hard drive to store specific knowledge and memories. While knowledge doesn't need to be packaged into campfire stories, using your own word, it does make it more "memorable". A picture, even if painted with words, speaks volumes. That’s what parables are and that’s why they are some memorable – pictures are the way our brains learn.
Sorry, Can’t Hear You over the Voice in My Head
September 1, 2011
The two most difficult things to patiently endure when discussing one’s personal beliefs with others has to do with: 1.Navigating the minefield of predisposed prejudices, assumptions and opinions that others have about your beliefs before you even have the chance to explain your position. It’s those Blind Spots that we all have. Sometimes that filter can be so strong, that they may not even be able to hear you over the voice in their own head. 2.Controlling your emotions when someone, intentionally or mistakenly, misrepresents your position. It’s the Straw man logical fallacy where you hold position X; someone disregards certain points of X and instead presents a similar position Y. Y being a distorted version of X. They then attack Y, concluding that position X is false. "A straw man is a component of an argument and is an informal fallacy based on misrepresentation of an opponent's position.[1] To "attack a straw man" is to create the illusion of having refuted a proposition by replacing it with a superficially similar yet unequivalent proposition (the "straw man"), and refuting it, without ever having actually refuted the original position." - Wikipedia.com
Scripta Manent 
September 27, 2011
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