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so im sitting here thinking about friends..... (pg. 2)
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| Floorfiller |
at least you have friends :(...all of my good friends are going away to grad school...now i have to make new ones...
sidenote: an ex girlfriend sent me an email today and sounds like she wants to hang out hmmmmmmm....jason...keep your pants on hehehe |
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| Nalin |
| quote: | Originally posted by Arbiter
Well, anywhere you go you will find that the majority of people live their lives in the pursuit of banal, meaningless goals which, even if they were to accomplish them, would leave them totally unfulfilled. But nowhere is this phenomenon more pronounced than in the United States, and it is not a coincidence.
I don't believe for a minute that this is some sort of inborn reflex: an instinct to pursue shallow goals. Rather, it is a learned behavior. And it shouldn't be difficult to see why so many people are learning it. From just about the time children are aware of the world around them, they are constantly bombarded with materialistic commercial imagery glorifying the value of possessions like a "big house" and "nice car," not to mention designer clothes, and a lifestyle where you "go out" (read - spend money) as much and as often as you can.
If you were a big corporation that wanted to make as much money as possible, would you want an intelligent, enterprising population of people with dreams and aspirations to obtain things that - gasp - money can't buy? Or would you rather have a bunch of "robots" who think the way to happiness in life involves putting as much of their cash in your pockets as possible? So natrually you'd take whatever steps you could to ensure people develop into the latter. And for the big media/entertainment industry, there are a lot of steps that can be taken.
Then, while kids are still learning the basics of the world you send them to public schools, where they can be taught the correct way to think. Oh, yeah, and they can learn that it's not OK to be different. That way, anyone who hasn't already been brainwashed by the entertainment business will be mocked, bullied, and "educated" into conforming with whatever trendy waste of money is the flavor of the day. And those with ideas that - heaven forbid - there might be more to life than buying as much you don't need as possible will quickly learn that they better keep their mouth shut, and they should probably re-evaluate their decision to actually think for themselves in an environment where blind acquiescence is not just "the way", but "the rule."
How many people are going to make it through all that with their individualism intact? Not many, and that's why it's hard to find interesting people if your idea of interesting isn't "wants a lot of money."
These people very much are robots, just made of biological parts: and they've been carefully engineered to be a means to an end, rather than an end in themselves.
It is... both a blessing and a curse to have avoiding falling victim to this yourself. You have kept open the possibility of living a genuinely meaningful life rather than serving as a shallow tool to further the materialistic hunger of the wealthy elite. But, you must also face the reality that there is little you can do to fix the problem. No matter where you go, the problem will still be there. You will meet people who once had all the potential in the world, and who have been reduced to mere automatons. If you are like me, you will experience a whole spectrum of emotions: anger, that this beautiful thing "human life" could be so perverted by people just for the sake of money, sadness that people who might otherwise have lived good lives are now miserable and yet seek to change nothing substantial, and nausea at the utter stupidity of a society which is a monument to everything shallow.
But there is also redemption in the knowledge that you are still free in this world, and there is great joy in finally finding someone who is worth your while. Our society - our "global society" is woefully sick, quite possibly beyond repair. Therefore, we must seek to transcend our society. In this, I wish you the best of luck.
Arbiter |
couldn't agree with you more esp with respect to it being a blessing and a curse - on the one hand its a great feeling to be above it all, and bitterly on the other hand is the realization that things will only get worse and that meeting truly down to earth people and/or mate is almost a futile attempt.
cynical as it sounds, im all for doomsday, anything to wipe out our largely disgusting kind :( |
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| Tranc3 |
| I've got a good idea of what you're talking about, but it's a bit different with me. Instead of being disappointed with them for being robotic (as you were saying), it's more the fact that I feel like I have to constantly dumb down my language when I talk to them. |
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| NomadaNare |
I think the ultimate goal in life is to be loved. That's all anybody really wants. People spend their lives trying to be the same because it makes them feel like they're apart of something. If you decide to be different, then you are usually not liked unless your the "cool" different guy (who's not really different at all). It's said that people are afraid of what they don't understand and that is generally true. It's hard to understand someone who thinks on a whole other level so usually people ridicule the outcasts. It's not any imposed thing, it's just the way people are. There will always be a hierarchy in society because thats human nature.
On another note though, there seems to be a growing trend of the consumer disillusioned. I'm sorry to say, but you haven't realized anything new. Many people have discovered this, and it actually seems to be becoming a cliche lately. It almost makes me wonder if the mass corporations who market all of this stuff aren't purposely making this new "intellectual revolution" just to further control the minds of the masses. Just a thought. |
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| SportTrance |
| quote: | Originally posted by NomadaNare
On another note though, there seems to be a growing trend of the consumer disillusioned. I'm sorry to say, but you haven't realized anything new. Many people have discovered this, and it actually seems to be becoming a cliche lately. It almost makes me wonder if the mass corporations who market all of this stuff aren't purposely making this new "intellectual revolution" just to further control the minds of the masses. Just a thought. |
well no I never said it was anything new, surely we've all seen and heard Pink Floyds The Wall....."all in all, we're just another brick in the wall"......."Midnight Express" and the scene where the professor talks about how we're all machines, with good machines bad machines.......Edward Scissor hands, among many other 50s make fun movies of people simultaneously driving out their driveway in the mornings off to work and back home.....The Matrix, etc...... all movies that silently imply the human, or atleast the american, lifestyle...... |
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| davinox |
| hahha you're one of those people who think that the hotel in Paris is better than the one 10 miles away. |
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| feeltheflow |
its like you took the thoughts out of my mind and wrote them down word for word..
pretty damn good..
hello anyways i hardly ever post but this is how I feel about it in regards to my life:
I cannot live my life as an insignificant person amongst the billions in the world..I think that most people are content with going through the motions of life and they look forward to graduating from school, getting the 9-5 job etc. but I'd sincerely rather kill myself than live that life..
i guess certain people have the desire to rise above and its good u should feed off of that..dont worry about 'friends' or anything just go with the flow...thats what I'm doing...
hi everybody anyways. |
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| Absolut_Vodka |
| SportTrance Ive noticed the same pattern in some of my friends two. Around 6 years ago I moved from a public school in sweden to a rather nice school in jakarta. We all graduated with high ambitiouns and big goals for our future. Every single one of us are hard workers and most of us managed to get into nice collages. Then I come back to sweden, and Im shocked to see that not a single of my old buds have any sort of plans for their future. They'll just go with the flow, and seem to be lost in where they want to go, and how they should achieve that goal. It doesnt bother me at all, its just that there is such a polar contrast. |
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| SportTrance |
| quote: | Originally posted by davinox
hahha you're one of those people who think that the hotel in Paris is better than the one 10 miles away. |
no all hotels are pretty much the same |
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| Arbiter |
| quote: | Originally posted by NomadaNare
I think the ultimate goal in life is to be loved. That's all anybody really wants. People spend their lives trying to be the same because it makes them feel like they're apart of something. If you decide to be different, then you are usually not liked unless your the "cool" different guy (who's not really different at all). It's said that people are afraid of what they don't understand and that is generally true. It's hard to understand someone who thinks on a whole other level so usually people ridicule the outcasts. It's not any imposed thing, it's just the way people are. There will always be a hierarchy in society because thats human nature. |
There is no doubt that most people are driven largely by a desire to elicit the approval and admiration of others. But I do not think it is human nature because it is a choice. You can choose to attribute value to someone's opinion or you can choose not to. Obviously, someone who attributes little value to their own opinion is likely to attribute more to the opinions of others. Conversely, those who attribute much value to their own opionion are likely to regard that of others as meaningless.
But I suspect that the lack of self-value that most people possess is the result of knowing that, at the core, they are not just another human guided by "human nature," but an individual who has to define his or her own existance. When they see so many other people behave a certain way, and see that they are punished for deviant behavior, then most will choose the path of least resistance and simply conform. And yet, they know that they are not being true to themselves and are rather just pretending to be a certain way. Hence, they are always doubtful on some level of whether or not they genuinely "fit in" or if others can see through their pretence.
Your life is what you make of it, and your goals will be whatever you choose them to be.
| quote: | | On another note though, there seems to be a growing trend of the consumer disillusioned. I'm sorry to say, but you haven't realized anything new. Many people have discovered this, and it actually seems to be becoming a cliche lately. It almost makes me wonder if the mass corporations who market all of this stuff aren't purposely making this new "intellectual revolution" just to further control the minds of the masses. Just a thought. |
I had noticed that as well, but I don't know what to make of these people. One minute, they're talking about how much they hate the materialism and then next they're bragging about what a nice car they own. They're probably just trying to sound smart in order to - as you suggested, obtain the approval of their "peers". |
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| davinox |
but the problem is that you see things in a purely social concept.
"oh if i do this and this and this, i'm somebody"
well, you are somebody right now. enjoy this precious moment of existence NOW. |
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| SportTrance |
| quote: | Originally posted by davinox
but the problem is that you see things in a purely social concept.
"oh if i do this and this and this, i'm somebody"
well, you are somebody right now. enjoy this precious moment of existence NOW. |
no no no, thats exactly the opposite of what im saying. I mentioned how so many seek excessive material possession, a successful job, etc....in the idea that, that will make them happy......when it comes down to it most people really just desire financial security, peace of mind.
the goal in life completely for everyone, is to be happy. If you're happy, no matter where you are, or what youre doing, in my opinion, thats the ultimate level you can achieve. You cant ask for more. |
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