my newfound philosophy, partially thanks to you folks

Post Reply New Topic

Ever since those 48 Laws of Power, it's like my brain was jumpstarted, making connections I've never made before.

During that, I came up with a newfound philosophy regarding life, and I wanted to share it with all of you, since it was you that got me to really think.

Basically, this was what I copied and pasted from what I sent my boss( yes, I'm showing it to everyone):



I showed the 48 Laws to my Dad, and he flipped out, going "these laws are crazy, and so intensely loaded with contradictions...", to which I responded "and most human behavior ISN'T?"

I then said to him "THIS is what humans SHOULD follow", pointing to his book Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand, "but THIS is what they DO follow", I said, pointing to the Laws.

From that point on, I started making a thousand connections regarding human behavior that I never made before...started seeing things "outside of the box" if you will.

One thing I figured out was simply this: there's nature, and then there's the nature of humans. Nature is run by logic. Humans are for the most part run by emotion. Sure, they're blown away by science & technology, but show 'em a new philosophy, no matter how good, and they're totally freaked out by it.

Nature and the Nature of Humans clash constantly; need proof? Check history. There have been WAAAAAAAAAY more "downtimes" than there have been "upswings" for civilization, and the very reason for that is due to one law I absolutely loved, cause I hear it all the time, is this:

People don't like change; they like the IDEA of it, but they don't like it.

Change frightens and confuses people. Take the Enlightenment: things were going swell 'til Emmanuel Kant released his philosophy which came down to: "reject reason, go with your feelings and emotion". At the drop of a hat, his philosophy was embraced like crazy, cause it was what people were already used to, and had been used to since Day 1.

This is where my mentality about voting came in: You could press the "reset" button on the Constitution tomorrow, give it 1 year, we'd be back exactly where we are now, cause THAT'S HOW PEOPLE LIKE IT.

That's how people did things during Ogg the Caveman's days, during Ancient Egypt, Greek & Roman era, Medieval Times, and so on and so forth.

Sure...the signing of the Constitution and the Revolutionary War were a major feat for civilization...and HOW long did the preservations of the won freedoms last? Ohhh...about 15 years, barely....

I don't care if we live in a Democratic Republic, or where we live: money is power, and it comes down to that.

The golden rule is "whoever has the gold makes the rules", and you yourself even know how true that is.

The whole thing about Republican Vs Democrat? Total joke, pretty much.

People are seeing it from such an enclosed spectrum it ain't even funny.

I mean...one night I decided to head to Rush Limbaugh's website, and...after discovering my newfound philosophy, the whole thing just seems so hammy and lame.

It's a bunch of people arguing over nothing, cause they think it actually makes a significant impact; it doesn't. What makes the impact is MONEY.

Yes, I'm a free-market Capitalist, but I also realize most of the world ISN'T, and never WILL be...hell, they don't even understand what it is.

In fact, another point I'd like to make: take the Great Depression. I've said many times in the past it was government sabotage that caused it. Well...yes, but there's more to it.

Were people attempting to live beyond their means when they couldn't afford to? Sure...but they've been doing that since the days of Aristotle; nothing different there. I've always said we see more bad economies in our life than good economies...hell, if you're lucky you'll see maybe 7 years of a good economy at best, before downtime.

But to top that off, what is government? People. People elected by OTHER people. And regardless of what the people say about the elected officials, those officials DO represent the people and their desires. I'm not by any stretch saying most of those desires are well-thought out, either, which explains quite a bit, which is again, why I say "oh, but they DO represent you".

So, do humans ever choose to make improvements? Yeah, sure...but usually those improvements only last for a short time; then it's right back to Stupidville.

Now, while I see most humans now basically as I've described, there's a very tiny minority of humans who are a cut above the rest, make everything work, keep everything going, and come up with all the innovations. These humans are the "odd man out", who handle everything "behind the curtain" so to speak. These are, as far as I'm concerned, that 2% ya hear about.

The funny thing is...this 2% usually does it for the commonfolk, because these humans are so damn smart, they don't really need the commonfolk to make their lives better; they already know how to do it on their own.

So, that's my take on the whole issue, and why I'm really questioning voting now; I'll give two more national elections and chance, and if I see no improvement, no longer voting. I MIGHT still do it for state, but we'll see.

I hope you've enjoyed learning about my new philosophical outlook; it really opened my eyes, and feel so free now.

And one other thing you should know: when you hear all that jive about "inflation", understand one simple thing...it all comes back to money, again. So, when that loaf of bread suddenly costs $10, make sure you have $20; that's all there is to it.

No. Humanity has had more "uptimes" than "downtimes." During most of our history, we have lived in relative peace. The Roman Empire, for most of its history, was ruled with many of the same attitudes of modern government; they even made great, arms-wide gestures of cultural liberalism.

The reason that humanity seems fated to misery is simple: the most positive experience in life is doing a full day's work with coworkers you enjoy the company of, looking forward to a good supper, having the time to play with your children, and having the energy to make more children. It's very repetitive, so nobody really takes note of it.

The most important thing to understand about humanity, though, is that we are really just a variety of ape. Trying to be something better is tough, but I honestly think we spend most of our time doing a fair job of it.

I think you're absolutely right, ThisisjusthowItalk- the majority of human beings live together peacefully and try to do the right thing most of the time. It's easy to get a negative impression from the nightly news or reading the newspapers, but most of humanity's not too bad.

We're quite far away from chimps, really. It's not that we're emotionally so different; it's just that having the ability to use sophisticated tools, pass information along via symbolic language, and create large-scale societies has changed who we are. It's not a matter of natural selection anymore; not much, anyway. We're working with information now. Information--about culture, about philosophy, about engineering--is our heritage more than our DNA ever will be.

Wow....when the folks on this forum don't even get what I'm saying, now I'm scared; you guys understand me better than anyone else, and even you're being sucked into the vacuum of "within the box" that the majority of others I've tried to explain this to did.

When I said "downtimes", I wasn't necessarily referring to war...I was actually referring to economically, and in many cases even times of mass ignorance, barbarism, and faith-based belief, such as the Dark Ages.

I never said humans were by nature evil or anything...I said they're run by emotion over logic, for the most part.

True change scares the living &^%$ out of most people, as they're already perfectly comfortable with their lives...they just want to complain to feel important.

Now that I believe that I've seen the "forest for the trees", I feel so free it's uncanny. It all just makes so much sense to me, now...

I also showed my argument to my boss at work....he LOVED it.

The realization is the most important part; don't let the reaction of others lessen how you feel... enjoy the clarity and work to incorporate the understanding into your daily life. I think the recognition that humanity is driven by conflicting and erratically charged forces is something to work from.


M.

Well, Doc, if you're planning on abandoning the one thing that actually stands an outside chance of letting you effect any kind of change - voting - then what's the point of your philosophical epiphany? Or have you chosen to simply surrender to the lure of nihilism?

Ah, but by not voting you are ensuring that you have no effect; by voting, small pressures change impressions over time. Reactionary inaction serves you how? There is so much that one can do, is it such a terrible thing to make that effort? Not trying to be inflammatory; asking in all seriousness.


M.

*chuckle* Completely understand; I don't agree, as I find money more a necessary evil than a functional device, but I do understand... for me, there is little value in money beyond the fact that it works at this time.


M.