.....She's a witch!!
So, in a very well developed conversation with Bob tonight, we began exploring what defines a person's ideals, and what makes them "fake". Now the word "fake" is defined as to contrive and present as genuine, or to counterfeit. When referring to people, we must assume that a person who is "fake" does not necesarilly genuinely believe all that he or she claims to stand for.
What my generation has developed is a culture so hellbent on individualism, that it has suddenly become blasphemy to learn from your peers or accept any thought that wasn't spawned from your own mind. If you agree with an unoriginal thought, then you are a poser.
The thing is that I must have missed when it stopped being okay to listen to your friends and accept their ideologies, if you think that they are good, and have well rounded reasons to follow them.
Today we have a whole generation flouting phrases like, "Well I am me, and if you don't like it, then shove it, because I don't change for *anybody*", and these are the kind of people that make me question what the real blasphemy is. We have all changed for somebody at some point in our lives, and to say that we haven't would be to kid a part of ourselves that really does exist, believe it or not... Have you ever modified your behaviors or habits in order to properly adapt to a new environment or situation in which is was absolutely necessary to change your perspective? Guess what--you've changed for somebody.
Human beings are sensory creatures. We perceive our world through a complex series of objective observations, and we interpret our world through subjective conclusions. One of the greatest cycles of observation we engage in is everything we sense through interpersonal relationships. We choose our friends and enemies by associating ourselves with people whose behavior and mannerisms we admire subjectively, and by disassociating ourselves from people whose behavior we subjectively determine earns no merit (keeping in mind that all subjective conclusions stem from objective observation).
One of the greatest things about this cycle of interaction is being able to incorporate the things you like about your peers into your own personality. I would argue that a more logical way to achieve immortality than going to church would be to place as many aspects of yourself into as many minds as possible, and perhaps your name would live on through word of mouth.
I never considered myself to be "fake" just because I like to emit things out of my own personality that I may have learned or acquired from somebody else. To blindly follow and become another person is unreasonable, but if your reasoning is true, then what else needs to be? I could recite a litany pertaining to everything that I've learned from my peers, but I'm afraid I don't have all night. But just to name a few for example...
In Mouse I see more tenacious ambition than in anybody else I've ever known, and what's more is that he is definitely in control of his own life, and knows exactly which direction he's going to steer it. He's what inspires my quest to one day do drum corps, and to not ever forfeit that goal.
In Cody I see the epitome of pure intellect and reason (along with a talent of expressing the two). Such a combination can be fierce and incredibly effective, which is probably why I like to think that I always know exactly what he's talking about because of how well he communicates. I think that I can say he inspires me to write journal entries such as this one, so maybe one day I'll be able to exchange ideas the way he does.
The Fees (Anna in particular) show me (even though I've spent my last years on a tirade agains organized religion) that not all people of faith are so blind in their views that they misconceive the world around them. The Fees are very good people, and I wish that more people could approach religion the way that they do. It may be a bit understated in this entry, but for me to say something like that is a monumental step in my journey to understanding the nature of a variety of people.
Every social interaction is a learning opportunity, and somewhere along the line we have made it unacceptable to learn things from each other without being labeled "fake". I challenge you to take a step back and look at all of your friends... Ask yourself why it is you've become their friend, and ask yourself how their presence in your life has had an impact. Ask yourself what you've learned from them, and maybe even explore if you think that your friendship has had an impact on their life.
Is everybody really as fake as we've labeled them?
What my generation has developed is a culture so hellbent on individualism, that it has suddenly become blasphemy to learn from your peers or accept any thought that wasn't spawned from your own mind. If you agree with an unoriginal thought, then you are a poser.
The thing is that I must have missed when it stopped being okay to listen to your friends and accept their ideologies, if you think that they are good, and have well rounded reasons to follow them.
Today we have a whole generation flouting phrases like, "Well I am me, and if you don't like it, then shove it, because I don't change for *anybody*", and these are the kind of people that make me question what the real blasphemy is. We have all changed for somebody at some point in our lives, and to say that we haven't would be to kid a part of ourselves that really does exist, believe it or not... Have you ever modified your behaviors or habits in order to properly adapt to a new environment or situation in which is was absolutely necessary to change your perspective? Guess what--you've changed for somebody.
Human beings are sensory creatures. We perceive our world through a complex series of objective observations, and we interpret our world through subjective conclusions. One of the greatest cycles of observation we engage in is everything we sense through interpersonal relationships. We choose our friends and enemies by associating ourselves with people whose behavior and mannerisms we admire subjectively, and by disassociating ourselves from people whose behavior we subjectively determine earns no merit (keeping in mind that all subjective conclusions stem from objective observation).
One of the greatest things about this cycle of interaction is being able to incorporate the things you like about your peers into your own personality. I would argue that a more logical way to achieve immortality than going to church would be to place as many aspects of yourself into as many minds as possible, and perhaps your name would live on through word of mouth.
I never considered myself to be "fake" just because I like to emit things out of my own personality that I may have learned or acquired from somebody else. To blindly follow and become another person is unreasonable, but if your reasoning is true, then what else needs to be? I could recite a litany pertaining to everything that I've learned from my peers, but I'm afraid I don't have all night. But just to name a few for example...
In Mouse I see more tenacious ambition than in anybody else I've ever known, and what's more is that he is definitely in control of his own life, and knows exactly which direction he's going to steer it. He's what inspires my quest to one day do drum corps, and to not ever forfeit that goal.
In Cody I see the epitome of pure intellect and reason (along with a talent of expressing the two). Such a combination can be fierce and incredibly effective, which is probably why I like to think that I always know exactly what he's talking about because of how well he communicates. I think that I can say he inspires me to write journal entries such as this one, so maybe one day I'll be able to exchange ideas the way he does.
The Fees (Anna in particular) show me (even though I've spent my last years on a tirade agains organized religion) that not all people of faith are so blind in their views that they misconceive the world around them. The Fees are very good people, and I wish that more people could approach religion the way that they do. It may be a bit understated in this entry, but for me to say something like that is a monumental step in my journey to understanding the nature of a variety of people.
Every social interaction is a learning opportunity, and somewhere along the line we have made it unacceptable to learn things from each other without being labeled "fake". I challenge you to take a step back and look at all of your friends... Ask yourself why it is you've become their friend, and ask yourself how their presence in your life has had an impact. Ask yourself what you've learned from them, and maybe even explore if you think that your friendship has had an impact on their life.
Is everybody really as fake as we've labeled them?