Whoa, A post?
In the long standing blog tradition of commenting on how long it's been since I've last posted "damn yo, it's been forever."
Now that's that's over with, I realize I think wayyy too much about my environment and those who surround me. But in some ways I can't help it, people are natually intriguing, everybody is strange in some way or another, and finding those interesting bits is by far one of the most rewarding parts of interacting with people. From what I've seen, everybody I make an effort to talk to on a regular basis has something interesting to say or some interesting way of looking at the world. People tell you to "put yourself in other people's shoes" and it would be really cool if we could... but as of yet, I see no real way to do this as people's experiences make for drastically different world views. If I ever get to truly know more than a handfull of people it would be an amazing feat...
All these small differences make for the amazing diversity that we see in the world today, however, we seem to choose mediocrety and repression, thinking these differences will divide us, where as homogeny will get others to like us, it seems that we as a society do not place a high value on individuality, much more so on what we all share in common. What good is it to talk about the things that everybody agrees on? What end will it serve to just have a world wide conversational circle jerk? Seems pointless and worse yet, counterproductive (see side rant). Thankfully I have come to see that there are those who are willing to be individuals, to demonstrate and communicate their unique world view to others, because from what I've seen the more you know the more you know about where other people are coming from, the more informed your descisions will be. If those who think they are right never speak up there will never be any change. The best part about that, is if there is some level of dialogue between people with very different backgrounds everybody will benefit... and shit just for taking a few hours out of your life to get some real education in, sounds like a pretty good deal to me.
Side rant: I believe this sort of conversation is counterproductive because it enforces the idea that everybody does have a world view more or less the same as everybody else's, which from my personal experience couldn't be further from the truth. And although it is a good feeling to know that you share common ground with other people, I still wonder about how many problems are caused by the fact that people think everybody else views a given situation the same way they do.
I realize I may sound more than a little dramatic about these things, and perhaps they've been blown out of porportion from stewing in my head for a little too long, but there is no excuse for what one thinks, if you think I'm wrong say so.
-Martin
-End Rant-
Now that's that's over with, I realize I think wayyy too much about my environment and those who surround me. But in some ways I can't help it, people are natually intriguing, everybody is strange in some way or another, and finding those interesting bits is by far one of the most rewarding parts of interacting with people. From what I've seen, everybody I make an effort to talk to on a regular basis has something interesting to say or some interesting way of looking at the world. People tell you to "put yourself in other people's shoes" and it would be really cool if we could... but as of yet, I see no real way to do this as people's experiences make for drastically different world views. If I ever get to truly know more than a handfull of people it would be an amazing feat...
All these small differences make for the amazing diversity that we see in the world today, however, we seem to choose mediocrety and repression, thinking these differences will divide us, where as homogeny will get others to like us, it seems that we as a society do not place a high value on individuality, much more so on what we all share in common. What good is it to talk about the things that everybody agrees on? What end will it serve to just have a world wide conversational circle jerk? Seems pointless and worse yet, counterproductive (see side rant). Thankfully I have come to see that there are those who are willing to be individuals, to demonstrate and communicate their unique world view to others, because from what I've seen the more you know the more you know about where other people are coming from, the more informed your descisions will be. If those who think they are right never speak up there will never be any change. The best part about that, is if there is some level of dialogue between people with very different backgrounds everybody will benefit... and shit just for taking a few hours out of your life to get some real education in, sounds like a pretty good deal to me.
Side rant: I believe this sort of conversation is counterproductive because it enforces the idea that everybody does have a world view more or less the same as everybody else's, which from my personal experience couldn't be further from the truth. And although it is a good feeling to know that you share common ground with other people, I still wonder about how many problems are caused by the fact that people think everybody else views a given situation the same way they do.
I realize I may sound more than a little dramatic about these things, and perhaps they've been blown out of porportion from stewing in my head for a little too long, but there is no excuse for what one thinks, if you think I'm wrong say so.
-Martin
-End Rant-