fleshyorgans

hairdresser

via meatskull

Expialidocious gets stuck in my head a lot

There’s this guy on a mailing list I follow going on about how “the government” shouldn’t get involved with education. I’m not sure if the guy is a troll or not — typically the hallmark of a troll is the over-the-top hyperbole and subtle winks in the form of logical inconsistencies. 

Unfortunately, logical inconsistencies seem to be de rigeur for this type of argumentor.

Anyway, I think I’m beginning to form an internal model for those who oppose socialized services. Example: This gentleman does not support government-funded education at all because of the “danger of indoctrination”.  First: indoctrination is kind of loaded. EVERYONE indoctrinates. Parents are indoctrinating their kids when they say, “don’t hit your sister because I said so”. Churches indoctrinate by definition. Cultures indoctrinate subtly through mores and customs.

However, the use of that term indicates the poster’s personal bias, and stems from the subject of a previous post. This man cannot fathom the possibility of unbiased teaching because it is not in his nature to teach in an unbiased fashion. It’s kind of prosaic and obvious, but when confronted with a loud, impassioned individual it’s hard to remember that everyone is blinded by his own views.

I can’t argue with that person because my arguments have no weight with that person. The very principles my arguments are premised on have no value to him.

The older I get, the more I realize that the secret to being able to deal with existence is through acceptance.

I’ve been thinking about this for a little, while, but here are some things I’ve observed and experienced:

• In auto racing, in order to be fast around the corner you have to let yourself feel that you are afraid. You can’t put that fear aside if you don’t know what you are feeling — no one likes to feel afraid, so most people just do what it says without thinking. When you just start out, the secret is to let off the brakes as you enter the corner — do the opposite thing that fear tells you to do. Embrace that fear, acknowledge what it says, then decide if it is warranted. But you can’t make that decision if you don’t know what it’s saying.
• In order to be successful in martial arts, you have to acknowledge that you will acquire pain. In the same manner as racing, you must move towards the punch, let yourself be hit. Only if you move towards the perceived danger can you avoid it.
• Interpersonal interactions become difficult when your expectations are not met. I want my Signficant Other to be what I want them to be. When they are not, I complain and whine and try to mold them into my perfect vision. If I stop my complaining I can learn to accept (or even just acknowledge) how they are, I am closer to loving them than when I try to make them my “perfect” partner.

Thought of this on the drive this morning, while thinking about the utility of religion in life, and how people are militantly for or against it, sometimes.

Are you content or placated? Do you enjoy your lot, or is it simply that you have enough distractions to prevent you from noticing the things you don’t like.

I make no value assignment on “placated”, either. There’s nothing really wrong with living the latter kind of life. I don’t find it very fulfilling, personally, but many, many people have spent a lifetime in that mode.

I post this because it’s useful to think about my motivations for doing or thinking things or feeling certain ways, and it’s actually quite difficult sometimes to determine if I’m actually content or just hanging onto a pacifier.