What really matters?

What matters?

Listen.

Read.

Think.

Communicate.

Nature, nurture heaven and home
Sum of all, and by them, driven
To conquer every mountain shown
But I've never crossed the river

Braved the forests, braved the stone
Braved the icy winds and fire
Braved and beat them on my own
Yet I'm helpless by the river

Angel, angel, what have I done?
I've faced the quakes, the wind, the fire
I've conquered country, crown, and throne
Why can't I cross this river?

Angel, angel, what have I done?
I've faced the quakes, the wind, the fire
I've conquered country, crown, and throne
Why can't I cross this river?

Pay no mind to the battles you've won
It'll take a lot more than rage and muscle
Open your heart and hands, my son
Or you'll never make it over the river

It'll take a lot more than words and guns
A whole lot more than riches and muscle
The hands of the many must join as one
And together we'll cross the river

It'll take a lot more than words and guns
A whole lot more than riches and muscle
The hands of the many must join as one
And together we'll cross the river

It'll take a lot more than words and guns
A whole lot more than riches and muscle
The hands of the many must join as one
And together we'll cross the river

It'll take a lot more than words and guns
A whole lot more than riches and muscle
The hands of the many must join as one
And together we'll cross the river

Perhaps I can be your guide, but I will not solve the enigma for you.

All of you must open your minds and communicate with each other,       
as this is the only way the answers can be revealed.


Listen.

Read.

Think.

Communicate. 

If I don't promise you the answers, would you go?

What's Everyone Else Thinking?

Social Influences

How many times do you make a realization, notice a connection between things, have an idea or just a random thought or comical perspective on something, yadda yadda, and just kind of keep it to yourself rather than share it with those around you? Then you tell yourself its something weird or not important and dismiss it. You don't pursue it, think about it or research it further.

How many times does something interest you, but you don’t think your friends, family, or other members of your social group would find it as interesting, want to tag along with you to do it, or give two shits at all, so you decide to keep it to yourself?  But not only do you keep it to yourself, you choose to let it go. Dismiss it as something not worth pursuing, “because no one else is.”  As if, "if anything was worth anything, someone would already be talking about it and spreading the word. If something was true and great, it would be all over the news. It would be common knowledge."

How many times do you KNOW someone or something is wrong, yet do absolutely nothing about it? You KNOW this, yet choose to remain silent or begin to doubt yourself or your thought process when just a short while ago you were so CERTAIN.

Everyone's heard of peer pressure, and everyone knows social groups and societies conform to a set of social norms.  What most people don't know is some of the psychology associated with it and how bad it actually is.  Below is a 2 minute video depicting one of the Asch Conformity Experiments that demonstrates this normative social influence.

In this video, a volunteer is told he's going to be taking a visual perception test with line length.  The volunteer does not know however, that the other participants are actually actors. The participants are asked in sequence to match the line on the left, with the same length line on the right, of which there are 3 choices.  When all of the actors in the group begin to choose the wrong answer, the person being studied initially sticks with his guns and goes with the answer he knows is right.  Shortly after however, he conforms with the group, choosing the answers he's certain are incorrect.

Normative social influence is the willingness to conform publicly in order to attain social reward and avoid social punishment.  This occurs en masse.  People conform publicly, even when they believe or KNOW the group is wrong.  They go against their own beliefs and convictions out of fear of being punished, disagreed with, ridiculed, made fun of, judged, secluded, etc.  

This occurs in every aspect of our lives, and affects nearly every choice people make.  If this occurs on something as simple as the obvious length of a line, imagine how it affects the REAL problems of the world.  If this occurs on something so simple, something so blatantly obvious as to which answer is the correct one, imagine what people do when they aren't even slightly informed on matters... They just go with the flow, "everyone else is doing it!"  "My friends and family believe this and the majority is doing things this way, and believes this is right, and this isn't very important or needs my attention, clearly they're onto something, or else people would have figured it out already and spoke up."

But who are those people?  We all are.  Who remains silent or ignorant.  We all do.

A variation on the above experiment has taken place in which all of the actors do not give the same answer.   Even if only one of the actors gives a different opinion from the rest, the participant conforms only 5 to 10% of the time.  This finding shows the true power that a dissenting minority can have on others.  In other words, SPEAK UP, even if you feel your voice will be drowned out by the masses.

People remain silent out of fear.  People remain ignorant out of trust for the world and people around you, or willfully ignorant due to fear and laziness.  Speak up.  Speak your mind.  Ask questions.  Give your thoughts and views and be open to receive everyone else's.  Be yourself.  Accept others.  It doesn't matter if you're right or wrong.  The goal should be to stimulate discussion, ask questions, learn and arrive at the best answers, and understand different perspectives, not just accept everything around you and stuff your thoughts, concerns and confusion deeper down into your head.

You think the above video is ridiculous?  You should check out another conformity experiment below which deals with riding in an elevator....

Environment

Who here, upon stumbling across my blog had first reactions of "oh wow, this looks really girly" or maybe some of the more homophobic and intolerant of you said "hmm, this looks kinda gay."  Who decides what colors are girly and what colors are manly?  Why do girls love dolls and boys love toy cars?  Do you really think it's innate?  Human nature?  Do you really think girls are born innately with the expectation to do all the cooking, cleaning, child rearing and being submissive to men?  Do you really think every boy is born loving sports and violence?  No.  It is the environment in which they are brought up in.  Genetics play a factor, don't get me wrong, but genetics merely tweak the statistical varieties of behaviors, values and emotions. Environment is what creates, preaches, forces and reinforces them.

This article discusses a study showing that both girls and boys under the age of two prefer pinker tones and rounder shapes.  Only later on in life did the preferences begin to shift, "arising from socialization or cognitive gender development rather than inborn factors."  This means ENVIRONMENT is what shapes a person.  Girls love pink because we surround them with pink, boys prefer blue because we surround them with blue.  In the early 1900's this trend was actually reversed.  Imagine that...

The same article discusses another part of the study where boys and girls at 12 months BOTH preferred dolls to cars. "The male preference for cars over dolls, or avoidance of dolls, emerges later, suggesting that socialization or cognitive development, rather than inborn factors, causes the male avoidance of feminine toys."  Things aren't the way they are "because they've always been like that."  Environment is just about everything.  Nature takes over when environment is lacking.  Boys are told not to play with this or do that because that's for girls.  Girls are told you should play with this and not do that because that's for boys.  Children are curious and open minded to everything.  This should be embraced.  How can people find and follow their passions in life when their entire cognitive process is conditioned and clusterfucked from the get go?

Humans learn based almost solely on copying, especially at the early, spongy stages of cognitive development.  The video below illustrates an experiment with chimpanzees and human children.

In the first part of the study, the children and chimps are shown a box, and it is demonstrated that after a series of tapping and motions with a stick, a treat can be obtained from one of the little doors.  Both the chimpanzee and child successfully copy the demonstration and obtain the treat.

In the second part of the study, there is a structurally identical box, however this time it is made of see-through material.  The chimp sees that the poking and tapping is unnecessary, and immediately obtains the treat from the door.  The children however, were predisposed to copying, even when it means doing something silly and taking unnecessary steps.

"Apes don't just mindlessly act, they also understand something more about cause and effect." 
"While apes can copy, most researchers believe they don't teach each other." 
"Why do children imitate slavishly?"

- Because they expect to be taught.

What the fuck are we really teaching them?

Media

Mass media is one of if not THE biggest culprit of pushing social influence.  Television shows, movies, "news" programs will publicize some sort of deviance from the social norms of a group or society.  In doing so, it reinforces the social norm about that action and requires the deviant individual to either conform regardless of his preferences or beliefs or publicly reject the norm.

Mass media is great at publicizing and attacking deviance from their preferred societal norms, reinforcing them as such, but they also help create many of the norms we have today.  One of the easiest and most noticeable example today is in society's definition of the "ideal body."

How many brainless people do you idolize or try and develop a relationship with because you find them attractive?  How many brilliant people do you think are out there whose thoughts, ideas, theories and passions get overlooked because you don't find them attractive?

In order to be a high end fashion model you must meet strict and ridiculous requirements usually consisting of having a height of 5'10" or more, and weight of 125 pounds or less.  Never mind the fact that the average height of American women lies around 5'4" and their average weight is 165+ pounds.

What do you think would happen if every single magazine in which there is an attractive woman on it, and every single fashion and runway show consisted of women who were 5'4" and 140 pounds rather than 5'10"(+) and 120(-)?  What do you think all the self-conscience, want to impress-the-world with-my-looks girls would be striving for?  Do you think anorexia and bulimia would be as common as today?  How about confidence, self-esteem and self worth issues?  Give me a fucking break....

The only thing sadder than creating and profiting from this type of societal norm is the people who help to reinforce it.

Thoughts shape reality, but who's creating yours?

Prepare for liftoff...

What many people call “thinking” is really recycling the opinions of others.

I’m going to go out on a limb here and assume that the majority of you did not go to the Wikipedia page or anywhere else to research critical thinking as I had suggested.  You are currently a failure haha.  You simply accepted what I had written about critical thinking without checking even one additional source.  Its okay, I expected as much.  I suppose I will just copy and paste some of the more important stuff I had hoped you would stumble across.  Read ittttttttttt.  I’m almost done preaching about thinking I promise, bear with me here.

• Critical thinking is the process of thinking that questions assumptions. It is a way of deciding whether a claim is true, false; sometimes true, or partly true.
•  Critical thinking has been described as “reasonable reflective thinking focused on deciding what to believe or do.” It has also been described as "thinking about thinking." It has been described in more detail as "the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action". Critical thinking employs not only logic but broad intellectual criteria such as clarity, credibility, accuracy, precision, relevance, depth, breadth, significance, and fairness. 
• Critical thinking is about being both willing and able to evaluate one's thinking. (willingness to criticize oneself)
• Critical thinking’s focus is in learning and developing the habitual intention to be truth-seeking, open-minded, systematic, analytical, inquisitive, confident in reasoning, and prudent in making judgments. Those who are ambivalent on one or more of these aspects of the disposition toward critical thinking or who have an opposite disposition (intellectually arrogant, biased, intolerant, emotional, disorganized, lazy, heedless of consequences, indifferent toward new information, mistrustful of reasoning, or imprudent) are more likely to encounter problems in using their critical-thinking skills. ~*don’t be one of those people*~

If you don’t understand a word, look it up.  That’s how you learn.  How often do you see, hear, or read a tiny snippet of information about something, have some sort of wonder, curiosity, confusion or interest in such topic, yet fail to follow up on it?  Maybe a half second letter you go meh, whatever and then move on with your life.  What’s holding you back from pursuing it?

Is looking up and researching something as exciting as the latest and greatest television show, movie, or video game?  Maybe not but how much time do you spend each day towards these types of things?  How much time do you spend staring at your computer or smartphone for pure entertainment or time wasting purposes? I think you can sacrifice a few minutes here and there to research and learn about something new, or explore a little deeper something that you’ve come across before.  Learning can be fun too, I promise haha.

Relax

Alright I’m done with that.  Let’s change it up.  We all live fast-paced stressful lives even during times when we have absolutely nothing to be stressed about, and absolutely no reason to be in a rush.  Let’s settle down a little bit shall we?  I’d like you to relax…

After you’re done reading this paragraph I want you to close both of your eyes.  Get in a comfortable position wherever you are.  Try and maintain at least somewhat of proper posture; that is if you can muster the courage to place such a burden on yourself. I want you to breathe in and out very deeply, completely filling your lungs, and completely emptying them.  I want you to do this in a very slow and controlled manner, with each inhale and exhale taking AT LEAST 5 seconds, but probably closer to 10.  (no need to count just do it by feel)  As you inhale, you should feel your diaphragm (stomach area) slowwwwwwwwwwly expanding outwards.  When your lungs can’t possibly inhale any more air, I want you to hold your breath very briefly, maybe half a second.  Then  slowwwwwwwwwwwly exhale until every bit of air is gone.  Start the process over.  In.  And out.  Slowly.  And deeply. Over.  And over.  Do this at least 10 times.  Do this without thinking about anyone or anything.  Try and clear your mind.  No thoughts.  No emotions.  Simply exist for a few moments.  You will enter a relaxed state of being.  Place your fingers on your wrist or neck and feel your pulse.  You will feel your pulse slow down some, and perhaps even your blood pressure decrease.  

Now I know what some of you are thinking: this is dumb, what the fuck is this, I’m not doing this, yadda yadda yadda, etc.  I’m not forcing you to do anything but do you really have anything better to do?  If you’re in a rush or skimming through this, then maybe you should come back another time.  Re-read the above paragraph and just do it.  I suggest breathing in and out 10 times, but a few minutes or more would be great.   

Do it.  Tell me you don’t feel more calm and relaxed.  Tell me you don’t feel a bit of your stress just melt away.  I guarantee you won’t be able to.  Try this simple relaxation technique and continue on below...

Perspective

Now that I hopefully have you in a subtler state of mind,  I want to give you a little perspective on your size, place, and significance in the universe.  It may be something you've never learned about, or even thought about.  I find it fun and fascinating. Perhaps you will too.

This first video is 3 and a half minutes long, titled the Pale Blue Dot, and narrated by American astronomer, astrophysicist, cosmologist, author, science popularizer, and science communicator Carl Sagan.  Below the video is the transcript.

From this distant vantage point, the Earth might not seem of any particular interest. But for us, it's different. Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. 

The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there - on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam. 

The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors, so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner, how frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds. 

Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves.

The Earth is the only world known so far to harbor life. There is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which our species could migrate. Visit yes. Settle, not yet. Like it or not, for the moment the Earth is where we make our stand. It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known.

This next video is just 2 and a half minutes long, and does a great job illustrating size throughout the universe.  It starts with our friendly moon, and works its way all the way up to the largest known star.

This last video is 3 and a half minutes long.  Astrophysicist Dr. Neil DeGrasse Tyson was asked by a reader of TIME magazine, "What is the most astounding fact you can share with us about the Universe?" This is his answer.

"In fact, given the chemistry of it all and the nuclear physics of it all, not only are we in the universe, the universe is in us.  And I don't know any deeper spiritual feeling than what that brings upon me.  And I just wanted to leave you with those thoughts." - Neil DeGrasse Tyson

Prologue: Critical Thinking

Warning:  If you follow this blog, I will most certainly offend or piss you off at some point or another.  Be prepared for it.  Please don’t take it personal, I am not attacking you I swear haha.  I strongly urge you to be open-minded. You’re going to disagree with or question some of the things I say.  Good, because if you do there’s a great opportunity for you to do one of two things.  You can either strengthen your own knowledge base, beliefs, morals, values, views, and opinions so on and so forth, OR you can alter them.  

Which option gets chosen should not really be a “choice” at all.  If you can question me, you can and MUST question yourself and the world around you as well.  Do it.  If whatever it is I choose to provide isn’t good enough for you, the onus is on YOU to dive deeper.  Don’t accept what I have to say if I don’t provide adequate sources, or enough information, evidence and viewpoints from alternate perspectives. Even if you feel I’ve done well, are you sure I’m not completely full of shit?  Cuz even I’m not so sure sometimes haha.  Now if you “think” I’m full of shit, are you sure?  Or is it possible that you don’t realize that you yourself are the one that’s full of it?

Figure it out.  Dig and dive down into your own rabbit hole. You must confirm and discover things on your own.  When all is said and done, there needs to be some sort of conclusion.  DO NOT “make” a conclusion. Making a conclusion equates to pulling an opinion out of your ass backed by nothing (which is what many people do regarding absolutely everything in life).  You must “arrive” at a conclusion.  By arriving at a conclusion, I mean you have taken into consideration every bit of information that you have currently come across.  This is where the “choice” of whether to strengthen or alter your convictions comes in to play. 

It is possible however, that you, I and everyone else may arrive at the wrong conclusions.  Could be due to ignorance, misinformation, disinformation, lack of information, or whatever else.  It happens.  The goal is to arrive at the best conclusion at the current moment of time.  It’s not permanent, it’s not fixed in stone.  It may be amended, reversed or discarded completely if or when additional information or evidence arrives.

Moral of this story: critical thinking is your friend.  Well... it SHOULD be your friend.  Unfortunately, most people were never taught, or never fully grasped the concept.  And those that understand it still disregard it in their everyday lives.  THIS is the single most detrimental thing to human civilization as a whole.  Bold statement right?  I'm not kidding.  I'm not exaggerating. If the world was full of critical thinkers, applying critical thought to any and every aspect of our lives and the world around us, the world would be immensely different, downright unrecognizable by current standards.  Think about it.... 

Whether you think you have a handle on what I'm trying to convey to you, I suggest you visit and read the critical thinking Wikipedia page to get a more formal definition and understanding of it.  I said read, not skim.  Don't skim my blog.  Don't skim anything.  One definition of skim is to to read, study, or examine superficially (concerned with or comprehending only what is apparent or obvious; shallow) and rapidly.  Does that sound like a sound basis for critical thinking?

What are you thinking?

Thoughts affect reality.  The problem is that most people don’t do very much thinking, at least not about anything truly significant.  Most of us live our lives deeply immersed with routine, responsibilities, and “requirements” of our culture and social groups.  Most of us are trapped in, and unable or unwilling to step or think outside of our little bubbles, due to financial and social inhibitions.  People therefore just go with the flow, doing what they’re “supposed” to do, conforming to the societal norms dictated by mass media and enforced by those around you. People leave all the thinking, questioning and analysis as to how things work, what’s expected of people, what’s normal and abnormal, moral and immoral, right and wrong, beautiful and ugly, etc. to someone else.  Logic and reasoning rarely follows.  Society is riddled with contradictions and hypocrisy.

This is my blog.  I’ve never had one before so here goes nothing.  What follows will be my thoughts.  Sometimes they will be deep and philosophical, asking and trying to answer some big questions.  Other times I will simply point out things that have caught my attention but may not be all over mainstream “news.”  Sometimes I'll share songs, videos, or quotes and my interpretations and reactions to them. Other times I will be a sarcastic prick or have an attempt at humor and randomness haha.  I don’t plan to have a specific format or timeline for when I decide to post.  I just want to share my thoughts with whoever is willing to listen.  Do not just listen or read and accept them though.  You should reflect and think for yourself.  And while I may preach logic and reasoning, I myself will inevitably be full of inconsistencies and jibber-jabber.  Call me out on it.  I’m telling you to think, not to agree with me.  Opinions however, are worthless if you don’t understand the basis from which your opinion is formed.