i guess i have a few ideas i might have written about previously, but never quite wanted to do so. but here's them briefly.
first of all, song of the... some point of the past month or so
rod stewart, young turks
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgczlrYM4eI
1. i kinda wondered, why man is built as a social animal. what is it about our basic nature that so desires company. i think i was watching or reading about isolation in prisons... and how it drives people mad. i find that interesting. i kinda think of myself as a pretty independent person. it would be interesting to know how independent i actually am.
i mean, the external world is basically just about the things your senses receive. why do eyes have to see people, ears hear words, fingers touch human things. it's just information, but somehow in those basic ones and zeros that our brains receive our minds derive sustenance from being in company, somehow we take more out of company inspired sensory input than other input. i don't really know how to put what i'm thinking into a proper idea, but that's the gist of it. maybe the matrix. like why hook us up with images of each other, why do we have to be in some giant multiplayer thing.
basically i wanted to know whether a man can live independently with the right incentives. but this is an unimportant idea.
i did think about staying in my toilet for three days. but i thought that'd be too boring... even with books and writing stuff.
2. listening to music is like watching a boxing match. at first you focus on one boxer you prefer, then you try and see what he's trying to do with the other boxer, then you try and see what the other boxer is good at, and is himself trying to do with the first guy. then you realise... it's a giant violent dance. they're actually dancing to a larger idea, of trying to be the better fighter. it's more than about beating one man at a time, it becomes how each man proves himself in his greater discipline.
hmm how did music figure again. well, when i listen to songs i pick out instruments, and how they fit into the idea of the song. then i try and think how they correspond with other instruments, whether one is playing less or more so that other instruments carry the song with more depth and meaning... basically how truly the song is portrayed by each instrument individually and collectively. and so i wondered if boxing was actually cooperative, in the sense that the fight is more than about two individuals but also about the art, the greater idea of fighting as entertainment, and more than that, about fighting as being a part of something elemental, something basal. something like the idea of... being worthy to fight. it's a duet... to be worthy of the spirit, of the ethos, of fighting. maybe this is a bit of a romanticised idea about boxing, but it seems more meaningful to me than to want to punch the daylights out of some guy.
3. i think it's funny how religion is so unimportant on a practical level. i mean, in a person's lifetime, he probably seriously considers his religion, like, two times. every other day, he more or less goes with the flow of his choices.
i think life is hard enough on good people. i mean, here are good people trying to do the right thing, and along comes religion that says sorry, pal, you're going down. and come on, nobody needs it. why's things got to be like that?
yeah sure, sin, stuff. but come on, people are people, we're here to make mistakes. religion is basically a pain.
i refuse to defend a religion that emphasises love when driven by a higher being who comes off as an asshole. it's only something i subscribe to because i believe; if i didn't i'd hate it. therefore i refuse to defend it, because those who take umbrage at it do not believe, and i think it's fair that they don't. god.
these are harsh words for something i'll never doubt. but i think it's fair.
imagine... there's no heaven
it's easy if you try
no hell below us
above us only sky
imagine all the people
living for today
if the only answer as to why things happen is that when God is present, nothing more needs to be said, then, i guess i'm lucky i believe.
my point is basically that religion is practically unimportant. tends to delude if taken too seriously. by faith, we shall cross the red sea... good luck, son. moral of the story, pharoah was unlucky.
4. i think that man is driven most organically, most fundamentally, by fear. there are many trite fears, each of which nonetheless remains significant. which is why i think the attribute i derive most courage from is fearlessness. a large part of it stems from my cherishing my mistakes... understanding myself and my emotions and my choices and looking back fondly on my mistakes makes me brave. i think that having tried my best, the outcome is basically 1. success 2. being outclassed/ ignorant 3. being careless.
i guess what i'm trying to say is, carpe diem, who dares wins, etc. don't be afraid of being wrong, try, be brave, and learn to accept yourself. whether or not the world does is the less important thing.
pandora's box... the bad stuff was inevitable, but it did contain something called hope.
