Quote Digest

[Thought]

...adulthood sure is anticlimactic and boring

[tiny260]

Man: Why are you so optimistic all the time? Why always look on the bright side of things?
Me: Beats the alternative.

[Licawolf]

"Around here, however, we don't look backwards for very long. We keep moving forward, opening up new doors and doing new things, because we're curious... and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths."

[tushantin]

Boards don't hit back.

[Sajainta]

Found this fuckery::

Our knowledge has made us cynical; our cleverness, hard and unkind. We think too much and feel too little. More than machinery, we need humanity. More than cleverness, we need kindness and gentleness.

What bullshit.  This kind of backwards thinking really pisses me off.  Kindness does not discover remedies for illnesses.  Gentleness does not send shuttles out into the vast universe.  Knowledge and education do the world a lot more good than people being nice.

And the two things are not even mutually fucking exclusive!

Sorry, I pick knowledge and being clever over being an emotional sap.  Paint me a bitch, but knowledge will always hold a higher standard to me than being kind.

[tushantin]

Found this fuckery::

Our knowledge has made us cynical; our cleverness, hard and unkind. We think too much and feel too little. More than machinery, we need humanity. More than cleverness, we need kindness and gentleness.

What bullshit.  This kind of backwards thinking really pisses me off.  Kindness does not discover remedies for illnesses.  Gentleness does not send shuttles out into the vast universe.  Knowledge and education do the world a lot more good than people being nice.

And the two things are not even mutually fucking exclusive!

Sorry, I pick knowledge and being clever over being an emotional sap.  Paint me a bitch, but knowledge will always hold a higher standard to me than being kind.

Actually, Saj, as much as I agree with you, Charlie has a point there. Though it's not knowledge that actually deeply affects our psyche, rather it's intelligence. Usually increase in intelligence has certain psychological side-effects which makes us seem like complete douchebags compared to an average Joe who'd empathize with you for whatever reason.

True, intelligence is an important factor for human progress, but let us not forget empathy and humanity, as it also plays a dominant role for our survival as a society. I might sound sentimental here, but empathy makes you happy, even if it doesn't cure everything in the world, and in turn spreads more joy.

Yes, I support our battle against stupidity, but first and foremost I'm a humanitarian. It is our connection with each other that gives us the power we have today.

[tiny260]

Antagonist: You're still broken! You're nothing, you hear me?!
Coron: *Gives the finger* Oh piss off.

[tushantin]

Found some good quotes from Bhagawad Gita (I had to actually find the pre-translated version, since I was too busy to do it myself).

One who has control over the mind is tranquil in heat and cold, in pleasure and pain, and in honor and dishonor; and is ever steadfast with the Supreme Self.

Man is made by his belief. As he believes, so he is.

Heh, for so much I've seen in life, I realize not to question this bit.

Fear Not. What is not real, never was and never will be. What is real, always was and cannot be destroyed.

To the illumined man or woman, a clod of dirt, a stone, and gold are the same.

[Sajainta]

Actually, Saj, as much as I agree with you, Charlie has a point there. Though it's not knowledge that actually deeply affects our psyche, rather it's intelligence. Usually increase in intelligence has certain psychological side-effects which makes us seem like complete douchebags compared to an average Joe who'd empathize with you for whatever reason.

True, intelligence is an important factor for human progress, but let us not forget empathy and humanity, as it also plays a dominant role for our survival as a society. I might sound sentimental here, but empathy makes you happy, even if it doesn't cure everything in the world, and in turn spreads more joy.

Yes, I support our battle against stupidity, but first and foremost I'm a humanitarian. It is our connection with each other that gives us the power we have today.

I understand where you're coming from, and I realise that kindness plays an extremely important part in humanity's history.  I just didn't understand why Chaplin was painting the two as being mutually exclusive, because they are not.  There are just as many kind-hearted smart people as there are uneducated people who are rude as shit.

I'd still rather be the smart douchebag than the average empathetic Joe, though.  I'm a very committed misanthrope, which I know makes me a minority on this forum.

[tushantin]

Saj, I am not sure what you mean by "mutually exclusive", but I'll simply continue.

Consider the two most fundamental aspects of humanity which makes it superior to other species, which makes it special and great, and also which gives it its essence. The first, most basic aspect is empathy, giving humanity the liberty to think freely and differently, then combining those difference in thoughts to paint a bigger picture, to connect with people with sheer kindness, to enjoy the company with one another. Human beings are social in nature, and simply keeping a person alone will make it easier to break them. The second aspect, coming next in line but at a higher priority, is intelligence: our ability to think logically, calculate and choose paths, create and master tools, and providing means to progress. Both empathy and intelligence are two legs for humanity to stand on; take away one and it might lose its balance.

But there have been instances when one indirectly, and negatively, affects the other. Consider the growth of social bonding, or when society grows rapidly, despite the availability of knowledge source, responsibility is negated from individuals so much that intelligence does not matter. Yet, growth of intelligence also has psychologically negative effects on the mind where empathy is concerned. Of course, that does not mean a person can't prevent these negative reactions, and it takes a good amount of willpower and open mind to do it. Fortunately you have that, but unfortunately, not many do. Even when it comes to the debate over preference, despite the necessity of both, the dominant aspect will forever be empathy and human bond, because without intelligence humanity will merely cease to progress, but without empathy it will cease to survive. Without intelligence, empathy is lame. Without empathy, intelligence is blind.

Now consider where Charlie Chaplin comes from. XD He's one of the great pioneers of filmmaking! A legend! Hardly ignorant; the guy was a genius, so he should have the benefit of doubt, at least, as he actually knows what he's talking about. If you're looking for evidence on how intelligence affects empathy, I haven't any at the moment so you'll either have to search university journals or wait till I provide them to you. I apologize for the inconvenience.

Makes you a minority?   I'm the one who feels like an outcast here, someone who probably just doesn't belong here. Often I try to blend in as much as I can, only to fail. Maybe I'm selfish, or somehow rude, or I'm just different, I don't know. Sometimes I it makes me happy when people agree with me, not because of narcissistic reasons, but because it makes me feel glad that I'm not the only person to think that way. But all I know is that I'm a humanitarian, just like my grampa. If it makes me a hypocrite, I don't care. I'll stick to those philanthropist dreams till the very end.

[Mr Bekkler]

All Saj is saying is that you can be smart and that doesn't automatically make you mean. You can be dumb and that doesn't automatically make you nice. And you can flip that around all you want and it's still true. If you're nice, you're not necessarily dumb. If you're mean, you're not necessarily smart (but probably think you are !)

I would argue that both kindness and intellect should be valued. Do both when you can. Don't if you can't. Simple.



And tush, I don't think of you as an outcast or any different than anybody else on this forum, except I might call you one of the more active members. I do find it intriguing how the two of us don't see eye to eye nearly as often as we might with other people, it makes me suspect we're more similar to each other than either of us would be comfortable with in person, despite living almost on opposite ends of the world. In any case, I hope you don't feel alienated because of me arguing with you all the time. I rather like the different viewpoints.

[Lord J Esq]

I saw this comment on YouTube:

Alas, I think there are none to replace the Corries. And those of us left behind must be content, as much as we can be, by such recordings as these. Reminds me of Tolkien's:

Where now the horse and the rider? where is the horn that was blowing?
Where is the helm and the hauberk and the bright hair flowing?
Where is the hand on the harp-string, and the red fire glowing?
Where is the spring and the harvest and the tall corn growing?
They have passed like rain on the mountain...

My natural inclination is rather against this kind of mindset, but it was so eloquently put, and, at least thus far, there really have been none to replace the Corries.

[tushantin]

@Bekkler: I see what you mean, but going back to Charlie's statement, "Knowledge made us cynical," he is kind of right there. I mean, the affect is there and intelligence does affect empathy negatively, but that does not mean it indefinitely hinders it. Charlie isn't asking anyone not to be educated (he is a genius, remember), rather requesting everyone to always keep human bonds before intelligence and cherish them. Saj knows that. She wouldn't choose a Wikipedia article over D.  Hardly any of us would (except for some people).

As for the outcast thing, it is not about disagreement that I'm worried about. XD Actually, I welcome it! Arguments increase my knowledge base, challenges what I know and helps me understand things well thanks to conflicting views. No, what I'm actually worried about is blending in. You see, you post in any forums, make a topic, and right off the bat folks understand ya. I, for instance, usually have a hard time explaining something relatively simple, and yet fail miserably enough to have people misunderstand my statements. There is where I find it hard to blend in; while I can understand you folks, I usually fail to clarify my own statements. Worst case scenario, I hurt someone's feelings without meaning to.

“Zen is not “attained” by mirror-wiping mediation, but by “self-forgetfulness in the existential ‘present’ of life here and now.” We do not “come”, we “are.” Don’t strive to become, but be.”

“If you always put limit on everything you do, physical or anything else. It will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them.”

"Do not pray for an easy life, pray for the strength to endure a difficult one"

[Sajainta]

@Bekkler: I see what you mean, but going back to Charlie's statement, "Knowledge made us cynical," he is kind of right there. I mean, the affect is there and intelligence does affect empathy negatively, but that does not mean it indefinitely hinders it. Charlie isn't asking anyone not to be educated (he is a genius, remember), rather requesting everyone to always keep human bonds before intelligence and cherish them. Saj knows that. She wouldn't choose a Wikipedia article over D.   Hardly any of us would (except for some people).

Actually, I value intelligence just as much as I value human connection with the (very few) people I love and trust.

And I meant a "minority" in the sense that probably most people on this forum view humanity as a collective whole in a positive light, whereas I truly, truly distrust and dislike humanity as a whole.  I love and trust those whom I've deemed "worthy" enough to trust.  Maybe that makes me sound like a bitch, but given my past I don't think it's irrational or bitchy.  But those whom I trust are a very small group of people.  I love a few people; I don't like the rest.

I don't feel like an outcast because of it.  I just have a different opinion than a lot of people here.  I feel like an outcast here in many ways, but that isn't one of them.  Minority isn't a synonym of outcast.  It just means outnumbered.

[Lord J Esq]

Minority isn't a synonym of outcast.  It just means outnumbered.

That's a quotable quote of its own.

We're a little bit different when it comes to our view of humanity. You seem to have a pretty clear and simple view; mine is still rather torn. Humans have a lot of potential, but it so often gets wasted in favor of anthro-trash. Much of the time that trash isn't just pitiable; it's actively a threat to the very civilization I aspire toward. In my writing, this dilemma is represented by two characters who are generally of a like mind on things, but take a different view when it comes to the premise of taking the rest of humanity along on the ride toward a better tomorrow.