Inside Your Head

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: justify;">I have been meaning to write a blog post for a while, but I have taken a break from my beloved laptop. There is something alluring about the internet that draws you in, slowly, click by click, page by page, causing you to submit yourself to its hold, until the day is over and you have nothing left to give. Eventually you reside inside the screen, imprisoned by your own incessant compulsion. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div align="center"><img alt="http://i4.mirror.co.uk/incoming/article1177138.ece/ALTERNATES/s510/Fireworks%2Bgo%2Boff%2Bover%2Bthe%2BOlympic%2BStadium%2Bduring%2Bthe%2BOpening%2BCeremony%2Bof%2Bthe%2BLondon%2B2012%2BOlympic%2BGames" src="http://i4.mirror.co.uk/incoming/article1177138.ece/ALTERNATES/s510/Fireworks%2Bgo%2Boff%2Bover%2Bthe%2BOlympic%2BStadium%2Bduring%2Bthe%2BOpening%2BCeremony%2Bof%2Bthe%2BLondon%2B2012%2BOlympic%2BGames" /><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Upon watching the opening ceremony of the Olympics and seeing the man behind the World Wide Web, I began to ponder about what our existence would have been like without the internet. <br /><br />There would be a sense of community between ourselves and our neighbors. People would actually visit and talk to each other. We would not feel so compelled to reveal so much about ourselves, but instead would conceal and live in the privacy of our own homes. Marriages would not be destroyed, our relationships would be stronger and easier to maintain. People would have more time to read, to explore and marvel at the beauty of the earth. People would enjoy the smaller moments that build up to exhilaration. They would notice the flowers blossoming in the spring and the color of the sky at sunset. They would listen to the sound of the birds and the drops of rain against their windows. People would live their lives and comprehend what it means to truly live. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /><div align="center"><img alt="http://islt2012.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/internet.jpg" src="http://islt2012.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/internet.jpg" /><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The internet does have its advantages, but we have become too fixated with its supremacy, we are disregarding time, our existence, our being. The internet merely sustains but does not cultivate us. Some may argue that it can be used as a means to retain contact, reinforce relationships, thus revoking my words. It can be used as a platform to allow one to depict a different version of who they are in a way that they cannot do in person. The internet can be used as a medium to liberate oneself. It allows one to interact and connect with an international audience, but the internet has introduced a filter through which we now perceive our lives. We have fabricated concepts in our minds of which nothing in our lives can or will measure up to. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div align="center"><img alt="http://www.jwtintelligence.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/computer-class.jpg" height="473" src="http://www.jwtintelligence.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/computer-class.jpg" width="640" /><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Our generation is slowly losing its grasp of reality. Everything is being computerized, modernized and technology is replacing human contact. Our children will live in a world where physical presence is devalued, how will they learn about affection, warmth and love? Technology will become their parents and best friends. It will become their teacher. Their computers will nourish them, and everything will be robotized. The human heart will begin to be upheld by technology, and eventually they will find a way to immortalize their souls. Love and air will be bottled and sold, with added chemicals and artificial sweeteners. Laughter will be bought through vending machines and serenity injected into the bloodstream by a manufactured android. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /><div align="center"><img alt="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/gEoUtsmRvCI-txLmiBheVjMEGyOHNYkswvLBUXIJKMc4EyMys8YWsKiQtpKQHjgAwuEdxNmB%3Ds640-h400-e365" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/gEoUtsmRvCI-txLmiBheVjMEGyOHNYkswvLBUXIJKMc4EyMys8YWsKiQtpKQHjgAwuEdxNmB%3Ds640-h400-e365" /><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The internet is a revolution, but we must take time to detach ourselves from its hold and revel in who we are. Our perception of reality is already distorted by prejudice, we will lose our hearts and souls if we are not careful, we will lose our lives, let go.</div></div>

Inside Your Head

I have been meaning to write a blog post for a while, but I have taken a break from my beloved laptop. There is something alluring about th...

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Friendship

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH9r-hN7K-jlFCXkyiewFa9KRh3VuCERs668vkjxiwEZWrQXloI1t3CNaiCdlDK9jrHdo4xtt2R1UKfK1QJVLVShVKo7juYCsgFZ_sFROKnJKCuS_YAdA0N2IK-EsgrGwDl8Z5J6EiGCvG/s1600/Friendship-Tattoo-for-Girls.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH9r-hN7K-jlFCXkyiewFa9KRh3VuCERs668vkjxiwEZWrQXloI1t3CNaiCdlDK9jrHdo4xtt2R1UKfK1QJVLVShVKo7juYCsgFZ_sFROKnJKCuS_YAdA0N2IK-EsgrGwDl8Z5J6EiGCvG/s400/Friendship-Tattoo-for-Girls.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Friendship is choosing one person, or few persons, over all other people. By calling someone a friend one is stating, "This person is more valuable to me than Stranger Bob whom I have never met." One values some, meaning friends, over others, meaning Stranger Bobs, based on the potential friend's standards or morality. Therefore, people with similar almost synonymous moral standards are friends, or should be friends. For example, a capitalist cannot be friends with a Marxist, a liberal cannot be friends with a Nazi. The reason being that a capitalist values certain things as truly correct and truly virtuous that the Marxist will find truly incorrect and truly vicious, and vice <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">versa</span>. For example, a capitalist believes it is virtuous for the government to minimize its regulation so that a free market can exist. The capitalist believes every man is an individual; thus, must have the liberty to make choices and actions for his own gain.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkHM3qDZATqz0kvhE-5TwBhXAOo3wkPQAustEPDU9gaJxr9SZxCKyqvOMlogxEO-yjSnOt3wRIC2r4l9pr7UBG5NWVhIFc7gK_JFPJ5Wi0cE8xsUTQ42RuLyYK5gvjhkAp0sGS7edZOMyi/s1600/friends1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkHM3qDZATqz0kvhE-5TwBhXAOo3wkPQAustEPDU9gaJxr9SZxCKyqvOMlogxEO-yjSnOt3wRIC2r4l9pr7UBG5NWVhIFc7gK_JFPJ5Wi0cE8xsUTQ42RuLyYK5gvjhkAp0sGS7edZOMyi/s400/friends1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">A Marxist, however, believes that it is vicious for the government to do what the capitalist thinks is virtuous. Instead, the Marxist finds maximum government regulation as virtuous. The Marxist believes that every man is just a member of a larger collective; therefore, his choices and actions must assist the mass not himself. Essentially, the capitalist would believe that the Marxist is vicious, and the Marxist would believe the capitalist is vicious. Therefore, they cannot be friends because they do not value one another. Since they do not value one <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">another's</span> standards, and one's actions are based on one's standards, they cannot value how one another live their lives. In order to be friends one must recognize one's own standards in the other person. Essentially, every individual wants to be a virtuous person; therefore, he is going to surround himself with other virtuous people. If he surrounds himself with any vicious person he just enables vice. This is how friendship is selfish. It is choosing one person over others. It is choosing one person based on whether or not he is virtuous. Finally, it is choosing virtuous people because one wants to be virtuous and one wants to be around virtuous people.</div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLJjO32yOnY2JLDQfHmCgspuBl5ksK0BkTZoSOrNqxbIbbdKuDd3zQAMG5jHeyjlMKB5hJuZ_AoXGipmC0j-SF9T5jbc12BhI0k21nZiSUdFz19coZA-vQMeargE6Eejh-dpmCoDB-aSyU/s1600/friends_cast_004a.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLJjO32yOnY2JLDQfHmCgspuBl5ksK0BkTZoSOrNqxbIbbdKuDd3zQAMG5jHeyjlMKB5hJuZ_AoXGipmC0j-SF9T5jbc12BhI0k21nZiSUdFz19coZA-vQMeargE6Eejh-dpmCoDB-aSyU/s400/friends_cast_004a.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Unfortunately, as I stated earlier, this is not how friendship is understood. People understand friendship as sacrifice. Essentially, one should surrender element's of one's self in order to be friends with and love all others. There are several problems with this.</div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHPtYbVMe-iZ2dTUFZd-hzpLUJ0pEHuw9UfySWk6hDX87NKnyFjGXD0vg0fJXGwcqEBGSzpGzTTd5o08ElSXkZucLPiV_qVLdCpkk6b3Jbu9qTr6FbatR_jpgEk0_dqQ8vp1jO98FpKY8W/s1600/Friends-friends-69087_1024_768.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHPtYbVMe-iZ2dTUFZd-hzpLUJ0pEHuw9UfySWk6hDX87NKnyFjGXD0vg0fJXGwcqEBGSzpGzTTd5o08ElSXkZucLPiV_qVLdCpkk6b3Jbu9qTr6FbatR_jpgEk0_dqQ8vp1jO98FpKY8W/s400/Friends-friends-69087_1024_768.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Firstly, once again every individual wants to be virtuous, and it is virtuous to want to be virtuous and live virtuously. Furthermore, one's standards and one's actions define one's self. Additionally, one's standards and one's actions are always based on morality. Therefore, if friendship is based on sacrifice, then friendship is also based on being vicious. If one must sacrifice qualities of one's self to be friends with and love everyone, one is choosing not to be virtuous. For example, someone believes that it is virtuous to study science and understand the natural world. However, he has chosen a friend who believes it is vicious to understand the natural world because the scientific explanations are lies about God's work, and more importantly God should be the only one to understand his creation. (The latter person is obviously a lunatic.) Therefore, the former individual, the scientist, must sacrifice some of his qualities that assist him in understanding reality. Even if he has to sacrifice these qualities just by not speaking about his work while he is around the latter person something is terribly wrong. First, by not embracing those qualities he defines as virtuous he is being vicious. Just to get this point across I am going to use a religious example. If one is a Catholic it is virtuous to receive holy communion; therefore, if one does not receive it he is being vicious. A similar situation is occurring here.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBA8OkO7B06KezLqjuOvpSQcC2p7wKHy0K6pvzKuALfdgkeCl0HWwcQoi-2o27Py45me9SBGaOcMEdJYbCrgMfnzLr3JGzQJYX3JLrvryccFPHKI3fhSJUB8ZCcgYYBNZmRGRP6NKfNf_I/s1600/friends-season.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBA8OkO7B06KezLqjuOvpSQcC2p7wKHy0K6pvzKuALfdgkeCl0HWwcQoi-2o27Py45me9SBGaOcMEdJYbCrgMfnzLr3JGzQJYX3JLrvryccFPHKI3fhSJUB8ZCcgYYBNZmRGRP6NKfNf_I/s400/friends-season.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The second problem with this friendship is that scientist obviously thinks the religious lunatic is vicious, for the religious lunatic thinks it is virtuous to be completely ignorant the natural world, or reality. Therefore, by being friends with this religious lunatic the scientist is choosing to value someone he knows to be vicious, and the religious lunatic understands this. Everyone, whether they admit it or not, knows that friendship is about valuing one person more than another. Thus, the scientist is sending the following message to the religious lunatic, "You have more virtues than vices. You are not vicious enough for me to ignore you. You are virtuous enough to be valued by me." Consequently, the religious <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">lunatic's</span> lifestyle is being affirmed. The scientist, who he values highly because he is a friend, is telling him that his vicious ignorant beliefs are virtuous. In turn, the religious lunatic will continue acting on his vicious standards. Basically, the scientist enables vice. Thus, the scientist is being vicious for two reasons. First, he is avoiding virtue at least while he is with the religious lunatic. Second, he is enabling vices.</div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcGniX8Xnb5KzNxQ5d2L0qJSX7d97NSIQB4E3cQU7XIDjX8mRdEECZTneOG_28-pYzHNB0UBNun4XwBuBmdoYsB6fu4LW5GygCYKEMlIYtMIBWEab5c8XbW_GsNIjYMpkia6IhzwsDRKZ9/s1600/girls%252520friendship-day-orkut-2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="335" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcGniX8Xnb5KzNxQ5d2L0qJSX7d97NSIQB4E3cQU7XIDjX8mRdEECZTneOG_28-pYzHNB0UBNun4XwBuBmdoYsB6fu4LW5GygCYKEMlIYtMIBWEab5c8XbW_GsNIjYMpkia6IhzwsDRKZ9/s400/girls%252520friendship-day-orkut-2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The second problem with sacrificial friendship is that it is not friendship at all. Once again, friendship is choosing a few individuals over all others. However, sacrificial friendships tells people to be friends with and love everyone. In this case, once does not value any individual, including himself, more than any other individual. He values all people equally. Therefore, he is friends with no one.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Finally, friendship is not an end. It is not the purpose of life. It does not provide happiness. Friendship is only an icing on the cake. One should first be satisfied with one's self. One should like who he is. At this point one knows what virtue is, and he is living it; thus, he values his self. Consequently, he will be able to identify potential friendships. Essentially, one cannot value others until he values himself.</div>

Friendship

Friendship is choosing one person, or few persons, over all other people. By calling someone a friend one is stating, "This person is ...

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Love

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: justify;"><m:smallfrac m:val="off"> <m:dispdef> <m:lmargin m:val="0"> <m:rmargin m:val="0"> <m:defjc m:val="centerGroup"> <m:wrapindent m:val="1440"> <m:intlim m:val="subSup"> <m:narylim m:val="undOvr"> </m:narylim></m:intlim> </m:wrapindent> </m:defjc></m:rmargin></m:lmargin></m:dispdef></m:smallfrac></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu0dvjJFZoF-w4Hin3Xg2GUdAqHjZe0rmH6rnPTHNYGN3NrR8dqTzl2-fvJLz9726V-5gpPogHqFIn4PMyf_wwSHSqusLapnolINyi146fivt6Ur884QLhDeMarqrJJ4IrgACHkGrKeNNm/s1600/Love+Couple+In+The+Night-452666.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu0dvjJFZoF-w4Hin3Xg2GUdAqHjZe0rmH6rnPTHNYGN3NrR8dqTzl2-fvJLz9726V-5gpPogHqFIn4PMyf_wwSHSqusLapnolINyi146fivt6Ur884QLhDeMarqrJJ4IrgACHkGrKeNNm/s320/Love+Couple+In+The+Night-452666.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><br />In several posts I have discussed how friendship and love are some of the highest forms of selfishness not selflessness as people frequently assume. One chooses another as a friend because he values that other more than mere strangers. The reason he values that other more than mere strangers is because the other follows the same moral standards as him. Therefore, similar people are friends. Dissimilar people cannot be friends, for they follow different moralities. Thus, they think one another is vicious. For example, a Marxist and a capitalist cannot be friends because the Marxist believes the capitalist is vicious, and the capitalist believes the Marxist is vicious.<br /><br />The same goes for love. The only difference is that when one loves another, he chooses one person above all others, even his friends. One can have several friends. One can value several people more than strangers. However, one can only have a single favorite. That favorite, the best friend, is the one he loves.<br /><br />Of course, this person, the one he loves, is only second to his self. The mere fact that he is choosing another person to love indicates that he values his self the most, even greater than the person he loves, for he is choosing that person because he enjoys being with that person, that person does not corrupt his virtue, that person makes him happy. When one is happy one is acting selfishly. Thus, love has nothing to do with sacrifice.<br /><br />Unfortunately, most people assume that love is completely about selflessness and sacrifice. They believe love is about compromise. The assumption is, if one loves another, one will give up things - actions, items, etc. - for the other. This is not love. This is self-destruction. This is the atrocious sickening delusion that when two people love one another they become one. 1 + 1 does not = 1. 1 + 1 = 2. When two people love one another they are still two individuals; however, together they become more in the sense that they are happy, they enjoy life. The teaching of two loving individuals becoming one indicates that the individuals of the relationship decrease in value. They destroy parts of themselves so they can be one instead of two. They begin with more value than when they end. Since love is about happiness, about selfishness, one cannot destroy his self to love another. If he does so, he will be miserable, not happy. For before one enters a relationship he loves his self. He loves who he is. He has chosen to be a certain person, act a certain way because it is virtuous because it makes him happy. However, if he enters a relationship demanding sacrifice, he is aborting some of his virtues, aborting what makes him happy. In turn, this will result in one hating the person he allegedly loves because the other caused him to destroy his self, and it will also result in one loathing him self, for he is being less than who he was, the person he chose to be because it made him happy.<br /><br />A further problem with this is that one must love him self before he loves others. A self-loathing individual cannot love another. If one loathes him self, he is basically saying that he is shit, that he is worthless. He admits that he is a failure, meaning he has not realized his values; thus, he is also admitting that he is vicious. Consequently, he is saying that he is unworthy of love. He believes that no one should selfishly choose him over all others, for he thinks he is worse than all others. Therefore, one contradicts himself by searching for love to cure his self loathing.<br /><br />Additionally, as I have stated several times before love is a selfish act. Thus, one loves another because he believes he deserves love. Essentially, he values himself enough to pursue and enjoyable relationship with another. If one loathes himself, however, he admits he is of no value, that he is so horrible he does not deserve to enjoy a relationship with another. Therefore, one must obviously love himself before he loves others. </span><br /><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> <br />Firstly, I now realize that I must love another that enjoys the same activities as me. If I am to love another, the other must be interested in philosophical discussion like this. I am not saying everyone must like philosophical discussion. Everyone should be concerned about truth and being virtuous, but not everyone must enjoy the exploration of it. My argument here is that two people who love one another must enjoy similar activities. For example, one who enjoy skiing, and loves the winter, cannot love someone who loathes the winter and despises skiing.<br /><br />Secondly, it is completely nonsensical that one should not be able to enjoy innocent activities with other friends. It would make sense for one to oppose his loved one's use of heroine with others, for heroine indicates all kinds of unstable moral positions of the other person. Discussing politics, playing sports, playing video games, board games, card games, watching movies, listening to music, all pretty innocent activities that one should not demand his alleged loved one not to partake in.</span><br /><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">  </span><br /><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqc-6wakBZl6gFFnddYNcBIS1_bSqEk7vkHnQbCDN1QnZ2k_rbZSKIDHPSNHSTk3BUxrRCHxRFC-twnj-mHA8k-AQnlTRvN4U6PcJkA0eP3H6ZLKRH7PuZNxcowkUDqigvt3211Iq8wATH/s1600/aspergers-love.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqc-6wakBZl6gFFnddYNcBIS1_bSqEk7vkHnQbCDN1QnZ2k_rbZSKIDHPSNHSTk3BUxrRCHxRFC-twnj-mHA8k-AQnlTRvN4U6PcJkA0eP3H6ZLKRH7PuZNxcowkUDqigvt3211Iq8wATH/s320/aspergers-love.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><br /><br /></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"></span></div></div>

Love

In several posts I have discussed how friendship and love are some of the highest forms of selfishness not...

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