Wednesday, June 27, 2018

On the Elephant in the Room, How to Turn Our World Around from Self Destruction, It's a Learned Skill

Time to point out elephant in the room: empathy, sympathy, compassion, & love are learned skills that also need to be practiced. We like to think of them as common sense characteristics, but unfortunately, no. Malice, jealousy, anger, & hate are also learned skills. Depression, I will grant has an instinctual edge to it. In my belief, we need the presence and active connection with people. Without that connection, we will fall into depression.

People get ridiculed for saying things like "I didn't understand until I had my daughter. . .", "I didn't understand until I married my [ethnicity] wife. . .", "I didn't understand until I made a [LGBTQ+] friend. . .". It sounds dumb, sure, but we maybe we should work to encourage/push the exposure into new encounters (try to encourage a level of humble listening before bowling in) so that such phrases become tedious to the person saying them. The person eventually won't need the qualifier. They realize it's fact, it becomes a norm.

I apologize to marginalized folks that have to bear the burden of privileged people without humbleness. You don't deserve it. You shouldn't be obligated to be an ambassador.

That's why literature & art is awesome. Those from outside can get a glimpse without annoying people. Heck, it wouldn't hurt city-folk like me too read more narratives about rural-folk. It's a two-way street. I may not approve of some behavior on the Right lately, but I want to understand, even to just contribute to things for a better you or making your conditions better [frankly, I blame a propaganda machine than I blame you].

I feel the same for everyone. I want to help everyone become their better themselves at minimal cost to anyone else. In my belief system, your better self helps me become better, and we can help other people become better. We don't necessarily have to go out of our way, we just have to be our better selves and be open to new experiences. Frankly, I think it can be patronizing to try too hard to seek too hard for encounters. They can happen naturally just by leaving your locale.

Now a criticism of our aggregate social decisions, when it comes to education and schools: We focus so much on test scores and for preparing to get to the next stage (high school to college to career and/or to graduate school and/or to more school or career). We focus so much on sports and STEM. We focus so much on finance and the GDP. All those hard numbers and spectator entertainment, but we don't focus enough on our hearts, our souls, our connection to other people and the world around us, so we end up hurting others and destroying the world.

We need to invest in our schools, our teachers, our literature classes, our art classes, our music classes, our drama classes, and heck, we should look into having journaling and reflection classes. Instead, we've focused all our investment into the physical and the quick money, but at the cost of what? We're developing people who blame other people, who can't relate with other people, who can't see that other people are in pain and need assistance.

Maybe financial bros would pitch in more to help out people on extravagant student loans, a hungry person on the street, wouldn't mind paying taxes to fund welfare, social security, Medicare, Medicaid, SNAP, healthcare, and other government programs that help others. Maybe polo nationalists or Incels could see that they're not loving themselves enough, they're not valuing themselves enough, they're looking outside too much for validation, that they can find a much more enriching experience by building a actual relationships (which for some people in the Manosphere might require redemption to society -- don't you dare you try to apologize to someone you have hurt) and connecting with people.

We can't just rush into these experiences, though. We need to learn them. Hopefully we learn it from our families and schools and other role models, but we don't always have those resources available to us. Fiction, poetry, memoir, drama, even visual art, criticism, and other things that introduce an expression of self and community identity. These expressions and opennes to them can help bring people out and learn about the experiences and narratives not part of their own lives. Also try to reflect and journal about these things that we have done, observed, read, and however we might have experienced the expression of other people.

I guarantee you, investing in exposing children and people to art and exposing ourselves to it, taking it seriously, reflecting on it, etc. etc. will lead to richer life, an exposure to more trust and good faith, and even joy in ways that we can't imagine.

I also want to makes sure to stress that children and people need to be exposed to and reflect upon a variety of literature, art, history, and social sciences not just that of Judeo-Christian Greco-Roman Western European White literature and art, but a variety of perspectives. Additionally, children and people need exposure and reflection upon a multiple variety of viewpoints within different communities and populations. It's not about transmitting an "authentic" viewpoint or "authentic" experience. "Authenticity" often ends up being a white washed watered down version to sell to the privileged and make the privileged feel good about partaking. "Authenticity" doesn't contribute to creating empathy, sympathy, compassion, and love. It just maintains the status quo.

At the very least, exposing people to different communities without buying into "authentication" will lower tensions and help us interact with each other and maybe even understand where we're coming from. As it stands now, we're at each other's throats and will eventually destroy ourselves because we're all trying to get the one up on each other and trying to fulfill what we perceive as our interests, but probably aren't even our real interests, or our better selves.

So, do you want to destroy the world, or do you want to join me and learn how to make a better one?

Edited 6/28/2018 8:24 AM: Added themes of "authenticity" (theme brought back to my immediate thought while reading Hugo nominated Welcome to Your Authentic Indian ExperienceTM by Rebecca Roanhorse at Apex Magazine

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Sunday, June 24, 2018

Conciliatory Twittervism Because No Time for Essay

I didn't finish that big essay, even though I worked on it a little over the last half hour. I could have finished it tonight, but I'd like to at least try getting to bed at a good time. Nothing too exciting over the last few days except chores and a bit of social media, which does a pretty good job of encapsulating my thinking lately.
































Here's a couple links to explain "libertarian socialist" because some people got confused:

Libertarian Socialism entry on Wikipedia

Libertarian Socialism entry on Urban Dictionary

"What is Libertarian Socialism" by Ulli Diemer

"Why is Anarchism Also Called Libertarian Socialism?








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Thursday, June 21, 2018

Twittervism, #KeepFamiliesTogether Edition

My current big essay requires a fair amount of editing. By the unfinished point it had reached, I had already contradicted the first sentence or two. I also have had a a few insights and revelations that have altered the course of it. Hopefully I'll find time tonight and over the next few days to get it published for Friday.

As consolation, bear witness to my Twittervism from this crazy and politically traumatic week thus far (seriously, the last three days were probably the most depressed and scared I felt in 2018, and I'm a white guy of European Descent!). It might actually provide a preview to the big essay since I've already started using some of the concepts from it.

















































































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Sunday, June 17, 2018

Authentic Empathy vs Cynical Empathy

I can't seem to manage my time well since coming back from vacation. Maybe, on the flipside, I've taken to managing my time better since coming back. It really comes down to figuring out what I'm valuing at any time, mapping it out in time, then figuring out what's most important to do now verse doing down the road.

I'm sad that I've prioritized doing some things over political activism or even just other things that could lead to a more organized life that will lead to better control. My gauge for this feels especially triggered because the anniversary of Charlottesville and the murder of Heather Heyer caused by a protesting bigot emboldened by the election of [45] comes around in about two months. I had engaged politically for a few months after that. It didn't come to much, but I tried to do something.

Now I feel mostly battered down by the news I hear or when I'm scanning through Facebook (ironically, Twitter has provided more upbeatness. . .but I think that mostly comes from Twitter people have more battle scars from politics and social/cultural battles, though it can still get depressing). I've posted things about the need for self care, but have I become too indulgent in my self care. I don't feel like it, but I don't feel as if I have the energy to do much else, and feel some shame/guilt about it since I have some privilege that a lot of it doesn't affect me materially, but it definitely cuts away at my soul.

Admittedly, much of the "productive procrastinating" I've done has largely been about getting political and social things straight and defined in my head, much of it occurring through discussion on social media. Something about the vehicle of social media really pulls me into getting me to understand and be clear about the issues.

With the above in mind and to some advice I meant to publish in my essay series called "Increasing Creativity: Compounding...." ("Increasing Creativity Part 1: Compound Interest, An Applicable Financial Concept" and Increasing Creativity Part 2: Compounding Sources). I really need to get to completing "Increasing Creativity Part 3: Compounding Projects". . .. The advice boils down to: sometimes you don't have to do that huge project all at once, especially if it contains a bunch of building blocks. Doing it all at once will

  1. Take you awhile to complete
  2. Won't yield as much return
If you can write multiple articles/essays or books that build up to the larger argument, you can

  1. Publish more
  2. Get more exposure
  3. Possibly get paid maore
In addition, if it works out well, you can "re-invest" the monetary, social, and information resource yields back into the project, which can make future work on it easier and possibly even help to get other aspects of life out of the way.

My last entry mentioned a large essay I had started working on before going on vacation a couple weeks ago. Since then I have remembered a term that I wanted to include in the essay, but I don't think has happened yet. I have also thought up a contrasting term that I think will have its use in the essay and in my future works, whether blog entries or hopefully someday published essays. So instead of defining these two terms in the future essay (though I might have to in an official off-blog published work if I ever do such a thing), I define them below:

  • Authentic Empathy: A sense and/or appreciation that welcoming, supporting, and contribution to the flourishing of other living beings and natural living systems will lead to a reproducible sense of purpose, meaning, possibly joy and happiness, and can very likely assist in developing one's own identity. Authentic empathy will bring emotional attunement.

  • Cynical Empathy: Manipulating or violating other living beings and natural living systems, the understanding of their feelings, motives, states of being, and thoughts, for personal gain, pleasure, compulsion for cruelty, or even for national security or emboldening group or identity solidarity rather than the purposes of authentic empathy, which will lead to endless toil, conflict, and/or if the manipulated or violated are ever obliterated or fully dominated, self destruction since the hatred of cynical empathy will look for fuel somewhere. Cynical empathy creates social discord.
As authentic empathy can provide reproducible sense of meaning and development, cyncial empathy will provide endless destruction and despair, constantly looking for new targets and, if it hasn't already, will turn on the source if it has no where else to go. Cynical empathy is not an identity, a purpose, or meaning. It is a strategy, one of maladaption.

As such, many bets are off with those who practice cynical empathy. For those who practice authentic empathy, they have the right to avoid those who practice cynical empathy. If someone can bear it who wants to take heroic means to practice authentic empathy and interact with those using cynical empathy, the authentic empaths should feel free to do what they can to help cynical empaths to see the benefits of authentic empathy and learn how to practice it.

Authentic empaths also have the right to defend themselves against cynical empaths but are not advised to do so in ways that compromises their authenticity. Self care is imperative. If they need to leave to maintain their authenticity, that's fine. Some cynical empaths may, in the end, never want to shed their cynicism and became authentic. The final decision is their's. All that can be done with authentic empathy is to try helping others to reach their full authentic potential.

Also, keep in mind that authentic empathy does not give someone the right to define others or to impose definitions onto others. That can be hostile and a form of violation. If another asks for assistance to help find definition, help but do not force. You're role is to welcome, support, and contribute, not to define.

Feel free to accept or decline my definitions for your life. You may need them to read my future works, however, so please familiarize yourself with them if you intend on continuing to read my work and have discussions with me.

I may discarding, edit, or refine this terminology in the future. For now, though, I think these terms will provide much assistance in my discussion and future works. Any chance it helps you?

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Thursday, June 14, 2018

Manic Twittervism

I spent last week in Boston, visiting friends and family and also scanned some pages of historical documents from some microfiche (amazingly easy). I came home at the end of the week, sick but hoping I only suffered from allergies. By Monday, I figured out that I had an annoying upper respiratory infection.

I've spent the week relieving symptoms while working and engaging in non-exerting routine and projects (minimal bike riding but still taking walks during lunch break). Been doing some TV watching, too (too much binge watching of Mr Robot season 3).

Recovery has gone well so far. I have a little too much energy right now. It has to go somewhere. My mind feels scattered with too much awareness at the moment, emotions and thought smashing against each other too much. So much chaos by that Shithead in Chief and his cronies.

I've done a lot of debating and discussing with a bunch of people in real life and on social media about social/political philosophy and the general state of society. A couple hours ago, I wrote an open status update about the abstractness of monetary policy, currency policy, macroeconomics, and the disconnection of our politicians (or in my opinion, the GOP and conservatives) with reality and theory aiming to describe and predict reality. Just the GOP's disregard for how their policies and actions affect everyday people shows it.

I had been working on and wanted to post a big essay before heading to Boston. I still plan to do so. For now, though, some Twittervism (which will include that rant):














































































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