10

       I was thinking about the concept of "modern" today. What is modern really? Just because we say that computers and advanced agriculture is "modern", does that mean that everything else is primal or inferior? I read in a sociology text book that there is no "in" group unless you can leave someone out; there is no "cool" without the "uncool". You can't have any superior group unless there is something you can compare said group to and call inferior.
       Back to my original point, why should "less modern" societies be frowned upon when the "advanced" societies wouldn't be at their elevated status without them? And who knows? We say "modern" like it's a good thing; what if the advanced cultures have it all wrong? What with all the urbanization and destruction of nature, one begs the question that there might be another way... What would be so terrible about combining the undeniably good factors of the "modern" society with the "primal" ways that kept the world the way it was meant to be? We need to disassociate the word 'primal' with it's negative connotations, as we must do the same with the word 'modern' so that we can see that there are things to be learned from these so-called primal societies and that the glamorized "modern" lifestyle is far from it's ideal image.




                  - Meredith Cloverfield

9

    Who am I, or anyone else for that matter, to distinguish between what is deemed sane and insane among people? Should people who view the world differently be condemned? Do note that I'm not calling therapy condemnation, but judgement of those who are different. Don't go out searching for opinions to rebuke, but, instead, look for others to open up and show you their views, and maybe you'll learn a new way to think and see the world.

8

    I think that no one- ever- will ever be satisfied with their life; with their career, with their spouse and other relationships- with anything! Just think- people change their majors a billion times, trying to satisfy all the warring desires of their spirit, and still they're never happy. For example, somebody may know that they should be a lawyer, that that would keep the lights on and provide a semi-rewarding outlet for creative energy, but they also have a hobby for sculpting and want to, I don't know, become a professional sculptor. No matter what they do, neither half of them will be satisfied. I guess it's when the child in us dies that we delude ourselves into thinking that we're happy and complete- it's depressing, but I think it's true.


-Meredith Cloverfield

7

    I think that no one- ever- will ever be satisfied with their life; with their career, with their spouse and other relationships- with anything! Just think- people change their majors a billion times, trying to satisfy all the warring desires of their spirit, and still they're never happy. For example, somebody may know that they should be a lawyer, that that would keep the lights on and provide a semi-rewarding outlet for creative energy, but they also have a hobby for sculpting and want to, I don't know, become a professional sculptor. No matter what they do, neither half of them will be satisfied. I guess it's when the child in us dies that we delude ourselves into thinking that we're happy and complete- it's depressing, but I think it's true.


-Meredith Cloverfield

6

   Have you ever realized that if you brace yourself for disappointing information, it's always a lot less disappointing? For example, I was watching a show and I forgot which episode was coming on next, but, right as the first scene was about to pop up on the screen, I remembered which one it was, along with the fact that I had seen it a gazillion times (and, of course, after seeing it so much, I was bored of it), but since I realized what it was right before it popped up on the screen, I wasn't as disappointed as I would have been. I know this was short but that's all I've got and I want to get back to watching my show.

-Meredith Cloverfield

5 (haha coincidence)

   Have you ever realized how paradoxical the fifth amendment is? Just think about it- if someone asks you in court (wierd lawyer rules of not leading the suspect aside) 'Did you kill this guy?' And you say 'I, uh, I plead the fifth...' Doesn't that show that you have something to hide it something you don't want to say? The paradox comes in when you realize that in trying to not condemn yourself, you've done just that by showing that you indeed have something to hide. Is it better then to lie under oath and potentially condemn yourself to perjury?

-Meredith Cloverfield

4

   Though I don't smoke or use any other types of drugs, I was thinking about what it would take to successfully quit an addictive drug like tobacco or something worse. It may be too specific to be considered proper philosophy but I think it's good to know. Though it may not be the smartest idea to start doing drugs, I think we can all learn something from people who have actually quit smoking or anything else. To break an addiction is a task that takes grim, martyred determination and some sort of genuine motivation; you always see clips in schools about teens that get to be part of this program where they are forced to see drugs for what they really are (good idea) and this is supposed to make them straight up quit recreational drug use cold turkey (possible, but highly unlikely). Sure a traumatic experience assosiated with drug use would give the user something else to feel guilty about the next time they're getting high, but the motivation to legitimately quit whatever's they're on must come from inside of them.
   The act of actually breaking a habit that will bite you back and fight to be reembraced with all it has the entire time you are trying to banish it is beyond difficult- it is practically unheard of. I personally am addicted to tea. I know that sounds insanely ridiculous but it's true; I have a cup of black tea everyday, but say I'm running late one morning and forget to have it. The "withdrawal" symptoms would start about an hour into the school day. I would begin to get a crushing migrane that makes it virtually impossible to see straight, then I would get a stomach ache accompanied by the standard aches and pains. All of this is standard withdrawal procedure. The addiction, or, rather, your body, is fighting with all it's got to get what it wants and most people give in after this first bout of pain- I know I have- you'll do anything to get rid of the pain right? Yeah, if that's a simple caffeine addiction I can only imagine being addicted to something stronger.
   Anyway, to break an addiction takes bravery and the strength- mental and physical- to maintain your position of giving up the habit until the pain abates, but, again, it also takes motivation. Why, for the love of God WHY, would anyone want to put themselves through body racking trembles and shakes and migranes and fevers and other assortments of hellish torture, oh, just because? Yeah- see- they wouldn't. The motivation to do so has to be something to cling to when the darkness creeps in (for those of you who have read Breaking Dawn and remember the part where Bella had just begun to be changed and was referencing a darkness pulling her down, but clinging to the hot spot in her chest… yeah) and when you see no point of continuing to resist the urge. For some people, this motivation may be a freedom from having an annoying daily obligation to fulfill dutifully in order to avoid a day in Hell (ME), but for other people it's family and health and all that jazz. Either way, whatever the motivation, it has to be something that, to you, is completely and totally unnegotiable, something that you are, under no circumstances whatsoever, willing to let go of. Despite what they may say, for some people their health, their family, and even their freedom won't be enough, but they will try anyway.
   The only downside to trying and, perhaps, failing at licking your addiction is that every time you don't get your fix or forget to have your tea in the morning, the withdrawal symptoms only reenforce the idea that quuting is absolutely impossible; I know I tried maybe once to quit drinking tea everyday and quit at the first sign of a headache… this is why I say that we can learn so much from people who have successfull quit, because the number of  motivations out there that will actually get you through the pain are about as many as there are bones in a shark. I'm not saying it can't be done- I know it can, I'm just saying it's hard.


-Meredith Cloverfield

3

   Once you have something that you've always wanted, why is it that you never use it? When I was younger, I always wanted one of those bouncer balls that has a handle that you can use to hop around on, but when I got it I literally only use it for two days. Why is that? Is it that our vision of the actual object is obscured by our desire for it or is it just an occurrence of nature? And, with this in mind, how can we tell the difference between legitimately wanting something and wanting the desire for that something satisfied? Because that's what it is, usually, it's not us genuinely wanting something but rather us wanting the desire for that object fulfilled… I wonder would it work to fill that desire with something other than the specific item we want; for example, in my case of wanting the bouncer ball, would my desire for that ball have gone away if I had gotten some other prestigious (at least to te child mind) plaything to fill the hole? It's just something to mull over… kind of a new twist on the "the grass is greener on the other side" bit.

       -Meredith Cloverfield

2

Sophistication is lost on Accuracy. If you give a really great answer whose syntax is strung together in the most proper way and gets your point across excellently, but it is an incorrect answer, its former sophistication is cast aside in lou of accuracy.

     -Meredith Cloverfield

1

     There seems to be a part of creation that despairetly evades discovery- like when you have something to say and you can't quite remember what it is... is it that that something you were about to think or say or remember is in some way important to Exsistance and thus mysteriously evades your discovery? Dude- I don't even know, but this seems like it makes a lot of sense. Plus, if you can't even remember what it was you were trying to remember, then hasn't Exsistance, by way of simple paradox, once again succeeded in avoiding humans notice? Because of this, making fresh, new, genuine discoveries takes legitimate skill... this is why I think there is literally no other logical choice but to believe in God- modern science- no matter how seemingly infalible- simply has to have holes in it. Despite man's seemingly superior skill in hunting down those bits aand pieces of Exsitance that that just really, really don't want to be stumbled upon, I just don't think it's plausible to believe that our current scientific beliefs are completely fool-proof.


- Meredith Cloverfield