Slanderous Entries

Justice: A Loaded Term

2011-10-05T01:03:00.000-03:00

The anthropologist in me cringes at the word Justice being casually thrown around with some sort of self important sense of cultural omnipotence. However my inner anthropologist also considers this a great subject to study, in particular the individuals who stand up and cry out for their brand of Justice.

So what's wrong with justice? Certainly my culture and many others capitalize on some generic sense that their way about justice is proper and makes others look subhuman. Well what isn't realized is that justice is relative to the culture you're in, or to some other outside influence (subcultural ideology, religious views, etc.). This is fine and to be expected, however it is also very problematic. Individual brands of "Justice" can be the cause more much controversy, and tedium then the loaded term is worth.

Humanity clings to abstract concepts such as this because we have a ideology camp mentality, that is we prefer being among like minded individuals or enjoy feeling connected to other individuals in a general area through belief systems, and concepts. This cannot be helped, however the closed mindedness of these regulatory ideals can be.

So lets look at the examples the world provides.

A bun of bread is stolen to feed a starving family: Theft in terms of Justice is almost a human universal, and some form of regulation to deal with it is present in almost all cultures. However the punishments, and cultural outlooks of theft differ blatantly. Stealing a bun of bread depending on the culture can land you in social isolation, prison, imponderable discharge from the family, lashings, hand(s) cut off, torture, or death.

Justice may carry a few universal ideals such as not stealing, but the outlooks and ways theft is punished vary so dramatically from culture to culture that the sense of there being an all mighty just way of things is quickly lost in diversity. Few individuals in the western world would consider petty theft of a bun of bread worthy of death, however in cultures with strict religious doctrine or in cultures where food is scarce individuals may feel completely justified in killing a thief for a variety of reasons backed by a sense of Justice being done.

If you can think of a war, rule, law, or regulation there is some form of justice implied by your culture being applied to it. Some may not be so direct, but the bottom line is every culture endorses their own form a justice and anyone within that culture with an independent view are typically viewed as the radical other. This view taken globally starts a ideology war when one country or region of the world claims that their system is much more just than another... and this is where the bias cycle regurgitates itself among other loaded terms such as freedom, pride, and concepts which are so bias and abstract that they would make most post modernists blush.

Dominate culture sets the bias of the majority of people within it, justice causing some of the most harm historically speaking and still a major source of conflict throughout the world now.

This topic is so huge that I feel I'll probably speak on it again at great length, and showcase more examples and lead into discussion.

Proper Structure, Please.

2011-09-27T01:51:00.000-03:00

I've been slow posting again haven't I, my apologies for that. It seems University has taken my brain hostage this past week, filling it with both the nonsensical and serious. It is from these teachings that this post is manifesting.

That said let me get to it.

I have found myself always pushing my boundaries in my field, I've been doing my utmost to put a cap on my bias mind (at least when I'm putting myself in the context of anthropology), last year I attended a course about strange religious rituals and by the end of the year I found myself more obedient to the discipline and no longer snickering and making atheistic jabs.

This year I attempted the same goal in taking an anthropology course which was supposed to focus on the environmentalism and how it effects society in an anthropological sense. Seemed pretty straight forward, but the problem for me is that the course forces an agenda. The agenda may be positive, but its taken to an extreme the course requires you to take notice of how the environment is being killed by you and everyone else in your life and tries to reinforce the point through guilt.

I'm all for being a contentious species, trying to maintain some sustainability in the would wouldn't hurt anyone. However I do not want to step into a classroom and have the vegan elite sneer when they find out you're a near carnivore. The bias and judgment for an anthropology class is intense, and I feel that the structure creates a cliquishness in which defeats the fundamentals of being in an anthropological type of course. The prof does not fall prey to this, at least not directly, she although an environmentalist nutcase has maintained a non-partial openness to me in my consumption of meat, cutting down of trees, and giant eco footprint.

I have tried to return to this kindness and being interested in her tree huggy, lets all be green philosophical choice. However the resentment my peers are creating are causing me some displeasure being in the course, I absolutely refuse to drop it to cater to them but its causing me to withdraw my attitude of non-bias and intentionally be an oppositional figure. This opposition has caused me to argue against peers who wish to enforce a a fascist vegan only diet on the world, destroy all large industries, immediately cut off oil usage... the list goes on. Its kept me on my toes but I refuse to give into radicalism of this kind.

So I continue to combat this class through determination that I will be then counter argument. I'm displeased with the course structure, and I'm making plans to formally challenge the structure at a level that my peers and profs will have to listen and accept that the social sciences should be as non-partial to side as possible.

A slightly anecdotal post, had to get the frustration out.

Fandom.

2011-09-17T02:08:00.000-03:00

I've recently been struck down by fandom, not in the unhealthy sense of stalking and idle worship, but a characterization of utter fascination and an inward wanting to model my own self after a person. I suppose its a necessary human emotional response to want to look up to someone else, or model yourself after someone for a particular set of traits. However, this process is quite foreign to me and I'm not quite sure how to react.

This strange new hero of mine isn't new, I've looked up to this individual since discovering his work a few years back, but only now has this fascination changed from looking up to a role model to accusing this particular individual to be a genius. I believe this is still in a healthy state, I don't adore every bit of this persons work, and I'm sure if we met we would argue and differ in opinion a lot but I am still inclined to believe that this person for what he inspires, evokes, and teaches is quite possibly an immortal historical figure in the making. I find it a but odd that I find myself absolutely swooning in affection for this man, and at one point before I understood this sort of behaviour better thought I may be bisexual and attracted to him.

Strange, no? It turned out to be that I'm so astounded on him at an intellectual level that I feel an odd mixture of emotions. I consider this the same reason some men find George Clooney so great to the point of attraction, but the attraction isn't sexual. From what I know about the man I adore in this way, is that he's such a "darling" from his country that he's literally considered a national treasure... and I couldn't agree more.

So who is this individual who has captured my mind... well it couldn't be any one other than Stephen Fry! You know Toast of Europe, Comedian, Author, Atheist, Intellectual, Tech Guru, and over all extremely awesome dude. Need I say more, those of you who have been influenced in anyway what so every by this man will quickly realist why I admire him so much. I discovered him a few years ago his debate in conjunction with Christopher Hitchens against The Catholic Church as a force for good in humanity. These videos were posted online, and are still readily accessible. I was a big fan of Hitchens but never really heard of Fry. I immediately thought Fry was a prof or some sort of known Atheist icon, and I began to look for more lectures.

These lectures lead me to find many of Fry's videos about Atheism, Technology, and Life the Universe and Everything... The spectrum of his knowledge was boundless and he seemed to have his hand in everything. It wasn't until a few weeks later that I discovered that he was such a English icon for his Comedy, which I think is hilarious by the way. I came across some of his books, and actually didn't care for them but then I found his biography(s now) and they immediately made my admiration grow exponentially. His story is such a unique, and interesting one, that I would recommend it to anyone.

I to this day constantly search out content online of his lectures, and interviews of Fry to get both my fix and to learn new information and introduce myself to new ways of thinking,. He's such a great entertainer, teacher, and intellectual that I felt it was only proper that I inform all my minions of his greatness!

Culture of Fear

2011-09-05T23:18:00.000-03:00

In my last post I used an anecdotal example from my time spent in the USA to establish the foreground which would eventually become this post. So consider this new entry a Part 2. If you need a link to the Part 1 you can find it here:

The Art of Conversion

As I eluded to in my previous posting, American culture is dominated by ideas of fear and it is that fear that spawns many of its more ridiculous factions. Doomsday Enthusiasts being the absolutely most moronic of the lot. Do I even have to mention those waiting for the biblical Armageddon or some other end times religious prophecy? Well I think I mentioned that enough in the last bit. If you're oh so concerned that I didn't pound out a 10 page rant about why I didn't elaborate complain in the comments.

What was I talking about? Oh! Fear. So, fear is a compelling component of human nature. Its influence can be attributed to some of the most compelling and disastrous moments in our short history. Its evolved to be something quite dissimilar from what fear is attributed in the wild, and has lead to an obscene amount of behaviours and belief systems.

The unknown factor is probably the awe inspiring factor which religious affiliation was born from, a way to explain which we did not have the complexity to understand. However its longevity even in our most enlightened years can be a direct result of the fears the mythology have taken hole on the psyche. But like I said I'm not here to bash religion; this time.

Although religion is a factor of all this, its foothold is the unknown and mankind has made monopoly on considering the unknown. This new wave of survivalism which is springing up across North America is just one example of this. Individuals who believe that some traumatic event at some unknown time and place is going to occur and either put humanity on its knees, or take us out completely. I think the history channel has probably broke the bank on producing television shows which show case fear in such a way that makes mankind want to consider the opinions.

A common argument to all this nonsense is "Well, given the state of the world... its best to be prepared", and that's a sentiment I can get behind. The problem lies in peoples definition of prepared there are those individuals out there who horde supplies... in some cases enough to feed any random province of Africa, and others who stockpile so much guns and ammunition it would make the head of the NRA blush.

Ultimately to consider something traumatic going to occur is likely, we're just a little rock in space after all. There are lots of sudden dangers which could completely devastate us. We're all going to succumb to the sun ultimately, if we don't find away to get this pretty blue space marble.

To live in constant fear to prepare oneself for some ultimate struggle or death based on mythology or stories no science will stand behind with a straight face is quite laughable. However many would choose to do so, and the way that our society is arranged completely undermines any chance of living fear free. Media loves fear, in fact I'd say fear is a best seller everywhere. I can understand why its so hard for some to not live in fear when it completely envelopes our culture and pretty much every other culture on the planet.

Perhaps the evolution of fear is both a hope and hazard for our species. Something to consider.

The Art of Conversion.

2011-09-01T03:45:00.000-03:00

I'm finally home from my vacation and my time in airports, and on planes really allowed me sufficient time to brood on my time away. One of my major problems with traveling to the Midwest is the religiosity of the region. I found my self constantly bombarded with billboards featuring anti-abortion slogans featuring crying on a cross Jesus, commercial for Christian dating sites, bumper stickers of all faiths, jesus fish, and all sorts of other nonsense.

To those who live in these areas, most of these blatant eyesores are actually subliminal, and unnoticed unless they see something that goes against their convictions they barely turn an eye. The targets are typically those who don't believe, perhaps in an effort to convert through the power of annoyance. Even though I was subjected to these things for weeks it wasn't those that really bothered me, it was the religious people.

I encountered an individual which really was unique in their conversion methods, I sense have found out it is common but this was a first to me. They knew I was an atheist and on the way to a local ice cream parlor he said to me (very seriously) "You know, as an atheist if you're wrong you're going to hell. You should become a Christian to cover all your bases."

My reply was a sarcastic remark about how I should also give Buddha, Odin, and Zeus a go as well, just to better my chances in this hypothetical religious lottery I'm apparently in. Apparently to be a Christian these days all one has to do is say they believe and not really mean it and they are covered, which given the antics that come from some of the more insane religious zealots... doesn't surprise me.

I'm sure this was an honest attempt to make me consider the fact I may be wrong in my non belief, and question my loyalty to secularism, science and the other foundations which forum my basis of my opinions on the matter. I found it a rather crude construction, the same logic of a just in case scenario can be applied to anything really.

"You should consider living in a bomb shelter, since you never know when a bomb will land."

"You could consider rolling around in some nuclear waste, you know just in case comic books are right."

Both those examples to me hold about the same amount of weight as the religious one and are as equally laughable. These are examples of what I like to call a culture of fear, and I'll expand upon that in my next blog which I've already begun. I thought I would just be entertaining and fill you all in of this little run in, as it inspired the more serious blog that will follow this in a few days time.

The Catalyst of Bias

2011-08-28T03:25:00.001-03:00

I'll skip my usual pretentious speech welcoming myself back to the blogging world, because there isn't much to say about my absence; although I am sure I can stretch a lengthy blog post about it later this week. That is, if you are lucky.

As you may have guessed from the title, which is very self explanatory in this case, the following discourse is primarily going to surround bias. This was all inspired by a debate amongst some online acquaintances today; the full transcript and the topic of choice is rather irrelevant so I'll not bore you minions with the details. The bare essentials for the sake of this post is that the debate that took place was not in fact a debate, but a excruciating exercise of my patience followed by my brutal tongue lashing about the ill effects of their bias and the desperate state it placed their truly unfounded arguments in.

Sound familiar? I've faced this many times from religious zealots which simply ignore facts, reason, evidence and misconstrue some ill informed and completely bigoted opinion from their own self produced ignorance. This isn't a new tune by any means, but what struck me particularly off balance was the topic of choice for this ignorance, it wasn't political or religious but over something a simplistic as a rudimentary fandom over a piece of electronic culture.

A slight taste of tonight's events for your sake:

People: "I like A"
Me: "I like B"
People: "B is such a bad rip off of A."
Me: "What makes you say that."
People: "Everyone I know who tried B went back to A because it was a cheap copy..."
Me: "Anything in particular push them away?"
People: "Not sure, they just said... "
Me: "Have you at least looked at B for yourself, read about it, made some of your own opinions about it? Even better have you read the statistics showing that B is better than A for *lists reasons and evidence*"
People: "I don't have to, I trust the opinion of *insert random name and numbers of peoples*"
Me: "So you're basing an opinion on someone's bias, rather than looking at B for yourself and making an informed decision, and ignoring the statistical facts because your own bias has given you a superiority complex about A and anything that contradicts that is going to be automatically wrong."
People: "Yes, but... "
Me: "I've decided that I don't like any thing with the letter "L" in it, because my friends inform me Ls are for idiots... and I don't want to be an idiot"

It was at this point I lectured about bias, then gave more evidence to back up the claims that were discussed. My opposition in the debate quickly decided that I was an asshole, but a correct ass hole. That aside, being proper and correct is all that really matters... right?

To tie into my other posts, the human mind is malleable, and easily shaped to niche genres. It is within these niches that trouble begins to brew, because if the mind is molded to just one particular niche sometimes the ego, or bias creates a catalyst making the malleable mind far less flexible and perfectly comfortable sitting unchanged and decided upon parameters are so unchanging that the distilled mind cannot help to be ignorant. This mental inadequacy although simplistic and usually harmless when pared with larger abstract concepts like religion and philosophy can multiply into absolutely toxic abomination for society.

Today I felt as if I watched ignorance take seed in a mind, and a catalyst harden the soil.

Quote Examination.

2010-11-10T00:48:00.000-04:00

I ended my last blog with a quote of mine:

Cut the restraint from an empty stomach and full mind, and you'll soon see the true nature of an individual.

I believe that this is an important quote in reference to many cultures, mainly because there is an underlying sinister truth that can be found. As a species we have the potential to do harm, to do good, or stand somewhere in the middle. However the individual action doesn’t mean a lot when taking the broader sense into account.

Like I’ve discussed in other posts the nature of an individual typically is a splinter off of the nature of the individual’s culture. This is how a society functions so well, the collective opinions tend to gather into groups. Even if these groups oppose each other, as long as they are mainstream enough that their existence is accepted the functionality of a society continues normally.

I’ll make a note now that I’m not a Social Darwinist, I feel that Social Darwinism is very flawed and assumes that all societies function as human universals without variation. Academics in my field have sufficiently smacked the idea around enough that I know better not to fall into fallacy over ideas which are seemingly correct. Remember, the cultural perspective you’re looking an idea with matters….a lot.

My quote offers itself to many cultures, and ideas which are heavily ingrained into a society. There is much anecdotal evidence to suggest this is a human universal, and perhaps it is in a way. In all societies there will be people who will so absolutely anything to get a head, and those who will do what they need to survive.

I originally planed to discuss how we humans are secretly barbarians who are naturally narcissistic. The deeper I thought about it the more and more I started to sound Freudian… scary right? However I hit a wall. I noticed that the feast or famine mentality typically comes from societies which place a huge emphasis on the individual. In my context I can use the United States and Canada as my primary examples where the individual is overly stressed upon.

It is in these sorts of societies and those like it where one can see disastrous outcomes from this very mentality. This aside, it is the very type of ideology which keeps Capitalism going. I’m very pro capitalist, I’m also very pro individual but only to a point. I suppose this can be said about all ideas, extremes are dangerous.

The contrast I found when thinking about my quote is that there are distinct cultures which focus on group mentality. I’m not talking about communist cultures, because there is no true form of functioning communism. I’m talking about smaller factions of humanity, such as tribes and bushmen across the globe. Typically, but not always, these sort of societies are dependent on the group. This sort of dependence is goal orientated, and the goal being longevity of the group. The cultural influence promotes ideas which reflect the wellness of the group rather than the individual, no matter what the situation. It’s an effective mentality which as existed for far longer than the individual perspective. It is also points out a fundamental flaw in what I quoted… seemingly human universals are only universal in the cultural context they are presented in.

Human Nature

2010-11-05T19:18:00.000-03:00

I’ve recently taken a huge interest in human nature, and the social frameworks which influence and impact exactly how we tick. I happened across a curious little persona in my studies, this is called Social Constructionism… and through it I have discovered that I myself am a Social Constructionist.

This is fine, I hold a lot of fellow Social Constructionists in high regard and although it does have its implicit complications on how an individual views the world, I seem to be aptly immune to becoming overly pessimistic or going completely daft.

My role in society as a social constructionist is that as someone who views the world one social situation at a time, and attaches the actions we as a society take to the cultural influences we unknowingly take part in. Kind of a mouth full, right?

I’m sure my readers are now thinking, “Great, now get to the point!” well to cut to the chase but I in good conscious I need to acknowledge my bias as a matter of my own personal perspective. My correctness is just a matter of coincidence, I’m sure.

My working with ideas surrounding human nature has me quite fascinated by how much society is unknowingly restrained to conformity. I am not completely thrown off the spectrum which dictates that we would be best off living alone in the woods without societal influence. I see society as an important body and a driving force for the survival of our species, among huge amounts of other innovative endeavors. I do however feel that make up of all societies is fundamentally flawed, which can and has been detrimental to individuals and groups which are inheritably governed by the figureheads which control what is acceptable and what is taboo.

Nothing is beyond criticism, and nothing is without flaws.

I live in a society where an individual can be proscribed merely because of genetic background, heritage and a whole slew of other innate features. In this case the individual, who has done nothing wrong besides being born “wrong” is immediately handicapped for the rest of their life because they do not meet the qualifications of the norm.

In turn even those born into the society “properly”, can also become handicapped and effectively labeled taboo if they somehow disrupt the flow of normality of the dominate culture. Acting out of one’s social role is a huge leap which infringes upon the very social pecking order in which we’re subjected too.

Now this criticism is to be made within reason, some behaviors must be proscribed because they upset the overall cultural stability of a society. Murderers are one such example, of a category of person which needs to be either removed or rehabilitated. By creating a hierarchy of acceptable and non-acceptable behaviors we’re incidentally falling down a slippery slope, but that is a price of functioning society. In my opinion consistent reexamination is probably the key to help keep a society functioning in such a way were the ability to be oneself (within reason) is maximized. In a way some of the cultural standards which exist now in the world have been doing just that. Amendments which help manufacture equal rights for all human beings, and the like are a good example.

However, even with such amendments on the books there will always be clashes and discrimination. Perhaps this is innate in our genetic make up, to automatically single out individuals based on some arbitrary notion… but in a genetically diverse species such as our own this can and probably should be ignored, without our societal system reinforcing these ideas.

I'll leave you now with this quote from me, it is taken from a recent conversation and is something I'd like to focus on for my next blog. Keep in mind that this blog is the type of context:

Cut the restraint from an empty stomach and full mind, and you'll soon see the true nature of an individual.

Normality. Part 1

2010-10-20T11:06:00.000-03:00

It took me a while to get back on the horse and bash some words out on the keyboard. Besides the dissatisfaction I felt a while ago I was ransacked with a few major school obligation... like going. Aside from that I'm in a better state of mind now, and with it I have made the decision that I don't care about anyone else. I've vowed to never look at my statistics again, because realistically I enjoy doing this...so to my naysayers and unsubscribers I decreed that you can drown yourselves in a magma pit.

So to the task at hand then.

Normality, or at least the concept of normality is both absurd and offensive. The very idea that our species can decide a standard while ignoring cultural influences, personal bias, experience, etc... is rather insulting. Normal is an abstract concept, I'll assure you that it doesn't even have a proper definition. Its basis lies in averages and statistics, concepts which quantify individuals without scratching deeper under the surface.

If one is going to assume normal they need to take a look at culture. The things which are considered to fit the definition are based more theory than fact, and wholly controlled by the cultural influences put upon us. These forces are cover a broad spectrum of everyday life, but are completely invisible to large percentages of the population because they have always known them.

You need to step out of the "normal" to really understand it and why it is a culturally induced idea. So lets move take a step outside of North American culture, which is my context, and move to Papua New Guinea...

Food is a huge cultural force which is driven by culture, history, and many other factors. It will serve to provide a nice basis for cross cultural examination.

North American's typically cringe when they think about all that "nasty heathen food", and tend to have a nice diet of mainly processed foods with supplements of European introduced meats and vegetables/fruit. I'll just ignore that most of the foods we eat didn't even originate here, so I'll assume ignorance and fully immerse myself.

So the the majority of the population ideas of eating insects, strange fruits (ripe or unripe), rats, bats, roots, wild pigs any pretty much anything else if the opportunity arises (even human). These eating habits tend to disgust many of the participants in North American culture, and thus because it isn't practiced in that culture it is immediately deemed barbaric, uncivilized, and abnormal.

What isn't understood is that in the Papua New Guinea cultural context this is perfectly acceptable, and cross examination of many other cultures will show that these foods and other ones which aren't culturally acceptable in North America are enjoyed and embraced.

Unfortunately I need to cut this blog short due to time constraints, but this is going to be one of many parts. I assure you that you aren't normal, and no one is...

Public Service Annoucment.

2010-10-07T22:58:00.000-03:00

Not really. I've been thinking about this blog for a while, in my opinion I'm beginning to produce some really top notch content. I've become something of a arm chair Anthropologist, which suits me find because field work is a pain in the ass. In a way my field work is my day to day observations and my interaction with the social realities set before me.

Given the steady decline of my following, I'm becoming increasingly discouraged. Sometimes I feel that the only one who reads my posts anymore is my dear friend Clown Face. I do understand that this blog is to serve as a electronic venue for my innermost thoughts on a variety of topics, I had gotten used to the inter-connectivity of a following who share their opinions... and in turn create discussion. Apparently, I like that sort of thing.

Perhaps, I've gotten too personally involved. I will be the first one to admit that I've involved quite a bit of ego onto this blog. Putting this aside my declining subscriber base has put a damper on my plans of creating my own website. Until I can get things rolling again and get some good discussion flowing.. the investment isn't worth it.

Perhaps I'm just discouraged. Time will tell.

I actually had a blog of substance planned, but this had been eating away at me. I hope putting it out here now will lay it to rest, so I can continue producing my usual content.

Politically Correct.

2010-09-29T09:59:00.004-03:00

I'm not politically correct, not even to the smallest degree. I have radical opinions against religious organizations, feel that free speech in most cases should remain free speech, and do feel that an opinion on anything should be a fundamental right. Even if those opinions are moronic.

Bigotry, and marginalization towards groups has always occurred in history. In fact it is what the anthropological world would call a consistent cross cultural phenomena. Humans have been singling out other humans since we gained the proper sentience to make sense of the idea of groups.

Usually these forms of opinion are formed through social constructs and are thrown out into the cultural arena for the individual to decide upon. Unfortunately in most cases individuals are weak, spineless creatures, and any case of independent thought is either rare... or nonexistent. This is fine, there will always be puppets to the cultural frame works, in fact I feel they are needed to keep the culture going as we know it... but that's for another blog.

Bigotry, Racism, Gender Bashing, what ever the case. In a fundamental sense are bad, they hinder on individual rights cause stereotypes and unnecessary tension between groups. In a larger sense, most cultural make ups are entirely reliant upon being politically incorrect. I know what you're thinking now..."But Mr. Slander, our government allows different groups to express their cultures openly in my country." Touche person I've never met! But government influence does not a culture make.

Lets look at the wider spectrum of the situation, I'll pick on the media because they are easy to pick on. In a country such as the United States, the government does have many sanctions which protect individuals and allow them to practice elements of their own cultures (well within the laws of the country). This is an entirely good thing, it allows for freedoms. However, in the case of the media these freedoms tend to become blurred.

There is an element in American culture (its found in most cultures but I'm dealing with them at the moment, settle down!) which likes to marginalize what's different. The news loves to demonize the cultural practices of other countries, it may be major or minor, but they look at the outside world with a extreme guise of ethnocentrism. Because of this blatant slant presented by the media individuals in the country itself take on this same form of ethnocentrism and apply it to every day life, which in turn promotes bigotry and all the elements described before.

Suddenly the practice of an individual expressing an element of their native culture, or religion, or etc becomes something of a taboo because the media (or other elements of the culture) have presented them to be wrong, bad, false... what ever.

True Politically Correctness is unattainable, cultures are just too ethnocentric to allow it. Governments should have a responsibility to protect people of other cultural background, and alternative beliefs/life styles... but they also should infringe upon free speech of other citizens in doing so. There are a lot of elements at work here to decipher through. There are great arguments for each side of this coin.

To me it seems like authoritative roles should take a slightly more gentle approach towards this whole idea of being politically correct. Cultural outlets, like the media, should focus more on being fair to other cultures and acknowledge they are ethnocentric instead of automatically demonizing everything which doesn't jive with "their values".

Just something I have been thinking about and discussing a lot and I thought I would share some thoughts here. Most people take for granted that their own opinions are hugely impacted on by the bombarding of cultural influences. Someone who doesn't sift through the bias, ethnocentrism, and other forms of "persuasion" literally loses their free will in a sense because their mind has already been made up for them by the predominate forces in a culture.

Something to think about.

The Masks We Wear...

2010-09-15T10:02:00.003-03:00

You may recognize the title from Ben Stein's role in the old movie The Mask, but I thought it would perhaps be a fitting title given the recent discussion which lead to this post.

Socially, everyone wears a mask and assumes a role. Roles often pend on situation, people, and context but everyone has a major variety of them. Not unlike multiple personalities in a way, these roles define our position in different social situations or groups.

I tend to be quite a fan of assuming roles, or changing masks if you prefer, I can think of three of four major mindsets which are dramatically different. Here on the blog, people probably get close to experiencing my rawest natural personality, but there are still some embellishments and specific regulatory checks which I put myself under to keep from scaring away my readers.

Some of my thoughts may offend some of the strongest individuals, or cause unneeded backlash and/or flame wars. A good example of this was my Draw Muhammad Day post, which lead to individuals flagging my blog. It was worth it by the way. There are just some posts I will make regardless of who is reading, but overall I try to be careful.

Some of the most interesting cases of masking yourself in a social arena is when someone assumes an identity behind the computer screen. This is an obvious one seen on online forums, blogs, and anywhere else where text tends to be the only interaction between people. This is where much malice and hatred is born, due to text backlash not being so scary people tend to turn off their social Politically Correctness. It seems that individuals feel that the internet is not governed by the same social framework which makes up how they compose themselves in the day to day world.

This can possibly be a good thing, because there are those who feel more comfortable being themselves from behind the computer screen and others who assume roles. Usually roles tend to be as extreme as possible within the boundaries of what ever site they are using but even those seemed to be pushed (with the ideology in mind that social frame works do not apply).

Just some interesting observations, I may think about more and continue on with...

I'm Back Again.

2010-09-13T10:22:00.003-03:00

I was on idle on there for a while wasn't I... It really wasn't my intention to yo yo so crazily back and forth from being a blogger, pretending to be a blogger, and not being here at all. My schedule was crazy. I looked over it actually and out of seventy days of working I had a total of four days off. This would be manageable if shifts on average weren't 11 hours, I had holidays off, or even the occasional weekend.

But before I start in on smacking the keyboard wildly hoping to write Shakespeare (I should really get a monkey slave for this...) I want to wish Clown Face a welcome back to the real world, may his suffering under social tensions and frameworks continue as normal.

Since my taking off (another) couple of weeks due to my life being a hectic mess of slavery. Not much has transgressed. A few notable moments were: Getting hit by a blowhard named Earl, Getting Fired, and starting to think productively on topics on which to touch on in this very blog.

With that said in the next few weeks I'll be producing some of the content which I'm really all about. I hope to enslave the minds of a few others before I decide upon making a move to my own website format where I will be unshackled from many of the censors. With this said my censors can fuck off. (Insert colon bracket here and make sure it is facing the correct direction.)

So yes, the very swirly distructo wind named Earl which tried to sink Clown Face, also had a go at me. Only at a category 2 mind you, but it was enough to irritate me... my one full weekend off without power, and cleaning up debris... not what you call a nice relaxing weekend off. I survived.

What nearly took me out was my boss, I had taken a sick day... and after working as much as I had in those seventy days you think it would be a nice gesture to give your employee the day off. Well I had been wrong in this instance, because I am Mr. reliable and suddenly I wasn't there apparently the shop blew up without me. This lead to the always lovely call in, where your boss begs you to come in even though your sick because they don't have the spine to make any of the other employees stay. So I reluctantly came in, but I told them up front that we'll be having words. So I get there, and they expect a speech... I give them the speech and the next thing I know the boss is grabbing me by the shirt and throwing me out of the building. I suppose I could have been nicer, but really? I assume I'm fired, I haven't been in since and I don't plan on it.

I'll add this rule to my other rules... so Rule Number 210: DO NOT, I meant it, work for family.

I'll close this slightly over done blog by saying that I do plan to get back to my usual social commentary, and touching on a few other topics as well. Stephen Hawking has inspired many future topics, some based on outer space, others Aliens, and more critically the survival of the human species.

So pay attention.

Work.

2010-08-13T19:13:00.006-03:00

Yep, that's where I've been but this post isn't about that. This post is a slight rant about a phenomena I can't grasp. It is mainly about the lack of will to work, or an unwillingness to exceed any expectation at work.

The company I work for is an actual great one for the area, all new employees START above minimum wage, reviews are taken monthly to see if a raise should be given, lots of hours, time off is given if requested...

For my area of the world this job is an absolute treasure, it has its draw backs like overtime is only regular pay but that isn't all that uncommon for the area and given it is a small business which is in competition with businesses which operate the same way.. you can't fault them. Got to keep prices lower than the competition.

My co-workers get paid well, and are treated great. However, they are blind to these good intentions. This company is currently under a lot of stress, a bunch of jobs came at the same time and we're just absolutely swamped. The Bosses frequently ask if my co-workers can stay an extra hour or come in on a weekend if possible but these polite requests are met with blank stares and snickering.

I've been knee deep in sawdust and sweat with my bosses these last few months, working about 72 hours a week. Not that I have to, but because I know how good they are to me and it is only fair to repay that kindness with some loyalty come crunch time. They really need me, especially since one of my co-workers suddenly quit after being confronted about causing drama in the workplace. I stepped up and took on the position left, and continued to take on my old jobs as well.

I've been rewarded because of this, but I didn't ask for it or even expect it. My bosses just happen to be very honorable and took care of me because I've been taking care of them.

My co-workers refuse to do any more than what is required of them, they actually sit and stare at the clock the last few seconds of the regular work day so they can run out the door. Believe me, they go so fast the suction pulls some of the dust out of the shop. Even worse these employees are constantly complaining about their wages, which would be given quickly and generously if they would simply help out during crunch time.

The kicker here is that the only reason we have such large contracts to get out is because my bosses are always afraid to run out of work and having to lay off their employees.

This is a flawed idea, which seems to be a fairly new one. At least culturally in the past a strong work ethic was both admired and revered as something to strive for. A hard worker despite their race, culture, etc.. was admired for their work ethic. I'm still told stories about my ancestors, and great emphasis is put on their strength and their ability to work hard.

This has been lost in my culture, at least locally anyway. Now you hear tales, and gloating about persons who go great lengths to avoid work. There are even those who abuse systems like Unemployment Insurance, which is a safety net, and make a career out of fooling the government to pay them. Not that I care about the government being taken advantage of mind you...

The ability of working hard to build yourself up has been replaced with a sense of barely scraping by and never striving for more. I know my friend at the Psycho Carnival( ) feels that people need to be happy with what they have, but sometimes it is great to strive for more. Living off the scraps of others tends to be something which shouldn't be encouraged or admired, and I feel these are the people who need to make some long term goals.

My local culture caters too much to some of these people, unfortunately usually putting a stigma on those who are in actual need of safety nets or offered security advantages. Even in a poor economy, this ideal of not working and living at the bare minimum has become a social norm.

I tend to think about all the jobless Americans at this point, their economy being hit so hard and the lack of jobs... they are literally crying out for the opportunity to work. Perhaps some of them will join us in my country and add to the lack of workforce presented here. I for one would welcome them.

Distorted Perceptions and Realities.

2010-08-02T19:55:00.002-03:00

This blog is inspired by a family member who recently came to visit here, she is a robust woman who isn't exactly gargantuan but is definitely on her way to becoming so. During a nice sit outside the family began to talk and this woman told the story of when she saw the nutritionist when she wanted to lose weight. This nutritionist made her catalog ever thing she stuffed her face with for one month, and then at the start of the first month they would review and mock up a diet plan from her eating habits. So my family member did just that, apparently logged everything she ate for a month and when the time came took it back to the nutritionist.

Well she had put on weight, but amazingly the log was filled with only the best healthy food, in the proper portions. Apparently both she and the nutritionist couldn't believe it! This story was told as she shoveled down her second jumbo bag of potato chips in this sitting. I left out the huge slice of cake, and what ever else was in a 10 food square radius of her jaws.

Now, you all may think I'm being a little too hard on my dear old Aunty, but I'm not she's a absolutely poison human being. I do however respect that she is an adult and can't eat what she want, but I think her self induced ignorance to the situation (also known as complete bullshit) is absolutely insulting to everyone she tells this story too.

Those who deceive themselves or fabricate the truth in ways which distort the actual reality unfolding before them are in my opinion persons of a diseased mind. I am certain it is a mental illness which keeps them in a perpetual comfort zone so they don't have to face the harsh truth before them. Perhaps a defense mechanism designed for the emotionally unwilling mind.

Unfortunately many people do this to themselves and ignorantly shrug off the facts before them. Culturally only a select few of these individuals go noticed usually those who are susceptible to addiction, or control disorders but most of these people go completely unnoticed. However, if you peel back the layers of the matter you'll find this personality type absolutely everywhere!

They may not be the compulsive gambler or the alcoholic either... I can list dozens upon dozens but I'd rather not influence you to think like me and rather decide which people you think fit this personality type.

Just as I've written in the past that everyone lives on their own little island, well it can be said that what one experiences and sees on this island equally detrimental to their well being and that of the greater global culture. I'm under the assumption that people should regularly step outside of their perspective island shelters and experience other realities.

Something I'm very grateful for is my keen interest in others, what they believe, and how they perceive the world. It has allowed me to take an interest in my current field, and also allowed me to break free of at least some of the social fabrics which bind us from experiencing a bland cultural norm.

Some of us our free to wonder and experience the taken for granted social frameworks which suspend our living culture... while others may be doomed to live on their islands, in a country far removed from the vast diversity in individuals across the spectrum of our planet.

I guess I elaborate too much on such insignificant events...

We All Die.

2010-07-29T23:29:00.003-03:00

Sorry for the cryptic title, but if there was only one fundamental truth in the world that would be it. Perhaps it could be rephrased to something like, "everything will cease to exist.". However, I like mine because it deals with living things, in particular human beings.

Given the events in my recent life it is probably only natural to be contemplating on death and things which surround it. Memories of loved ones who have died invoke a strange number of emotions to mind... even more so those of age who are in the act of dying. These are realities I am familiar, and even perhaps experienced with.

It is not death in itself that perplexes me so much as how people view it. Recent conversations with others recently have surprised me. There seems to be an almost innate knee jerk reaction in any conversation dealing with death, even more so when my beliefs are mentioned. I believe dead person is no different from a dead tree or other living thing... they simply cease to exist.

I find no comfort in the ideas in which so many cling, that there is an afterlife or some great "thing" in which a consciousness can live forever. I am very comfortable with the idea of death being an ending, others however aren't so much for this idea. When speaking about this sort of thing many people simply out right deny what I say, others run as far away from the topic as possible.

I was more than shocked about this, to see that amount of fear and anxiety from something as simple as a conversation about death. I've never known this sort of fear, because ceasing to exist has never bothered me. I blame these overzealous reactions on a culturally imposed phobia of death. Religious mythologies have huge roles to play in these phobias but I do feel that they are more so influenced by the ego and a tendency to reject the unknown.

In cultures that are more group orientated death tends to be more celebrated, however in most modern cultures selfishness (even if it is unconscious) tends to play a huge role in death. Such things like freezing bodies and heads come to mind, any way to perpetuate the self. The Christian influence of an afterlife also feeds heavily on this ego driven ideal.

Perhaps I am over thinking this. But I'm currently seeing a person close to me age, and begin to fail. It is only a matter of time before this person ceases to exist. A nearly non-religious person now seeing a looming death is suddenly talking about heaven, and quickly trying to mend what "sins" that have been committed. A survival mechanism of extreme selfishness.

Something to ponder about I think.

Trust In Me.

2010-07-27T23:22:00.004-03:00

My following,

I have not perished under the weight of my own ego, or perhaps some horrific accident which rendered me with a strange condition that causes my fingers to melt every time they touch a keyboard. Unfortunately though due to many circumstances I have been unable to get here to post. (Until NOW!)

For those who are squeamish, note that a summary will follow this very sentence:

I had full intentions of continuing my blog normally after I had gotten home from my trip down yonder. I actually arrived home wanting to post about the loss a dear companion of mine, but was dismayed to find that I was unable to access my account. I assume that it was pending review due to my lovely drawing of Mr. Mo.

Yes, apparently I've offended someone and they (in all their wisdom) did what they needed to and tattled. It was only a matter of time, my beloved Blog Catalog was full of posters giving tutorials on how to actively report blogs which featured photos of Mr. Mo. Given my presence on Blog Catalog at that point it was only a matter of time until I was targeted as a hate mongering anti-Islamic.

Just for all those at home who don't know though, I'll spell this out very clearly. I'm Anti-Religious, so to be fair I'm better than you. I hate all of them equally.

This was an act of freedom of speech, and somehow that lesson was missed because for a time I was silenced. However, I am definitely back and quite ready to dish out my usual content.

Other than that, the only other thing keeping me from blogging since my account has been reactivated is work. I'm not talking your regular Nine to Five. Think more around the lines of Six or Seven to Nine or Ten. Crazy hours, well for me at least. I know many Americans are drooling at the prospect of that many hours, but here in Canada we're crying for workers! Because of this worker shortage... well decent worker shortage many companies are just being bombarded by a blitzkrieg of jobs with not enough man power to pull them off. This is where the beast of extreme overtime is born.

I'm actually quite happy to be working though, the extra money is not unappreciated nor will it be squandered on the petty. After all more important matters have been taken care of I'll be looking into having my own website with domain name. Although I'm blatantly ignorant on where to start, so if anyone has any ideas please feel free to share.

I appologize for those who were regular readers, I actually had a few of you and I feel as if I have let you down. So please trust in me that my regular blogging content will continue henceforth. Starting Monday I'll be doing my absolute best to produce at least 3 blogs a week. All of with will touch on my usual topics, and perhaps a personal anecdote here and there.

Gland to be back.

Change.

2010-06-10T15:52:00.002-03:00

Change is ongoing and no matter how much we reject it or shy away it is forever occurring. With this mind many of us still attempt to separate ourselves from it. Most times it is associated the anxiety of loss, especially in cases of death. Then there is a category of people who just don't like that things don't stay the same.

This is where I come in. I hate change, especially when it concerns others. Change in my own life is manageable and expected but my brain doesn't make that connection when it comes to others. For example, when I see an old friend after years of separation I tend to be mesmerized and dumbfounded by them. Everything from appearance to accent just does not compute with the file I have on record somewhere in my brain.

Some people tend to cope with this quite easily, but for me and my egotism it is almost like an involuntary shock treatment reminding me that the world beyond my spectrum does keep turning. At least this blog is more helpful to my overly involved ego than the unfolding reality before me.

Back to the blog.

I really didn't think much about this until I started getting reacquainted with old friendships recently. I had these people mentally framed and filed in such a way with my past that I just arrogantly didn't expect them to change as they have. It is quite the odd experience for me, to see people in school for the exact opposite of what one would expect 5 years ago, or some living in another country leading a life which just seems so not "them".

These unexpected variations are persistently hard for me to deal with, and in the same breathe I also find them intriguing. Such things cannot be avoided, and if they were to cease life would be far too stagnant and unbearably dull.

A new lesson learned, one worth sharing.

Captivation and Inspiration.

2010-05-28T21:22:00.003-03:00

These are two concepts which tend to allude me throughout my life, there are very few things which can hold my interest. My passionate study into Paleoanthropology is one such exception. Another exception is my list of brilliant minds which, to me anyway, have set the grand bar of achievement in which I must somehow surpass.

These are great men of history, some of which are not getting the proper respect or entitlement they deserve. I idolize these people, for their achievements and obtaining the immortality within the literature which I so desperately seek. Perhaps my selfish and egotistical goals will be wasted on some, but I intend to do my very best to be recognized in the future.

It is not enough to be remembered as a good father or nice man. Such pitiful sentiments are only worth a decade, perhaps two, before they are undoubtedly lost to more pressing matters. Perhaps this is my personal obsession, but it is one which drives me in a direction which can only be beneficial to some field of interest.

Many mistake this ongoing adventure as greed, but the material wealth which can be gained from this is to me quite worthless. To solidify myself amongst my intellectual heroes is fortune enough. Such a pleasure to even conceive finishing such a feat, even if ending in failure I feel the journey to what ever result lays ahead will be enlightening.

I draw inspiration from those who have already trudged through their own journeys and are rewarded with what I interpret as the only chance at immortality which is achievable on in this reality.

Now, who are these people? Well how about my lists, that should put things in perspective. In no particular order:

Stephen Jay Gould
Nikola Tesla
Alexander Gram Bell
Charles Darwin
Gregor Johann Mendel
George Gaylord Simpson
Richard Dawkins

There are probably more which have escaped my memory. That list of people is a list of innovators, intellectual heavyweights, visionaries, inventors, scientists, humanitarians, mad men, and so much more. Each to me has solidified their place in history and will be acknowledged for their achievements beyond the mere decade or so the average person is known after their demise.

If you haven't heard of some of these figures, I suggest doing some research and be inspired by what they achieved. If possible listen to their lectures or words in print and I'm sure you'll agree that their place in history is well deserved.

I plan to in the future showcasing each of these persons, in a way which will allow you to understand them and perceive them from my point of view. I'll also include some interesting facts and a small biography... so expect these in the future.

Draw Muhammad Day

2010-05-21T22:51:00.004-03:00

Draw Muhammad Day was yesterday but has been an on going event. It is an open protest which has gone viral in recent days across YouTube, Facebook, Blogs, and the rest of the internet. I make mention that this is not to be in bad taste towards Muslims anywhere, this protest is in favor of freedom of speech across the world and censorship from entities like Comedy Central which censored a cartoon of Muhammad because of outside pressures.

Self censorship due to pressure is no more good to the world than forced censorship, it is efforts like those found throughout the internet which will make cartoons of Muhammad so viral and wide spread that cases of censorship due to pressure will diminish. They cannot threaten everyone, or all of us.

Now for my contribution:

Note: I believe mine is in fairly good taste, following the example of YouTube guru AronRa

I am Alive.

2010-05-21T13:41:00.003-03:00

I am many things actually, and I do solemnly sorry for my blogging absence. This endeavor was supposed to be a thing of passion, and I honestly enjoy it a lot but the restraints occurring from trip have been shockingly vast. Perhaps it is because I am unable to cope with the difference in blogging environment, which I guess says a lot about me. I am doing my very best at this moment to simulate my conditions which I usually blog under home in my office, which is a combination of loud music and comfortable surroundings.

Besides being alive, I have been watching and listening on this trip. I have always found Americans to be fascinating, and I'm shocked to seem some gradual changes occurring from my other years visiting this country. There has been a number of changes actually.

Firstly, and most importantly because I say so, Jesus Fish! What happened did the oil spill kill them all? Seriously, I used to marvel at the chromed trunk lid decor, and now they are elusive. The Mega Churches are still herding in huge numbers of sheep to their pews or what ever else their holy buttocks sit upon. I hereby declare the Jesus Fish to be a threatened species, to protect this misunderstood creature I suggest stealing them and setting them free as refrigerator magnets. The reality of the matter is I think maybe some taste has developed in this country and it was collectively understood one cannot have both Jesus fish and inspirational Jesus quotes on a vehicles or the weight of the smugness would create even poorer gas mileage. Good Call.

Secondly, Paranoia is at an all time high. I get this, people hate Obama, I can understand this... what I don't understand is the need to run around screaming that the country is going to collapse. The stories I hear in Canada of people stocking up on food, water, and ammunition because THIS is the year the United States is going to crumble under Obama's socialist nazi regime are all true. I'm dumbfounded at this, and that there are so many of these individuals ready and prepared to have an all out civil war at the drop of the hat. I understand that these are people on the fringe, and not at all the average American but it is still a slightly disheartening reality that these people are a group.

It felt good to get those off of my chest. I do believe I'll update this again soon, I may even write another blog tonight to tell you all some stories about my bad luck thus far on this trip.

To all those I follow and frequently comment, I have been reading, just haven't have the means to comment every post. I assure you I'll continue to be a loyal reader/commenter when I return home and have the means and time to.

Codes. Part 1.

2010-05-07T17:05:00.004-03:00

So, you have a moral code eh? How is that high horse you're perched on? Is the weather good up there you smug douche bag?

Perhaps it is just because I'm visiting in the United States or that I just previously didn't notice that people get incredibly pretentious over their moral high ground. It started earlier today online when someone on a forum felt the need to say "I find your lack of Honour disturbing."

Well so what? I have a distinct set of values and morals, probably more thought about and decided upon than the average person. Mind you this was on a religious forum in which I am an Atheist minority. I've been subjected to this on other religious forums I am a part of as well.

Supposedly being religious is synonymous with being morally acceptable in society.

WRONG!

But lets not get into how moronic that comparison is, there is enough fallacy and history to be found to prove that such a correlation is both unfounded and unreasonable to suggest.

With this said it doesn't mean that people don't do it. Especially here in America. Not only to the people nit pick, but so do the giant ads in the sky. I am strangely intrigued by this phenomena. These malicious ads attack Atheists, Non-Christians, Those who support Abortion, etc... all under the guise of a universal code of morals and honor.

These do not exist, they are not innate in fact they are so socially and culturally influenced that even religious affiliations which promote certain ideals are far removed from their original texts that you can see where these codes have changed throughout history.

People rejecting certain useless moral codes of conduct is not disturbing, as long as the society functions I would suggest it is a good thing. You don't need a text do understand why killing someone is bad, you don't need some deity to tell you either.

I'll touch on this more in depth in the future, I find it too hard to blog here because I cannot simulate my ideal blogging conditions. You'll hear more on this.

"Obama is...."

2010-05-02T15:25:00.003-03:00

Well this is part one of my series on the tea party while I'm here in the USA. I've mainly been listening to radical conservatives while staying in the US. I've been hearing a lot about the President so I thought I would share my list of my interchangeable words put into association with the president.

Trust me I'm also going to do a segment on bumper stickers, flags, and everything else I find reasonable enough to mention..

So here it is, the list:

Obama is....

an anarchist
a Muslim
a douche
an immigrant
a liar
a socialist
a commie bastard
an idiot
a Kenyan
a nigger
a fraud
a blight
a curse
godless
evil
frightening
the devil
ruining America
destroying freedom
destroying America
the anti-Christ

I could go on and on but those are just a selection of my favorite. I've heard very little positive said about him while I've been here. It has only come from one person besides myself. I'll keep in mind from my observations I'm not a huge Obama supporter or anything and I can find criticism, but I can't allow myself to believe the fallacy being spread about him. I find him mediocre as a president, not the baby eating monster he's being portrayed as here where I am staying.

"Welcome to the United States""

2010-04-29T02:09:00.003-03:00

...The very words uttered to me by probably the most intense individual I met in my entire life. Perhaps a little back ground is in order. A few days ago I embarked on my journey to the US, as I have mentioned in previous blogs. I had various planes to take and the whole trip was around 13 hours in total until I arrived.

As a Canadian citizen I had to go through customs on the way (while still in my country), this is usually a breeze. As I have done this a few times without a hassle I went to the booth to talk to the American customs agent thinking that this would be short and fairly easy.

I had nothing to hide, nor posed no threat... at least until this guy got done with me. I was usually given the standard questions which I answered without hesitation or fallacy, however the agent found one discrepancy, I was leaving for 8 weeks. This amount of time is supposedly "Very suspicious", which really through me for a loop because people I know go on vacation for 3-4 months at a time (usually Florida)without a hassle. However because I was 21 and leaving my country for 8 weeks to go to the US it was decided that some how I was a threat.

I was basically forced to defend my position, and when I did by stating I have the addresses/names/phone numbers of the family I was staying with to get them to vouch for me it was taken as a "Threatening statement". Note the quotations are direct quotes from the agent I was dealing with. This man then drilled me again with the same set of questions, and adding new ones to check if my story is indeed legit.

This is fine and well, although I was a bit nervous and shaken because of the power this man's position had over me at the time I did alright. He asked me personal questions like my employment and why I was so special enough to get 8 weeks off work. He then accused me of working in the US, I am assuming illegally because he never stated. I made a small remark about how trust me I'll be there to spend money on vacation not make it... and he then told me I'm being placed under suspicion marking my passport.

When I asked him why he is marking my passport, because they normally don't do that any more, he said it is to let others know what went on. Then he handed me my stuff and stated "Welcome to the United States" and sent me on my marry way. Not the most pleasant welcome I've had.

So far I haven't really done anything else significant enough to note here on the blog but I am keeping notes of interesting anti-obama and anti-government statements I keep hearing Americans say. I am also going to make note of religious billboards and bumper stickers... because I've never seen so many in my life!

I'll be posting more as I do more!

People Change...

2010-04-22T23:45:00.007-03:00

... or get more irritating.

Last week I embarked upon an adventure to visit some old friends. These two characters have been part of my closest inner circle for about as long as I can remember. We have a historical friendship and closeness which most families are not able to maintain. Unfortunately these friends moved away to live in the capital city of my province, they visit home on occasion and I get to see them then.

When they come home to visit all seems as normal, their personalities and mine mesh very well. We hang out and do the same old things we did as a group before, this being a combination of eating, gaming, watching movies, or talking. These friends are not very adventurous in comparison to other friends I have. This is fine, we always blamed our living in a small town with nothing to do as the main reason although me and my other friends always found something. I didn't let the dubious details get in the way of my friendship with the two I'm speaking of.

So I arrived in Blue Nose country, ready to hang out and fully enjoy my official ending of the university year with friends and adventures. I was received well at first and my friends and I got along like old times, catching up with talking, gaming and some television. The next day though I felt this overwhelming feeling of intrusion, my friends who are so set in their ways pretty much sat around listless and unenthusiastic.

I can accept that they may not want to do anything, but to the point where getting out of your own way is too much a chore seems a little ridiculous. Eventually I finally convinced them to go out, it was like pulling teeth for them it seemed. We arrived back decently late, and they both went to bed soon after. Now I was leaving the next day, and the reality of the situation is that if the shoe was on the other foot for me or anyone else in this inner circle I would stay up most of the night spending time with the close friend who was only in town a short time.

My final day there while I waited for the shuttle home, I was met with sheer contempt. One friend had gone to work, the other was awake too busy doing their own thing to bother coming out of his room to talk or hang out. I eventually went in to try and talk with him a bit before I left and was basically treated like a bother, so I went back to packing. The rest of this trip was spent getting one word responses.

I really don't understand why these two have become so introverted. They always were growing up, but never to this point where it has become a detriment to friendships.

I suppose this serves as a lesson that all people can change, and unexpectedly. Friends can quickly turn into barely that, and act in ways which are so uncharacteristic to their assumed nature.

That brings up a good point. Culturally we are encouraged to assume that no one can change. Instances where someone is considered a social deviant such as Alcoholics, People who cheat/steal, or have some other distorted behavior which doesn't mesh well with the accepted "reality" of culture.

Realistically when one looks at the patterns of human behavior it can easily be surmised that people do change, adapt, and mutate almost constantly. The variables for these changes in ones persona and literally endless, and quite unstoppable. To assume that people can't change is a cultural fallacy, and one which can trap a person who isn't aware of it.

I suppose this serves as a future reference point to not let myself be naive and ignorant to the literal reality before me.

Social Islanders.

2010-04-14T10:54:00.004-03:00

Today I arrived early at my University, my exam was hours away but due to an arrangement I ended up here. I proceeded to find a quiet spot in the cafeteria to read the school news paper and get some studying in before the computer labs opened. I soon put the paper down and decided to do some observing given that a lot of students had come in since my arrival.

The first thing which I noticed is that my peers all were sitting in singular fashion. One person per table. When the options for seating became limited some students moved to tables which were touching other tables but still made sure they weren't sitting directly next to someone else who happened to be sitting at the neighboring table.

There was an understood law of no speaking, not even a simple hello. Each person tended to glance at the other upon arrival but left it at that. It was as if each individual had their own personal island and these islands dotted the cafeteria. I originally thought it may be due to the pressures of exams and my peers were sucking in the last few hours they had to cram, but upon closer observation most students weren't really studying. Some were online via their netbooks and phones and some were just staring into space.

Upon noticing that even I was on an island free of social entanglements I decided to go on a pilgrimage to another island, one with inhabitants. I left and soon seen a classmate of mine who I don't recall even learning their name. He gave me a nod as I walked by and I took a seat at his table. He was quite taken back that I even spoke, as were some of the surrounding islanders who all peered at me like I had just sacked the capital of my classmates island. With this in mind I made sure I was not distracting him from his last minute cramming.

I was well received and soon we had quite a nice conversation about everything from school to summer plans. We were soon joined by a mutual classmate who quickly joined the conversation. Eventually due to exams we split up. Upon my departure I noticed that all the islands had been taken, and most of them only had one individual. The few which didn't had inhabitants which looked really uncomfortable, trying not to even acknowledge that their fellow island citizen was there.

Humans are awkward creatures, especially given the framework of my immediate culture where there seems to be some unspoken fear of socializing. My university is like this to a large degree the majority of people stick to their own known "islands". For instance when school is regularly in session and the cafeteria is filled people who went to the same high schools typically sit together. It is very rare to see a group made up of people who aren't all familiar with each other from pre-university life.

Typically we're weary and discouraged from a young age to socialize with unknown or unlike people. You can see this in the upbringing of children, "Don't talk to strangers" is the big one. Even though we are adults a lot of times this concept is unconsciously influencing our social behavior. Some people naturally free from this sort of culture bondage, and others need to struggle to break free of the indoctrinated concept.

Kind of interesting.

Some Updates: Life, Adventure, and Anticipation.

2010-04-13T23:29:00.007-03:00

I know that some of my following absolutely despise when I post about my real life rather than writing at length about some social, or abstract concept. However, this is my blog and it is primarily an embodiment of me. So hold on, take a breathe, and if you really must stop following me.

My hectic school life is coming to an end until the fall. This is good because I'll be able to focus more time on blogging and getting myself out into situations where I can make some worth while observations.

To celebrate my finishing up of the school year I'm off to the Capital city of my province for some rest and relaxation. I'll be staying with two of my best friends who now live up there, and will be going a Billy Talent concert. Most Americans aren't familiar with the band because they only ever released one album down there I believe. I can assure you though they are excellent, and quite different if you wish to hear them out.

After this short trip within my own province I will return home only to pack again and head to the United States for a number of weeks. This will be to spend some much anticipated time with family, and get off of this rock I call home. I expect to do many activities such as fossil hunting, caving, hikes, visiting historical sites, and even a trip to the creationist museum is in the works. If I don't get kicked out.

This trip should snap my brain back on track with this blogging business and allow me to post about a broad spectrum of concepts and observations. Stay tuned folks.

Edit:

I forgot to mention, I made a twitter a long time ago but decided to start using it. So feel free to add DarkSlander and get updates of my adventures, day to day life, and blog updates. :)

Naysayers.

2010-04-10T17:46:00.002-03:00

I deal with naysayers on a day to day basis, and some would think I would be used to it by now. Especially given my embarking career in Human evolution, I guess I should be expecting such things more so than I already do. I still however find the social grouping of naysayers on the internet to be quite a shock.

Examples can be taken from two forums I frequent. I will keep both their identities to myself because I'd rather not have the abundant sources of drama there following me to his blog. Also given my positions at each forum, I'd rather not perpetuate any further drama for those forums by having the naysayers come across this post here.

Although these forums in which I attend are fundamentally different to the core in both terms of the audience they cater to and the general genre of specialty I notice they are falling prey to naysayers in the same way. It seems to always start the same way, members attacking the staff of a forum due to their not liking a decision being made. This tends to be open to the general forum and done in such way that is disrupts the flow of the whole forum, these types of outbursts are usually met with disciplinary action. Depending on the severity and other considerations sometimes the member is even banned for their antics, and their fellow naysayers use him as a martyr to express their "point".

This is fine, I understand that social networking comes with a few detriments. I also understand that it is impossible to please everyone and that some no matter what will have problems with the way in which the rules are carried out. Actually some people simply feel that they have the right to say anything they want, and shouldn't be censored. WRONG! The internet is a nice venue of free speech but when you join a forum you forfeit the right to cause anarchy and disruption by going against the forum rules. I like to think about it like this, read the rules and accept them by joining and after this you are a guest. As a guest you are allowed to use the features of the forum, but if you break the rules you lose that privilege. It doesn't matter if you agree or not.

Anyway, back to the example. On these forums I frequent there is a huge member base, so much so that these social networks become very similar in nature to high school albeit a online based one. Members forge social relationships and tend to cluster in cliques. Unfortunately for the staff the naysayers tend to gather together, and if one gets banned the rest start an uproar usually crying out the terms "dictatorship" and "censorship".

This brings up a good point. Just because you live in a democratic country when you join a forum it doesn't mean it has to follow the same scheme. Most forums are dictatorships, in all fairness they try their best to accommodate everyone but will science those who just troll and become a nuisance. Think of it as high school again, the delinquent who used to throw paper balls was usually removed from the class and sent to the office.

So these naysayers they tend to start their own little online revolution and take on the forum publicly. This is fine, although it usually ends up with them losing privileges and being banned. After a couple of them go the rest either quit or shut up(at least openly). Those who are left usually stay in the shadows a while causing drama in other ways, or private messaging other members trying to get them to join their ranks, sometimes they even go as far as to stalk those they have a problem with online in an effort to harass them. Usually these are minor issues, but on occasion they take things to another level completely, and try to use their influence to effect those they disagree with in real life. I know of a case where a member tried to get an admin fired from their real life job by submitting a nasty e-mail to their boss.

The newest tactic in the naysayer arsenal is to create their own forum, it usually becomes quickly filled by those who are either banned or quit the other forum. Some frequent both using one to get members to the other and returning to the other just to complain about the administration. These forums are rarely long lived because they only serve as a medium for people to complain, and remain on that topic solely. It is actually quite counter productive in many cases because once the staff of the forum they hate finds out they can easily see who they can trust and promptly eliminate all those recruiting for the other forum.

I've been dealing with this on these forums for a few weeks now, and although I have once been part of these social networking revolutions against an "oppressive" administration I've now moved beyond that. This may have stemmed from my working as an admin and dealing with naysayers personally, but I particularly feel it came from seeing that their is no point in such things. Online naysaying is just drama for those who have no other excitement in their lives, and serves only as a medium for faulty personalities to gather and be pompous together.

Life is too short for such drama, especially online.

Jesus is a Zombie.

2010-04-05T11:56:00.004-03:00

When a person is killed, dies or otherwise and comes back from the dead by any means they are a zombie, these are the rules. Apparently though most Christians missed the memo and become enraged with religious fury over the thought of their savior being a brain eating zombie. Fortunately I come with a nice alternative to this situation, it is quite simple. Jesus isn't a zombie because he's a work of fiction, or the stories which are miraculous nature are over the top fabrications of what a man not demigod can accomplish. But no one listens to me any more.

Zombie Jesus was the topic of much discussion for me last night. A confrontation between two very important members of my inner circle. Their only connection at all is through me, in fact they have never met besides online. One is a practicably Pagan "Green Witch", the other is a Fundamentalist Christian. Personally I think they are both a few bricks short of a load, which doesn't mean that I don't like them it just means my atheistic mentality doesn't jive well with their individual forms of spirituality.

The offending altercation came in the form of a joke about Zombie Jesus, a creepy picture posted on the Pagan's facebook page, which lead to the Christian friend asking for it to be taken down. Misinterpretation of the way in which it was asked lead to a prompt response of basically, "I'll do what I want on my page." this was replied with some comments about why it offends Christians etc.

Eventually when I had time I stepped in to mediate the situation. I thought it was ridiculous that it went that far to begin with but I talked to both and tried to smooth things over as best as possible. The course of action to be taken in the end was the Christian friend defriending the Pagan, this way even though there was no hard feelings he did not have to be subjected to what he thinks is offensive material. Fair enough.

A ridiculous situation which should have never of occurred. Not because the picture should have never been posted, but because those offended should have simply ignored it. Its like my page here, I've faced some ridicule in the past for doing some thumping of religious folks I was hounded for a little bit on a blogging forum just for calling out some bullshit on those who decide they are going to ignore the past and present misdeeds of their religion as a whole. In that situation after they harassed me I followed them with increased opposition, and eventually they left me alone.

The situation between those in my inner circle was actually a fairly causal example of what happens with pushing a belief. Sure it may have been an innocent gesture of asking, but that innocent gesture becomes something grotesque once you get religious people in groups. Asking quickly becomes protesting, and protesting quickly becomes force. Such is the way of Christianity and other religions of this sort. Even if origional intentions were pure, or held no ill intent.

Group mentality spawns censorship and oppressing views, when you organize it you call it religion.

With my up coming trip to the US I'll be staying with a family chopped full of more fundamentalist radical Christian types. Their ignorance also ascends religious interpretation and be taints other ideas like politics and the like. Typical Sarah Palin types. You can expect some interesting human observations being posted in my blog. I also may be having a little fun and visiting the Creationist Museum, I'm going to attempt to not get kicked out. I need lots of pictures! :)

Easter Bunny, Sort Of...: Palaeolagus

2010-04-05T11:34:00.003-03:00

Below you is my fossil friend Palaeolagus, it is a purchase from a dealer I know through fossil hobbyist websites I frequent. It comes from the famous White River Formation of Wyoming and approximately 34 million to 23 million years old (Oligocene epoch).

My intentions were to buy up Peter Cotton tail here and disarticulate him from the matrix but once I could view the specimen with the naked eye it was far too brittle to attempt.

I think he's smiling.

Something a little different to post, later I'll be posting about a confrontation I was in the middle of last night between two significant people. Evangelical Christian meets Pagan Free Spirit over Zombie Jesus. Trust me its more of a headache than it sounds...

Family Responsibility.

2010-04-01T01:55:00.002-03:00

Well although I understand it is April fools day, this is not a joke by any means. I am again to embark on another venture of staying with my grandmother whilst my grandfather heads to the capital for another eye examination and drugs to be injected into it. Given his last scare with the re-bleed behind his eye we're hoping that things will improve.

This means that after classes I'm to head over to my grandparents place to commence keeping and mentally ill woman company. I'm sympathetic to her insanity given her pitiful state, age has really taken a grip upon her. Her depression is also worsening and she feels the grim reaper creep closer to her. This does not negate the fact that she's an absolutely evil manipulative woman, but it does soften the reality slightly.

In better news, my university obligations are finally over with. Just a few more classes, and a little studying before exams but I should be picking up blogging again very soon. I have a little something special in store for Easter as well.

Ignorance is Bliss.

2010-03-29T13:17:00.005-03:00

Hello everyone, it has been quite a while hasn't it. Unfortunately that lengthy spell of unarticulated thinking has lapsed into a spell of complete intellectual disorder. In simple terms, I'm very busy. School is finishing up, and my immediate family is in chaos. This very family happens to be the topic of discussion for today.

Family unity has always been something which surprised me, I often see it in other stable family conditions but not in my own. It used to be different. There is a lengthy history of some misdoings and turbulence. So lets look at this in hypothetical terms.

Imagine a little girl, her father a no good abusive drunk her mother a pawn to the abusive drunk scared for her own safety. Now on to an uncle and aunt who adopted this little girl for long periods of time. She had her own bedroom, and was given everything she could have ever desired. The uncle even stepped in and took care of the abusive father, chasing him away forever.

The reality of this story is about my cousin, who was always more like my sister since she lived with me. My parents took her in during that difficult time in her life, and my own father acted as hers as well.

She moved away because of university, but we went up to visit her all the time. Gave her money, food, and anything else to make her stay away from home more comfortable. My parents treated her as if she was sprung from their own seed, she was truly loved.

Suddenly my father had a falling out with her mother, over a stupid circumstance. This girl siding with her mother cut the only father figure she ever had, and someone who loved and cared for her deeply, out of her life. They have not spoken for years now.

I now see this is a trend which is occurring in many family units, friendships, and other social interacting centers. This is that people forget about all the good and become transfixed on the bad. In a situation like my family's my father did thousands of good deeds, and one bad deed which wasn't even that bad had the power to negate all that good.

Even in terms of mathematics this doesn't make sense, but there is a mechanism innate in people which seems to inflate spite. I'm sure everyone of my following has done it at one time or another, it seems very human. However now that I'm aware of it I'll be doing my best not to repeat these patterns.

Unfortunately I don't think it will change in my family, the little girl I spoke about is now in her 30's and getting married this summer. My parents who had a huge hand in her upbringing and early adult life were not invited, either was I because I've been black listed by association.

Funny, I still recall knowing her as my sister. A guess this is a lesson in not forgetting the past.

An Unarticulated Mind.

2010-03-22T13:24:00.003-03:00

I begin this blog knowing not where it will end up. My mind has been recently been taken over by a distracting ambiance. It has been problematic from a blogging perspective, but I trust that I shall not remain in this stupor for much longer. Such things tend to dissipate with time.

My mind has been readily filled with my studies in Anthropology, and assignments based on these studies. I'm currently undertaking an essay about the social effects of Darwinism, and Evolution on North American culture. This is not an easy undertaking to put fourth in 10 pages or so.

My thoughts have also been very preoccupied with many themes and ideas. So many that I would love to blog about, but I just can't articulate these ideas fully yet. Much time needs to be spent on these in order to manifest them here on my venue in a way which will free them from my mind properly.

So many topics are laying waste to my usually linear way of thinking, and I'm becoming increasingly inattentive to more pressing matters. It is like living in a day dream.

I often find myself thinking about important people, or those I feel their work has influenced me in some way. Great thinkers, inventors, advocates, and artists.

Other times I find myself thinking about fiction, actually in particular I found myself watching a number of Sci fi films and realizing that I really like that genre. I even thought about it deeper and decided which aliens I preferred over others. It amused me, and for that I feel it was productive in a way.

I have so much flowing right now, with little to no focus allowing me to articulate them on the page. Eventually.

Slander? The Truth Hurts.

2010-03-19T13:34:00.003-03:00

One thing about slander which seems to be easily forgotten is the beauty of the term. People cannot cry out about slander if what is being said is actually true. I see a reoccurring theme especially among Christians who are appalled by anything said against their religion.

I can see honesty find some merit in defending ones beliefs, even if personally I feel those beliefs are deserving of the most intense forms of ridicule there is to offer. It is human to defend what you subjectively feel is right. Unfortunately the key words when talking about religious belief is "subjective reality". This is another topic entirely so I'll get back on track...

There are hundreds of blogs which point out the historically poor track record of Christianity, and the response from Christian readers is usually quite foul and often leads to trolling, ridicule and intense denial. With this comes very turbulent reactions, some of which could be said to be very unchristian like.

It stands to reason that one can't pick and choose what they wish to believe about the history of their organization. Christianity has a poor track record for doing this, but individuals of the religious belief tend to be even worse. To deny historical facts because they do not mesh with your opinion of your faith and only s focused scope of reality.

The blogging sphere is a venue of free speech, many people spew fallacy and fictions and others like me give you insight from my perspective of things. Some even dare to speak the truth to an audience who doesn't wish to hear it, this is especially true about blogs against religion.

Something to think about.

Census Time.

2010-03-16T17:06:00.005-03:00

So I hear it is coming around that time in the US, and I find the reactions I see online and from Americans I know to be rather funny. Many people think this is all part of some government ploy to enslave the citizen, and others are running around circles screaming socialism or some overused fear invoking slogan.

As someone who knows a bit about these methodologies and deriving statistics from them I really don't see much of a harm. I don't know much about this one, but I hear it is mandatory by penalty of fine... okay perhaps a little much but I also hear it isn't that long. An approximate 10 minutes of your time. (If I have it wrong please feel free to tell me in the comments and I'll do a re-write).

As a student of the Social sciences I have experience with both Quantitative and Qualitative data, their applications, and the processes around them. I have run a few studies myself, and even participated in a large collective Qualitative one. I also act the part as a participant many times, when those taking consensuses call my house or offer me a short study to fill out for some purpose. (albeit usually useless purpose).

From my point of view I see how these sorts of studies can make an improvement on a society, and in particular reach out those who are not part of the collective. Although it is impossible to please every, it seems to me like a great first step in finding data which can benefit a great deal of many people. This to me cannot be ignored.

I've taken part in such studies as opinion polls about how locals running for a position of government are campaigning to studies trying to determine the rate of depression in university students. Even if they don't have practical implications for the time being, in the future they may be used as a bench mark if you will.

Think of it as a subjective cultural snap shot of a time which in comparison to the future will look totally ridiculous, and hopefully things have progressed positively. :)

Edit: I changed the topic title, I thought it was a clever play on words but.. I realized I'm probably the only human who would associate Census with Consensus... so changed for practicality.

Race: Social Not Scientific.

2010-03-12T13:00:00.005-04:00

In North American culture people tend to believe in the term race and try to categorize it terms of skin color. The usual system is : White, Yellow, Red, and Black. It is also used in a hierarchy, yes the established social system in North America is indeed racist in social terms. How dare I call our culture racist?

Well lets see lets put you to the test, shall we? A white mother and black father have a child, what race is the child? Now that I called you a racist you'll be inclined to say "mixed", but the cultural reality of the matter is that the child would get the race of the lower ranking parent.

For instance in the case of Obama's parents: White + Black = Black

Tiger wood's parents: Black + Yellow = Black

This is the state of our cultural frame work, and how the mechanics of it are recognized and established. These are so deeply rooted into our history that they will not change for a long time. It is a purely social construct, and the hierarchy it is based upon is a mythology carried forward by racist ideas.

Even more interesting that the intersubjectivity of the idea of race changes from culture to culture. Many other countries and regions of the world have their own historical social constructs which race is depicted differently. Some include more than 300 races in total.

However back to the idea of hierarchy of race in North America. It was first established from the beliefs in Europe that Whites were the superior entity and much more "pure", "intelligent", and in some cases some peopled we were "God's last and best creation", these ideas were socially acceptable for the time because this is when major colonization was being undertaken across the world. When it cam to North America, these ideas were used to justify the killing of Natives(Reds), and slavery of Africans(Blacks).

This is a more familiar history to some, and a past which is often not discussed or brought up because of the implications of such wrong doing in today's culture. It makes many uncomfortable, but the reality of the matter is that these social constructs haven't changed much. The social hierarchy which is invisibly put in place but our cultural frame works are quite racist. Only acknowledging the biases before us will allow our culture to shift into a better ideas about race.

Science doesn't deal with race, because it is an intersubjective social idea rather than a scientific one. Science in stead views us as a single species with many variations, which is the reality of it. Genetically there is far more in common between these "races" than their is different, and the differences are merely a result of thousands of years of gene separation and environmental changes.

We are Homo sapiens. Nothing more.

Addicted to Stimuli.

2010-03-07T10:00:00.002-04:00

Addiction to stimuli is just another reoccurring human theme which I can't help but continuously take notice of. Human beings are bombarded with stimuli from every direction in today's era. I feel these stimuli can often be a detriment to the human mind, or rather a variable which inhibits the growth of creativity.

Everyone loves stimuli, we're a species which simply envelopes ourselves in it. It comes in many forms, and we can experience them individually or simultaneously. Indeed we are quite addicted to it, but only up to a point this is a bad thing. The reason sex sells, is because of the stimuli of sex and how it makes us feel. If we had no stimulus to it then sex would be a fairly bad market to be in.

People fall pray to stimuli effecting marketing campaigns almost unaware of why they work. Such advertisements are meant to invoke desires or feelings, thus stimulating these feelings. Just is the reason that a person who orders that self help book feels happy just because they ordered it, even if it is a short lived placebo.

I enjoy stimuli, I am a being who encourages it and suggests that everyone take advantage of how the mind can make one feel. However I do notice some popular trends where stimulus is the root cause of, these trends to me are objectionable. These trends tend to come from new films, which are heavy in explosions, CGI, and 3D.

In these new wave of films we're seeing more and more of since the year 2000, I feel the overall recurring position film makers are taking is to create something which is low on thinking stimuli and high on force fed stimuli. The type a movie which someone which has had a lobotomy can still understand because the stimulus has been predigested for them. I understand that these films do serve a purpose, but I feel the sheer amount of them in force is changing pieces of art into money making machines.

Many people are so reliant on these easy stimuli that they will avoid any film, or other outlet which doesn't constantly emit big explosions and sex. The art of subtlety and plot thickening is slowly decaying. Fortunately there will always be innovators who will use the art of film with the art of stimulus to create balanced pieces for all to enjoy.

I feel it may be a long time before another film like Gladiator comes around, but eventually it will and my qualms will be laid to rest. We are in a transition where the new fad has shadowed the other, but once these fads become more widely available we'll soon see both easy and "thinking" stimuli together.

This all came from a few friends of mine complaining about the state of the series Spartacus: Blood and Sand, a television series I'm particular fond of both because of the stimuli it presents but their tact with the usage of drama and plot. The most recent episode was damned amongst my friends because of the lack of stimulus and the plot twist. It was enough for them to decide that they are done with the show entirely. To me this one episode which lacked action, was so suspenseful and plot thickening that it was worthy of an award in drama. To be kept on your seat for nearly an hour expecting something, when what unfolds couldn't be any different... just perfection.

Kind of funny how this post went, from concept to reassurance that things will get better. How my mind unfolds things is quite remarkable at times.

Well followers, keep thinking.

Personas.

2010-03-04T15:11:00.002-04:00

The idea that people take on different personas to suit different areas of their life has always been fascinating to me. It seems like it is a very common social practice, especially during times of subjective duress. So let me lay out a general definition of my meaning of a persona:

The role that one assumes or displays in public or society; one's public image or personality, as distinguished from the inner self.

This is a general definition found on the web which I feel suits the context I am trying to covey. Although I have one qualm with the definition itself. To me a persona does not have to be fully distinct from the inner most self, it seems that portion is entirely subjective to the situation and the person. Depending on the circumstances a person may let out various bits of them self though various personas, each carrying a portions of the source.

Besides this little problem, I feel the rest is accurate. Others may disagree.

In my experience in Social Sciences I see a lot of this persona usage in the day to say, especially during studies with a participant one on one. Depending if they feel threatened, judged, uneasy or a wide variety of mood a person can manipulate their demeanor or personality to fit. This can often be troublesome for qualitative research because it is hard to determine at times if a person is answering as them self or how they are expected to answer.

Personas often carry social baggage it seems, often coming from a lack of individualism and the expectation that one fits in a specific role and cannot stand free from it. This is often the root cause of indoctrinated ideas, or at least a heavily influential part of what makes them so dangerous. However, this is another topic for another day.

In professional fields personas are quite expected, and usually have some realistic reasoning behind it. You wouldn't wish to have a doctor not treat you because of some bias they have towards the color of your skin, this explains such things like codes that professionals are held accountable under. In my field, any studies which require human interaction of any kind require that I abide to the rules and customs of "ethical social science". Which makes sense, since people can leave a lot at stake in such personal interviews.

Thinking over I've compiled a list of distinct personas I often take on within social situations. These are for various situations and some are for particular purposes like while doing Social Science, Attending School, or Working. Others are less specific and are for situations like my blogging identity, online social networking sites like forums, when I go to the grocery store... etc. These tend to be less rigid and open to more variation and additives from the core of your personality.

Seems people are never themselves, at least not in the social world.

Well kind of a boring post, but it was the only thing I could get my mind around today. I've been dealing with major writers block. So I'll make note again that any questions or topics I can touch on will be appreciated. Depending on the knowledge I have on the subject It may take a while to post but I'll get to it.

Cultural Mulligan.

2010-03-02T09:19:00.003-04:00

The idea of a "Cultural Mulligan" is a theme I often see reoccurring in society, and I find it a very interesting phenomena. What I would consider to be a cultural or even social "Mulligan" is when an individual reinvents the way in which they want to be perceived by the outside world. It tends to vary with the movement of popular trends, and cater to the idea of one wanting to achieve a social norm and a collective.

Occasionally though people decide to pull a mulligan on their life without the ulterior motive of being socially accepted and do it for the sake of their well being or just because they were uncomfortable with what they were. You often see this type of scenario in movie plots, usually something along the lines of an popular figure breaking away from social trends to presume some greater good. A typical leopard changing spots type of ideal.

However typically at least in my experience these changes from one persona to another and perceived very negatively, especially when one walks away from a conforming group identity. They are often they are faced with much ridicule by attempting to join a new group, usually more so by the old group they are breaking ties with but on occasion the new group will also cast doubt on the person.

Typically in my experience when one attempts to leave a majority to a minority they tend to face opposition from both sides, but if a minority joins a majority they are usually accepted with open arms. Note that this can been seen very clearly when using religious interactions between minorities and majorities.

Personally I find this an oppressive cultural reaction, and although movies and media make it seem like it is an acceptable idea, the reality is culturally seen as unacceptable and tends to be a very difficult transition for those making a switch. In some cases some groups are more open than others, but generally a person is faced with derisory from at least one side of the equation.

I believe that people should be given the benefit of the doubt, and allowed to have a mulligan or two to prioritize their life. Sure, there will be those who abuse it and change their spots so much that no legitimate group will accept them as their own but why forsake a few with malicious doubt and a lack of support when some are in an actual need for transition.

February: What a Finish.

2010-02-28T19:50:00.005-04:00

February is usually a most detestable month. Between the weather and the ongoing tension from everyone it is usually unfriendly and quite hard to deal with. Within this mess of ill-temperament and inhospitable there is little to look forward to other than the oncoming Spring and Summer. This is the yearly norm, and the beginning of this year's February was not exception to the general rule.

The Olympics were beyond a contributor to the over all theme of the dreary February blues in the beginning of the month. With a poor opening ceremony, accidents, fatalities, and a very slow Canadian climb to the podium my country was in a very poor state of disarray.

I recently wrote a blog about the state of Canada in the Olympics, and the apathetic mood generated from it. With little pride, and little sense of proper competition this Canadian Olympics was determined to be one of the worst ever. Or so we thought...

It all started with the first Gold medal secured by Canada. This was the act to shake the country out of its winter depression. The whole country erupted with the first and this only increased with substantial magnitude as the Gold count was risen.

Suddenly the country was drunk on pride, and not just for Hockey. In fact when out men's hockey team lost to the US, if we were in any less of a state of pride our country would have hit rock bottom. With that said it was a blow which our pride barely recovered.

This month I seen a country on the brink of despair, and lack of any sort of sense of unity, simply explode with joy and a true sense of patriotism which I have never experienced in my life time. It unlocked a fire which has been laying hidden within the people of Canada for a life time it seems.

Tonight I watched the final, and what many would argue to be the main Olympic event of 2010. The rematch for the gold, Canada vs USA. Against statistical odds, our boys pulled through with yet another Gold medal, in the event which held the most sway on the moods of all of my fellow Canadians.

The streets of cities all over Canada are now filled with people in ravenous celebration, and it is truly well deserved. I wish I was near a large city because I'd be with them, however my spirit stands amongst them and a beacon of pride stands true.

This is a monumental victory for a Country which truly needed a sense of ongoing self and even a little vanity. I'm happy that the Olympics ended thunderously, and on such a grand scale. With this said, I take back the negative connotations I displayed in my previous post. I hold a far greater respect for my Country and the symbolical meanings the Olympics inspires.

Visit the Family - Part Two

2010-02-26T04:23:00.003-04:00

I'm finally wound down from the visit, only took me 5 hours... I'd like to say the venture was pleasant, and a joy but who am I to lie to my following. This particular visit was heart wrenching and turbulent. If it were not for the roles honor for the elderly play in my social upbringing and world views I would not have stood for much that went on.

I'm not going to go into exact details, because the whole visit wasn't actually bad. However, the bad portions of this venture were almost unbearable. There is not much background I can offer which will help make you understand the abstractness of my grandmother's mind it is hard to comprehend even for professionals.

Today was the day that she decided that yet another depression pill wasn't working, which in reality it was working quite well. Her crying spells have been cut in half, less paranoia, fewer suicidal thoughts, she looked much healthier, and actually moved around. This is a far cry from the distressed and almost psychotic woman living on the couch.

One would normally think that such a drastic change would inspire someone to stay on the medication, but due to an almost irrelevant and common side effect she decided to completely give up the only drugs which have made a difference in thirty years. I'm not at liberty to discuss this one side effect, because I'm still in shock that something so trivial and manageable would cause her to give them up.

All that aside the disorders and mental vices she possesses played a very little part in her overall behavior. In fact, one would say she is her own hateful self. Besides the usual act completely disregarding my university life as a waste of time, she managed to try to manipulate me in many ways.

List of manipulations:

1.) Telling past stories about my grandfather which cast him in a truly negative light, this act is usually to promote pity or to try to get me (or someone else) to play favorites.

2.) Trying to create controversy between myself and my parents. This comes in many forms everything from digging for information, or implying themes or situations in an attempt to have one self incriminate.

3.) Radical opinions against loved ones in an effort to get one to fight back create tension, controversy, pity, or what ever chaos is needed.

Tactic number three was used in multiple ways to speak about a loved one, she used racial slurring and false accusations in an attempt to edge me on into combating her. I know better than to fall pray to this tactic, I have once and it caused so much derangement within the immediate family that it just wasn't worth the stress to me. The sad part is these uncalled for accusations and terms do not even fit. They are just said because they are shocking and hurtful.

Much of the rest of the visit was spent listening to my dear grandmother attack various other family members, I personally had no issue with this because these family members probably deserve some of this contempt. It tends to be painful to listen to after a few hours though.

This was followed by what I like to call the "advice hour", and today's topics were:
A) Children will ruin your life, don't have any... EVER!
B) Never get married, it will ruin you life.
C) Don't be like your father or grandfather.

Lovely chatter, it was actually quite amusing at times.

The rest of the visit was rather dull, it was variations my helping read the inscriptions on various auctioned antiques and admiring my grandmother's substantial jewelery collection. I must give her credit she has very good taste in antiques and jewelery.

My stay lasted an hour and a half longer than it was supposed to, which I didn't particularly mind because I was more worried about the whereabouts of my grandfather. He had been held up by poor weather, and arrived later than expected. His news upon arrival was rather bleak and depressing, his experimental eye procedures which had been working to restore the vision in one of his eyes, but another bleed in the back of his eye compromised everything. Due to a lack of funds, and no better alternative it looks like he may lose one of his eyes.

This is not good news, and I fear that the two may end up in a home or some sort of assisted living center do to their increasing inability to take care of themselves. Unfortunately our home cannot be opened to them because they cannot climb stairs, which the family home has many.

So over all, quite a testing and stressful day. So much ambiguity and torment from a genuinely good gesture.

Visit the Family - Part 1

2010-02-25T10:25:00.004-04:00

This post is far removed from my usual overview of clever anthropological "isms" of all sorts. Today I'll be setting most of that aside and spending the day with my grand mother. This 9 hour venture will be due to her going to be alone most of the day, since she likes me the most out of the family I stepped in to take the task on.

The background behind why she is alone approximately all day every six to eight weeks is because of an experiment procedure my grand father is undertaking. He suddenly went almost blind in one eye do to bleeding somewhere inside the dry blood eventually began to cause problems after years of going unrecognized as old age vision problems. He being too elderly to drive very far takes a shuttle to the capital city to get an injection into his eye, this was experimental and they did not guarantee results but so far his vision is improving every day.

Since I'm off from my normal schedule of classes and homework this week I decided that it would be a nice gesture to stay with her for approximately nine to ten hours.

In a normal family, this wouldn't pose to be much of a problem. However it stands to reason that my grand mother is the biggest misanthrope who I have ever met. I mean, she hates everyone. Even more unusual she is very cruel and blunt to some, and others she treats very sweetly (and most times these people don't deserve it). I being something of an anti-social being myself seem to get along best with her.

With this said, she and I have had our fights. She's very racist and bigoted at times, which has lead to her being very cruel to people amongst the family with no good reasoning behind it. Approximately four years ago I once declined Christmas dinner with her because she said some very nasty things about my girlfriend, all untrue, but just to get to me she attacked a point which I could not resist fighting back.

So you can probably tell that she's the type who needs to have chaos around her to feel at all important. Most of the family has excommunicated her for this reason, but I still come and visit. I understand even before she was getting senile, she was rather insane.

I don't trust her being alone either, she suffers from severe depression, treatment resistant depression at that, and coming to terms with her morality in her old age has only pushed it further. She's having more and more suicidal thinking, and taking up a mentality on life which would make even the most positive cringe. I'll rest more peacefully, if I am able to be around to keep her company so I know she's not contemplating anything.

I assume this day will be filled with a few crying spells, television (because she loves Dog the bounty hunter), and some not so deep conversation. I'll have to reinforce those rules which my father drilled into my head about my grand mother as a child and still does to day.

1.) Never give her any information, about anything which isn't known or she can interpret in an insane way.

2.) Never tell her anything about your personal life, especially relationships.

3.) Never tell her anything you don't want known across the next three towns.

Funny rules, but very true. She'll use comments you make a year ago to attack you at any given moment.

Well that just about sums up what I'll be going through for the next nine to ten hours, I'll be leaving very shortly. Wish me luck. I'll be following up this entry with "Part 2" when I return, if I have the energy this is.

Reality.

2010-02-22T23:13:00.003-04:00

Life is made up of countless moments, each of these are individually given their own spin and take by those who experience it. No matter how many who share these experiences interpret them exactly in the same matter, regardless of what they may tell themselves.

To be subjectively individual is one of the many things which make each human being precisely unique from the other. Although even the most unique of people tend to conform to certain cultural ideals, sometimes easily lead there willingly and other times suppressing themselves to harmonize their own idea of reality.

It is a curious concept which has perplexed many great minds, and it stirs even greater questions. Even with much time and effort put into these gargantuan concepts these is absolutely no means of forging a true answer. With good reason.

Throughout my life I have always been quite different from my peers, something of a man who follows the beat of his own drum. I forcefully tried to find peace in conforming many times throughout my years, but it was never to my taste. I could never allow myself to be hollow for very long. Eventually I began to stop pursuing what I am not.

Is happiness or contentment with oneself worth willingly submitting to a comformality of which you do not internally associate with? My answer, absolutely not. However, many tend to disagree and would rather be subjected to a false manifestation of themselves than deal with the core. This intrigues me.

Our population is littered with a barnyard all masquerading themselves as sheep. Some of these sheep do so with purpose and tact for gains which can only be speculated upon, others do this because they are unable to come to terms with their individuality. Each case of this elaborate masking is as individual as the person who is concealing behind it. In most cases, these are even completely rationalized.

Causation and motive are very unclear in these cases, and I feel far too many take up arms against comformality without these considerations. They fight a fruitless battle which equally has no clear greater good. Such is the world as our subjective minds can handle it.

Interesting to contemplate.

Human beings are Special?

2010-02-20T22:14:00.003-04:00

I've been seeing a lot of forums discussing such broad philosophical concepts recently, particularly dealing with how Humans are different than other Animals. I'm shocked to see such a huge amount of people who think that Human beings are superior or are completely disassociated with Animal kind.

This idea has always alluded me, I've always seen my kind as just another extension of branches on the tree of life. Bound together with all other living things on this planet. When someone says Human being, I immediately think either Mammal or Great Ape because we are defined as both.

So what makes us so special? Well there are many theories or opinions on this matter, but for the sake of simplicity I'll deal with a few main ones.

Human beings have the ability to create things!

Yes, this is a true statement. However, people neglect to associate this coined "Human" quality with other animals. There is much work done with other primates which show that they have the ability to both make and use tools effectively with purpose. Some interesting ones which come to mind are sponges made from leaves, hammer stones, and (my favorite) spears used to hunt and kill monkeys. These creations tend to carry on within troops through generations.

Humans have morality!

This one really gets to me, because morality is such ambiguous term which is so subjective to the culture one is accustomed to that there is no clear definition. For instance a highly Christian sense of morality would probably be very disturbed by the morality set of a tribe in New Guinea. This whole morality idea to me seems very fallacious. Many Human made groups accuse other Humans of being immoral, so if Human beings are moral creatures by definition... why does this not make sense?

I like to use the example that Animals are subject to the same evolutionary laws as we are, killing each other is deemed a bad thing for animals in groups. For solitary Animals, it is less of an issue. So why is it that it isn't okay to kill people in a mall, but to travel to some other land and kill someone else in the name of some greater good. Human is Human, one can't pick and choose who is more Human or not.

Animals do not comprehend concepts!

Well, this is true, mostly. Some animals have a better grasp on things non-instinctual than others. We happened to evolve away from such things, but there is much evidence showing that some Animals do understand. Primates in particular have the ability to trick, lie, and with hold information to benefit themselves or for other reasons. These a big concepts, and shows a great deal of intellectual ability to intend to do an action with reason to get a result.

I'll leave these with you, I personally don't think Humans are any more special than any other animal. Our purpose remains the same, to continue generations and survive. We've not even been on the block for very long, so we have a long way to go before we can even start claiming superiority in that regard.

Well, it has been fun. A little heavy but fun.

Smiles, the awkward kind...

2010-02-18T09:44:00.002-04:00

Ever run into someone you vaguely remember from High school or some other social setting? Well what usually happens is these people usually don't remember if they liked, hated, or tolerated you during such a time so they give you the flash of an awkward smile to try to cover up the ambiguity of the social relationship between you.

I'm currently pumping this blog out from school, where I've run into quite a few awkward smiles today. Mostly these happenstances occurred during the hunt for an office of one of my Profs. I had no idea he was a evil doer until now, my evidence is his office is held in a secret location far removed from the rest of the school. Very clever, but not clever enough.

Whilst running around hoping to locate this secret lair, I made eye contact with a number of old acquaintances from my past years of university, and high school. It seems I'm not easily remembered because each of these people gave me an awkward smile, the default social reaction of human beings for when they cannot determine where they know someone from.

I find this social behavior quite interesting and have a few theories of why it occurs. My main idea is that this is the preferred ideal expected by both participants, because forgetting someone (even if they are insignificant) is socially demonized or considered rude. I disagree with this mind set, I find myself noticing their smile and reading it just as it is... my usual response is to break eye contact and not to return the gesture. This usually proves to make the person think they don't know me, and makes them feel stupefied or insignificant.

I do very much enjoy social mind games, especially when I specifically recall contempt and resentment from the other participant. Believe it or not a charming guy like me wasn't what you call super liked in past social situations. Hell, even now a person has to be used to my normal terms of thinking or prefer my blunt terms on how I view reality.

Actually this reminds me of the one week I had a facebook. Yes, I tried it out for only a week. I had all sorts of people who I absolutely hated in high school adding me just so they could feel socially superior due to their huge friends list. My significant other managed the page for me, I recall her asking why I only have a limited number of friends when I got so many requests. Simply put, I told her that I don't forget the actions of others nor forgive their insolence. I soon deleted facebook because I wanted no part of the social hierarchy of it.

*Flashes an awkward smile*

Olympics. (I have returned)

2010-02-15T15:07:00.004-04:00

I apologize for my recent absence, I have exams this week, and I had many lose ends to finish up with my classes. I wanted to blog quite badly at times but I had to be disciplined and finish up what had to be done for the sake my my future. I'd rather not bomb out, and lose all that time and money invested.

So let me get on with a blog topic:

The Olympics! anyone else think they are rather dull? I've been watching off and on briefly and I just don't get the same feelings I used to when I watched them. In the past they invoked such strong Nationalistic tendencies in me it was MY country which was up against the world. However, you don't get that same sense country from these recent games.

What happened to the battle of superiority? It seems we've become so buddy buddy with the other countries that we've lost all sense of competition and its raw energetic state. Canada, the friendly country, how I despise that label. However it seems to manifest some truth.

I think Canada should take a few lessons from our big brother the USA. Maybe not politically or socially, but a lesson in pride. Even when you look at world statistics the USA isn't number 1... but if you ask an American, they are number one.

I don't see this as ignorant, as some do. I see this as a sense of cultural pride which has been lost within most first world countries. It has been masked by an age where one is afraid to step on the toes of an "other". I'm very proud of my country, for many reasons some would not expect but this pride is not a cultural norm.

I'm waiting for Olympic Hockey... I hope this will be the key to having millions of Canadians shouting at their television sets and cussing out the other countries. It happens every week anyway in the NHL, so I suppose the Olympic level will create a similar phenomena.

So a message to all countries of the world. Lets see some pride, some trash talking, and some actual competition! Be sore losers! Be poor winners! and throw down those gloves and have at it!

Assumptions.

2010-02-07T17:12:00.004-04:00

Assumptions, we all make them, but there is only so much assuming a person can make without looking uneducated and bigoted. A few topics were brought to my attention recently, they concerned a small group of people in a fringe community. The topic was totally unrelated to the subject matter of the online community but their opinions seemed to very synchronized.

The topic in question was about pedophilia. Now as someone well read in Anthropology I try to look at this from an outside perspective. Although I feel it is a social deviance and I do not approve, when I put my anthropology hat on I make no rash conclusions.

The discussion in question escalated to points being made which reflect a world view I am very uncomfortable with. For example people make the assumption that a pedophile is going to commit a crime, so lock them up before they cause harm. This doesn't make sense to me, I feel the entire bases of a justice system based on proven guilt crumbles with beliefs like that.

I don't like idea of throwing people who have yet to commit a crime in jail, I see no justification in it. You could just as easily say that sociopaths have no emotions, so throw them in jail before they kill someone. It also works for someone who has an attraction to animals, because they are definitely going to go to a barnyard and start sizing up the sheep.

This is a world class fallacy of thinking, to assume that Correlation equates Causation. There are many more variables involved in cases like this, I assume that we probably live in a world which inhabits countless people of a social deviant nature, we just hear about the ones who cross that societal invisible line. To make broad assumptions that person who is associated in these groups will step over that line is, in my opinion, paranoid and contributes to fuels which set society off balance.

Now I understand and appreciate a persons concerns, and I can even see where some of their paranoia could come from. If someone you know turned out to have an attraction to children and you had kids.. well you'd probably keep your children far far away. I think any parent would take that type of precaution. However to propose a jail sentence, seems a little extreme when no laws have been broken.

Social norms and their attitudes towards social deviance are a fascinating phenomena, it seems most anthropology text books touch on it at some point.

I have a feeling I'm going to revisit this blog topic in the future, I'd like to talk to some anthropologists I have good rapport with and see what they have to say. It seems like an issue which can go either way with no absolute correct answer, it is very subjective and messy.

What are your thoughts?

Emotional Anecdotes.

2010-02-03T14:58:00.003-04:00

I just returned home from University quite pleased because an in class assignment which I thought I bombed came back marked as excellent. Of course, full credits were also given. This assignment was to take an opposing stance on an essay but also summarize the source properly. This one in particular was about corporations being liable for what people eat, especially in cases of single entities suing franchises like MacDonalds.

The essay brought up a few interesting perspectives but failed by relying too heavily on emotional anecdote to manipulate its readers into a sappy teary eyed state. Being as cold and impassive as I am to such manipulation, I saw through the teargas to the actual vague and unimpressive argument.

Such forms of emotional arguement to me are always fallible, and usually a means of masking the true lack of stability in an arguement. Why they are even allowed in academic settings is truly a mystery to me, it seems they should be more reserved for a novel who has a target niche focused on the menopauseal.

There are many who have attributed my lack of falling prey to such invoking emotional triggers to issues like sociopathy or some other personality malfunction. I can attest that I do indeed have some compromising issues with emotion, however I would definitely object to being thrown in with such fringe personality traits. I do believe my positions come from a larger understanding beyond humanity, and a specific scientific world view which has groomed my personality.

I see no justification of spilling blatant emotional dribble which is only a means to gain subliminal advantage over someone and allude them away from actual facts. I see this particularly groups like PETA, and other activism groups.

The core of all fundamentalism seems to be tactless emotional ploys and cues designed to over whelm the heart and forgo the mind. Such things are detestable, lacking merit to make them ridged enough to withstand tests alone.

End of the Month Review.

2010-01-31T03:40:00.005-04:00

Well I thought this may be a nice monthly addition to my blogging, just to keep things in perspective. Organization is partially the key here, and it allows me to articulate this venue for both my benefit and my following.

So let me start with the blog related business:

My first 10 blogs of this year, and using this new venue. All I can say is that things are going better than I could have ever hoped for. I've managed to stay on schedule, which is an achievement for me, and produce 10 blogs this month. This is the magic number I'll be aiming for every month from now on.

I've posted on a wide range of topics, everything from support for the Haitian earthquake to Anthropomorphism. I really like this unusual diversity, because it is a quite honest reflection on how my mind is articulated. That being a jumbled mess of rough quixotic imaginative jargon.

I'd like to take a moment to thank all of those who read, comment, and follow my blogs. I'll play particular attention to those who comment, because even if I disagree with the opinions I value your input and addition to the discussion. All posts are arranged in a fashion which allows commentary and discussion. I honestly enjoy peoples opinions and what they have to bring to the topic at hand.

So I'll mention again that commentary is encouraged, and they do not have to be limited to the topic. Suggestions can also be made of other topics which you think I can offer a perspective on. Which would be nice fuel for this blog fire.

I'm currently tinkering with the blog format itself, if you've noticed I added a share button. If one feels compelled enough to share this blog with others, by all means do it. I put it there for that reason. I rearranged some stuff as well, but I'm thinking I may need to improve upon some stuff. Any ideas?

I'd like to finish up this blog portion of this monthly review to make take special note to two blogger which I follow. These two have left me some great comments on my blog and have given me lots of inspiration to work with. I enjoy both their blogs as well so I thought I may showcase them. In no particular order:

Kelly and his Psycho Carnival! Amusing, Crazy, and Oddly Insightful!

http://psychocarnival.blogspot.com

Samaskin of "samaskinquestions" Unique Perspectives, Deep Thoughts, and some Truth!

http://samaskinquestions.blogspot.com

Now for my personal touch:

Besides the blog, this month for me has been rather hectic. The largest time consumer and exhausting portion has had to be the beginning of the second semester of school. I've only been back three weeks, and I already feel as if I'm way behind. I'm hoping things will pick up.

Other than school and the work which comes with it I've successfully managed to do little of anything else. I suppose this does make up for my adventuring during my holiday break. If it wasn't for the sporadic weather across my province not meshing well with my day to day class schedule I would have had gotten a lot of rock hounding in. Unfortunately the snow had fell, and it will be sticking around this time. So I wait for Spring.

One of the most interesting things about this month was being able to do some star gazing and get out to see Mars it its closest point for the next few years. It was quite stunning, and although I'm not much for astrology at that moment I wish I were. I would have loved to have the proper gear to fully appreciate it, but even from the naked eye it was a spectacular sight.

Well I believe I successfully put my following asleep by this point, so I'll finish.

Thanks for sticking around with me this long.

National Geographic: You're killin' me man!

2010-01-28T20:10:00.003-04:00

For those of you who know me, you'll understand that National Geographic and I have a love/hate relationship. I really enjoy their magazine and their channel and am subscribed to both. I am less inclined to like their daily science news because they tend to over sensationalize and report non-peer reviewed science. Although they have gotten better recently, they really have mucked up a few times in the past with bias reporting or jumping ahead of the facts.

Such is the reality of Science news aimed at a broad audience, and I have accepted that.

Now I'm a long time supporter of National Geographic besides this, I am subscribed to both their television station and magazine. I am also subscribed to their YouTube channel which is what this whole blog is actually based upon. Today while checking new videos I decided to watch some National Geographic clips, this is because the National Geographic channel offered in Canada isn't as good. Most of the clips on YouTube I have not seen and sometimes are relevant to my reading in their magazine.

What did I find when I accessed one of their videos:

This video contains content from National Geographic, who has decided to block it in your country.

Lovely isn't it! They really don't mine my Canadian money for their television programming, or for their magazine but if I want to have a look at them on YouTube... nope I'm all of a sudden not good enough. Unfortunately I haven't gotten to the bottom of why this is happening, I assume it has to do something with ads and their not making money off their channel. I may be wrong, but I doubt it.

So lets have a little history lesson shall we. A little background information about National Geographic will show that one of the most influential participants in both its creation and getting the magazine where it is today is Alexander G. Bell. This man is very important to me actually because I've always seen him as a great example of intellectual achievement and he happened to do a lot of experiments locally on my island. Now Bell did a lot of work on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia he also did some great work in Ontario but more notably were his innovative inventions he thought up and worked on in his summer home in Nova Scotia.

Before his death he spent a lot of time in Canada, mainly in his summer home in Nova Scotia. During this time he was the active President of the National Geographic Society and helped them get financially on their feet again he also changed the perspectives of the target audience of their magazine laying the ground work for the National Geographic as we know today. He eventually stepped down before he died, and I'll note he was buried in Nova Scotia.

What has been done to National Geographic is detestable and nothing like Bell intended it to be. It did very well for a time, but now limiting its audience goes against the fundamentals it was built upon.

The biggest hypocrisy in this move is that National Geographic knows no boundaries, it is a venue that showcases every portion of our planet has to offer. You'll find stories from all cultures, and all countries... and they make a profit off of this and continue do so. Now suddenly they are restricting access from counties all over the world? That's laughable.

Empathy.

2010-01-26T16:26:00.004-04:00

This title has been thrown around quite a lot since the Haitian earthquakes and I've read and commented on some interesting takes on the subject. Now I feel it is time to express my own feelings on empathy, specifically towards natural disasters and depending how deeply I get into this I may go further.

Most people interpret the natural world from baseless perspectives and from conclusions lacking evidence or even proper understanding. This is the subjective reality in which Human kind has submitted itself to. This is fine, and I understand that some people can't grasp such turbulence or refuse to scratch under the surface.

The natural world, regardless of what some people believe has gone on before us and it will continue on... long after our species falls to extinction. Our individual subjective perspectives are not needed to make this happen. However, people press onward with such naive concepts like:

"This happened because of the plan."
"There is some purpose in this."
"This is a way of the earth thinning out humanity."

All the above statements are false, I can't stress this enough.

The earth is simply a celestial body which we happen to have been fortunate to be able to evolve on. It knows nothing of such concepts, it is not an organism, it isn't even alive. Such anthropomorphism of the planet seems a little unnecessary to me, but I see it happening so much in the news and from talking to people that it had to be mentioned.

I'll make note now that I do not think there is any form of clockmaker or deity calling the shots over head. I can't fathom this concept, or why people immediately run to it. My only attribution of why it is being said is a lack of understanding of the natural world and its processes.

When humanity inhabits most of the planet, it is statistically high that eventually we'll be caught in the crossfire of some natural reoccurring event like earthquakes, tornadoes, floods, etc... such is the way of the world. For millions of years these processes have occurred, with no regard for life. Whole species have been destroyed, and new ones have risen up, such are the natural laws.

The naive interpretations of some purpose to tragedy, of all types, should be seen as nothing more but comforting words which hold no truth. In places like the Ring of Fire it was beyond moronic to think that an earthquake of that magnitude would not occur at some point. The same can be said about those who live in denial of the active volcanoes which people decide it would be nice to live under.

Hope, prayers, and subjective reality are not enough to sway statistically probable reoccurring events. To me this is a dangerous interpretation which puts people in situations which could have been prevented by common sense.

Coexistence

2010-01-23T01:04:00.004-04:00

In the ambiance of my day to day life I tend to try to get along with everyone. I rarely flare up and criticize hypocrisy or try to educate fallacy. I do this because I really know there is not much point in it, fallacious ideas and opinions come from fallacious minds. These minds are not equip for much bending of their fundamental leanings, or philosophy on life.

Sometimes I find individuals perceptions and methodologies to be fascinating, I put my anthropology hat on and take what they say as social data. This is probably a result of my training in anthropology, and although it may be robotic at times it helps me keep from being completely against people and their perceptions.

I do find that I have breaking points. When people blatantly disregard evidence and attack my view when I have not provoked it. It happens quite a bit, especially on social networking websites. I'll be having a reasonable scientific discussion, or even talking about something unrelated, and a person will blindside my comments with remarks of hostility towards my scientific perspectives.

I take the issue head on in my online persona, usually in a dry cutthroat fashion. This usually derails the topic completely, or just turns it into such a mess that eventually I step out of it due to the headache. These people cannot be reasoned with, and I am slowly adapting to that fact.

In person I simply ignore it, or roll my eyes and turn my back. These are in the cases where I am not wearing my anthropology hat and just wear the guise of my normal everyday persona. There have been exceptions to this rule, but they are rare moments.

The biggest trouble I have is with creationists, especially since my potential field of study is human evolution... I've argued with people until I am blue in the face, or until my fingers are sore from typing. There is little production in these types of debates.

Many science advocates are under the assumption that we cannot coexist with those who have fallacious beliefs, and we're destined to argue with them perpetually until social change makes them obsolete. I disagree, I have had causal discussions with Creationists or those who disagree with my science. I have even made sustained long lasting friendships with these people, I would also suggest I care deeply fore these people.

It is a rare bonding, but it does happen. These friendships are based on the fact we do have common interests outside of our skepticism of one an others beliefs. Mutual respect is the most essential factor, and the ability to separate ourselves from the warfare and see the human being in front of us. These rare friends humble me, and I am grateful for it.

Now this does not mean that I have gone soft and with henceforth give up my pointing out of hypocrisy and fallacy. Fear not my followers! I find myself incapable of changing, no matter how humble I find myself at times. I will always advocate for my science, and other sciences I have experience in. I will continue pouring on warfare into social networks, or standing up for what is logical. However, I will understand that these faceless others are also human beings and not deserving of bigoted hatred. There is opportunity for equal ground beyond our misunderstandings and that can be enough foundation in some cases to support great friendships.

Child Free? Who Cares!

2010-01-18T15:36:00.003-04:00

For those of you who don't know what my title is alluding to, Child Free is a so called movement which is trying to become something of a half inflated subculture. The movement is made up of mostly women or the 1st world who feel the need to be loud and proud about their personal choice of not wanting children.

Hooray to your exercising your rights, even though some how women have managed to do this in the first world for years without having to make a social club out of it. Shouting it from roof tops to me seems like a waste of effort, and a means of labeling oneself even further.

For example, these people identify themselves through social cultures rather than who they are personally, let me show you:

"I am a feminist, agnostic, child free, photographer, vegan, ultra liberal, who fights for equality, abstinence, and eats marshmallows on toast."

The above is a very loose interpretation of some of these people, I changed some of the usual adjectives so I wouldn't stereotype a particular group. The point is where in my culture did it become necessary to identify yourself through your social groups/followings?

I've never once met a person from my island culture who felt the need to advertise that they have children, if asked they respond, but beyond that you'd never know. The same is typical for the average person who decided to not have kids, they don't even give reasoning for it other than they just didn't want to.

Perhaps this is a culture difference and this movement makes sense in other parts of the world, for various reasons. However, in my immediate region, or even in my country I feel like this movement or being proud to being child free is redundant. I see nothing in my culture which pressures women to have children, even in high school I had a class where they told women if you don't want children don't have them.

Society, and its need to form groups for arbitrary reasons will never make sense tome.

Bloggers Unite: Haiti Earthquake

2010-01-14T13:23:00.004-04:00

I was asked if I would write a small piece about the devastation in Haiti after a recent earthquake. Unfortunately I only heard bits and snippets of information from my local news, but through independent research I learned of the absolute horrific state which Haiti is now consumed in.

The death toll is currently estimated at 100,000 people; unfortunately I do assume that there will be much death to follow in the aftermath. These deaths will undoubtedly be caused by issues like: lack of medical care workers, lack of medical supplies, lack of clean drinking water, and the potential hazard of disease to spike up in the wake of the devastation.

This is an event which affects all of us, Haitians we not the only people do die from this earthquake; this was a popular vacation spot for all peoples of the world. Humanity is a collective of all peoples and cultures, may this event unify us from our petty conflicts and allow us to honor our fellow Human beings with support of donations and a reminder of remembrance for their tragic end.

A favorite YouTuber of mine posted a video in support of the Haitian people. It also offers links in the side bar, which I will post below as well, that showcase some of the many charities people can donate too. These charities are all legitimate, and were well researched I can assure you. Please if you feel compelled to help, donate.

The MSF/Doctors without Borders (Mirror):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evZHs8hAEPY

I will close with this final message. My fellow human beings, there are those around the world who suffer with you. Your cries for help will not go unanswered, and the world cries with you.

You can donate to:

For Canada;
http://www.msf.ca/donate/

For the USA;
http://doctorswithoutborders.org/donate/

For the UK;
http://www.msf.org.uk/support_donate.aspx

Anthropomorphism: Because we can.

2010-01-07T19:26:00.006-04:00

As someone who is studying in an anthropological field, when people use the word anthropomorphism it usually follows a lesson in what shouldn't be done. It has been attributed to bad science many times, especially when in the perspective of non-Human hominids and their ancestors. However with the science aside anthropomorphism is a completely natural human trait which we are all guilty of.

Now what exactly is anthropomorphism, besides a long scientific term? It is the act of attributing Human characteristics to anything which isn't Human and includes: animals, objects, and even abstract concepts. In simple terms when a person says that their animal is posing for the camera, it really isn't. Humans make the interpretation and ultimately the decision of what the animal is doing. Thus the essence of anthropomorphism.

Culturally, anthropomorphism is so heavily ingrained that most people do not even notice that they are doing it. It isn't uncommon to see a movie which features talking animals, or names an inanimate object the hero of the story. This is fine and good until it reaches the scientific field.

Science frowns upon anthropomorphism because it can skew studies. For instance in biology, when one isn't aware of biases that can occur from such beliefs, a researcher can mistake an instinctual practice, such as grooming as something which it isn't. This tends to happen a lot in fields like primatology where researchers may mistake certain behaviors as proof of intellect.

As a student of anthropology, I've been warned by professors and text books not to give into anthropomorphism. Avoiding such biases will become imperative and essential to my research, so I will not skew any findings and potentially ruin the study. However, separating oneself completely from this trait is impossible even from the most aware so it will become imperative that I learn to be aware and how to manage my own anthropomorphism.

A recent article from National Geographic about the NASA space rover Spirit is what brought about this idea of posting about anthropomorphism. This rover Spirit, an amazing piece of technology, outdid itself by surviving is expiry date by many years and unlocking many opportunities for further scientific endeavors. It has been stuck for some time now and accumulated dust is blocking its solar panels, this will eventually cause its battery to lose power. The estimated time for expiry, that is if nothing changes, is May.

Currently, I find myself constantly anthropomorphizing this Rover, which reminds me of the little engine that could in many ways. I also find myself hoping it manages to escape and continues its Martian journey. I know that may sound ridiculous at first glance, but I find others also sharing the same sympathy for this machine.

So, I say "Cheers!" to Spirit, to a job well done! Let's hope that it survives another year!

You can find the reference video from the National Geographic YouTube channel below:

Australopithecines: A Lesson in Evolution

2010-01-04T17:58:00.002-04:00

Evolution is cladisitic, organisms change through various selections branching out in every which way based on many factors. The key is to remember that evolution is not linear and follows no terms of “more” or “less” evolved. In reality there is no such thing as an organism that is “more” evolved. There is no rule of hierarchy; if an animal happens to select a trait which is old in comparison to others… it doesn’t mean it is going backwards. It means it is doing it out of necessity, and in my opinion it is one of the corner stones of adaptation.

Creationists tend to think in terms that evolution as linear and in terms of hierarchy, this is false. The theory of evolution favors no traits over others in terms of what is more advanced or primitive, it only favors what is needed for proper adaptability and survival.

The reason the title of this blog is Australopithecines, is because it brings an interesting example of how evolution branches and is not linear or hierarchical. The term Australopithecines is used to refer to closely related branches of genera, and concerns with two individuals:

Australopithecus “Gracile Australopith”: 4 Million Years ago
Paranthropus “Robust Australopith”: 2.7 Million Years ago

For simplicity sake I will refer to them as Gracile and Robust for duration of this post.

The gracile is considered a Hominini which had very modern features. It is part of the human linage and shows features which are more attributed to modern humans than the ancestral ape linage. Of these anatomical features the most notable were smaller teeth, which lead to smaller jaws and a more shrunken in face. These are characteristic of an intermediate species in our evolutionary linage.

The gracile eventually parented another species, this was the robust. Due to vegetation the robust had adapted to eat (Think skinned fruit, nuts, and hard vegetation) its anatomical features were focused around chewing. The adaptations lead to larger teeth, a larger jaw, and a modified skull which would properly hold all the various large muscles needed for chewing hard vegetation.

In terms of evolutionary hierarchy the robust seems to be less evolved than the gracile, and this brings me to the misconception of linear evolution. It just doesn’t happen that way. Due to the diet the robust had adapted around, it developed those traits out of simple necessity. It was no more evolved than any creature, and just happened to carve out a niche in an ecosystem which required traits that seemed ancestral. Although the robust was an evolutionary dead end it is an excellent example of evolutionary branching.

When creationists mention this example to falsify evolution, it is merely showing their lack of understanding of the subject. I’ve had some interesting discussions with many creationists, where I had to stress this point to the extremes. It seems that even the most critical of creationists some times miss this point, and automatically make the mistake of hierarchical evolution which follows a linear pattern.

Although this post can be pushed deeper into heavy biological terms I decided to convey it in the simplest terms. I did this in hope that information would be not lost within a labyrinth of complex terminology and could be understood at least in the most general of senses. This is not to be condescending but to covey these thoughts to a wider audience.

Until my next post.

How do you feel about cloning prehistoric hominids?

2010-01-03T02:19:00.006-04:00

I’ve always found questions that concern this type of cloning to be objectionable at the best of times. Although I am for the cloning of prehistoric animals such as the Woolly Mammoth, I am definitely not for the creation of intelligent hominids. These objections come from both ethical and scientific grounds. Even with the consideration of the amount of knowledge which could be obtained from such cloning I feel my objections are rather mindful given the sensitivity of an issue which has many variables to deliberate upon.

Obviously hominids are different from other animals in the same ways which we are. They can manipulate their surroundings in their favor, create tools, and even have forms of philosophy which makes them a very unique case. Even in terms of humanity some of them seem to have had primitive cultures, these beings were quite human for lack of a better terminology. Now in terms of which hominids are more human than others, I would suggest that the subjects in question should be within the Homo genus rather than covering all hominids.

I feel that the most significant knowledge we could grasp from such clones would be mostly limited to behavioral level, but it seems to me that all natural occurring instincts and behaviors would be severely altered by the interaction between the clone and its handlers. Although it would be interesting to gauge the amount that one of these clones could possibly learn or be taught. These measurements could prove very useful to science all around, but findings would still remain tainted compared to a scientific purist state. This would further negate any reason to clone a hominid for the behavioral concept alone.

I stress that a realistic study of natural behavior would be severely condemned by contamination, forgoing all chance of a credible study of this type in a pure state. Behavioral studies of ancient hominids seem to be very popular recently, especially when it comes to Neanderthal. I would attribute this to the Neanderthal genome being completed, opening many windows to study the basic biological schematic of the hominid. However again we're then left with the behavioral question mark, which we can only begin to make inferences at based on what knowledge we already have.

In a anthropological sense the fine social fabrics which dictate what “Humanity” is and what isn't within the culture which is creating the clone should also be in question. Would a culture which tends to believe that Homo sapiens are the only culturally aware creatures on the planet, and thus would treat a cloned member of the Homo genus as some sort of lab rat. Would a clone be given the same fundamental right of dignity which science attempts to achieve. Realistically, we still haven't perfected that system for modern humans let alone any clones which may appear.

In a perfect world where these clones of the Homo genus could be subject to the same guidelines that govern modern human subjects during any science related experiment. (Such as the Canadian Tri Council pre.ethics.gc.ca/eng/panel-group/about-apropos/) If this could be achieved then I would be much more open to the idea.

However if we follow these codes of proper ethical science, it would be a stretch to think that a cloned specimen of the Homo genus could possibly give any cognitive sign that they are willing to be a participant. A being born into "bondage" essentially would have to willfully consent to even being cloned, which really is not possible. Not to mention language, biological, and cultural barriers which would make communication beyond unrealistic.

This is a very thought provoking conversation at times, and so far I've been unable to rationalize a viable way in which we could clone and study an extinct member of the Homo genus in a way in which the fundamentals of ethical science could be preserved. To me the pursuit of knowledge is something which should not transcend certain boundaries, especially those where "human" dignity is at stake.

An Introduction of Sorts.

2010-01-02T15:19:00.005-04:00

Well I suppose I owe my readers an introduction, and background about myself and what I am all about. Firstly, I will admit that this is my second attempt at such a blog medium. However, I had never tried this website and instead used one of the sparsely populated venues to portray myself upon. Although I had no problem with this site, my following both known and unknown dramatically fell over time. I prefer having an active set of followers to ask questions, give input, and challenge my posts.

Now that I am here I suppose some background information will be applicable at this time. I am currently finishing up an undergrad of Anthropology and Biology, with the expectations to move forward into a Paleoanthropological field. I am a strong advocate of Science and Rational thinking, and an even stronger advocate of Evolution. My main interests in Paleoanthropology revolve around Pre-Homo sapien fossils and the Ancient Evolutionary linage which lead to modern humans.

You'll note that I will frequently speak about evolution, defend the theory with science, and discredit non-scientific evidence. I will do this against all unscientific notions and pseudosciences. Although I will humor some more than others, based on anthropological or sociological inferences I notice.

There isn't much more I suppose you should know about me but because it will be relevant in my postings I will tell you I am an Atheist. Of course you probably could have guessed as much, and you'll note that I really have no use for religion in the least. I'm sure this will come up again so I'll save it for that time.

Now, onward to posts of more relevance and substance.

I ask all readers, followers, and passersby to continually comment with topics or questions I can research and comment on, or items related to the subject matter of any of my individual blogs. I enjoy building rapport with my readers, and it also will serve to keep me with much to write about.