Role Models

Whenever I hear about a supposedly impressive individual, whether it be an actor, athlete or other figure, I like to remember this one thing: We are all human beings. No one of us is inherently "better" than anyone else. We've constructed a somewhat belittling social hierarchy. It can even be discouraging at times. However, when I think about it, what desirable traits do these people have? The ability to hit a baseball far?

But, what if we're just admiring the wrong people? Pick up a magazine, turn on the TV, consume any kind of media and what do you notice? Actors, pop-stars, athletes and people who are famous for being famous. Now, don't get me wrong, many of these people are in fact talented. But why are they idolized in our culture? What kind of role models are these people? They are often caught up in drugs, sex scandals and other ridiculous things that our society should not care about.

Why are people in the entertainment business our idols?

Now picture a different society. One that still has these forms of entertainment and they are still valued. But, when you ask an average middle-schooler who his role model is, he doesn't say Peyton Manning, but instead reveals it to be Niels Bohr. How vastly different everything would be! Science and other academia wouldn't be seen as "geeky" but as highly respected fields that everyone should go into. This is the world I want to live in. Although I use science specifically, other scholars are equally important, such as those in literature.

Also, instead of criticizing these role models and invading their lives and privacy with paparazzi, we should respect and encourage their work. Instead of reading about arrests and illegal activities and drama, let's read about feats of engineering and interviews with these esteemed individuals.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that we should set a higher standard for our society's role models. Where pop-stars are held now, violin maestros should be. In place of Dan Brown, Mark Twain. Instead of Paris Hilton,
Erwin Schrödinger. Oh, how different our media would be.


But, maybe I'll just keep dreaming...

Human Interaction

So it's been a long time since my last post. I've been thinking about a lot of different things recently, but three that I think are the most interesting are as follows:

• Community
• Communication
• Physical contact

I believe that the first two things are extremely important, while the third is just interesting. So maybe I'll focus on the first one for now, but they all kind of tie into each other.

Something that I find fascinating is our need for human interaction. Think about it. We always want to hang out with each other, share experiences, chat etc. And when we're not doing it IRL (in real life, a favorite acronym), we're online posting things on Facebook, writing blogs, tweeting or partaking in some sort of online community. 

We need this community and communication (funny how they use the same root word, I haven't noticed that before) for nearly everything that we do. Jobs, recreation, hobbies, psychological need, relationships, support groups. We all want to be part of a community of some sort, often in one of these categories. Our society would be nowhere without it. 

So I just looked up "community" on Wikipedia to see what the word means: derived from the Latin communitas (cum, "with/together" + munus, "gift"). Unless I'm interpreting this wrongly, it appears that it means "the gift of togetherness." What an amazing word! The etymology truly represents the word in my opinion.

I think I'll talk about communication more in my next post. And laughter. And physical contact. I don't have enough time to write down all these thoughts. 

Anyway, I don't really have any questions for discussion, but I would like to read some comments on everyone's views of community and/or communication. Just reflect on it for a moment, and realize how much your life revolves around these two concepts. IN FACT, by writing comments, you're COMMUNICATING WITH THE INTERNET! Amazing.

The Power of Words

First off, if anyone was offended by my last post, I apologize. It was purely for speculative reasons as I was simply curious about the nature of these people.


While writing this post, an event just interrupted me. What took place made me realize just how powerful words can be. It's amazing to me that uttering a few tones and articulations in a specific order is interpreted as meaningful language by our brain, and this language can do so many things. Much of it can be harmful. One person can easily tear another person apart emotionally, particularly a close friend, relative or girlfriend/boyfriend. We have more power than we realize with our tongues, at least on a person-to-person basis.

Think about it the number of times you've said something negative to someone else. I know I've done it countless times. It's sometimes impossible to know how much impact those words had. That person could remember what you or I said for his/her whole life, and base so many decisions off of it. Life-changing decisions, even.

Words can be so utterly devastating to another individual. Yet, the complete opposite is also true. One person can build another up amazingly. Encouraging, loving words are some of the most wonderful things that can be received. But how much do we use these words for this purpose? Not as much as we should, that is certain. We are such selfish beings, so often uncaring for the fragile emotions of others. So often forgetful that each and every one of us is a person with thoughts, feelings, etc.

And yet, there is still the phrase, "Actions speak louder than words."

We hurt each other every day in so many different ways. If everyone could act lovingly towards another and forgive one another for each of our flaws, our relationships would be so strong. But this is apparently extremely difficult, as is evident through my own experience as well as observing others' interactions.


Let's all try to make a conscious effort to love one another and forgive each other for our flaws.


(I was going to post on the importance of communication, but this is related anyway. I'll post about that next time. Also, my hard drive crashed. More on that later.)

Life

Haven't updated in a while. I guess I'm not really good at this whole blogging thing. I'll present minor details about my life, then present a question at the end.

My co-op internship is finally over, and classes are beginning Tuesday. Pretty weird. Just went snowboarding in Vermont, it was pretty awesome. Weekend before that a few friends and I went to SoHo and had a photo competition. My teammate and I won! Check out one of the pics:

Click the image to go to the Flickr page!

Okay, so enough about me. Here's the question I present to the internets. Think about that guy that you know (maybe "that girl" instead). The guy that has no idea what is going on in life. Maybe he's socially awkward, maybe he thinks he's awesome and isn't, maybe he just doesn't live in the same reality as everyone else. Can anyone provide some insight into this?

One (very specific) example of this type of person is Michael Scott from The Office (TV show). He thinks he's well liked, yet has no idea that he isn't. Everyone knows someone like this in their life, which makes his character all the funnier. But what is it that makes this person completely oblivious? Why do some people seem to not live in our reality? Also, I'm not talking about mentally challenged people, or those with social disorders.

Sorry if I'm not being very clear on this. If further clarification is needed, say so in the comments. Also, please shed some light on these interesting people!

Update: None of my friends are "that guy," in case you were worried!

Sudden Confict

I'm having some sort of existential crisis right now. But not really a crisis because it doesn't matter. I keep questioning our luxurious American lifestyle. Seriously, everyone goes to work every day and performs [mostly] mindless tasks to keep some huge industrial machine running? It's horrible. What's worse is that seemingly no one questions it. At least, not openly.

This came about because my boss mentioned that my attendance has been quite imperfect lately. I responded by telling him that I was sick, and he said that nonetheless I wasn't here (not in a mean way, that's just how it is). Then I realized that if I ended up working where I'm interning, I would go insane. Am I seriously working for a defense contractor? I am propagating the American empire, violence, oppression. It makes me shudder.

Then I started to look around. Nothing in my immediate surroundings is natural. Literally every single thing is man-made: part of an invisible self-propagating machine. What are we living for? Why do we complain when something "bad" like traffic happens? We own cars. Most of the world can't even say that! We are disgusting.

Yet here I am. Sitting at a computer on the internet, a combination of one of the most world-changing inventions. Sipping Vitamin Water, eating a sandwich catered by Sodexho. Fueling the machine.

The only thing that has any meaning for me right now is serving. Serving one another, serving the less fortunate etc. Yet, I am still too selfish and lazy to do that. I would rather live for myself, as would millions of Americans. Even if I do help others, I still have way too much. I would need to give away everything that I have to be on the same level as much of the world.

I need to stop ranting. I'm fed up with the American lifestyle, including how I contribute to it.


Thoughts?