Are they Dead?

If someone dies alone in the forest without anyone knowing, are they dead?

Their is a debate between the existentialism of "I" and the importance of groups. It is impossible to live life without people. Even if someone read this blog and developed a plan to live out in the forest without any group interference; they would have to get the money to live in the forest alone and be able to read this blog.

Another viewpoint on individualism comes from Buddhism. Buddhists are know for realizing they are the center of their world. In fact, each person is the center of the universe. Some mistake this as saying each person is a God; however, it stems from a Taoist belief that the macro to micro formation of everything have similar properties. Each person being the center of the universe explains how we all experience life though the vantage point of ourselves.

At one time China thought the center the entire world, including, the universe is China. The concept drawn as China being at the center with lines going to or from China. Understanding the center of all life stems from an individual's perspective was a profound and ground breaking philosophy.

Buddhists also practice a meditation to accept selfless decisions are the best or at least better than selfish decisions. (I believe it is a subversive message to imply all people are Leaders of each other and dismiss other people's desires to chose how they participate in groups.)

There are understandable premisses around this ideal. Every society that encourages charity or helping each other in times of need are more likely to flourish. An example of how it works is seeing someone who needs shoes and giving them shoes. This was in practice before communism became the national from of government in China. In fact, Buddha ceded to power in the fourteenth century.

It makes sense to understand people will always be in your life. There will always be a necessity to belong to a group and analyze other groups in order to find better methods of maintaining your group. Everyone wants to be in the position of giving shoes not getting shoes, yet it is important to be able to recognize which activity is happening. A person will usually be in multiple stations between trades whether getting a job, going to school, giving to charity or running a business.

Even if wanting to raise money by performing mime on sidewalk so it is possible to live alone in the forest without fire and only the supplies gained from running away from animals and finding stuff on the ground or in bushes; someone with money has to decide the miming was worthwhile enough to pay a couple dollars until there is enough to buy a ticket at the bus station. There is a chance it might be possible to walk several miles to a forest with regular shoes and clothes bought at a store before making this plan.

It is nearly impossible to live complete alone. Whoever did, probably succeeded and when or if they died, no one knew about it. We maintain our individuality and live within a ubiquitous framework of interaction with everyone and sometimes use our individual traits to plot out strategies to validate our methods of life are correct to help or gain protection from other groups.

If someone was never know to be born, dead and they are completely free from having been know to exist, then it is impossible to die. Without anyone to acknowledge and feel loss from death only grieving someone going to live in the forest, the belief of them living also makes them live forever.

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Useless Activity

The new age of computers and video games is a concern for several people. Everyone worries about addiction. Perhaps spending time doing anything beside work, school or exercise is wasteful, yet sometimes it is nice to simply get through the day. Is playing a video game less productive than other activities? By supporting each other emotionally it is possible to avoid letting video games becomes an overwhelming part of our lives.

There are times when the world feels much bigger than us and it makes us feel useless. It could be a part of maturity or horrible event, yet it is better to relax and think about life; instead of, continuing to work towards a disastrous or unwanted subconscious goal.

Recently I moved. I feel uncomfortable in my new space and there signs of not wanting to cope. I want more privacy even though having plenty of privacy. Options involve driving around town or going out to places. There is reason to believe going out to places would be a good idea. I should probably socialize more, yet the feeling is to simply get away from the house.

Having been a high stress person, there was always the reassurance of going back home to the same neighborhood. Though not popular or even talking to people on a regular basis, it was static. It is always about the same. I know and see people on a regular basis. It is nice.

Lately I have been thinking about class rivalry. I always took vacations in the summer. When returning home friends had inside jokes and secrets. They might not, yet they wanted to express they had a fun summer. It was alright. I think the notion of town loyalty is great. It is great when someone is born somewhere, grows up and dies in relatively the same place. Many people do it.

I moved when younger. It was from Gresham, OR to Salt Lake City, UT. It was after my Parents married. Since then I stayed in relatively the same neighborhood. I travel around the United States and lived in other states. I lived in Texas for several years. Through the many career changes, travel and everything else, it was a stabilizing point in my life. Now I no longer live there. I have no reason to be around my old neighborhood and it is difficult adjusting.

This is not the first time thinking being anywhere but home is good. My parents moved from Utah to Nevada. I spent several hours driving around talking to myself. I was also having complications recovering from hypothyroidism. In addition, I found new friends.

The new friends were more complimentary to my regular habits and thoughts about life. Knowing each other for a long time our personal backgrounds as far as family and intelligence match up. One friend attended the same High School. We were all struggling, artistically minded and from upper middle class families. It was shocking to everyone to uncover these facts. Everyone thought at least one or maybe two people had different family backgrounds.

I could clearly see in them a fear of moving on with life. Moving on with life means moving on with changes. Changes could include moving to another state or changing friends. It was crippling. As much as I would complain about it with them, it was also my problem. Instead of, hanging out constantly and blaming other people for making it impossible to move somewhere else. I drove around talking to my self. Obsessionally I drove up to a regular lookout and thought about life.

After graduating from the Community College I moved. It was out-of-state. I lived there for several years to graduate from a prestigious university, yet there were several times driving around town saying things like, "I don't know if this is really better. A person could die wealthy or in a gutter. It is really about life experience. Spending time with friends is better than always being serious about everything. Will any of this really matter." The other day I was thinking, "There's no reason I have to have children. Even if I raised the next Einstein, who really cares? What did Einstein really do accept come up with an unstable energy source?"

Sometimes people complain about a significant other or friend spending all of their time playing video games. My reaction is they should be more empathetic to their significant other or friend. They are unhappy or confused about life. This tendency seems to appear after someone lost their job, moved, got married or got divorced. They always played video games, yet now they appear consumed or addicted to video games by the people around them. This encourages an abundance of complaints.

In my experience, playing video games keeps me close to the computer. I have had fairly productive weeks, though seeming to play all day, after realizing I was avoiding my new home and neighborhood. At least with video games, I am close to the computer whenever coming up with an idea; instead of, driving aimlessly trying to find the local grocery, makeup or electronics store.

The fact is I feel weird and uncomfortable. This distraction helps relaxing me enough to provide time think or not think about life. Is it really better or worse? Not really. The activity itself is unimportant. I need time to think about life, because there is a lot to think about.

I can understand someone being upset or defense watching someone they care about doing something that might signify they are thinking about big changes in their life. Breathe deeply and hope the activity signifies plans to solidify their new life with a stable job, family or friends. Nagging and being overly defensive can cause the reaction the person most fears. Letting go might assist in them proceeding to an unwanted subconscious outcome. There is no method to control other people, yet it is possible to avoid regrets in relation to saying or doing mean thing to another person.

Relax, unwind and know it will be better. Life is a journey. It has twists and turns. We go were we will go. People come in and out of our lives. We have some control over the journey and should learn from past experiences. We cannot really control other people only do our best. Confucius even said, "A Wise Man is someone who is able to reduce stupidity to five minutes a day, on occasion."

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Talent or Attractiveness?

What would you say if someone asked, "Would you rather be in a band with people who are talented or attractive?"

People want to say they want to be in a band with talented people. However, in this question implies they are not attractive according to today's social standards. I would rather be in a band with people with both qualities, yet I think the world values attractiveness over talent.

Frankly, I have a decent singing voice and have heard many talentless bands on the radio. The band is extremely attractive in the video. On the other hand, super talented people were undone by the video. Before seeing them, we assume they are attractive. Old and hairy in the video the fantasy is undone.

It seems shallow, yet people are confident when they look good. Also, people are fans based on attraction and weird tingly thoughts when imagining a relationship.

I was friends with an attractive band that didn't do anything more than play really loud music. They didn't practice. They didn't write songs. They booked shows.

All they were was freakishly attractive and loud. They booked shows at bars and convention centers. There was a huge following. The only talent was being able to jam for half-an-hour or hour depending on what people wanted. People believed them when they said it was art.

Sorry to say the band dissolved and went on to other venues. It became apparent as they grew in popularity they didn't have anything repeatable songs to prove they had talent. In fact, actually having "songs" would go against the basic premise of the band or so they said.

Everyone falls to "artistic differences." In another event the only attractive person in the band was the lead singer. The bassist had bad acne, the drummer was a dork and the guitarist was huge. Even though friends for most of their lives. When one wanted to explore religion the band fell apart and never reunited over "artistic differences."

Obviously having similar interests and vision are important. Plenty of prefab bands became famous without having anything in common, excepting, wanting fame or money. Now I ask, "Would you rather be in a band with talent or similar music tastes?"

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