I’ve done the impossible before, so these are not madness:
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Men used to decorate buildings when they were built, now they are relatively featureless.
Men use to wear three-piece suits.
Men used to speak fancy.
Just like peacocks, magpies and most many animals try to impress with decoration.
(yes, some try to impress with strength, but that is a different topic…)
Men don’t decorate much these days.
I feel that women are decorating more now. I feel the tide is turning. I feel that roles are reversing or at the least balancing.
Read MorePRECEDENT
Most people would look at that list and think the theme is an ongoing lack of self control.
I believe it is a momentary lack of reason, an isolated incident where you say fuck this, let’s do that.
Because of that one moment of insanity, you have set a precedent.
You will most likely think of that word in a legal context, where a precedent has been set from a single court case.
If that court case made a wrong decision, that could affect every other court case with the same circumstances, wrongly, for decades or more.
If you make one wrong decision, that could affect every other decision you make within the same circumstances, wrongly.
That first cigarette, even though you knew it was wrong, meant that same wrong decision for decades.
GOOD v BAD
Two sporting failures for kids:
Who gets back on the horse, so to speak?
Your persona/soul/brain/subconscious already has a million rules in place. Once you have made a decision, and the same circumstances arise again, it is inefficient to go through the decision process again. So you refer back to last time, and repeat.
For most things, this is awesome. Most people will squeeze the same amount of toothpaste onto their brush each time, fill a glass of wine to the same level, and order your “favourite” at a restaurant.You don’t have to rethink those many thousands of little decisions you make every day.
But when you make a bad decision, the same process applies, an economical precedent is in place.
DON’T MAKE RULES
All of the above probably just makes sense and you are thinking not ground-breaking. Here’s the new thing:
Subconscious or not, the stronger the moral/ethical/logical rule in your head is, the more likely a precedent will be set when you break that rule.
Here’s a real world example from me. I needed to lose a few kilos. Not a lot, but enough for it to motivate me to try.
Rigid rules: on these days I will do these things. Eat just protein, fast, free day, whatever – set into a calendar.
Fuzzy rules: in general I will aim for 2 healthy meals out of 3 per day. And on mornings when I don’t feel hungry, I’ll skip breakfast.
With the rigid rules, when I break any of the rules, any one time, a very strong precedent was set because I cared about it more. I had invested more into it.
With fuzzy rules, care is less. If I have a day of one healthy meals instead of two, I’ll not care as much, and the validating reasons will have more power.
For weight loss fuzzy has worked for me way better. I’ve gained weight again recently (we are talking 5kg plus or minus my whole adulthood, which perhaps makes it easier to observe, detached…). But I am not stressed about losing it again, because I wasn’t stressed last time. I have set a precedent of easy.
RELATIONSHIPS
When you decide to kiss someone (consensual of course), that decision becomes a precedent. Making love, ditto. Dressing up and going to work at the same time every day, ditto. No need to rethink the decision.
But what it kissing someone was a more random and fuzzy decision, more of a toss of a coin, less of a hard calculated decision? What if you had a job where you can rock up whenever you felt like it (paid for the actual hours your work)?
THE ANSWER
If it is good, make strong rules.
If it is not good, make fuzzy rules.
That way the good will have a strong precedent and the weak will have a fuzzy precedent.
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Some people are good at procrastinating, but it only works if deadlines are involved.
I have many things I would like to achieve, but none of them have deadlines.
The alternative is to just do it. Not easy, but I have just done it previously. And I will, starting a week from now 😉
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So now there have been 8 instances where if things had turned out slightly different, I wouldn’t be here any more:
Fractured skull from a London taxi
Fell down a steep snow slope with rocks at the bottom
Kidnapped by a psychopath
Robbed at knifepoint in Times Square
Mad 1st wife slept with big knives under her pillow
Wrote off a car
Wrote off another car
Last week’s head damage mishap
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By most measures I can’t complain:
But right now I just work for the man, and otherwise drink. Part 2 is coming so hold on to your hats ! 😉
Read Morehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anonymous_(group)
Nothing in 2 years. They started out doing things for fun, and then they got political. But I guess it was hard for hackers to find serious missions, because ultimately hackers are loners without belief in collective goals.
I have an idea…
Anonymous, but in the real world, as in protests and ecoterrorism and animal rights.
A clearly defined set of goals and guidelines (as in nobody gets hurt).
A leader who has legally distanced themselves from all actions (as in Julian Assange).
Open discussion board on the Dark Web, with directives.
Private discussion board on the Dark Web, by in person invitation only.
A top level private discussion amongst secret leaders.
All it needs is some well-defined goals, publicity and a leader. Second-coming for Assange?
Here’s an idea: tag shaming. Corporations that have done wrong get their premises graffiti tagged with the logo of Anonymous or similar. All premises, over night. And if they get wind of it, they will suffer the costs and embarrassment of hiring security.
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I find it interesting how (American) people with one African American parent and one white parent can have their ethnicity described or celebrated differently, according to the situation.
If Wentworth Miller (Prison Break star) had become US president instead of Obama would he be described as the first black president?
Meghan Markle is being described in the UK as “mixed race”.
If Barack Obama married a British royal, would be called black or African American or mixed race?
Seems to me that both culture and looks/skin tone are factors in how they are described. More common around the world, people of mixed race have had their own racial definition, like mulatto in Latin America or coloured in South Africa. Mulatto was used in the USA until 80 years ago, and was seemingly dropped for racial reasons, as racists thought people needed to be either black or white.
I guess one day race will disappear as races, and racial looks, mix more and more. But until then it will be a label, sometimes for racist reasons, but mainly it’s just an easy way to describe someone’s looks, like pretty/ugly, tall/short, fat/skinny, redhead/blonde or walks with a limp. It’s just a lazy description.
And meanwhile there will be a growth in “racial identity” which can be as different to how you are born as transgender people.
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I think most people will acknowledge that living in the country is better for your soul, while the city has lots of more material attractions.
We are programmed to love babies. Human babies of course, but baby animals as well, and even seedlings for someone like me.
Cities lack baby animals. Where I have been living in recent years, I looked forward to spring. Because ducklings. They put a smile on my face and kept the universe real and general, not just about my own bullshit. For the world to be a better place (actually, no, the world is cool already, I mean for people to be better people), we just need to be around babies more. Any sort of babies. Even sea monkeys.
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There are actually two types of cooking, and I figure they should have their own names.
The first is something I can do reasonably competently – put a bunch of ingredients in a slow cooker, and turn it on. Or put some meat and veggies in the oven and roast them. This should be called “I slow cooked” or “I roasted”, not “I cooked”.
The second is where you are actually attending and interacting – turning, stirring, flipping. How you act and react will have a major effect on the results. That’s actual cooking.
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