Gesucht wird Verstand

Die meisten Dinge die wir gerne besitzen würden haben Nachteile die wir nicht sofort erahnen. So könnten zum Beispiel im Handbuch der Jungfräulichkeit – Achtung: kann leichte Gebrauchsspuren aufweisen – folgende Hinweise stehen. Unerfahrenheit kann zu falschen Hoffnungen führen; ungebrauchte Teile können den Spass erheblich bremsen; volle Motorleistung erst ab einer bestimmten Verwendungszahl; kann bei falscher Handhabung zu ungewollten Nebeneffekten führen;
Warum wir nun trotzdem nach bestimmten Zuständen streben, die kaum erreichbar sind kann den Grund haben, dass ehemalige Erwartungen nicht erfüllt wurden (siehe Lolita – Film). Die vorgelebte Vorstellung von bestimmten Ausprägungen kann lebensbestimmend wirken (siehe Barbie und Barbie Syndrom). Einflüssen die uns prägen können wir kaum entgegenwirken. Was jedoch den Unterschied ausmacht ist die Möglichkeit sich selbst zu hinterfragen. Jedoch erst, nachdem eine Entscheidung getroffen wurde und bevor noch mit der Ausführung dieser begonnen wurde. Das ist Intelligenz. Das ist unser persönlicher Kampf gegen Faulheit und Meinungslosigkeit.

Unser Denken vermag es nicht Berge zu versetzen, aber unser Handeln. Doch genau dieses Denken sollte verhindern, dass wir für unseren eigenen Vorteil anderen Schaden zufügen; unsere Verantwortung beim Empfang abgeben; die Fenster von aussen verschliessen; oder uns von einem temporären Fussballgott (siehe Fussball EM Zensur) Gedächtnisverlust verordnen lassen.

Audio:
FM Belfast – Lotus (Killing in the Name of) ~ at Last.fm
Porcupine Tree – Blackest Eyes ~ at YouTube

Senses of balance

There are numerous reasons why challenging yourself is fun. For one, there is the part where you may achieve something you didn’t know you were able to. That usually comes as a pleasant surprise, which itself is good for your own self-esteem. Another thing is the knowledge new experiences come packed with. The better you know your own reactions, the better your self-assessments are going to work for new situations.
In case of my own last weekend I’d like to note some things about scuba diving. First of all, it’s awesome to move freely around in every possible direction. Anyway, there is this feeling when you turn around in foggy waters and enter this state where you are unable to make out any direction or reference point anymore. That’s my first uneasy feeling. The second one is when you dive lower, let’s say to 20 meters, and imagine the height of water by comparison to the height of some building you know in the same size above your shoulders. That’s just a freaking amount of water and thus, a lot of pressure, if you get what I mean. The last thing is the silence you may experience when you slowly breath in and nothing around you moves or makes any noise.
All of these sensations are not bad, they are just interesting to experience and may take a little bit to accept.

Links:
Underwater Communication ~ How-To Communicate Underwater
Diving Signals ~ Scuba Diving Signals, Wiki Diving Signals
Sign Language ~ NZSL

Thinking without borders

Every time we don’t take a risk, we lose almost automatically. With the refusal of chances we hinder ourselves in our own further development. Security is one of the greatest enemies of evolution. This would fully support various trial and error methods. And it’s a good thing. Most times, there is more to gain than to lose. Of course, it doesn’t really make sense to jump into some dark well just to find out what’s down there. Get a rope and climb down. Remember the lyrics and sing. Look at the environment, find the reasons and talk. Don’t get too drunk and dance. Be the proof of the fact that there is only one thing that really matters. (It’s not alcohol!) It’s about this one feeling. Ah! I got it! I did it! Happiness! Don’t be afraid. If you fail – but even if you don’t, change something and try again or try something else.

Experience life! Experience is your life. Stop to learn and you’ll stop to live. Don’t live by trophies, cause that’s living in the past. Don’t pile up money. That’s living for a tomorrow that will be different in every way you could possible imagine. To live freely you have to let go of your cage. A cage built out of imaginary securities of a society of fools. A society driven by fear to stagnation. Your life is out there – everywhere. So, stop reading and turn the world around.
If you fail, enjoy it to the fullest!

You deserve to forget

Nowadays, TV series show us one thing: knowledge is the key to success. If it’s House MD to demonstrate others their deficiencies by being himself almost infallible, or Shawn Spencer whose remarkable memory abilities give him an unnatural psychic impression, or even Dexter Morgan who uses his intelligence to commit murder for some kind of justifiable justice. All of these examples show us fictive people making the impression of being normal with certain abilities that let them appear to be special. There are also the extremes like Heroes which add a bit more fiction and thus wouldn’t quite work in reality. But, maybe they are just good at hiding it.
Anyway, there is a problem arising with such series which seem pretty natural and maybe possible in our imagination. Mostly, they leave us just two options: either we admit to be stupid and can’t do what their starlets can, or everybody else is cause ..you know I can read minds – can’t you? That’s probably one of the reasons they design most of these series as comedies or at least add some comical aspects. Because, who wants to be even more depressed after sitting half an hour in a sofa watching problems of fictive people?

Let’s go back a minute to the part about knowledge. Everything is about how much you’re able to remember. But isn’t it great to have a mind which can forget things easily? – Wait for the point before you try to forget how useless reading this entry was! Oblivion offers you the ultimate feature to happiness. And I don’t mean to forgive, that’s mostly just a selfish act to have others be grateful.
Only when you’ve learned to forget, you’ve learned what it means to know!

To let the silence talk

A fascinating thing about human communication is the variation we can find in personal interpretations even if the message is ever so explicit. One problem may be to find in the broad spectrum of different meanings of many words and expressions. Another, quite important aspect lies within the unsaid statements. The power of the underlying message. Sounds boring? Well, not necessarily. It takes an experienced listener to read between the lines but it needs an extraordinary thinker to speak through the arising silence.
And I’m not even talking about body language yet. It’s just about the breaks between the words. Many things rely on them. You can give someone a really uncomfortable feeling. More importantly, you’re able to build up tension. As I see it, many things are just results of silence. A hug, a kiss, a slap in the face.

But be aware! Tension tries to increase the value of the subsequent information. Good things get better and bad things will feel even worse. In general, breaks are useful. You can think about what to say next or reflect on the last statement. Nevertheless it can be pretty annoying to have a conversation with someone who thinks and speaks much slower than you do. Still, you shouldn’t anticipate words for another person. It makes them look stupid and you like a moron.
Good for some breaks after each sentence would be for example the following quote by Ellen DeGeneres.
“In the beginning there was nothing. God said, ‘Let there be light!’ And there was light. There was still nothing, but you could see it a whole lot better.”

When the world is not enough

Water. The source of all life as we know it. Also, the most important resource for some action sports. If it doesn’t come pouring from above and instead is lying on the ground. In the more solid state, of course. What’s even better than sliding down a mountain atop of water crystals? Doing so and thinking of nothing else! I would almost compare this extraordinary feeling to diving somewhere entirely free. Being weightless. Genial, if you ignore the pain in your bones and muscles, when your last ‘sliding down the hills with full physical exertion’ experience happened already some while ago.
The art is, as in most disciplines, going to the edge of everything possible without stepping over. You’ll succeed when you stop and don’t need immediate medical attention.

What’s more, when you realise you did something you couldn’t do yesterday, you get this great feeling of live experience. Every step forward means further possibilities and a mind more open to other influences. Most of the time there is no wrong decision except standing still and doing nothing. Nevertheless, every new experience bears also the risk of failure. Often, even failures will help you on, but sometimes.. well, we got pretty good medical support.
No risks, no organ donations!

When it’s not about knowledge

Some say it’s all about wisdom and experience. You are what you learn to be. I know that I know little, but what does it matter? Someone who knows 50 percent more is not necessary 50 percent better. Well, it may apply to a language translation Computer. On the other hand, if you know more does it mean that you decide slower because you have to think about more aspects, or does it give you the option to think about more possibilities?
In the case of the language translation system it would reduce the evaluation speed. So what about the complex human mind? Are we really able to think harder or is thinking what we do even when we’re trying to think about nothing?

Does it make us happier to know more? Do we want to be happier? I think it has nothing to do with knowledge at all. It is about specific personal demands. When the only thing you request is a glass of water, you’ll be fine in most places you stray. Just try to remember that some weirdo filled 97 percent of earth surface with water that’s a bit salty. However, if you make yourself a highly sophisticated 25-year career and social plan for your future, the only thing you’ll probably get is a headache, gastric problems or the issue of making your last exit before reaching upper management.
Happiness must be some kind of marketing gag!