Eat a dog

Hhmm….What to rant about today. I suppose psychology and group affiliation would be a good topic to get a few brains going. As I mentioned in my last post, in my opinion religion is often more about geography than personal choice. I believe this can be greatly expanded. Crude example – In this country (England) it would be considered very bad taste (pardon the pun) to eat a dog. In other countries this would be perfectly acceptable. So which view is right and why do we hold these view’s in the first place.
Try to imagine that you were born in a different country, if you’re feeling really brave make it a different period in history as well. How much of who you are now, would you be. Erm that sounds a bit clumsy doesn’t it? Ok I’ll try again. Take that person, the other you and compare it to yourself. I believe its quite probable, well actual I’m lying there, it’s a bloody fact that the two ‘you’s’ would have widely different views and opinions.
Another example, and my history can be a bit off sometimes so correct me if I'm wrong. In ancient Greece homosexuality was somewhat more acceptable than it is today, especially amongst the men. In fact there was a whole phalanx (kind of Greek battalion) which was made up solely of male lovers. The idea being that you would fight harder to protect the ones you love. Imagine that in the British armed forces.
The views we hold often seem linked with the groups we belong to. These groups are everywhere. Sex, nationality, sexual orientation, the sports teams we support, the length of our hair, our religious beliefs, the colour of our eyes. The list is endless. I have long hair, and if someone starts abusing the idea of men with long hair it pisses me off. They are attacking a group I belong to and therefore attacking me. If someone starts verbally attacking men as a gender group, I will defend men. Again attack the group I belong to and you attack me.
I think it’s a very prudent step to always question your values and where they came from. Exert freewill over the deterministic influences of group psychology. Quite a few years ago when I first started wrestling with these questions, I tried to split apart what I believe in because of where I was born and what I believe in because I actually used my brain and tried to free myself from any outside influences. The scary thing was I could only really find two things which I believed weren’t down to geography and group affiliation.
1) Treat other people with the respect that you would wish to be treated with. (Generally be groovy to each other)
2) Be the best person you can be mentally, physically and spiritually. Although if someone could tell me how exactly to improve your self spiritually I’d be very grateful.
Everything else I believe could be reduced to having been caused by the groups I belong to and the epoch I was born into. Scary stuff.

Lost for words, oh there's always religion

Strange, I thought as soon as I started a blog, I'd be ranting all over the place. Not so, it seems I'm to busy to rant, the life of a MA student is certainly a busy one. Well to keep this blog going I'd better think up something fast....hhmmmm, nope....eerrrmmm.....nope....ah! Religion. That's a topic guaranteed to piss a few people off. I suppose a little background is in order before I start.
I was raised as a Christian. Not the 'fire and brimstone, your all going to hell' kind, but the 'hey, lets be nice to each other kind'. For a while I "followed the path of the lamb" so to speak. As I grew older I realized I had a problem with my belief's. It dawned on me that If I was born in a different country I'd be a different religion. Ok, I admit that many people change their faith or even lose it, but those who maintain a belief or faith almost always carry the one there born into.
I've started to study religion. I already had a fairly good knowledge or Christianity, so I took a look at the Muslim faith. Rather similar to hardline Christian religions. (I hope the irony is not lost on you). I've now started on the Buddhist belief system. There is one thing I think is rather alarming, they all say that they are the one and only true path to paradise. Ok the Buddhist faith says you must believe without question the truth of the teachings, but in essence that's kinda like saying we're right and your wrong.
It seems strange that so many people believe that their faith is the correct one, when the vast majority of people believe what they believe because of where they were born.
My studies are by no means comprehensive and I've still got a lot of reading to do, but I feel I have a basic understanding of three of the worlds major religions.
It may come as a surprise to some that I do consider myself religious. I do have faith. I pray, although I prefer the term talk (and no, I'm not mad) to god. Well I call him god because that's what I was raised to call him, and I use 'him' not out of a belief that god is male, but because it easier. Its shorter than 'she' and less impersonal as 'it'. I suppose Allah, Buddha, Jehovah or any other name would be just as valid. All branches of the same tree so to speak, but its a habit I've got into.
I cant really describe what I believe in, bit of a cop out I suppose but I have a few ideas I'd like to share with you.
I have great faith in science, but to believe only in what can be proved is bit silly. (well actually if you look at the philosophy behind science, it states that you can never prove something, only not be able to dis-prove it. A subtle but vastly important point) If we look at our history, we can see that man has had some pretty strange ideas over the years. The earth being flat, Hippocrate's theory of the four humors etc. But based on what man knew then it made sense. So why are we so arrogant to believe that we know it all now. In 50, 1000, 10'000 years from now we will look back and realize that our knowledge was greatly flawed. Science is a useful tool, but I think to may people follow it like a religion.
I have a theory that all the religious text were sent, somehow as a kind of guide book. To use the analogy of a child, children need guidance when they are young. But all good parents want their child to grow up and think for themselves. Tricky thing is how to guide without affecting freewill (yes I believe in freewill, and no, there's no point arguing, there's no real proof or totally compelling argument for either side of the debate, Its just something I believe). So it is with the human race, we're still young, we still have much to learn. Right now on the scale of things were about 6 years old. Headstrong, self centered and a took selfish, but like all children there's so much good in us and so much potential. You wouldn't give car keys to a six year old, so it is we're not ready for the keys to the universe and all its secretes. Just as children we learn from our mistakes, and often repeat them over and over. But we are growing and we are learning. For all of you out there who think the worlds going to hell in a handcart, take a look at history. People have been saying that since man learned to talk. Such utterances were even recorded in ancient Greece. Anyway, at what point did humanity reach this 'fabled peak' of its existence which it is now so rapidly falling away from.
Ok, I admit, there's a lot of weird stuff going on, some of which I'll talk about in later blog's but were not doing to bad, on the whole that is.
It says in the bible that god created us in him image, maybe he was talking about the atom, maybe we are the universe broken down and made manifest in a attempt to understand its self. (nice one bill(Hick's, that is)). Were just too young to do anything but keep an open mind.
So many things, such as ghosts, astral projection, serendipity, to many things to list, still evade our knowledge and so are often ridiculed and disgaurded. I believe they all point to the idea that there is somthing more out there. A plan if you will, a presence, whatever. somthing we are not ready and not able to understand. But I believe its somthing beautiful, something benevelent, something that cares for us.
Right thats enough for now. I'll be back soon

work, work, work

Sorry its been such a long time since i was last with you dear reader, but lifes been a little hectic of late. I suggest you all go and read a book called 'Understanding the English', it will give you an amazing insight into the things you do, well if you English anyway. If your not English read, it anyway, you'll find it a lot easier functioning in our slightly odd society if you do.

Finally

Ha!!! Success. Finally I have the internet at home. No more sterile environments. I guess I best make this a good post. Im sure your rabid with anticipation. Ok today's topic is relationships..... No wait, don't go, I promise its not a rant about ex-girlfriends or the cruelty of heartbreak. What I wanna talk about is what I call "Big brother syndrome". It's an odd phenomena really, one I've been caught up in myself.
While, to be honest I loathe Big brother, I've had to suffer it on occasions due to friends, girlfriends etc. One thing that did fascinated me was the way the contestants seem to pair off (romantically) within a week or two of arriving in the house. It seems the same is true outside of the BB house. For example When people start college, uni, work etc. Now this phenomena does seem mainly to include younger people, say upto about 30ish, but is certainly not exclusive of the older generations.
One has to wonder, if you took a random group of humans and dropped them on an island, would they revert to their animal instincts, and search out the most eligible mate? Is it an intrinsic fear of being alone that drives us to chase the "best on offer"?
We can see from the way most BB relationships break up within weeks of the contest ending, how foolish it is to pair off in this way. What is that strange feeling of 'fancying someone' all about anyway. The thumping heart, the butterflies in the stomach, the inability to keep our mind off the person in question. Think about it, we often know little or nothing about the object of our desire, other than, of course, the fact we desire them. We want to have sex with them. You never 'fancy' (I really hate that word but I cant find anything better) people you don't want to have sex with. The initial feelings of desire, of 'want', are always sexually linked.
Could it be that our bodies are playing a biological trick on us. A nod in the direction of our natural urge to mate. How many relationships do not survive beyond the honeymoon period, or limp on, battered, kept alive by our fear of being alone.
Now it may seem that im being a bit cynical, unromantic even. Not so!!!! I cry. I believe in Love, I believe in romance. But in my humble opinion love involves choice and a lot of hard work. It involves soul searching and soul sharing. Love is about two people sharing themselves. Living both one life and a separate one as well (1+1=2 remember, not 1.5). But most importantly It involves knowing each other and trusting each other. How can you love someone you do not know and cannot, in reality judge to be trustworthy. We sometimes forget, in our arrogance that we are animals too, and are prey to the basic biological urges that all the other species on the planet are controlled by.
I believe, however we can rise above these impulses. So before you blindly chase the next 'desired object', think. How well do you know them, why are you having these feelings, and above all try not to get drunk around them.

god damn sterile I.T suites, bereft of any creative influences. Feels like an STD clinic for the technologically challanged. Stick with me dear reader, stick with me.

second day of owning a blog. sigh, I still dont have the internet at home and for some unusual reason that i cant quite fathom, I dont feel at ease ranting in a public place. I know, I know it would be a silent rant and anybody could access it anyway to see what i've written, but still the feeling remains. So please stick with it dear reader, it will get better. One thing I dont do is make empty promises. Perhaps I'm scared that my frenzied tapping will attract attention. Who knows or dares to dream.......

My first Blog

Wow, its finally happened. I've gone and joined the 21st century. I've got a blog, my own little corner of the world, (well the electronic world anyway) to rant and rave about what ever I damn well please. ohh the feelings of power, the freedom, the emormity of it all. Shame I cant think of anything to write about. Still stay with me dear reader, I promise it will get better. In fact one day I may even be so bold as to add an 's' to the end of 'reader'. Steady on now steven, crawl before you walk.