Avatars

[Dan Rowden]

I think the changing of avatars is just a symptom of boredom. "Hmm, can't think of anything worthwhile to do. I know! I'll change my avatar and pretend that I'm making a point!".

[Ryan Rudolph]

Dan wrote:

I think the changing of avatars is just a symptom of boredom. "Hmm, can't think of anything worthwhile to do. I know! I'll change my avatar and pretend that I'm making a point!"

Whenever I have changed my avatar, it is always related to making a humorous point, so you would need to provide a convincing argument as to why all humor should be abolished to give your boredom claim any merit.

[Dan Rowden]

What is the point being made with Eli Wallach being hanged?

[Carl G]

I think the changing of avatars is just a symptom of boredom. "Hmm, can't think of anything worthwhile to do. I know! I'll change my avatar and pretend that I'm making a point!".

So that's why you changed yours from the couple walking in the woods!

[Carl G]

And, regarding socializing, surely there is nothing wrong with it, in moderation. And nothing better, when done with someone on one's wavelength, sharing a way of thinking or a particular groove of humor. Yes, Kelly, it is like biking down a mountain, I would imagine.

Glad to share a few laughs here with Aaron, they are sort of few and far between in the real world, where I generally find a dearth of companionship on my wavelength.

And what's the matter, Dan, don't you share a few chuckles with the boys in the pub?

[Dan Rowden]

No, I changed mine because I was getting feedback from people that they thought it was a couple walking in the woods and that was not the idea I was intending to portray.

[Ryan Rudolph]

Dan wrote:

What is the point being made with Eli Wallach being hanged?

Well, he’s not actually being hanged, he is very close to being hanged. In other words he is very close to death. And his facial expression reveals that he isn’t in the clearest state of consciousness before death, he looks rather bemused, disorientated, and goofy. Much like many of the seekers of enlightenment.

So the image itself represents a satire of all those approaching enlightenment as they come closer to a total psychological death, but they haven’t quite reached it yet.

[Dan Rowden]

And, regarding socializing, surely there is nothing wrong with it, in moderation.

Well, that sort of depends on the mentality one brings to it. More often than not said mentality is delusional.

And nothing better, when done with someone on one's wavelength, sharing a way of thinking or a particular groove of humor. Yes, Kelly, it is like biking down a mountain, I would imagine.

But again this is all contingent on the mentality involved. If it's about egotistical gratification then it's a bad thing.

Glad to share a few laughs here with Aaron, they are sort of few and far between in the real world, where I generally find a dearth of companionship on my wavelength.

Why do you need people to be on your wavelength? What is it, do you think, that causes us to benefit from that? And, sure, Aaron is a bit of a laugh, but I'm a little concerned that that's all he is.

And what's the matter, Dan, don't you share a few chuckles with the boys in the pub?

Not really. My sense of humour and theirs doesn't really gel so there's not much to chuckle about. However, there is one quite intelligent fellow I sometimes chat with who can laugh about the various follies of humanity. Fact is most of the things I would laugh at are more likely to rile folks than make them laugh along.

[Carl G]

CG: And, regarding socializing, surely there is nothing wrong with it, in moderation.

DR: Well, that sort of depends on the mentality one brings to it. More often than not said mentality is delusional.

And it can be okay with me sometimes if it is. It is not always possible to be non-delusional. And it is healthier to laugh in delusion occasionally than be non-delusional and unmitigatedly somber. And, yes, sometimes those are the only two choices available.

CG: And nothing better, when done with someone on one's wavelength, sharing a way of thinking or a particular groove of humor. Yes, Kelly, it is like biking down a mountain, I would imagine.

DR: But again this is all contingent on the mentality involved. If it's about egotistical gratification then it's a bad thing.

Too general. Not always a bad thing. Sometimes one just needs to stop working.

CG: Glad to share a few laughs here with Aaron, they are sort of few and far between in the real world, where I generally find a dearth of companionship on my wavelength.

Why do you need people to be on your wavelength?

I don't need people to be on my wavelength. I need people who are on my wavelength. In other words, I'm not trying to change people. But I do look for people who already share my values. Like some posters here.

What is it, do you think, that causes us to benefit from that?

I think it increases our heart, our courage and clarity. Gives us added strength to continue our quest. And gives us needed information, in terms of both feedback and new ideas.

And, sure, Aaron is a bit of a laugh, but I'm a little concerned that that's all he is.

Even if this is true, it is beside the point.

there is one quite intelligent fellow I sometimes chat with who can laugh about the various follies of humanity. Fact is most of the things I would laugh at are more likely to rile folks than make them laugh along.

Yes, exactly. So I think you know what I am talking about.

[Kelly Jones]

Ryan and Elizabeth replied to my question "What does it mean to socialise?" along these lines:

That socialising is "aimless" but also not, because of the desire for the "well-being" that comes from "connecting with others".

I think this connecting is wierd. Why should feeling connected make one feel well? Isn't one undisconnectable?

Why should I miss the stars during the day-time? What is it about interacting that fills people with such ecstasy, and that fills being alone with a sense of depravation and loss?

I like the feeling and experiences of never feeling any sense of loss.

Is my self a member of society? Is that all I am, ever? No.

But interacting with people to learn things about them is not socialising.

It's really wierd to me that this interestedness in everything should be considered nitpicking or humourless. It's wonderfully conscious, full of creativity, not led.

Elizabeth wrote that interactions can stimulate thought. Yes, and even socialising can stimulate thought --- if one isn't absorbed in it unconsciously.

But this sounds like the true self-image is the social one, the "compass" or "original template":

It also serves as a way to untangle one's self from one's own thoughts. Kind of like how sometimes the computer has to be rebooted, sometimes the brain needs to disengage to be able to re-engage properly.

This is just saying, the more distinct the interactions between things, the more obviously different they are.

if one has absolutly no pleasure in life, one might as well be dead. Even if one does not get emotional, one can recognize the tedium and ultimate uselessness of it all and find no reason to bother to do all the things that are required in order to live. Living wisely becomes an oxymoron.

No, that's not right. One breathes regardless of the emotional overlays one puts on breathing.

Losing the will to live is a result of desiring and not getting pleasure in life.

That's how I see it anyway.

I wonder, if one only does things to have joy, then one's realness gets lopsided. Joylessness seems untrue.

painful lonliness can result from not being connected - so they socialize to relieve the pain or meet the basic desire. Sufficient isolation will eventually make the lonliness go away, but certain skills go away as well. Any skill, including socializing or even just verbalizing one's thoughts, must be practiced or they will either not develop or atrophy with disuse.

Sounds like a drug addiction to me.

Up and down. Happy, sad. Need, satisfaction. Longing, longing, longing.

I don't like seeing the dysfunctional, fatigued people on treadmills, that they keep turning because they mistakenly assume that life without a treadmill is tedious and dull.

Hello Reality.

Hello Humanity. Why do we orbit the earth and can't get away from its gravity? Why are we repressive satellites?

Habit.

[Ryan Rudolph]

To Kelly,

Losing the will to live is a result of desiring and not getting pleasure in life.

You can never eliminate all pleasure, there is pleasure in drinking a hot herbal tea, or going for a walk, or speaking with a friend.

The key is that seriousness needs to be primary, if seriousness/solitude are primary then one can indulge in a bit of pleasure now and again and not experience longing, pain, loss and so on because one is so accustomed to being alone and without pleasure.

It's really wierd to me that this interestedness in everything should be considered nitpicking or humourless. It's wonderfully conscious, full of creativity, not led.

I think you are trying to sell you’re case a little too much here. Being in an unfeeling robotic state of nothingness is not wonderfully conscious, it is meaningless. There is nothing fundamentally there.

And by using the words wonderfully conscious, you are using a pleasurable description to try to sell a state of consciousness in which there is absolutely no pleasure.

One wants to balance masculinity/femininity, and to me this means something like 90% masculinity/10% femininity, or something like that. If you achieve 100% masculinity, 0% femininity, it doesn’t seem to me that there would be any reason for living. You would be a permanent unfeeling robot, isolated, and not motivated to do anything. You’d have no reason to look up at the stars at night, or walk on a beach, or look at the apple bosoms in the spring time, or poke fun at humanities stupidity and so on.

You would be missing the point of why you are using reason in the first place, to free yourself from self-inflicted suffering so that you can experience life fully.

[Elizabeth Isabelle]

Losing the will to live is a result of desiring and not getting pleasure in life.

I disagree in that I am making a distinction between losing the will to live and having the desire to die. Desiring nothing includes not desiring to live as well as not having the desire to die; it is the condition of anhedonia.

Why should feeling connected make one feel well? Isn't one undisconnectable?

The reality is that we are undisconnectable in the infinite scope of things, but the feeling of connection or disconnection refers to a level of availability of perspecitves. One who is physically ill enough or medicated/drugged enough to significantly impair one's mind yet who has a memory of being able to perceive much more clearly can feel disconnected from one's body despite still inhabiting it.

It's really wierd to me that this interestedness in everything should be considered nitpicking or humourless.

You misunderstand what I meant. Interestedness in everything is mere curiosity. It was the tone you used which could look nit-picky.

I wonder, if one only does things to have joy, then one's realness gets lopsided. Joylessness seems untrue.

Right on both counts.

EI:painful lonliness can result from not being connected - so they socialize to relieve the pain or meet the basic desire. Sufficient isolation will eventually make the lonliness go away, but certain skills go away as well. Any skill, including socializing or even just verbalizing one's thoughts, must be practiced or they will either not develop or atrophy with disuse.

KJ: Sounds like a drug addiction to me.

Up and down. Happy, sad. Need, satisfaction. Longing, longing, longing.

I don't like seeing the dysfunctional, fatigued people on treadmills, that they keep turning because they mistakenly assume that life without a treadmill is tedious and dull.

The first part, where painful lonliness can result from the lack, so they seek to relieve the pain, is like a drug addiction. You asked why they do, not why they should.

The second part where one must practice or lose skill is not like a drug addiction. That is mere skill-building, and would be wise for application to the other purposes, such as awareness-building.
.

[Shahrazad]

Trevor,

Can I be blunt? Your avatar is ugly as hell.

[Elizabeth Isabelle]

Trevor,

Can I be blunt? Your avatar is ugly as hell.

By analyzing your statement, I conclude that you certainly can be blunt, especially when that is your intention. ;)

[Shahrazad]

I wasn't trying to be blunt, I just don't know of another way.

[Trevor Salyzyn]

Sher: it's from a computer game that I used to play. ALL of the characters were ugly as hell. :)

The Characters
I was actually going to go for Dr. Cranium, but I thought that was too over-the-top.

[Dan Rowden]

I find myself fighting a temptation to turn avatars off completely. Must be hormonal.

[Shahrazad]

At least here we don't have to deal with the huge signature images, like in BA.

.

[Trevor Salyzyn]

There. My real face. No, I don't smile for cameras.

[Elizabeth Isabelle]

Wow, you look angry.

[Aaron Mathis]

There. My real face. No, I don't smile for cameras.

Trevor!

If you're so enlightened, then why do you shave?

Man up.

[Aaron Mathis]

And Elizabeth,

When's the last time you shaved your arm pits and legs?

The same question goes to all you women: Leyla Shen, Kelly Jones, Pye, Shar, Sue Hindmarsh.....

How man are you?

Man up.

I want to know who the real women are. The woman with the big afro bushes buldging out da panties.

-Mathis

[Elizabeth Isabelle]

I never claimed to be a man. If I don't shave under my arms, there isn't a deoderant on the planet that could be effective. If I don't shave my legs, the hairs get caught in the fabric of my pants and it hurts.

I don't pluck my abdomen anymore - does that help?
.

[Trevor Salyzyn]

Eliza, it's just kinda my natural expression. People used to think I was some kind of serial killer in high school.

Aaron, I never got used to the feeling of a beard in winter, when the fur around my nostrils and mouth gets covered in ice. Plus my beard grows out red and patchy and curls like pubic hair. I can't stand to look at it. Just in case any women find my stubble attractive, though, I compensate for my own vanity by refusing to use whitener on my teeth (I smoked for 3 years and drink a lot of black tea).

[Aaron Mathis]

Do you wear Panties?

I suggest you get yourself settled into a set of men's Hanes jockey briefs....

Come on! This is genius forum! It's no place for panties.

Man up.