tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18829635821754058002024-02-20T20:47:11.003-08:00MindThinkTrueA mind, unrestricted by rigid ideologies, on a quest for the objective truth.j_leblinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11550935076322439610noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1882963582175405800.post-1747901256887931712013-04-11T05:50:00.003-07:002013-04-11T05:52:56.861-07:00Gun Control: Hidden Consequences<br />
Any restrictions on gun ownership must take into consideration the long term implications of a disarmed citizenry. What allowed the horrific genocides of the past two centuries (Ottoman Turkey 1915-17; Soviet Union 1929-1953; Nazi Germany 1933-1945; China 1949-1976; Guatemala 1960-1981; Uganda 1971-1979; Cambodia 1975-1979) to occur, was a populace that was disarmed by their government.<br />
<br />
I have no doubt that the majority of gun control supporters have only good intentions in their hearts. But many Americans take for granted the freedoms they have, not because they are bad people, but because that's all they have ever known.<br />
<br />
Inevitably, with these types of controls, guns are taken away from one group (citizens) and given to another group (government). [Does government really have your best interests in mind? Whose interests does it serve? Government may be composed of good people at an individual level, but at the macro level can evolve into something much more insidious!]<br />
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<br />
When one group is armed and the other isn't, what is stopping the armed group from forcefully imposing its will on the disarmed group? Trust? Faith in human goodness? Such centralization of power is very dangerous as trust is something that can very easily be broken. After all, it only takes one bad apple to spoil the bunch.<br />
<br />
This is what the founding fathers had in mind when composing the second amendment of the constitution. This is the seemingly irrational fear that drives those "crazy gun nuts" to grip their guns so tightly. But is it really irrational when you look at the track record of the governments of the world? If it could happen in Germany, arguably a pinnacle of "civilized" society, what would prevent it from happening in the U.S.?<br />
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These things MUST be taken into consideration when dealing with the issue of public safety.<br />
<br />
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety"<br />
- B. Franklin<br />
<br />
"The world is filled with violence. Because criminals carry guns, we decent law-abiding citizens should also have guns. Otherwise they will win and the decent people will lose."<br />
- James Earl Jones<br />
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"The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government." - Thomas Jefferson<br />
<br />
"One man with a gun can control 100 without one."<br />
– V Lenin<br />
<br />
"A system of licensing and registration is the perfect device to deny gun ownership to the bourgeoisie."<br />
- V Leninj_leblinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11550935076322439610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1882963582175405800.post-42048850837303996422013-01-10T07:38:00.001-08:002013-01-10T07:38:54.015-08:00Response to "Rugged Individualism as a Myth"<br />
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<span lang="EN-US">The reality
is that, for most of us, the world is a cruel, unjust and uncaring place. This
is because as humans, we only have a finite amount of resources to satisfy the
infinite amount of desires and needs that each of us hold. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">The fact is
that there are very few people on this planet who have your best interests at
heart; if you are lucky, you may have a caring family and a close knit circle
of friends that you can trust. Many people do not even have this luxury. Think
about it, more people would not care if you died tomorrow than people who would.
Others would even go so far as to kill you to take what you have. This is a
reality that many of us living in "prosperous" and “peaceful”
industrialized nations have not been exposed to on a large scale for several
decades. Death, conquest, war, famine, disease goes on across the globe now as
it has since the beginning of history. Homo sapiens are a species of war, as
much as we are a species of peace. For the purpose of my argument this is
undeniable, and you only need to look at our history books to see that this is
true.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">This harsh
reality is not necessarily due any inherent human malice, but rather, and I
repeat myself, due to the fact that, on this planet, we only have a finite amount
of resources to satisfy the infinite amount of desires and needs that each of
us hold. No amount of fantastical idealizing can change this fundamental truth
about human nature. Try “getting along” with the asshole who is mugging you at
gunpoint, or the foreigners pillaging your home, and see how far it gets you.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">I, as an
individual, am the one who is in the best position to make decisions regarding
my well-being, not the members of the politico-banking apparatchik, i.e. my
“elected representatives”. This is because none of them see the world through
my eyes, know the challenges that I face, the desires I seek to fulfill, or the
strengths and weaknesses that I possess. Furthermore, I know that it is human
nature to be greedy, so I am not surprised by how corrupt our institutions are.
Power brings out the most ruthless and Machiavellian traits of man. So even
though their slogans may be really catchy, with slick rhetoric that pulls at my
patriotic heart-strings, I know that politicians do not have my interests at
heart. This is because the politician’s principle function is to gain more
political power. The good ones are amorphous creatures that charismatically
reflect the desires of wants of the populace in exchange for votes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">I do not
buy into the farcical charade that passes for "politics" these days.
The left-wing/right-wing dichotomy playing out on television caters to the
primitive human "us" vs. "them" mentality. This is a great
strategy for the powers that be to divide and conquer the voting population on
minor issues. But I am not fooled; Republicans and Democrats alike are two
heads of the same monstrous war mongering, freedom suppressing, corporate
welfare leviathan. To label me along that spectrum is to miss the point that I
am trying to make.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">As a
"rugged individual" my goal is to be self-sufficient and autonomous.
I wish to accomplish my goals from my own blood, sweat and tears, because the
fruits of my own labor are sweeter than any fruit given to me without. Do not
make the mistake of believing that I view myself as living in a vacuum, for I
do not dismiss the great works and achievements of the forefathers and
foremothers before me. Rather I view myself as a carrying the torch and
nurturing the fire which I will be passed onto the next generation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">As a
“rugged individual” I extend my interests, not through force and coercion - the
method of choice for governments around the world - but rather through the
mutualistic symbiosis which characterizes the principle of the free market. I
use reasoning to develop ideas that are my own, adjusting and often reversing
my stance on an issue in light of new evidence. I do not like being told what
to do, how to behave and how to think. I have a disdain for authority, because
authority does not treat an individual as a free-thinking rational being. As an
individual, I know that I must fulfill my own needs before I can consider the
needs of others. This means that, first and foremost, I take care of myself, and
then I take care of my family, then my friends, then my neighbors - in that
order.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">All of this
to say, Mr. Spindell, that I am insulted when you say that I do not exist and
am just a myth! But I forgive you sir because I understand that nowadays, men
and women of prudence, temperance, justice and fortitude such as myself, do not
come by very often. I as a “rugged individual” understand that any promise of a
utopia is a lie. Nobody will make my dreams come true but myself, and I will
take on all the pain, suffering and ridicule that is required to do so. No
chains can shackle me, no cage can hold me. I would rather die standing than to
live on my knees… All very cliché I know, but true nevertheless.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
j_leblinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11550935076322439610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1882963582175405800.post-19731345758189182512013-01-10T07:36:00.001-08:002013-01-10T07:36:05.917-08:00A Message to advocates of government (Social Security, Military, etc.) spending<br />
Though I do not question your good intentions, your fundamental misunderstanding of basic market principles undermines your argument.<br />
<br />
Whether it is the financing of (questionably justified) wars overseas, the financing of welfare entitlement programs for the poor, or welfare entitlement programs for Wall Street, this reckless spending is unsustainable in the long run.<br />
<br />
We need only to look across the Atlantic at our Club Med friends to see the most recent example of social security spending gone wild.<br />
<br />
The U.S. can postpone this fate due to its global reserve currency status by issuing more debt. BUT, this economic hegemony exists due in large part to the U.S. global military force projection.<br />
<br />
Using any type of metric, dollars, euros, ounces of gold, etc., if the amount of non-productive spending outweighs the amount of productive spending for too long, economic turmoil ensues. Which is exactly what we are seeing right now!<br />
<br />
The laws of supply and demand exert their influence, and the higher this fiat bubble gets blown, the bigger the pop will be when it finally bursts... The pages of history are filled with numerous examples (but never on such a massive scale).<br />
<br />
It would be naive of me to expect that my words would change anybody's opinion on the matter... So I'll let the unfolding reality take care of that!<br />
j_leblinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11550935076322439610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1882963582175405800.post-83087580133950986272012-09-22T08:42:00.001-07:002012-09-22T08:42:01.255-07:00Society's MeltdownMy theory is that the speed of deterioration of our institutions is following a parabolic trajectory. Right now we are at the beginning, where decay is generally overlooked because it occurs during time spans above and beyond society's television induced 30 second attention span.
A sovereign debt crises will NOT unfold at lighting speed, because to the attentive eye, it is, and has been, visibly and steadily doing so since 2008. What will occur at lightning speed is the collective realization of desperation when the population realizes the depth and extent that the Government-Finance-Frankenstein's phallus has ravaged and pillaged their assholes.
That's when we will see all the revelous riotry that has infected the Med Club Nations spread here in North-America... That is, however, if the administration, with its overstock of tear gas, tasers, and rubber bullets allows it.j_leblinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11550935076322439610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1882963582175405800.post-9889975406271129022012-08-12T21:28:00.000-07:002012-08-12T21:48:20.255-07:00Capitalism and Democracy: Can they Coexist?<head><script type="text/javascript">
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSpcZ8BxCZ3X2BfhPcz95YB-RMbG9SciGSljm8qZ2zWSapiTBs4m6dwP4PqmIfcZu_w9aE7-zTKkRLH_3NMDblFC51OJiHNTb_CN8F7JAXfhCgvL06qOu9Et8gMbY3hVwKafc0OytGmiCO/s1600/BullBeginningIsNear.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSpcZ8BxCZ3X2BfhPcz95YB-RMbG9SciGSljm8qZ2zWSapiTBs4m6dwP4PqmIfcZu_w9aE7-zTKkRLH_3NMDblFC51OJiHNTb_CN8F7JAXfhCgvL06qOu9Et8gMbY3hVwKafc0OytGmiCO/s320/BullBeginningIsNear.jpg" width="213" /></a><span lang="EN-US">Many people are out of work right now and struggling to make ends-meet. They
may be questioning the fairness of an economic system that is presently
increasing the income gap between the rich and the poor. For example, many in
the United States took to the streets last summer in protest during the “Occupy”
movement. I was alarmed at how many people seemed to be simplistically blaming capitalism
for all of the global economic problems. I interpreted their message as being a
democratic uprising to end capitalism and install a more egalitarian societal
system. But I will explain to you why I think this reasoning is flawed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">In this essay I argue that Capitalism and Democracy are entirely
compatible with each other. More precisely they are two very distinct concepts
that complement each other very well. The two concepts shall be broken down
into their constitutive conceptual elements so that we may compare and contrast
them to see how I postulated my conclusion. You, the reader, will notice that
although Capitalism and Democracy deal with different domains of society, they
share many fundamental features. Where Capitalism deals with the creation and
exchange of products and materials, Democracy deals with the creation and
exchange of ideas and opinions. When you are finished reading, hopefully you
will see that both concepts possess central tenets that rest on the idea of
liberty, choice, and decentralization, and that they are indeed absolutely
compatible with each other.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Democracy is a special form of
societal governance because decisions are not made by a single individual or
group. Democratic societies view their citizens as <b>independent</b> and <b>autonomous</b>
entities with their own unique drives and goals. This is known as <b>individualism</b>. Citizens have <b>free will</b> and are knowledgeable enough
to make <b>choices</b> that benefit them. As
such, they view coercion and other such assaults on free will as something
undesirable that should be avoided. Violence and the threat of harm is the most
ancient form of human coercion, so democratic societies have laws set in place
to discourage it among the population. These are generally known as <b>Human Rights</b>. Citizens are free to do
as they so please as long as they are not interfering with other citizens’
Human Rights. Individuals are generally united in their common goal to achieve <b>prosperity</b>, <b>happiness</b> and <b>good health</b>,
despite the fact that they each may have their own unique ideas about achieving
it. As an extension of free will, all citizens must be involved in the matters
of the state/society/group. This occurs through <b>public discussions </b>where every citizen is given the chance to have their
<b>ideas</b> and <b>opinions</b> heard.</span><span lang="EN-US"> </span><span lang="EN-US">In modern societies with large populations,
citizens elect leaders to represent their interests during these public
discussions. Through these <b>exchanges</b>
of ideas and opinions, citizens discover new and innovative ways to <b>cooperate</b> with each other to achieve
their goals. Ideally, group decisions must be made with <b>group consensus</b>, meaning that every single individual agrees to the
decision. When consensus cannot be reached, decisions are made by the <b>majority</b> or through <b>compromise</b>. Individuals seek <b>power</b> not through violence or coercion,
but rather, with <b>political influence</b>.
What this means is that a person in a position of authority (i.e. the president,
politicians) is dependent on the support he receives from other citizens. In
this sense, power and influence is <b>decentralized</b>.
If a Politician begins to do things that the citizens do not like, the citizens
simply withdraw their support and the Politician can no longer influence public
policy. This is usually done through the process of <b>voting</b>. A skillful politician finds the common ideas that unite the
citizens and gains their trust by reflecting those ideas back on to the citizens.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: 375.65pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">Capitalism is a special economic
system for very similar conceptual reasons as Democracy. Capitalism is the <b>production</b>, <b>trading</b> and <b>proliferation</b>
of <b>commodities</b> to achieve <b>profit</b> and <b>growth</b>. Commodities are essentially modified and refined resources
which have <b>value,</b> meaning they
improve the <b>quality of life</b> of its
owner. They are analogous to ideas in democracy. Quality of life is an umbrella term for
prosperity, happiness and good health, which as you may recall is one of the
common goals among citizens of a democratic society. In fact, among the many
Civil/Human Rights stated in democratic constitutions you will find something
called the “<b>Right to Private Property</b>”.
The Right to Private Property allows individuals to <b>own</b> commodities which are protected in ways that are similar to
Human Rights, and can be considered as an extension of the individual. As such,
an individual can <b>accumulate</b>
commodities which serve to increase her quality of life. In this way we see
that Capitalism benefits Democracy and vice versa.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: 375.65pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">The act of <b>trading</b> is when one party gives away a commodity in <b>exchange</b> for another commodity of equal
value (may also be referred to as <b>buying</b>
and <b>selling</b>). Value is usually
measured in <b>currency</b>, a universal yardstick.
The value of a commodity is determined on the <b>free market </b>through the <b>homeostatic</b>
balance of <b>supply</b>, <b>demand</b> and <b>competition</b>. If the supply of the commodity increases, it is more
accessible and thus becomes less valuable. Similarly if the demand increases,
it is less accessible because more people want it and thus it becomes more
valuable. As such, the scarcer the commodity is on the market, the more
valuable it becomes. <b>Businesses</b> are
entities whose main goal is to achieve profit and growth by selling commodities
on the market. Profit is achieved by selling a commodity for a higher price
than it cost to produce. Businesses cannot sell their commodities for too low a
price otherwise they are not profitable and fail. They cannot sell for too high
a price neither because buyers will simply buy from another business for
cheaper. This is competition. As such, businesses must find a middle ground
that is profitable yet cheap enough for buyers. This drives efficiency and
innovation as businesses find ways to <b>cut
costs</b> and increase <b>profit margins</b>.
If you understand the concept of the free-market you also understand that these
free-market forces are decentralized just like political power in a democracy
is decentralized.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US">However, some folks may argue that Capitalism goes against democratic
ideals of quality of life since it produces commodities that are harmful, like
guns. Guns are a tool for causing violence and are against the principles of
Human Rights because they are used for coercive purposes. I would respond that,
although democratic ideals are against violence it does not change the fact
that the world is a dangerous place where many people do not accept these
principles. Guns improve the quality of life of their owners by enabling them
to protect themselves, their families and their property from people who mean
them harm.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US">Other critics may point out that Capitalism often uses <b>exploitation</b> to increase profits and
growth. Exploitative techniques such as <b>cheap
labor</b> are harmful to individuals because it is <b>oppressive</b> and creates profit at the individual’s expense. How can
something which promotes exploitation be compatible with democracy? I respond
that, even though capitalism may be exploitative, reckless and at times blind
to human suffering, it creates choice. Through this choice it creates
opportunity and growth in the long term. For example, a subsistence farmer in
sub-Saharan Africa is given the choice to go work in a sweatshop. The working
conditions in the sweatshop are terrible for her (judging from our comfortable
Western standards). But are they really much worse than her conditions as a
subsistence farmer where she experienced uncertainty, droughts and starvation?
This textile factory, mechanistic and exploitative as it is, offers a <b>choice</b>. A choice that can lead to something more, a
choice that can lead to growth. She may still be starving while working long
hours under terrible conditions, but at least her children are near an urban
center where they may get some sort of education. Although she may never escape
the miserable conditions within her lifetime, at least her children will have
more choices than she had, and thus a better chance of escaping poverty than
she did. And if you recall, choice and free will are the central tenets of
democracy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US">With this brief conceptual break-down we can see that Capitalism and
Democracy share many of the same fundamental ideas. Democracy deals with the
exchange of ideas and opinions, whereas Capitalism is concerned with the
exchange of commodities. Both are based on a system of decentralization and
individual liberty. This is strong evidence in support of my statement that:
Yes, Capitalism is compatible with Democracy. I would even venture further to
say that, like two soul mates, Capitalism and Democracy were made for each
other. In fact, if we look back in history we can see that they were both thrust
onto humanity at the same time. I believe that more conceptual, social, and
economic research would confirm my statement. It makes me think that some of my
fellow citizens exercising their democratic right to protest against Capitalism
(of all things!), really do not understand Capitalism at all! In fact, if it
were not for Capitalism, they probably would not be allowed to protest in the
first place! Although I agree that the present economic system could use some substantive
improvements, I whole-heartedly disagree that Capitalism is the problem! <o:p></o:p></span></div>j_leblinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11550935076322439610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1882963582175405800.post-20425605535571701862012-08-11T08:04:00.002-07:002012-08-12T21:42:23.060-07:00The World is a Stage<script type="text/javascript">
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Put on a mask, be charismatic, and manipulate your image to reflect the population's desires. If done properly, gain power and influence to attain a wider field of control over outside circumstances. Shape the world to your own mental image.<br />
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Such is the game that a politician plays!j_leblinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11550935076322439610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1882963582175405800.post-6820948350428350972012-08-09T20:01:00.001-07:002012-08-12T21:42:40.081-07:00Getting people to do what you want.<script type="text/javascript">
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Throughout our lives, we navigate a confusing maze of social interactions to achieve our goals. Dealing with other people is an inevitable part of every day life. After all, humans are highly sociable creatures, and all of our accomplishments as a species are the result of exchanges of ideas occurring as a result of the process of socialization.<div>
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This is my point: to achieve anything you want to accomplish in life, you will have to deal with other people. So it makes logical sense to try to figure out how other people function, what the motivations behind their actions are and what their behavior signifies. This is the study of Psychology!</div>
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Unavoidably, we will all be faced a situation where we want somebody to do something that benefits us. But a problem that I see with a lot of people is that they fail to put themselves in their target's shoes. They try to force, or coerce their target into doing something, without giving thought to the other person's motivations or desires.</div>
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In my opinion, it takes a lot of energy to coerce somebody to do something against their will. It's analogous to trying to bang in a screw with a hammer. It's doable, but you'd be fucking retarded if you were to try building an entire house that way. You can usually see personal level coercion when people yell, use threats and hurl insults. Your typical inept mother howling at her children in the Shoppers Drug Mart is what comes to mind. Or perhaps the United States posing sanctions on Iran? We've all been guilty of this primitive form of social control at some point in our lives. Any intelligent person should seek to minimize instances where it is used. </div>
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A better way, I think, is to put your precious energy into getting the person to actually want to do what you want them to do. Your target is an individual, just like you, and will not do anything unless it benefits him/her in some way, just like you. Find a way to make what you want your target to do mutually beneficial. Both parties must derive some clear benefit, but this does not mean that you cannot benefit more than your target. Avoid the winner/loser bifurcation. Avoid making your target act in ways that are detrimental to his/herself (unless of course you are at war, in which case a whole different set of rules applies).</div>
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To summarize: make the people around you benefit from your presence, and they will actually want to help you achieve what you want to achieve. It's simple to do in theory, but very hard to do in practice! Next time you find yourself stuck dealing with an asshole/jerk/bitch/cunt, try a different approach than simple-minded coercion. Use a little finesse!</div>j_leblinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11550935076322439610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1882963582175405800.post-27110644686744346282012-08-08T20:45:00.001-07:002012-08-12T21:42:52.996-07:00Chasing money vs. Creating value
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This is such a cliche topic, but I don't care, I want to write about it anyways. It seems these days that a lot of people do not differentiate between value and money, and this leads to problems.<br />
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A young person my age should focus on creating value, that is, something that is useful to other people. This thing of value that is being created should be something that is more valuable to the person buying it than to the person selling it. So for example, as a young strapping lad, doing physical labor is something that is easy and rewarding for me. As long as my belly is full, and I am hydrated, I can go for hours and it is a great stress relieving workout. But to an older person, digging a hole is tantamount to digging their own grave!<br />
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Other people can create value through other avenues. One person might be a really good artist, another person might be a great teacher, whatever. <b>The most important thing is to create things, whether tangible or intangible, that benefit the lives of other people</b>. If you can figure out what exactly you can do to improve other peoples' lives, the money will chase you instead of the other way around.<br />
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This is because money is simply a measure of value on an imperfect "ruler" or "scale". By chasing money you are essentially grasping at the ethereal and abstract versus the worldly and concrete. In chasing money, your thoughts and energy are focused on the measurement of value instead of value itself, which is something that I believe is not very fruitful in the long run.<br />
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So to summarize: Focus on creating something that will improve the lives of other people. Whether this is through making artwork, providing entertainment through athletic ability, mathematical acuity, interpersonal skills, or anything really, as long as it improves people's lives, and as long as you can do it consistently, you will not have an issue with money. That is because money follows value. By focusing on creating value, you create a sort of gravity field that will pull money towards you....<br />
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I am still a young buck, and I have not accumulated enough wealth so that I can let it speak for itself yet. But hopefully in a couple of years I will be able to read this post and say to myself "you were right!"j_leblinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11550935076322439610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1882963582175405800.post-62693389280499843452012-08-07T21:18:00.000-07:002012-08-12T21:46:33.249-07:00Exploring the Concept of Privacy<script type="text/javascript">
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">With the hubbub in the media about
the issue of privacy these days, many may wonder why exactly it is such a big
deal. The following section will examine the social and historical determinants
of the concept so that the reader may understand why privacy is so important
and how it relates to the modern issue of electronic health records and mobile
health.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent:0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<i><span lang="EN-US">“Instantaneous photographs and
newspaper enterprise have invaded the scared precincts of private and domestic
life; and numerous mechanical devices threaten to make good the prediction that
‘what is whispered in the closet shall be proclaimed from the roof-tops’. For
years there has been a feeling that the law must afford some remedy for the
unauthorized circulation of portraits of private persons” </span></i><w:sdt citation="t" id="1924998936"> (Warren & Brandeis, 1890)</w:sdt>.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
The author of
this excerpt is not talking about social media when he mentions the
“unauthorized circulation of portraits of private persons” because he wrote
this in 1869 before computers and the internet existed. The mechanical devices
which he refers to were some of the first commercially available cameras being
used by journalistic reporters at the time. As such, we see that the issue of
technology and privacy is not something that is new to our society. While it is
true that the information landscape has changed a great deal since the late 19<sup>th</sup>
century, many of the issues remain fundamentally the same today in the 21<sup>st</sup>
century.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
From a
psychological perspective privacy is seen as a form of social control which
enhances the autonomy of the individual<w:sdt citation="t" id="329726195"><span lang="EN-US"> (Margulis, 2003)</span></w:sdt>. It allows the
individual to differentiate between what is the ‘self’, what is outside the
‘self’ – family, society, environment, etc. – and the relationship between the
two. In this way, privacy is seen as an essential feature of the human
experience in achieving healthy psychological functioning <w:sdt citation="t" id="-1652445168"><span lang="EN-US">(Margulis, 2003)</span></w:sdt>. In studies of
psychiatric settings, some of the consequences of a lack of privacy included:
stress, diminishment of voluntary control, dehumanization and the inability to
reintegrate and operate normally in society<w:sdt citation="t" id="1239440250"><span lang="EN-US"> (Goffman, 1961)</span></w:sdt><w:sdt citation="t" id="2061979085"><span lang="EN-US"> (Johnson, 1974)</span></w:sdt><w:sdt citation="t" id="658421382"><span lang="EN-US"> (Margulis, 2003)</span></w:sdt>.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
From a societal
perspective, privacy is important for three main reasons <w:sdt citation="t" id="-1259204767"><span lang="EN-US">(Margulis, 2003)</span></w:sdt>: (i) there is a
common interest among members of society to maintain privacy; (ii) privacy is
essential to the proper functioning of democracy; and (iii) privacy is seen as
a commodity because “technological and market forces make it increasingly
difficult for any one person to have privacy unless everyone has a similar
level of privacy” <w:sdt citation="t" id="-1824570965"><span lang="EN-US">(Regan, 1995)</span></w:sdt>. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwOqLXRUfI3U_0HEsIBkerbjP8KdMxEJeewqetXhj1ysz9dYM371fytrDcaYua-JR8dBjvw0Mq1t0n1RN7tBXkJrOjSKjKD2D_Pz8tiYKc3S67oNpYZ81o_z4ZwWrAZsIltz8SemG7pPYt/s1600/3d_padlock.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwOqLXRUfI3U_0HEsIBkerbjP8KdMxEJeewqetXhj1ysz9dYM371fytrDcaYua-JR8dBjvw0Mq1t0n1RN7tBXkJrOjSKjKD2D_Pz8tiYKc3S67oNpYZ81o_z4ZwWrAZsIltz8SemG7pPYt/s320/3d_padlock.jpg" width="320" /></a><span lang="EN-US">From a legal perspective, the concept
of privacy is understood as being a product of the individualistic Western
ideal<w:sdt citation="t" id="-817414618"> ( Nagenborg, 2006)</w:sdt>
known as the “right-to-life”<w:sdt citation="t" id="1155803363"> (Warren & Brandeis, 1890)</w:sdt>.
The “right-to-life” consists of three fundamental components <w:sdt citation="t" id="1870416922">(Warren & Brandeis,
1890)</w:sdt>: (i) the
individual’s right to be free from violence and other forms of bodily injury;
(ii) the recognition of the individual as an active agent capable of making
choices free from unwanted restraint – also known as freedom and liberty; and
(iii) the individual’s right to own property – also known as the right to
private property<w:sdt citation="t" id="-1983458417"> (Warren & Brandeis, 1890)</w:sdt>
<w:sdt citation="t" id="-1114823359">(Greaves, 1975)</w:sdt>.
The right to private property is the “dominion which one individual claims and
exercises over the external things of the world, in exclusion of every other
individual”<w:sdt citation="t" id="-799765356"> (Greaves, 1975)</w:sdt>.
Property that is worth owning is usually something valuable that improves the
owner’s quality of life in some way. The right to own property set the
foundation for the development of the more abstract Right to intellectual
property and Right to privacy<w:sdt citation="t" id="1134301773"> (Warren & Brandeis, 1890)</w:sdt>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">The right to privacy is closely
related to the right to intellectual property in that they both protect
intangible products belonging to an individual <w:sdt citation="t" id="-983930203">(Warren & Brandeis,
1890)</w:sdt>. Intangible
property is different from tangible property in the sense that it does not have
a physical presence and cannot be touched or grabbed in the same way a concrete
object like a chair or baseball can be touched. But just because something does
not have a concrete presence does not mean that it does not have value and
cannot improve the quality of life of its owner. Intangible property are ideas
and abstractions that are usually expressed by mean of words, painting, music
and other forms of artistic production <w:sdt citation="t" id="732825865">(Warren & Brandeis,
1890)</w:sdt>. The Right to
Intellectual property grew out of the individual’s right to earn profits from
the publication and dissemination of the ideas found in their literary and
artistic productions <w:sdt citation="t" id="-1761593473">(Warren & Brandeis,
1890)</w:sdt>. Its
legislation served as a protection and encouragement of the conscious
production of labor<w:sdt citation="t" id="71857635"> (Warren & Brandeis, 1890)</w:sdt>.
The Right to intellectual property set the legislative foundation for the Right
to privacy <w:sdt citation="t" id="112727683">(Warren & Brandeis, 1890)</w:sdt>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">The right to privacy is different
from the right to intellectual property in the sense that not only does it
recognize the individual’s right to immaterial property – through the
expression of ideas and information – it also recognizes the individual’s right
to decide freely, without authoritarian interference, which of these intangible
materials can be appropriately expressed in public and which ones cannot. In
other words, The Right to Privacy is the individual’s freedom to choose what
information about themselves they wish to divulge to others and which
information about themselves they do not<w:sdt citation="t" id="-1275021719"> (Margulis, 2003)</w:sdt>.
For example, the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1882963582175405800#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" title=""><sup><sup><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></sup></sup></a>
protects individuals from unwanted police searches without the presence of a
probable cause – an individual’s privacy may not be invaded unless a good
enough reason has been determined through the issuance of a search warrant by a
judge<w:sdt citation="t" id="-1527787359"> (McWhirter, 1994)</w:sdt><w:sdt citation="t" id="-534735411"> (Margulis, 2003)</w:sdt>.
This protects individuals from institutions which may not always have the
citizen’s’ best interest in mind. It solidifies the concept of the individual
as an independent entity capable of making decisions with his/her own best
interests in mind free from the coercion of an outside authority.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">The importance of individual privacy
to psychology and society is recognized in the legal framework of Western
Democratic nations today<w:sdt citation="t" id="-2042897067"> (Margulis, 2003)</w:sdt>.
But due to the rapidly evolving modern technological landscape, the law is
often several steps behind in ensuring that the individual’s right to privacy
is well protected <w:sdt citation="t" id="2130512629">(Barrows & Clayton,
1996)</w:sdt><w:sdt citation="t" id="-188916596"> (Tene, 2008)</w:sdt>.
Furthermore, the definition of privacy and what type of information should or
should not be disclosed, is constantly undergoing change according to evolving
societal norms and it also varies greatly from individual to individual <w:sdt citation="t" id="-1804071257">(Barrows
& Clayton, 1996)</w:sdt>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">The emergence of inexpensive
information storage technologies have allowed for the creation of vast
databases containing an enormous amount of information about individuals <w:sdt citation="t" id="8256432">(Tene, 2008)</w:sdt>.With
this, has come the development of a swath of confidentiality and informed
consent issues that remain unaddressed by our current legal framework <w:sdt citation="t" id="-552073469">(Tene, 2008)</w:sdt>.
For example, Google, the internet search behemoth, collects information on all
of its users’ internet activities – whether this is through its search engine,
e-mail service or any of the many internet tools that it offers “free” of
charge – and compiles the information in databases on its servers <w:sdt citation="t" id="1751151110">(Tene, 2008)</w:sdt>.
With data mining techniques, Google claims it is able to enhance the internet
experience of its users by creating personalized and targeted advertisement<w:sdt citation="t" id="935328528"> (Barrows & Clayton, 1996)</w:sdt><w:sdt citation="t" id="1680700462"> (Tene, 2008)</w:sdt>.
However, due to a lack of clear protective legislation of personal information
in Canada and the U.S., “third parties such as financial institutions,
insurance companies, online service providers, and government agencies, [may
have access] to databases with massive amounts of personally identifiable
information, including in certain cases information not known to the
individuals themselves” <w:sdt citation="t" id="-1091763584"> (Tene, 2008)</w:sdt>.
Great psychological and financial harm can come to individuals if their
personal information falls into the hands of the wrong people, especially
information relating to personal health <w:sdt citation="t" id="-1215344460">(Barrows & Clayton,
1996)</w:sdt>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">This is known as the problem of user
informed consent and confidentiality. Informed consent dictates that the user
of the service<w:sdt citation="t" id="1232744964"> (Barrows & Clayton, 1996)</w:sdt>:
(i) must be made aware of what information is being disclosed and the
significance of this information; (ii) must be made aware to whom this
information will be disclosed to; (iii) is capable of making lucid decisions;
(iv) willingly gives consent without coercion. In the case of Google, or
Facebook, these criteria are not met, since it is not clear what and to whom
this information is being disclosed to <w:sdt citation="t" id="-1495024457">(Barrows & Clayton,
1996)</w:sdt>. Furthermore,
in a sense users are being coerced because the only way to refuse consent is to
forgo using the service. Confidentiality
is the notion that a user’s personal information should only be used for the
purposes of the service being provided and should never be disclosed to a third
party without the user’s explicit consent <w:sdt citation="t" id="-959876761">(Harwood, 2006)</w:sdt>.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US"><b>References:</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoBibliography" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">Nagenborg,
M. (2006). The Dichotomy of the Private and the Public. <i>Privacy and
Surveillance Technology - Intercultural and Interdisciplinary Perspectives</i>
(pp. 1-10). Bielefeld: Centre for Interdisciplinary Research.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoBibliography" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">Barrows, R. C.,
& Clayton, P. D. (1996). Privacy, Confidentiality, and Electronic Medical
Records. <i>Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association</i>,
139-148.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoBibliography" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">Goffman, E. (1961).
<i>Asylums.</i> Garden City, NY: Anchor.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoBibliography" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">Greaves, B. B.
(1975). <i>Free Market Economics: A Reader.</i> New York City: Irvington on
Hudson.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoBibliography" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">Harwood, I. A.
(2006). Confidentiality Constraints within Mergers and Acquisitions: Gaining
Insights through a ‘bubble’ Metaphor. <i>British Journal of Management</i>,
347-359.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoBibliography" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">Johnson, C. A.
(1974). Privacy as personal control. In D. H. Carson, & S. T. Marguilis, <i>Man-environment
interactions: Evaluations and applications: Part 2, Vol 6. Privacy</i> (pp.
88-100). Washington, DC: Environmental Design Research Association.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoBibliography" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">Margulis, S. T.
(2003). Privacy as a Social Issue and Behavioural Concept. <i>Journal of Social
Issues</i>, 243-261.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoBibliography" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">McWhirter, D. A.
(1994). <i>Search, Seizure, and Privacy.</i> Pheonix: Oryx Press.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoBibliography" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">Regan, P. M.
(1995). <i>Legislating Privacy: Technology, social values, and public policy.</i>
Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoBibliography" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">Tene, O. (2008).
What Google Knows: Privacy and Internet Search Engines. <i>Selected Works of
Omer Tene (in press)</i>, 1-61.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoBibliography" style="margin-left: 36.0pt; text-indent: -36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">Warren, S. D.,
& Brandeis, L. D. (1890, Dec 15). The Right to Privacy. <i>Harvard Law
Review, 4</i>(5), 193-220.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div>
<br clear="all" />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<div id="ftn1">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1882963582175405800#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></span></span></a> <span lang="EN-US">The American Constitution, ratified
in 1787, had an enormous influence in shaping the legislation of Democratic
countries around the world, including Canada.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
</div>j_leblinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11550935076322439610noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1882963582175405800.post-17993247102806743822012-08-06T19:56:00.000-07:002012-08-12T21:43:24.995-07:00Youth Unemployment<script type="text/javascript">
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Comment on the post <a href="http://esoltas.blogspot.ca/2012/08/19-and-my-generation.html#comment-form">"19, and My Generation"</a>
<p>I am 21, turning 22 in two days.</p>
<p>I am wondering... I have just graduated with a B.Sc. in Psychology (lol) and I am working a manual labor cash job while I apply to medical school.</p>
<p>The employers that I've worked for this summer tell me that they cannot find enough guys who can actually work. It seems nobody wants to put their back into their labour.</p>
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<p>So far I have not had any problem finding work. One day in June I got into an argument with my boss and quit, only to find a new job that very morning. Right now I am using this apparent scarcity of good workers in the market to my advantage. This week I will be asking my current boss to raise my hourly wage to $18/hr from $15/hr or else I will find somebody else who pays better.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, I have a bunch of buddies who smoke weed all day and play Call of Duty all night, complaining that they cannot find a decent job. Also, there seems to be some sort of a negative stigma surrounding manual labor jobs, almost as if it is below status work. I don't care though because money is money, my body is robust, and obviously I will not be doing it for the rest of my life.</p>
<p>So, my question to you Evan is: Is there some sort of a labor demand mismatch that is responsible for this high youth unemployment? Is my intuition, that a lot of guys my age are just too lazy to "man-up" and gain a few calluses on their hands, correct? </p>
<p>I suspect something funny is going on when I see reports such as this on one hand, and the deficit of workers on the construction yard on the other.</p>
<p>What's your take? What does the data say?</p>
<p>Great blog by the way!</p>j_leblinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11550935076322439610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1882963582175405800.post-89972314768231405102012-08-05T16:37:00.001-07:002012-08-12T21:43:39.217-07:00Empathy, Sympathy and Psychopathy<script type="text/javascript">
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<p>During discussions I find that a lot of people seem to get the words “sympathy” and “empathy” mixed up, or use them interchangeably as if they mean the same thing. For today’s blog topic I will explain the important differences between Sympathy and Empathy. </p>
<p>Empathy is the ability of an individual to take on the perspective of another person. It allows one individual to imagine how another individual is feeling, acting and thinking. I hypothesize that empathy is an emergent property of the neural mechanisms described by motor neuron theory.</p>
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<p>Our capacity to be empathetic is due to the fact that all humans are physiologically and neurologically similar to one another. This is because all humans arose from common ancestors whose bodies and minds evolved under the same selective pressures and dealt with the same types of experiences. These experiences shaped our neural machinery over several generations so that now, the structure of our brains is fundamentally the same among members of our species. Of course, due to our inherent uniqueness, the structure of one individual’s neural machinery is never identical to another’s, but it is similar enough so that most individuals’ experiences are concordant.</p>
<p>For example, my perception of the color red might be very different from yours, but we can both agree that a particular stop sign is red. The idea that I can put myself in your shoes and imagine what you are experiencing is empathy. The fact that my brain and nervous system are structured fundamentally the same way as yours, allows for this possibility.</p>
<p>I can empathize, and thus understand and appreciate, a broad range of the emotions and experiences that you are feeling, whether it is happiness, sadness, anger, excitement, suffering, etc. I can even "empathize" with your thoughts through different forms of communication. For example, when I am reading an essay, I am essentially empathizing with the author’s thoughts and ideas regarding a particular argument or topic. By reading the essay, I am recreating my own version of the neural activity that was originally developed in the author’s mind. Therefore, empathy is the recreation of neural activity which can correspond to a broad range of human experiences, whether they are emotional, intellectual, or physical, from one individual’s mind to another.</p>
<p>Sympathy, on the other hand, is fundamentally different. It is an emotion which elicits a nurturing response from somebody who is witnessing somebody else’s suffering. Suffering is a necessary prerequisite for sympathy. I can only feel sympathy for you if you are suffering. As I witness you in pain, “suffering patterns” in my brain are activated which then causes me to feel what you are feeling and encourages me to nurture and care for you to alleviate this distress that we now both feel. </p>
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<p>If I am walking downtown and I see a bum, I empathize with the bum’s suffering and may feel a need to help him by giving him some extra change (or some extra crack). In essence, upon seeing him I may, consciously or unconsciously, imagine myself in his shoes (or grocery-bag-tied-with-elastic-bands-footwear) and suffer vicariously through him. This suffering which I feel then elicits a nurturing response from me called sympathy. Thus, we can reason that empathy is a prerequisite for sympathy. We cannot experience sympathy without experiencing empathy. But is the reverse true? Is sympathy required to experience empathy? The following example will help illustrate.
Say you’ve made me so upset (i.e. by insulting my mother) that I punch you in the face. Having been punched in the face several times in the past, I can empathize with what you are currently experiencing. I know that your face is going to be sore for a couple of days and that you will suffer. However, since it is something that I felt you deserved, I will not feel any sympathy for you. After all, you were insulting my mother, and NOBODY is allowed to insult my mother! Therefore, I reason that sympathy is not required for empathy.</p>
<p>This brings me to the topic of psychopaths. If you did not discern between empathy and sympathy before reading this article, you should not feel stupid! It is a distinction that has been overlooked by mainstream academic psychologists with PhDs! For example, the DSM-IV, which is essentially an encyclopedia of disorders that mental health professionals use to diagnose patients, defines a psychopath as such:
“Psychopaths possess a general lack of empathy. It includes deficiencies in comprehension and appreciation of others’ experiences and motivations, lack of tolerance of differing perspectives and diminished understanding of the effects of own behavior on others. At an extreme they are simply unable to understand the emotional states of other people, except in a purely detached, intellectual sense. Other people are thus little more than objects for their personal gratification. They are not disturbed by the suffering of others, nor do they take pleasure in making others happy. This callousness extends to everybody, family or strangers alike. They neglect other people's needs and desires and can casually inflict cruelty.” [Emphasis added]</p>
<p>Having just clearly differentiated between empathy and sympathy, it is difficult for me to accept this definition as being true. I argue that some psychopaths have an excellent ability to empathize. I would argue further that the ability to empathize has nothing to do with being a psychopath; rather it is the lack of sympathy which is the defining feature.</p>
<p>A good psychopath has a very intimate understanding of how his (or her) victim’s mind functions. By understanding the goals, motivations, desires, emotional and cognitive patterns, and everything else that makes a person tic, the psychopath gains great leverage for manipulating his victim’s emotions, thoughts and behaviour. Without this intimate understanding, there is no leverage and the psychopath is powerless. Thus, the psychopath is an expert at a “complex form of psychological inference in which observation, memory, knowledge, and reasoning are combined to yield insights into the thoughts and feelings of others." [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19283568] The psychopath is essentially an expert empathizer.</p>
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<p>The successful psychopath is able to manipulate people with ease, and this is something that requires a lot of emotional and social intelligence which can only be achieved through high levels of empathy. What psychopaths are lacking, which can be troubling to other members of society, is sympathy, pity, remorse, or any other “nurture-inducing” emotions, which is probably why men are more prone to being labelled psychopathic than women. This is because women are naturally inclined to be nurturing due to their biological role as mothers.</p>
<p>I am sure most of you know this already, but contrary to popular belief, psychopaths are not crazy people who go around killing others for fun. Psychopaths are simply people like you and I who want to achieve their goals in the easiest way possible. Some of them just happen to have an intimate understanding of the way emotions function in humans and view psychological manipulation as a valid tool to achieve their goals. They may appear to be “unable to understand the emotional states of other people, except in a purely detached and intellectual sense”, as the psychologists put it, but how else is it possible to understand something fully without being detached and viewing it intellectually? The good psychopath places himself above the storm of his emotions to view things objectively and to make decisions in a calculated and rational way. </p>
<p>To sum it up, empathy is the ability to share an experience with another person. Sympathy is the feeling of distress upon witnessing another person’s suffering and the nurturing reaction that it elicits. I hope this cleared things up.</p>j_leblinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11550935076322439610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1882963582175405800.post-17524442399629528342012-08-01T20:45:00.001-07:002012-08-12T21:43:55.328-07:00Graduating Undergraduate<script type="text/javascript">
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<p> I am almost done my classes. </p>
<p> That means I can devote some time to spewing out some of the ideas from my head, onto this keyboard, through the copper wires and fiber optic cables of the internet on to your computer screen, straight through your iris and into your mind. Unless of course you are blind. In that case fuck you. </p>
<p> So whoever is reading this (that is if anybody actually reads this blog), get ready for a veritable onslaught of critical information to keep your curious mind satiated with delectable topics ranging from: micro¯o economics, human psychology, philosophical liberalism (my narcissistic perversion of it anyway), critical reasoning, scientific understanding and my (keen) observations on life in general. </p>
<p> Basically this blog will be an online diary for the public to explore the methodically insane thought processes going on my mind. </p>j_leblinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11550935076322439610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1882963582175405800.post-77313045738973589922011-06-15T21:41:00.000-07:002012-08-12T21:44:12.370-07:00Deleting facebook<script type="text/javascript">
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I am still young but I am starting to appreciate the value of time more and more every day. The time I put into facebook does not produce anything tangible. I get no value out of it. I can find different means to contact and interact with people i actually want to see. I don't care about other people's lives and the pictures they take. I don't care about what other people look like, what other people are doing. I just care about me, (and a select few people). Browsing through pictures and videos just feels wrong. It makes me feel like a stalker. Stalkers are lame.<br /><br />T.V., internet video surfing, playing video games are all just a waste of time. I don't want to be a mindless drone who does what he is told. I'm not impressed by flashy shit. The stuff worth having in life are not just dropped onto your lap. Anything worth having must be wrestled with and taken. Life can be a tough mother fucker. I live a more comfortable and secure life then 99% of the people on this earth. So i most definitely should be taking risks. I want to explore and learn, create and conquer.<br /><br />So, instead of Facebook and Twitter, and T.V, internet surfing and video games in my free time, I will:<br /><br />Read books to gain different and valuable perspectives.<br />Continue writing my blog to improve my English writing skillz.<br />Pick up a hobby that will help me earn money down the road (programming, new language, martial art...? More brainstorming on this later).<br />Look for different kind of work I could do. Gain skills and experience so I can be a kick ass entrepreneur. I don't want to worry about money. I want to be able to live freely, without somebody telling me what to do, telling me what hours to work, telling me where to go, telling me how to act.j_leblinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11550935076322439610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1882963582175405800.post-19561621953183701302011-06-12T20:55:00.001-07:002012-08-12T21:44:29.221-07:00emotions<script type="text/javascript">
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<p>Emotions must have played an important role in our evolutionary past. Emotions guide our most primal behaviors. I hypothesize that animals whose cerebral cortex are less developed, live a more emotional life.
<br>I believe our emotions were very useful in the more primitive environments in which we evolved: the hunter gatherer society. </br>
<br>Emotions range from fear which prepares an organism for fight or flight.<p>
<li> Hunger is for signaling lack of nutrients.</br>
<li>Horniness signals the need to find a mate and to reproduce.</li>
<li>Sadness could signal to members of the tribe, some sort of distress. The sadness attracts the attention of caring family members who give the sad person attention, which makes them feel better.</li>
<li>Happiness signals a good situation (i.e. enough food, water, mate selection) and denotes high social value.</li>
</p>
<p>Many people let their emotions govern their behavior. I think to thrive in today's society it is better to be in control of your emotions as much as possible. To be cool as a cucumber, calculating, precise. Our emotions were designed for simpler times. Its our job to use our intellect to shape our emotions to help us get ahead.</p>
<p>In my case, I would like to show loving compassion to my family and close friends as much as possible. Everybody else is one among many, anonymous. Treat these people in a way that benefits you the most. Be polite with everybody but do not tolerate their bullshit. Remember that people are a commodity in great surplus. If they give you trouble there are literally millions of people out there who can replace them...</p>j_leblinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11550935076322439610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1882963582175405800.post-84894802970652577522011-06-03T22:01:00.000-07:002012-08-12T21:44:42.784-07:00success<script type="text/javascript">
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How do you measure success?<br /><br />I want to be successful. I have ambitions to become a doctor, to drive and Audi, to live in an expensive condo downtown, to wear expensive watches, to own a cottage with fast boats so my kids can water ski and go tubing....<br /><br />Why though? Are all these things important? My main argument is that I want my offspring to have the upper hand for survival. The planet is becoming a crowded place with limited resources. When push comes to shove it is better be in a position of power rather than being subjugated to the will of others. I think money is a direct means to power. Large corporations lobby politicians with money. Powerful parents open doors for their children to become powerful people. Powerful people survive and thrive. Powerful people shape history.<br /><br />I think it would be nice to be in a position of power... Would I be happier than I am right now? Pshh probably not. Would if be beneficial to my offspring in ensuring the survival of my genes? Definitely. That is why I am willing to put in work to obtain power.j_leblinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11550935076322439610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1882963582175405800.post-66868464967186176932011-03-01T15:00:00.001-08:002012-08-12T21:45:19.932-07:00Reminder to self<script type="text/javascript">
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Don't sign a contract without being one hundred percent sure. Especially when the money comes from your side.<br /><br />They should teach that shit in school lolj_leblinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11550935076322439610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1882963582175405800.post-86067832095989962172011-02-22T00:21:00.000-08:002012-08-12T21:45:04.705-07:00Paranoia<script type="text/javascript">
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Everybody is against me. People are out to get me. People want to build me up and tear me down.<br /><br />In response:<br /><br />It's me against everybody. I'm out to get people. I'll build myself up and stomp you roaches on the ground.j_leblinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11550935076322439610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1882963582175405800.post-31305270149070835202011-02-21T23:59:00.000-08:002012-08-12T21:45:35.484-07:00Insecurities<script type="text/javascript">
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It's so easy to get carried away by insecurities and to let shit bring you down. It's like riding an angry bull.<br /><br />I just want to grab that bull by the horns and run its ugly little face into the dirt. Make it my bitch. Make it work for me.<br /><br />That way I drop the burden of giving a fuck. I can live my life exactly the way I want it. Not worrying about what I think others think.<br /><br />There is one person in charge of me. And that is me: rational and focused. <br /><br />Insecurity, please get the fuck out of my face.j_leblinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11550935076322439610noreply@blogger.com0