Fucking preoccupation

Why is practically everybody on this planet preoccupied with technology, money, and making themselves more comfortable? That's why people spend all day, every day, slaving away at work, preoccupying themselves with meaningless tasks, earning money, taking out a mortgage, blag blah blah. Can't we all just fucking drop this shit, forget about money and all that shit, and try and figure out things that matter? Why are we here? How did we get here? We did we come from? Is there more to our reality that we're yet to experience?? I reckon that people get so preoccupied with trivial stuff because deep down we KNOW that we should be exploring our universe, exploring our minds, exploring eachother, but we're not, and we feel empty without it, so we occupy our time with shit like money, TV, computer games, pubs, relationships, sports, religion, technology, wars, politics, blah blah blah... Please!!! Throw away your TV, quit your job, and start fucking doing something!!! :)

PS im as stoned as a bat... uhhh... a stoned bat

Peace and Love dudes

o.k. ghostoker, thow away your computer while your at it. LOL. j/k peace!

What's trivial to you might be really important to others. For example, I'm into cars. I want a fast, nice car, and I'll sacrifice having a big house so I can have a nicer car. Others will do just the opposite. Sadly, I need money to get a cool car, and the only way to get money is to work, unless you already have a shitload of cash and can live off the interest...

If it makes you happy to contemplate the meaning of existence, then by all means think away, but most people don't like to think too hard, they just enjoy their daily routine, with an occasional holiday thrown in for good measure.

I say do whatever makes you (not you, personally, but just generally) happy, but don't force your ideals of a good life on anyone else, because it'll just make everyone unhappy in the end.

hey, yeah, I know, I was pretty stoned. I wasnt trying to be aggressive or anything (hence the smiley face at the end of the rant), even though it may seem that way.

"...making themselves more comfortable."? (the motivation you quoted for pursuing said money, technology, etc.)


It's an assumption, but a sound one; and further I think its application extends beyond those particular pursuits. Lets say that everyone who pursues any of these things is pursuing comfort. Why? Because there is a perceived need, a need we think will be satiated by the attainment of something (perceived being the operative word, considering maslows hierarchy, and the different stds of living throughout the world, need is defined by individual perception).

I would then ask you to consider some of the (admittedly) "more noble" (my quotes) pursuits that you mentioned such as introspection, and contemplation of reality (I might also include service to our world and lives w/which it is shared). Each of these, and any other behavior we engage in could have motivations rooted in pursuit of comfort (or pleasure for oneself).

Ok, you might say, what about when a mother sacrifices for her child, or a "random act of kindness" for a complete stranger, or even the deliberate sacrifice of one's life for a greater cause? Surely these are not in the pursuit of comfort? As long as we keep our operational def of comfort consistent, the motivation is still the same, although the mechanisms may be less obvious. It satisfies the mothers need to satisfy the childs need, it satisfies some level of desire of the conscience for the altruist, and even the ultimate sacrifice of self(!) creates comfort, by allowing the individual to satisfy his desire to serve whatever higher cause the individual NEEDED to die for, a percieved need. With that opportunity denied, the would be hero denies fulfillment, and ultimately his own comfort.

Granted the last two examples are stretches, but if you can accept that needs/comfort for the individual are flexible and relative concepts, maybe us comfort seekers have more in common with even the most actualized of you!

(I know I can admit that, for example, I have burned nugs just as often for comfort as for more intellectual pursuits! Maybe others around here can relate...)

(I do ulmitately agree w/your critique of the increasingly material direction of our values, I just hate to judge the why of it!)

[QUOTE=GHoSToKeR]Why is practically everybody on this planet preoccupied with technology, money, and making themselves more comfortable? simple answer we have been pre programed from birth to want

It'll all make sense when you have a child, Ghostoker, so go ahead, knock somebody up. :p







Haha, kidding...kidding...I have 3 children and nothing makes sense, but, you can still inpregnate someone, if you'd like. :)

lol!

greed, it all boils down o the root of human nature,to be the best to have the most sex,to be the bigest to be the badest.think about it everything you do in your everyday life relates to either being better than someone or haveing sex with someone.ive thought alot about these things myself and have barely touhed the tip of the iceberg but what i have realized is that greed and sex the need to procreate,women go for the richest men,or the bigest men why? because their primordial instincts tell then that the most wealthy or the strongest will be able to provide for children makeing the populus grow thus she has suceded in procreation. although now that we have developed there are some exeptions but i do not know what they are.maybe when im older,or maybe just smarter,ill know but i dout it.as for why we exist i dont know i spend to much time on that or so im toldbut as i sit here typeing i realize that all my efforts are futile,i will never know,no one will untill we die IF there is existance after lifewe may find out but whos to say the afterlife isnt the same as life? just because you have dided dose not mean you have forgoten who you are,how you act or how you feel towards others.a raceist will be a raceist wether he is alive or wether he is dead as long as he has thought he will thinkhe is better than others because that is his nature....ghost what have i told you about makeing me think...its really something im not used to ;) and now ill be stuck on this for days oh sorry for any run on secntances and misspelled words and such i get distracted when i think to hard(haha me think hard i know it IS hard to Believe)and forget to do things like puntuate and spell properly =P

Accidently glue hair on a donkeys ass

lol

Quote:

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Originally Posted by GHoSToKeR

Why is practically everybody on this planet preoccupied with technology, money, and making themselves more comfortable? That's why people spend all day, every day, slaving away at work, preoccupying themselves with meaningless tasks, earning money, taking out a mortgage, blag blah blah. Can't we all just fucking drop this shit, forget about money and all that shit, and try and figure out things that matter? Why are we here? How did we get here? We did we come from? Is there more to our reality that we're yet to experience?? I reckon that people get so preoccupied with trivial stuff because deep down we KNOW that we should be exploring our universe, exploring our minds, exploring eachother, but we're not, and we feel empty without it, so we occupy our time with shit like money, TV, computer games, pubs, relationships, sports, religion, technology, wars, politics, blah blah blah... Please!!! Throw away your TV, quit your job, and start fucking doing something!!! :)

PS im as stoned as a bat... uhhh... a stoned bat

Peace and Love dudes

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I Feel ya man I HATE Societies..I want to live simple.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!....I Love Weed!!!!!

It may be in the perspective. I can remember a period in my life when I was a sort of a bum; not that I needed to be, just decided to hitch hike around the country. It was a fairly typical hippy thing to do in those days. I spent time in communes, crash pads, abandoned buildings, sleeping in bus stations and student centers, all that. Somehow, the high moral ground I thought I was on didn't seem as rewarding after a while, compared to a nice secure little house and the stability of a family and friends. And it could be really uncomfortable and dangerous. More than just a few post-Woodstock adventurers disappeared into shallow unmarked graves, I think. Had a few close calls myself.

So, I noticed that there weren't any 40 plus types doing what I was, and also the kind of people I generally ran into on the road left an impression; losers with big talk and not much else, mostly quite young like myself. I've learned that to appreciate some types of food you really hate; try them when you're starving. And those warm little working class houses look so nice when you're going down the road with some deranged grand-theft-auto psychos who picked you up at 4:30 am when you were hitching a ride.

All I'm saying is, count your fucking blessings. If you want to reject society, go ahead, and live with the consequences. Just don't forget that you can return to "society" after you're done finding yourself, if you're lucky, and don't have to give in to the ratrace mentality if you choose not to. At least there's a community there, as imperfect as it is.

42

i agree mostly with what you say its just to bad that some people are so wraped up in money and most the things you mentioned the thay dont even notice all the things that are free or should be free society has relly left us no choicebut to follow along unles you want to say buy and island and make your own scociety.

P.S. let me no if you do i wouldnt mind liveing that way at all

4252 I never said i'm going to exclude myself from society. I just hate the way the 'system' works. Everyone is so preoccupied with earning money that they dont see that money is only valuable because alot of people dont have it, ergo, the system only works for some because of the suffering of others; in this case, the majority. I hate it :(

Such is the concensus reality of every industrialized country I can currently think of. ^.^ There's really no way out of it. At least that I can think of.

Hi Ghost,

I think I got off on the wrong foot with that one; I understood what you meant, and agree with you, but my own story got kind of tangental in the telling of it.

I also feel that the majority are materialistic, and the spiritual aspects of life are neglected. And it's fairly easy to see that it's the wrong way to go; just look at where we seem to be headed. Somebody else used the word greed, and I think that's the simplest explanation. Let me go a step further and say that maybe the underlying motive is actually fear; of not having "enough", the realization of how vulnerable we are, the lack of faith and knowledge in ourselves, society, the future, etc. And some assholes seem to only be happy if they can control everybody and everything around them (probably toilet trained with a cattle prod).

I think ignorance plays a part too. No matter how well educated, people can be and are functionally stupid, and will equate success in the terms they're most comfortable with or capable of measuring; material wealth. It's too bad really.

Now, what are we going to do about it?

Thanks for the heads-up.

42

Thats great ghost.I wish there were no tvs or anything like that in the house but that wouldnt be fair and selfish of me.Im always asking my bf can we move to the bush.I wanna build a log cabin in the middle of the bush with no technology.Maybe a computer so i can buy things lol.I am a bit maybe boring like that to everyone i hate watching tv.I just wanna live free where i can just be me and grow a crop and smoke and be happy with just the basics in life.I would need music too or i might go insane.

Ever see The Jerk starring Steve Martin? He's going to walk away from it all, leave everything behind, and on the way out says "All I need is this ashtray" and picks it up. Then it's "All I need is this ashtray, and this chair", and by the end of the scene "all he needs" is the ashtray, the chair, the end table, the dog, the wine collection, the Mercedes, the Picasso, etc.

All I need is this ashtray!

42

and this pipe

and this bag of reefer

oh, and this lighter

and this guitar

but really, that's absolutely all I need!

and maybe this amp.....

time to start our own island nation, ghost? I say yes! You get an island, I'll go form a Parliment (it will consist of gerbils!)

Just make sure its somewhere warm, k?


EDIT: right off the bat, is this a clothing-optional island nation? also will we have a weapons program