26 February 2014

The Apple of Eden Part 2

Earlier, I spoke about knowledge and how we acquire it.  We are surrounded by new ideas, and some of them are thrown right at us. Are these ideas actually what we want to see, or are they what we are made to see though?

Some of us if not most of us are aware that facts are usually manipulated a little before it is shown to the public eye. Or, they're just not shown. Movies, video games, books and all kinds of media and information sources are restricted from being let out into society. Some restrictions or bans maybe implemented due to offensive material, but what about the rest? Society controls what we read and watch and along with it, gives us a (what we seem to see as a) very good reason to do so. Most of us blindly accept things as they come to us ( me being one of them). Why? That's because we are either scared or just lazy to bother finding out more. See the contradiction, we are know for being eager beings, we want to find out more and yet we hold back, we only explore more into areas that we are allowed to explore into.

Along with this society even uses techniques that influence our decisions. One very common technique that is used in the Black and White choice. In this method, you are offered two extreme choices, and one of them would be a choice that favours what the person wants and the other will be one that you will not choose. To better explain this here is an example, "Are you going to fight me, or run away like a coward?"  The choice that is made by most people would be to obviously fight the aggressor, mainly because the other choice is sort of derogatory. This is a more microscopic example but apply this to the type of messages that you may or may not see around you.

I got these ideas from an article that I read (http://www.cracked.com/article_16656_6-brainwashing-techniques-theyre-using-you-right-now.html), rather eye opening. What I mean to say from all this is that, just because some words are thrown in that may antagonize us or make it seem like the wrong thing to do (this doesn't apply to anti-drug campaigns, drugs are bad and always will be), the choice is entirely up to you to go out and explore the world around you. Understand the situation completely before blindly following what is shown. We are humans, not sheep.
  

21 February 2014

Who are you?

There comes a point in life where we wonder 'Who am I?'; this question though existent subconsciously since the time we are aware of the world around us, does not form until the individual is somewhere in the adolescent phase and fully realized depending on the individual's mindset, awareness and knowledge that he possesses. The reason why we may be able to deduce so is because as children we are curious and always trying to find answers regarding the world around us in order to learn more. This in itself is a demonstration of the fact that we are conscious beings. Conscious in the sense that we are able to perceive deeper meanings and understand that there is more to things than just their physical attributes. You don't see animals conducting research so as to find how they have evolved but we as humans are in this never ending quest to learn more, discover more about ourselves and the universe. 

The fact that we as human beings have communities, religion, art, literature, psychology, philosophy and science are all exhibits or evidence of our consciousness. These ideas are all so complex and it shows why we are the dominant species on Earth. When an organism ventures to discover its evolution and beginning, that is the highest level of consciousness that can be reached. When you think 'Who am I?' that is when you as a human being have realized your true potential and what you are capable of. Rather that is just the beginning of realization as a conscious being. The complexity of our minds is such that each human being is unique and has his own characteristics which is unlike any other living creature on this planet. 

But who are you really? As each minute of your life passes by, you are constantly changing. Physically and mentally. The cells in your body have all been replaced within the past 10 years or so. Then of course there is the fact that your body is constantly growing. The mental make up of our minds are influenced by either nature or nurture. The ideas and thoughts that we possess do change over time and our character and personality change with our experiences. A good example is the change in the mindset of the soldiers before and after their military training, where they are broken down physically and mentally and are reconstructed so as to be that competent person to whom we entrust national security. So you as a human being are never constant so everytime you ask yourself who you are, you are already somebody else...