Maybe I'm NOT the Problem

[Wolf-In-Exile]

I agree I have things very good, however, many people have it better then me, and many people have it worse... why shouldn't an effort be made to bring the worse off people up to my level or higher?

Its simple. People are apathetic, lazy, physically and mentally. And afraid of change, and too comfortable with their current situation in life.

Also, they are too self-absorbed in their own concerns to really care about other people's problems. Humanitarian efforts are indeed made by various organisations, but ultimately the problem can't be solved if those people who're worse off start expecting aid, instead of working to improve themselves because its essentially giving them a fish instead of teaching them to fish.

People are content with how they are, and just like the IDEA that they can do much better, but just can't seem to be arsed to do anything about it.

Oh, we do try. But in an age of convenience, people are increasingly looking for shortcuts and easier ways of improving themselves, but the reality is that nothing worthwhile comes easy, especially increasing one's station in life.

Take for example a simple, common yet extremely elusive goal: getting fit. A whole industry is set up for the health and fitness industry.
But the fact of the matter is, you can get fit and healthy simply by exercising regularly and eating right. But many people never reach the goal of getting fit.

At the end of the day, the man who is determined and dedicated to improving themselves is the one who will reap the rewards.

The one who finds fault in everything but himself and keeps looking for shortcuts and shying away from hard work will have nothing.

Even materially rich people are subject to these laws. I know one guy whose father is a partner in a law firm, bloody rich, he got a top of the line SLK when he got a license.

But he can't seem to hold a steady job, is incompetent save for gaming and accumulating cool but ultimately useless gadgets.

And he's 27 this year and all the women he's dated are after his dad's money.

So yeah, one's mindset is all important.

[CarRepairer]

Think real hard of how life must be like for people like that. I mean really picture yourself living like that.

Could be even worse. You could be exiled by your wolf pack. Probably because they caught you watching Teenwolf.

[Neddie]

The fact that society is arranged to exploit any effort you make or any desire you have should also be noted. The health and fitness industries are not, for the most part, helpful in the pursuit of health and fitness...

That and it is easiest to describe a small social group as a pack. The model is clean and hierarchical, it can be used to explain many common interactions.

[PicassoCT]

Im sorry to dis-consent here neddie, but a social group is very distant from a pack. A pack spends nearly 100% of its time together, and is diffrent depending on the kind of animal you are talking. Wolfpacks are basically a hierarchic family, while wildboarpacks are coalation of willing, where the oldest, experienced warsmart pigs trick the young once with faked "everything fine" signals into becoming cannonfood for hunters.

Humans are usually part of many social groups, changing there packattachment like a set clothes, although it seems nessescary to have a basic set (lover/family comes to mind) to fall back upon.

On Happyiness in life, well the problem is unrealistic expectations (sucess in life is not as easy archieved as in advertising&/games) on the one side, the other one (and more serious) is the basically hundreds of bugs of humanity.

Main Problem is we completely lack longterm senses, so great sucess even if we produce, acomplish it, is nearly invisible to us, may remain even so till our death. You write a book, invent something, program something, and only a century later, a historian may trace back a movement, a humanity saving uprising or earth shakin inventionchain to Charlies paperbin on the intertubes. There is little practical happiness to draw from this, but i promise one day some societys will be re-written, and you may get sucess-hapiness credit on your life (as long at it doesen┬┤t make you a unproductive Alfred).

[Neddie]

I said it was easy to describe a small social group and basic behaviors thereof as a pack, not that it was a pack. Humans are not organized, different people have different social structures and none of them are really effective in all cases. The basic model is useful, particularly the structural elements of it, the specific behavior cannot be carried over. It is worth noting for the record that dyads are not ideal... the concept of monogamy embedded in western society is laughably inadequate for the needs of the adult or the child.

[smoth]

I agree I have things very good, however, many people have it better then me, and many people have it worse... why shouldn't an effort be made to bring the worse off people up to my level or higher?

because that isn't how things should work. Others raising you up can often result in people succumbing to their laziness. Like it or not people are born into dynastic wealth. However, that wealth did not just appear out of the blue, someone somewhere made it happen.

Hand outs are not a solution, education and ethics are. Even that being said, it is the truth of the world that some will eat and others starve. If we eliminated the difficulty of survival the world would be struggling even more than it is now. People have to die.

[knorke]

If we eliminated the difficulty of survival the world would be struggling even more than it is now. People have to die.

wat.
so making life for some even more difficult maybe would be the best?

[SinbadEV]

If we eliminated the difficulty of survival the world would be struggling even more than it is now. People have to die.

wat.
so making life for some even more difficult maybe would be the best?

Have you read 1984?
edit: Also to a lesser extent, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, Diamond Age and Starship Troopers.

[knorke]

only 1984 and starship troopers.
why?

[SinbadEV]

Well, the point of 1984 was that people have to be miserable so we might as well keep them about as miserable as possible with the slight chance of improving their lot if they really do their duty to the best of their ability... and someday they might get double chocolate rations.

the others were just interesting social commentary that I would recommend.

[JohannesH]

Well, the point of 1984 was that people have to be miserable so we might as well keep them about as miserable as possible with the slight chance of improving their lot if they really do their duty to the best of their ability... and someday they might get double chocolate rations.

That wasnt the main point of the book, at all

[knorke]

If you mean that 1984 was something like

I think it was more about keeping people dumb and controllable.

edit:
you were faster but I found a picture of a horse!

[SpliFF]

It was about ensuring revolution was impossible. Keeping people ignorant was just a means to that end. Chocolate was being rationed because there wasn't enough chocolate, there was never any claim that there was abundance of anything except for the obvious case of party members getting more than everyone else.

It can even even be argued that the party was all about MAKING people happy (whether they wanted to be or not). The lead character's main issue with the system was that he liked being frumpy, lazy and secretive and the party considered that a fault, that required correction, for HIS benefit, not their own.

[knorke]

It can even even be argued that the party was all about MAKING people happy (whether they wanted to be or not)

I see what you mean, but No. They even had this special language and brainwashing to supress emotions, good and bad ones. So people would be as happy as vegetables.

there was never any claim that there was abundance of anything

didnt they have this fake war or something to explain shortage of some stuff?

[SinbadEV]

yeah, there's like a "book within a book" about how they are screwing themselves over for their own good.

[SpliFF]

I see what you mean, but No. They even had this special language and brainwashing to supress emotions, good and bad ones. So people would be as happy as vegetables.

No, the party was quite happy with the proles doing whatever they wanted and they had regular celebrations to keep everyone else happy. Double-speak was about removing words that could be used to describe discontent, so that revolution was not only impossible, but wouldn't even be a word.

didnt they have this fake war or something to explain shortage of some stuff?

The war was real enough, they just kept switching alliances so nobody knew whose side they were on and the war couldn't end.

[SinbadEV]

I'm pretty sure that the implication was that some secret supreme group of rulers were ensuring the endlessness of the war.

[pintle]

The book was about a boot, stamping on a humab face, forever.

[CarRepairer]

The war was real enough, they just kept switching alliances so nobody knew whose side they were on and the war couldn't end.

Like CA FFA.

The book was about a boot, stamping on a humab face, forever.

Funniest quote I ever read in a book.

[PicassoCT]

Well, in the end your actions are limited. There is very little in your control... but what is in your control is significant in the reproduction of misery. You have to take responsibility for what you can control, and accept what you can not.

You can expand your field of controll, by researching for errors, errorexploiters and giving good advice to those who want & are able to fix, without producing twice the behaviourbugs humans show today. Hard work, definatly less comfortable than apathy.