quote:Originally posted by Luna 9: Pfft, I wasn't even trying to be bitter. If I was trying, you all would be cowering in the corner, weeping. Anyways, I wasn't being mean. I was telling the truth. The nitty, gritty truth. Really if you look at it, life is quite pointless. Sure, we could do something to improve life for future humans, but what do we care? We shall be dead. Not saying life is sad. I'm saying there's no point to it.
This is a post made by someone who has a lot left to experience in life. Your truth is very much shaded by your life experience. It is the post of someone who has never held their baby in their arms. I can see the point everyday in my 2 year old. The meaning of it all is overwhelming when you rock your baby to sleep. You are at an age where there is a lot of life you have left to experience. Perhaps you will find the point one day when lying in bed with your husband nestled next to your baby. Perhaps it will come to you when you are at the funeral of a beloved Grandparent who you've lost. Life is full of meaning. Part of being mature and intelligent is being able to see what you don't know yet. If there are so many things in the world that you haven't experienced, then you have to at least hold open the possibility that the meaning of life is in them.
Posts: 416 | Registered: May 2005
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quote:Really if you look at it, life is quite pointless. Sure, we could do something to improve life for future humans, but what do we care? We shall be dead.
But we aren't dead yet.
What if life is as meaningful as you choose to make it while living?
So far in this thread you've been treating the problems of life as if they are unchangable facts of nature created by everybody else - by parents who don't know how to parent well, by peers who are shallow, by "society". But you have a choice too. You get to choose who you will become, and you get to choose how you look at the world. You don't have to hate the people who don't understand you. You don't have to live life as if it has no point. The ability to choose is essentially alchemy: you can take something meaningless and, by choosing to care about it, transform it into something of great value, at least to you.
Posts: 8120 | Registered: Jul 2000
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quote:In actuality, I'm doing this because I'm remembering past events or just circulating hatred of the location I'm at (usually school). I look angry because I don't make the same expression I'm thinking. I tend to look threatening all of the time. This is because I'm generally angry because I'm around people and I don't like the presence of others.
Oh, Luna, that's such a shame. One of the greatest joys of life is the fact that we're not alone on this little ball of rock. You may not ever find that mythical kindred spirit but you will always learn from others, even if you believe (at first) that they do not have the same processing power as you.
If you do not try to show others that you like them, they will not like you. Don't get locked into a cycle where you will always lose.
quote:Really if you look at it, life is quite pointless. Sure, we could do something to improve life for future humans, but what do we care? We shall be dead.
That is why enjoying life is important! You control your grumpiness-- I can tell you that being up at 5:00am is not going to help that now or in ten or twenty years.
If you don't think you can be friends with anyone in your class, take the time at least to get to know some of the less-annoying ones. Think of it as a social experiment, if you want.
Some people are annoying, but they can make some things exponentially more fun.
Posts: 8473 | Registered: Apr 2003
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Chances are that not everyone at your school is a braindead moron with nothing to offer the world. Have you considered that you might want to adjust your own attitude.
Your bad outlook on life is only cheating yourself. If your life seems meaningless, use your big brain to make meaning. If you think everyone around you is annoying and dumb, use all those smarts in your jumbo head to find some common ground and realize what they're good at.
Posts: 3950 | Registered: Mar 2006
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quote:I'm fascinated by life. I just hate society. I hate people and I hate what they do. I'm not bored with them. I hate them. No, hate isn't a strong word, it's the correct term. I hate people who are afraid to do what they want because of the judgement of other headcheeses their age.
quote:I hate tones. I hate that it matters how you say something. I seem arrogant in real life because I stare in disdain at everybody. In actuality, I'm doing this because I'm remembering past events or just circulating hatred of the location I'm at (usually school). I look angry because I don't make the same expression I'm thinking. I tend to look threatening all of the time. This is because I'm generally angry because I'm around people and I don't like the presence of others.
I'm sad I don't get to be the first person to talk about how this completely screams "sour grapes!"
Posts: 15421 | Registered: Aug 2005
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If I understand luna right, its that she can't manage her own social cues, weirds people out because she constantly glares at people, then hates society because of the expected result, gratifying herself with reactionary misanthropy.
She sounds a lot like myself at her age. It took me about a decade to understand how dumb I was.
Posts: 805 | Registered: Jun 2009
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quote:Hm. I wonder why women love cute things. Because the mother in them takes kindly to anything resembling an infant.
I wonder why men are so hairy. They need the extra insulation to survive while they were hunting.
Luna 9,
I am impressed with your interest in issues that incorporate evolution, sociology and psychology.
I encourage you to think more deeply about this stuff, if you are truly interested. There is so much more to it, and it is so much more fascinating than simple answers could ever cover. In other words, don't stop there!
If you think there's an innate mothering instinct in human females, then try to figure out why it's there, how it could possible work (hard wired in the brain? hormonal influences? social training layered on instinctive behavior patterns?, whatever?). And then, maybe go even deeper and think about how those mechanisms might fail. Why are there mothers who kill their children - what went wrong if there really is an innate mothering instinct?
I highly recommend the same kind of thing WHENEVER you start thinking about biology. Don't stop at the simple. Don't just accept the first answer that seems to cover the surface question.
posted
You must, I emphasize -- MUST -- take into account the likelihood that L9 (or you and you (and you too!)) are living in different universes, sharing (as we've come these days to expect) physical cues (i.e."Look! There's that old moon again", "Don't you find it a little chilly?" or "Something's dug a preposterous hole beneath the shed!" though none seem the wiser. Passing through each other, as one is wont to do, even if one isn't wonting, is side-affect. See? Mere chatter. Existential friction.
I, as I've told myself over and over, know just the thing, the way to -- overcome -- the alledged friction:
Get up early. Earlier than that! I mean really early, in fact, it may still feel like yesterday it's so early. Then, go out! Yes...right out into that darkness, too dark for dawn to be of any comfort, and stand there and wait: watch: things turn into themselves: now you: begin.
Posts: 1154 | Registered: Dec 2001
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If you worry about what other people think of you, then you are going to live life too scared to make something of yourself.
You may be smarter than most of the kids in your school, but don't let that prevent you from making friends. Even the dumbest kid in your school will know things you don't. They may know a lot about cars, bikes, sports, or other subjects that you don't have experience with. I personally hang out somewhere where I am one of the dumb kids and I get to learn from the smart ones. That is why I frequent Hatrack. King of Men can (and does on a regular basis) school me on all things science. I may not agree with some of his views, but it does not mean I can't learn anything from him. I may know things KoM doesn't on other subjects, such as music theory. The point is you may be suprised what you learn from others, even if they have an IQ that matches their shoe size.
Life isn't pointless, it is what you make of it. Do what you can to learn everything possible, and try to make your own contribution to it.
Posts: 1937 | Registered: Nov 2006
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The appointment has already been made with the Xray technician in the basement of the Medical Arts building. He cannot speak English, so he points out where you should sit. There is a stain on his jacket. (Death is not a perfectionist)
Posts: 1154 | Registered: Dec 2001
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posted
Let's just stick to the facts(as seen from below, beside the splatter): One child(tm); thick legs hanging over the edge of the nest. One nest, ruptured by the unexpected weight, somewhat fetid from the sweat, from the persistant pushing of the last egg over the edge. One world, perplexed by the sharp hard song chirped into the white rising sun. One question: Whowho?Whowho?Whowho?
Posts: 1154 | Registered: Dec 2001
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I've been thinking for a couple of weeks about what to write to you and how to explain well how someone's thinking changes from elementary school to adulthood. You covered a lot in your post, from censorship to parents to school to jobs to the meaning of life, so it's hard to discuss opinions on any of those topics in a concise and meaningful way and give them all their due in a way that doesn't make people not want to read what I wrote.
I'm 24 and in graduate school, but I remember a lot from my childhood and the way I used to think (unlike a lot of adults), and while people my age have five-year-old kids, I'm still treated like a kid myself sometimes (it's bizarre). However, I look at people younger than me and can see patterns of thinking that are very much age-related. Even so, while I knew less, I was sharper back then than I am now, and quite frankly, the personality flaws that I noticed in me at that age still haven't gone away.
Long before you posted, I had an idle fantasy about writing a blog about what it's like to be a grown-up, and try to explain to kids how grown-ups think and why they think like they do. I can sum up a lot if by stating that we don't get enough sleep, working to make money to buy food/clothing/shelter takes up a ridiculous amount of time, and we're a rather jaded bunch.
Not to single any particular post out, but I found a lot of people's responses to your post to be patronizing. Given that you wrote off all of humanity, I think everyone forgets that every other person is a thinking person, just that people very rarely share their inner thoughts on the meaning of life.
I'll give you some advice.
1. Don't screw up school because you think you are too good for it. Saying "I'm smarter than all of those so-called smart kids, but they get better grades than me because they do their work, but I could beat them if I just bothered at all" gets you nowhere. I'm not saying that you have this attitude now (I don't actually know), I'm saying don't ever go there. Staying smart on paper will be your ticket out of town post high school. If you have the grades/SAT scores to get into any Ivy League, Top University or Liberal Arts College, the best schools in the country will discount the tuition/fees to what your family can afford. These schools have a lot of opportunities outside the classes they offer, and the kids who go to them as young adults, were like you when they were 11.
2. It's a lot harder for parents to censor reading material than it is to censor movies. They have to have heard of the book.
3. Most of the world hasn't reached the drone stage where society is pointless. Not even close. If you don't want to be really depressed, don't read anything about environmental issues, where our food comes from, or society abroad.
Have you read these?
a. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes (the novel, not the short story). It's about a mentally handicapped man who undergoes an experiment that gradually gives him the intellect of an intelligent person. He also loses it, and knows it's happening to him.
b. The Friendship Ring books by Rachel Vail. Scholastic wanted these books to take off but the books never got that popular. Even so, they were quite good, or at least the first three that I read were good. It was interesting to see the perspective of kids who cared about what others thought of them a lot more than I ever did. The first three also take place concurrently, so you see the same events from three perspectives.
c. Half the Sky by Nicolas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn. This is the last book I've read. It rather graphically details abuses that still happen to women today, and what was on my mind when I wrote above that the world was still a lousy place.
d. Books by Margaret Peterson Haddix. Leaving Fishers, Takeoffs and Landings, Running Out of Time and the House on the Gulf are the best in my opinion.
Also, if you have any more questions, keep posting. Posts: 1757 | Registered: Oct 2004
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quote:Originally posted by Luna 9: Pfft, I wasn't even trying to be bitter. If I was trying, you all would be cowering in the corner, weeping.
This is the cutest thing any 11 year old has said ever. It reminds me of Brain from Pinky and the Brain fame. Intelligent, angry and oh so cute.
Posts: 3564 | Registered: Sep 2001
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posted
Luna! Instead of seeing people scowl at your angry/thinking face and hating them, just laugh at their ignorance and educate them. Don't sneer at 'dumber' people, laugh and help them refine their intelligence. You don't even need to help them just laugh and then you'll be less filled with hate.
I completely agree with TheAmeezaz if the above doesn't work just apply yourself ignore the rest and soon they'll all be gone.
But don't go and pursue all that interests you, it'll take way to long, I'm assuming you have the same problem as me: you are interested by everythin right?
(I apologize for any spelling mistakes, I'll edit them out late, I'm on my blackberry in the middle of nowhere)
Posts: 1574 | Registered: May 2008
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quote:Originally posted by deerpark27: Get up early. Earlier than that! I mean really early, in fact, it may still feel like yesterday it's so early. Then, go out! Yes...right out into that darkness, too dark for dawn to be of any comfort, and stand there and wait: watch: things turn into themselves: now you: begin.
Deerpark27, whoever you are m'dear, thank you. This is meaningful to me and among my favorites of your creative art. Posts: 293 | Registered: Apr 2000
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posted
Wow, this is good conversation and reminders about social cues, attitudes, choices and opportunities for even us jaded-older-parental unit types with the desk job we don't particularly like but keep because the income and medical benefits are needed to raise the next generation.
My next generation -- a thoughtful, fun-loving, energetic mid-teen -- accused me of trying to make him grow up too fast the other day.
I don't know what's wrong with me: how could I possibly expect him at 16 1/2 to learn to drive and get a part-time job? *grin*
Ahh, the joys of nest nudging begin now, I suppose.
Posts: 5609 | Registered: Jan 2003
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posted
part time job, maybe. If he isn't busy already with scholastics. Driving? very yes. hardcode it in while your brain is still young!
Posts: 15421 | Registered: Aug 2005
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