one day when the glory comes
it will be ours
one day when the war is won
we will be sure
Feb 8, 2015
The Difficulty of Reality
Cora Diamond’s Philosophy
and Animal Life seeks to define the difficulty of reality through an
analysis of J.M. Coetzee’s The Lives of
Animals. Coetzee’s main character, Elizabeth Costello, is an isolated
figure that aims to explain why the differentiation of man and animal is a
bigger dilemma than perceived. In Diamond’s piece, certain other authors such
as Peter Singer try to criticize Coetzee by proposing that Costello is merely a
fictional character encompassing Coetzee’s views. Yet, Diamond tries to demonstrate
to the readers that the failure to understand Coetzee’s piece is the same one
as the one where we misunderstand ourselves. The difficulty of reality, as
proposed by Diamond, is that in the process of immortalizing ourselves through
goals, beliefs and careers, we have been conditioned to ignore the “permanent
horrors’ of the imagination of death.” (45, Diamond).
Our thoughts and reality are in utter conflict whereas the promise of a
meaningful reality has become enough to repress the thought of a meaningless
one. Costello may be a lonely character but in trying to brush her off as
merely fictitious, we fail to see that her isolation is a representation of our
own: we have made ourselves into stone, we have created the word “rationality”
to divide us from non-beings in an attempt to survive the idea of ever not being. Thus, this contradictory inner
conflict is what Diamond describes as the “difficulty of reality.”
Feb 4, 2015
Feb 2, 2015
Cognitive Dissonance
"...If people undertook a task that they normally would have found quite interesting and enjoyable, but did so while expecting to be rewarded for their efforts, they might engage in a bit of private cognitive analysis complementary to that shown by subjects in the dissonance experiments. That is, they might decide that they had engaged in the relevant task in order to obtain the promised reward, and therefore come to view the behavior in question as less attractive in its own right. In other words, they would come to view such behavior as a means to an end rather than an attractive end in itself, and thereafter, in the absence of a prospect for reward, show relatively little inclination to engage in the task."
This is literally why I've been unable to fully submerge myself in music. At least, academically, or a career level. If I take away the relation that I have with music right now, which is a loving, inspiring level...then I feel as though I might ruin it altogether for myself.
This is literally why I've been unable to fully submerge myself in music. At least, academically, or a career level. If I take away the relation that I have with music right now, which is a loving, inspiring level...then I feel as though I might ruin it altogether for myself.
Nearing 20
I have 5 months until I turn 20 and I'm not going to lie, I can already feel all the changes I want to make once I finally enter my 20's.
Out with the old, in with the new.
Out with the old, in with the new.
Jan 22, 2015
Writing
I realized today that I haven’t actually taken time to
write. To be creative. To thrive on everything that I know to thrive on. For a
while now, I haven’t been able to sit down. Quite, simply because I don’t have
the time. And now I realize that that is just the older version of me talking.
As you get older, I guess you don’t have time. Or you don’t make time. I’ve
chosen things that have taken time away from it. I don’t want to keep making
that mistake anymore because writing is the one thing that I’ve always known
how to do. Whether it’s good writing or bad writing, I just always know how to
write and write and write and write until I can barely breathe anymore. I find
myself here on this bus and all I really want to do is feel the click of each
key on this laptop click again and again. And maybe that doesn’t make much
sense to anyone, but all I know is that I get a certain pleasure out of being
able to put my thoughts out on paper. It’ll be something that everyone gets to see
– to read. Or maybe, it’ll be something that I show no one. The crazy thing
about writing is that it doesn’t have to be for anyone and it’ll still be just
as satisfying.
I’m always entangled in my thoughts. All the time. And
sometimes, speaking about it won’t even help. Every now and then, I can’t make
sense out of anything and I just decide to start typing. This may be
artificial. But I’ll keep hitting the back button and rewriting what I want to
say. This is much like a writer’s process – believe it or not, authors don’t
just sit down and finish a book overnight like in the movies. Writers tend to
work on their pieces for extended pieces of time: fixing, tweaking, rewriting,
changing… And it’s in those moments when everything falls into place for me.
When I can see what I am feeling in written words, when they come together in a
logical way that I can make sense of, that’s when it’s most satisfying.
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