The Ramblings of a Mad Man - Part 5ive of THAT'S NOT HOW YOU SPELL FIVE!!!

Cast your minds back.

A couple of weeks ago at most, I published an article stating that people are idiots. I then went on to explain that through lack of general, spiritual & political education, we're all just a bunch of morons firing off doctrine on command. Surely, for those of you who read the article, you're thinking "why are you telling me this? I was there man...". Fair play. The point of me explaining that part again, if you'd just let me speak for one damn minute, was that this article ties in quite nicely with that. So, if you haven't read it, maybe you'd like to before I carry on...

Don't worry, I'll wait...

All done!? Okay, on with it.

I guess like a few people, my friend Danny Quin over at Bar Bar Black Sheep for one, me for two, genuinely consider the term "Netflix & chill" as an invitation to stick the kettle on & slip into PJ's. Casual sex aside, they've got some fairly decent stuff on there. Just this afternoon, I slipped into said lounge wear & stuck on a documentary, aptly named "(DIS)HONESTY, The Truth About Lies"; a subject which interests me greatly. Dan Ariely studies behavioural economics & throughout the film breaks down the individual factors of what drives someone to lie. As it turns out, with great relief, everyone does it! Coincidentally, everyone doing it is precisely one of these, what Dan calls, "Fudge Factors".

Now, think back over your life, over all your experiences & think... "have I ever told a lie?". Of course you have & if your answer was "no", you're probably lying. Sorry!

When I was younger, not much younger than today, i used to bullshit a lot. Now, bullshitting is that special kind of lying that's full of fluffy stuffing & complicated seams, an enigma at first but very easily rationalised to nothing. For instance, I would tell people that my Dad was working away from home or that I'd seen a man get shot, amongst all manner of irrelevant, made-up anecdotes in order to make myself feel like people could find me interesting. The problem being here, my friends spotting me in town with my Dad, two hours after I'd declared he was in Australia, or again, my friends working out that I'd never been to gangland Columbia. When we're young at mind we tend to be drawn by fantasy & fiction, making us feel less interesting or important than the fictional characters portrayed therein; making us feel as if our lives are somehow dull in comparison. Being a compulsive liar & being around quite a few others at school, I've become covertly skilled in spotting irrelevant bullshit; like, calling out your friend who has done everything you've done but bigger & better. There's a tone that's acquired when a person improvises a life event spontaneously, a look in the eye & a failure to stop while they're ahead. I'm often shocked out how many people in their adult lives still manage to follow through with this fantastical act of dishonesty, despite being guilty of it myself at times. I believe the only thing that's reduced my level of bullshit is the amount of genuine experiences I've had over the past few years. Since growing up & getting out into the world, I no longer feel dis-interesting or dull, I revel in retelling my life to anyone that will listen, purely for the looks on their faces when I assure them "Yes, that really happened!". Surprisingly, or rather not so, I'm more than likely to relapse around people I don't know or have very little in common with. I tend to bridge that gap with fluff galore.

I digress...

The documentary follows a series of interviews & experiments in order to illustrate the major factors of behavioural economics, right down to the nitty gritty. Without giving too much away, the film wraps up with the evidence that no one lies unless they feel like they, or someone they care about, have something to gain from it; seems pretty obvious, right? Despite it's apparent obviousness, I admire the revelation. If a person is correctly informed of what they stand to lose by lying, they just don't. The whole point of the film, as I see it, is that people lie to gain but won't if they stand to lose or effect others negatively. Equally, if a person is caught lying in a big way & falls foul of the consequences, it makes them more honest in the future. On top of all that, Dan Ariely expertly makes the case that a million small lies have more negative effect on society than one big juicy lie. I won't explain exactly how but watch the film to find out, I highly recommend it.

Now, I'm not sure about you but I find dishonesty to be a huge proportion of what's wrong with society. We have the media spinning webs, politicians providing misinformation & conspiracists by the truck load. I honestly don't know who or what to believe outside of my own small (but growing) network of friends & colleagues. It all seems like deception in one way or another, whether to meet an agenda or distract us from one. Yet, whatever the reasons, the effect is the same; this.

If we're lucky, those of us who don't follow one of the few mainstream religions have our own breed of moral compass, drilled into us by parents, teachers, employers & the like. We don't have the commandments to guide us in absolute certainty toward our spiritual essence. Instead, we are told "This is right, that is wrong" without a quantified explanation of the circumstances. To devout Christians, straying from God's message leads to eternal damnation & suffering. Simple, no one wants that. Unfortunately, I believe that the atomic & subatomic particles I'm made up of will be recycled when I'm gone, not sent downstairs to be prodded with a flamey stick. My consciousness (if that's what this experience is) will be recycled into free electromagnetic energy, ready for the next batch of bodies to make use of. So, for me, what is hell? It purely doesn't exist. So then, what of the consequences in my negative actions? Frankly, I don't know. Sure, I can surmise that punching someone in the face will result in their pain & likeliness to retaliate by punching me in the face. Any half-trained idiot can work that out. But what of the bigger picture? What of the butterfly effect in the actions I partake? What of the hell I leave behind for others?

As far as I can tell from my dilapidated ivory tower, a successful life follows thusly; Survive the first five years, Go to school & discover a passion, undertake further education & qualify in said passion, get on the career ladder, play the game of life (wife, kids & a family car) & then retire quietly for a few years before the inevitable happens. Trust me, I don't believe for one second that my choice of lifestyle benefits anyone in any great sense; I'm forever in poverty & an imposition to the vast majority of people I come into contact with. To tell the absolute truth, despite me being happy in following my "dream", I'm all too aware of the implications suffered by others for my benefit. This sours the milk, just a tad. Not to say it's all bad; I have found a lot of success in making people happy & enjoying my music with them. That fact will forever make it worth the worry. The thing is, despite sharing my negative experiences of this lifestyle, people are still prone to envy, much in the same way that I envy their stable, contented lives of work & family, with a moderately sustainable income to boot. The trouble being here that I have tried to live in that way many times & each time I'm overwhelmed by the blatant negativity of corporate control. I can see the lives that are affected by capitalism & consumerism, others can't. I believe that it's this lack of quantifiable guidance that has left us corrupted, liars & pretenders all. We honestly don't know any better.

If we were to try to figure out exactly what is wrong with this reality, I believe the place to start is finding out what's right. Much like Dan Ariely attempting to discover what makes liars tell the truth, I'm interested in finding out what makes people lead an honest life in every respect. Dan found that if he took away the gain in lying, or indeed by displaying the wrong in it, he could essentially revert people back to their honest, humble selves. I believe that if we were to make more of an effort to inform each other of the gains & losses served by leading any and all lifestyles, we would all be much happier & a lot less prone to feeling shit about ourselves. Then again, I could be wrong...

In conclusion, I believe we're all a little bit lost in this big wide world of ours & it starts with us to find a happy home. We don't need to be so at odds with life, the universe & everything. We should be enjoying it! Take some time to think about how your lifestyle affects the lives of everyone around you, present & future. Let me know what conclusions you come up with & I may well follow up in a future blog...

Nah, I'm lying!

The Ramblings of A Mad Man - Part Four of Something Something...

Far be it from me to be political (never!), I've been prodded & jibed by the online population far too much this week not to complain a little.

PEOPLE ARE IDIOTS!

Oh, you want more than that...? Fine!

I'm not a bold intellectual, a scholastic man. Not in the slightest. You may well find me pawing through some rather interesting videos on YouTube or scrolling my way into despair at some spectacular "scientific" articles. The problem there being you can rely on truth & proof as much as you can by delving into the Bible or any of the other Abrahamic "How To" guides. It's great for interpreting whatever the hell you want but standing up for anything you might believe, in most cases, tends to lead to embarrassment or offence. Finding the real gritty truth these days reminds me of a shit episode of the X-Files.

That wouldn't be such a problem if the obvious lies & conspiracy stood out to everyone as much as it does for me. We'd all giggle & move on with our lives, I'm sure of it. The thing is, we're not talking about flat Earth theories or hollow moons; I'm talking about the simple fact that our global society is in the toilet & everybody is pointing fingers, passing the blame to whatever fits their agenda. I am crazy so don't take it from me. In fact, if you're still reading this you might be crazy too; still don't take my word for it. Go outside & look around. Walk around your local shopping centres, parks, alleyways; think about what you see. Think back on your life & everything you've learned & assess the question, "is this it...?"

You may have assumed from my previous comments that I'm not a religious man & by many interpretations you may be correct. I see any & all strictly held beliefs as religions unto themselves, personal, spiritual, communal & political. By that understanding, someone who is devoutly healthy in their diet would be considered personally religious & may well have joined a gym with others who are communally religious in the same way. If that person enjoyed being an environmentalist who petitions for animal rights, they too could then be considered politically religious. I do hope I'm making sense. With all I've said in mind & nary more than doctrine to argue against me, religion & belief go hand in hand, whether you attend a church or not. Unlike many others, I would not consider myself religiously "tied-down" in any respect. I try to be open-minded to other peoples assessments & greatly enjoy the religions of Physics, Biology & Mathematics. Don't let that fool you; I also revel in reading anything that holds a message & serves a purpose, regardless of whether I believe or agree with it. I have been known to practise meditation & have great respect for the spiritual aspects of Hinduism & Buddhism.

There comes a point in everyone's lives, if the conditions are correct, that they will have to ask themselves; "What do I believe?". The question might not follow those exact words & indeed might barely be asked before action is required. In these moments it's up to us to act on our basic instincts & educations. Do we have that...?

Our priorities as a species are entirely misplaced if the current visual evidence is anything to go by. I see more homeless people on the streets now than ever before, families falling apart & children being abused, starved, misled & corrupted. News flash, that's only in this country. Friends of mine who have travelled to visit the most tragically affected among us tell of poverty & manipulation from the western world. At first I was asking myself; "Where are my taxes being spent?". Sure, the street lights are on & "I Love Bletchley Day" happens bang on time every year but what the fuck happened to the welfare state? In this day & age there should not be this blatant lack of mass education & harmony. People should know by now that we're all on the same bloody ship, heading for the same unknown destination. All the rest is rather clever but it's actually doing us some damage now. Could we slow down a bit & let the stragglers catch their breath? Equally, could you kindly ask that small group in the middle to stop whispering about killing us all? All too much has become important out of context. The optimist inside me cries out for a modern version of the 10 Commandments by means of a universal understanding. No? Would you rather keep on blowing up children in the Middle East while we figure out what's going on...? Why is it so hard to believe that we could all get our heads around a few simple rules like "Never kill a person without the consent of the person you are killing" or quite simply "Try not to be a cunt".

You're still wondering why people are idiots, right...? I'll get to the point.

More so these days, similarly to the homeless crisis, I see arguments on social media, news articles & YouTube videos galore. You're thinking; "Yeah but they're all the idiots in the world, arguing the toss because they're bored!" and you're right. I am literally shocked every time I see a well constructed sentence or God forbid a question. Instead what I see is people sticking up for things they haven't researched in the slightest or only believe in because they're gullible. Where does that get them? Nowhere.

My ultimate question is; When did it stop being our responsibility to learn first & educate later? We base our systems on outdated modes & curriculum that seem to be less relevant than what the child could be learning at home or from experiencing the world for real. We have bred a generation of careless & uneducated parents who are now passing the torch to a brood of smart phone consumerists who barely know what happens outside their own doors. We need to learn how to compensate & fast, otherwise the work of many thousands before us could be undone in a matter of decades. We need to care more about ourselves & others, always looking for the greater truth in everything.

I want to be able to come back here in 20 years & not feel the need to bitch like a stressy victim. Alright...?

Cheers!
   

Trick or Treat (Hallo-what!?)

Well, it’s not that I’m against anyone having fun or celebrating whatever pagan/religious festival that comes along, but what the hell is Halloween all about? 

When I was a youngster we didn’t dress up in ludicrous costumes and demand (by text) to be given money or a large bucketful of sweets with the veiled threat that if you don’t comply you could find your car tyres let down, or worse. In homes all over the country people are switching off their lights, turning down the TV and pretending not to be home. The whole thing has got completely out of hand. And what’s with the expensive costumes? Designer death masks and Gucci hats? The shops are definitely making a fortune, no doubt about that, but is it really necessary? Do we have to be plagued by special offers? 2 pumpkins for the price of one, £5 box of trick or treat sweets, which will probably disappear after the first callers! It is all designed to part you from your money, while being told how much you are going to enjoy it. Can’t we have a good time without having to mortgage our souls?

Yes, souls folks, that is what Halloween is all about. All Souls Eve, that is what we are celebrating. No one, not even the cleverest of scholars can be absolutely certain where this festival originates. Quite possibly it hearkens back to the ancient Roman feast of Parentalia which was a festival in honour of the dead. It seems you’d take a picnic down to the tomb of your ancestors and share the holiday with them! Sounds a bit creepy, but I suspect not as creepy as a menacing 7 year old wearing a David Cameron face mask and toting a large brick!

The concept of death and rebirth is as old as, well death and rebirth, and this festival is also associated with holding back the death of summer. There are many varied interpretations of the festival going back to Anglo Saxon times, and of course Christianity put it’s on inevitable twist on it. However, it was left to good Old Uncle Sam to give us ‘trick or treat’ and dressing up in a variety of costumes that have little or nothing to do with the original spirit of the festival.

We are fast becoming the playthings of consumerism. It happened with Easter and Christmas, now the minor festivals are being targeted. However much this may sting the faceless corporations who make a fortune out of this I think we should simplify things a little. Now my idea which would combine i) remembering the dead, ii) being a bit of spooky fun, iii) obtaining money and/or gifts, would be to approach the house wearing normal clothing, pale faced (perhaps a cheap bag of flour would help), and when the owner opens the door, whisper in clear yet dulcet tones ‘I SEE DEAD PEOPLE’. Now if this doesn’t result in payment I’ll eat my pumpkin!! 

 Let’s get the party rolling!

- Cleo Bloggs

Said-U-Cation

Once upon a time, not so long ago, in the heat of the moment, I made a statement. Some would choose to be greatly offended by the words that passed my lips, yet none so far have denied my truth;

"There are two things distinctly wrong with our entire society which have affected us to a great extent. Parenting & education." 

Bold as it is to state (being neither a parent or a teacher), I believe I may be able to save myself from the imminent death, which lurks in the mind of anyone serving either profession while reading those words. Please, refrain from doing so... I merely mean to opinionate and never to offend. 

Back when early humans were developing as monkeys, society was a natural & well-served affair. Participants were so unintelligent that they willingly partook in the habits of their brethren with little to no questions asked or answered. The "system", as it was in those days, depended on a few simple tasks being taken up by the entire collective in order to achieve contentment & safety amongst the body. Things such as hunting, foraging & childcare. There was never a need for much else and the people of that time both knew & respected the natural way of things. Instinctively, passing this knowledge to their children, the education & parenting systems were unknowingly formed. 

As our brains & bodies developed we became not only more intelligent but more considerate. We had achieved the ability to question openly and receive answers knowingly. The systems that we had put in place as our former selves had in turn become questionable & malleable. The first nurseries were formed as tribes grew in numbers while demands on parents became more time-consuming. With more mouths to feed; more meat must be hunted, more fruit must be foraged & more wood must be found for fire. Again, we respected these natural requirements. Revering the forces of nature as divine. Teaching our fledglings the same by way of practical learning when the time came. 

The late great Douglas Adams made an interesting case back in 1998 when he spoke of a similar assumption. He said; "Imagine early man. Early man is, like everything else, an evolved creature and he finds himself in a world that he's begun to take a little charge of; he's begun to be a tool-maker, a changer of his environment with the tools that he's made and he makes tools, when he does, in order to make changes in his environment. To give an example of the way man operates compared to other animals, consider speciation, which, as we know, tends to occur when a small group of animals gets separated from the rest of the herd by some geological upheaval, population pressure, food shortage or whatever and finds itself in a new environment with maybe something different going on. Take a very simple example; maybe a bunch of animals suddenly finds itself in a place where the weather is rather colder. We know that in a few generations those genes which favour a thicker coat will have come to the fore and we'll come and we'll find that the animals have now got thicker coats. Early man, who's a tool maker, doesn't have to do this: he can inhabit an extraordinarily wide range of habitats on earth, from tundra to the Gobi Desert - he even manages to live in New York for heaven's sake - and the reason is that when he arrives in a new environment he doesn't have to wait for several generations; if he arrives in a colder environment and sees an animal that has those genes which favour a thicker coat, he says “I'll have it off him”. Tools have enabled us to think intentionally, to make things and to do things to create a world that fits us better. Now imagine an early man surveying his surroundings at the end of a happy day's tool making. He looks around and he sees a world which pleases him mightily: behind him are mountains with caves in - mountains are great because you can go and hide in the caves and you are out of the rain and the bears can't get you; in front of him there's the forest - it's got nuts and berries and delicious food; there's a stream going by, which is full of water - water's delicious to drink, you can float your boats in it and do all sorts of stuff with it; here's cousin Ug and he's caught a mammoth - mammoth's are great, you can eat them, you can wear their coats, you can use their bones to create weapons to catch other mammoths. I mean this is a great world, it's fantastic. But our early man has a moment to reflect and he thinks to himself, 'well, this is an interesting world that I find myself in' and then he asks himself a very treacherous question, a question which is totally meaningless and fallacious, but only comes about because of the nature of the sort of person he is, the sort of person he has evolved into and the sort of person who has thrived because he thinks this particular way. Man the maker looks at his world and says 'So who made this then?' Who made this? - you can see why it's a treacherous question. Early man thinks, 'Well, because there's only one sort of being I know about who makes things, whoever made all this must therefore be a much bigger, much more powerful and necessarily invisible, one of me and because I tend to be the strong one who does all the stuff, he's probably male'. And so we have the idea of a god. Then, because when we make things we do it with the intention of doing something with them, early man asks himself , 'If he made it, what did he make it for?' Now the real trap springs, because early man is thinking, 'This world fits me very well. Here are all these things that support me and feed me and look after me; yes, this world fits me nicely' and he reaches the inescapable conclusion that whoever made it, made it for him."

When we as a species moved away from the idea of nature & into the realms of Gods and Goddesses, we adapted the way we taught our young significantly. The first churches and indeed schools were formed, taking education further from the control of experience. Over successive generations, wires crossed & necessary values were overlooked. More value was placed in the ever-growing sense of divinity that we ourselves had created than in our instinctive knowledge. By the time our modern, mainstream Gods had made centre stage we had established trade and with it an economy. Distracting us further from the most important of our few necessities; childcare. With the fall of the divine Goddess during the Pagan genocide, women were placed at a lower importance than man and seen as a subservient being. Religion, conquest & the economy replacing her as man's best friend. 

In the modern age, we have all but overcome such travesties. In the western world, religion is falling rapidly and the economy is steadily becoming something of an irritation to the average person. With the rise of the internet we are more aware than ever of the corruption which has stalked us from our very earliest developments as a species. Politicians, religious leaders & banking executives are often perceived as the bane of our existence. With it though we are awash with conflicting ideals and moral values, sprung from the very cause of our confusions. Lack of effective education. We are well and truly bombarded with the moral dilemmas of what we see happening elsewhere in the world and have little to no knowledge of what to do to help make things right. Children die on our TV & computer screens as we watch in deliberation and dismay. We have absolutely no idea of how to liberate our fellow man without the necessary sacrifice to our own relatively comfortable way of life. 

Today, the issues we face as a species haven't changed in the slightest since our humble beginnings. The three major components for our survival remain in tact, regardless of our distractions & conflicting ideals. Yet, with our early hobbies becoming modern habits we seem unable to break out of the cycle of curriculum & conformity. One's career is seen as a higher importance than another's happiness. Personal growth & development have taken the place of collectivism & mutual satisfaction. The trouble being the sheer amount of what I like to call "Said-U-Cation". 

I have always made the case that one cannot possibly know what has not been experienced or learned personally. The assumption was made some time ago that by simply unearthing a truth on an individual or group of people somehow makes them wiser and as such in a higher state of education. Consider for a moment a carpenter who has yet to craft wood. The individual may well have been preached the basics of woodwork but without undertaking the psychical process involved, they can be no more assured that what they have learned is based in fact or rumour. By interacting with said wood and forging the intended article, the participant is no longer educated but experienced. This brings about an absolute truth that can no more be denied than avoided. However, our society wrongly relies on so many things that cannot be physically experienced nor enjoyed. We are taught that relieving ourselves of any and all physical hardship is the highest priority and will lead to our much sought after enlightenment. Our basic desires are placed in the background of conciousness and more often than not entirely taken for granted. 

I believe that the easiest way to escape this apparent trap is remembering to teach our children the reason and rhyme behind our existence. Remembering to teach them what is necessary and what is accessory. Remembering to teach them to teach the same. Although in the great scheme of things our time here is minute and fleeting, the significance & impact we have while here is both incredible & awe-inspiring. Yes, we have a responsibility to develop and grow, but as a species and not as a rabble of individuals. Parents, teachers & in turn all of us alike hold an equal responsibility to share the truth that we all know by pure instinct alone. We all deserve to know the reasoning behind our existence and we are all accountable in delivering it. First & foremost we are here to survive. Everything else is a bonus...



P.S. I highly recommend reading the entire speech made by Douglas at Biota 2 in '98. He makes an extremely inspiring case. Check it out @ http://www.biota.org/people/douglasadams/