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Jimmy... Dead.
contemplative curmudgeon
Ha, define normal. There are over 2.2 billion Christians in the world.
King has it right.
Religion is just another psychological weakness.
PhlegethonVeins
Autopsy Obsessed
Einherjar86
Active Member
I think Vimana is saying that the Christians we categorize as fanatic or "fundamentalist" are (obviously) more closely in line with the image of ancient monotheists. I think this is somewhat correct, but I also think it's a pointless comparison.
The WBC obviously despises homosexuality, as I'm sure ancient Judaic monotheists would have; but then again, homosexuality wasn't apparent or practiced in ancient times in the same way it is today, and it would in no way have been represented as a lifestyle in the way that it is today. Our relationship with homosexuality today is impossibly different than it was for ancient ethical monotheists.
And finally, "psychological weaknesses" are present in all subjects. In fact, I'm of the opinion that part of the definition of "human subject" requires that we all are victims of some form of psychological weakness. As Lacan said, part of what constitutes the subject is some form of lack...
In other news, I'm all moved in to my new apartment in the North End in Boston. The fiance and I got ourselves a pizza and are having some pumpkin beers and lounging on our couch. I finally feel like I can breathe after about a month of holding it. Can't wait to become more acquainted with my new neighborhood and new city.
The WBC obviously despises homosexuality, as I'm sure ancient Judaic monotheists would have; but then again, homosexuality wasn't apparent or practiced in ancient times in the same way it is today, and it would in no way have been represented as a lifestyle in the way that it is today. Our relationship with homosexuality today is impossibly different than it was for ancient ethical monotheists.
And finally, "psychological weaknesses" are present in all subjects. In fact, I'm of the opinion that part of the definition of "human subject" requires that we all are victims of some form of psychological weakness. As Lacan said, part of what constitutes the subject is some form of lack...
In other news, I'm all moved in to my new apartment in the North End in Boston. The fiance and I got ourselves a pizza and are having some pumpkin beers and lounging on our couch. I finally feel like I can breathe after about a month of holding it. Can't wait to become more acquainted with my new neighborhood and new city.
Dak
mentat
Your comparison of WBC to the ancient Hebrew religion/cult/whatever is. That was my point. You are going way off on an informative but irrelevant tangent.
I would disagree, unless we are purely drawing a comparison between levels of extremes themselves, and not similarities in dogma.
zabu of nΩd
Free Insultation
- Feb 9, 2007
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Or maybe this is how you started...
Fair enough, i'll retract the "no ambitions" part of my comment.
Fair enough, i'll retract the "no ambitions" part of my comment.
Dak
mentat
King Richard
Hello there
So I hit an all-time low the other day when I stood on my scale at home. I weighed in at 141.2 lbs, which is really skinny considering I'm 6' tall. It kind of hit me really hard that I've been neglecting my physical fitness, pretty much ever since I left the Marine Corps. I've attempted numerous times in the past few years to get back on track and work out regularly and I often start off well but end up losing interest, most of that was due to my work/school load taking its toll on me. But now that I have more free time and less excuses, and considering the fact that it hit me like a ton of bricks that I've been a bitch for a while now, I'm going hard at it.
I recently started training at a 10th Planet jiu jitsu gym in Indy getting thrashed by some really talented dudes which is a ton of motivation in itself because I'm insanely competitive, and usually when I get can dead set on something I want to do I accomplish it.
So having said all that, my goal by the end of the year is to be around 170 lbs and in good-great shape on my way to around 185. So far I'm off to a good start, I've gained 3 lbs since Friday. I'll take some before and after pictures to keep it real brehs.
I recently started training at a 10th Planet jiu jitsu gym in Indy getting thrashed by some really talented dudes which is a ton of motivation in itself because I'm insanely competitive, and usually when I get can dead set on something I want to do I accomplish it.
So having said all that, my goal by the end of the year is to be around 170 lbs and in good-great shape on my way to around 185. So far I'm off to a good start, I've gained 3 lbs since Friday. I'll take some before and after pictures to keep it real brehs.
Dak
mentat
I wish I could neglect training and lose weight lol. You are always welcome into the "training" thread.
King Richard
Hello there
Einherjar86
Active Member
I have to say, I think Freud would have a field day with this.
The "intellect" isn't really an object, but we traditionally represent it to ourselves as such ("I need to hone/polish my intellect"; "my intellect is cunning"; "he wields such an impressive/massive intellect"). The analogue between the intellect and the phallus is pretty obvious in such cases (or, if you don't buy the psycho-sexual approach, the intellect is often boasted as some object of impress). Regardless, the point is that the abstraction of the intellect is reified in the form of an actual object that you take out of your wallet when you come home in the evening and tuck safely away in your lock-box.
If you do buy the Freudian approach, I'd say that Zeph is suffering from a case of the ol' "fear of castration."
The comment about a "death spiral" is also interesting. In one case, you're obsessed with preserving an anterior state (i.e. the prowess of your intellect); in another case, you're obsessed with progress and development (i.e. of your intellect). In one case, you're dealing with regression: you want to attain the state in which you once were, some previous, apparently "better" state; in another, your intellect is what gives you to posterity. Like germ cells, it's what you have to offer to the next generation.
Time opposes these two obsessions, these two "drives." I'm only just spit-balling by the way, not trying to say anything definitive. However, I do think that while we tend to objectify and cathect onto things like "the intellect", resisting this tendency can have some positive effects. For instance, the intellect not as an object but simply as the energetic receiving of information and apperceptions, and transmitting of new formulations or representations, might reappropriate "the intellect" not as something total and whole, something consistently achieving a new sum of its parts, but as an amorphous and malleable energy. We can't always recall everything we've learned, this is simply one of the flaws of consciousness. My bookshelf is loaded with texts I've read and can barely summarize in a cogent manner; but I can recall which texts deal with what topics, and roughly in what way, and can generally call upon them to cite them if need be, aiding me in the formulation of my own (hopefully unique) argument.
Forgetting is part of what it means to be a human subject. I don't concern myself when I find my "mind" or "intellect" not providing me with the stimulation it typically does, or that I desire. The "I" is not a resevoir that collects and preserves what falls into it, but is more of a filter through which various stimuli and data pass. We can't retain all of this, or even what we choose/wish to. Our positions and perspectives are constantly changing, even if we strive (sometimes irrationally) to preserve them.
Zephyrus
Tyrants and Slaves
I think the best analogy is this one: the hard drive is fine. It's the RAM that has gotten morbidly low. Another way to put it is my mind is stuck in 1st or 2nd gear and it can't shift to 4th and 5th. I realize that the nature of mind, like all reality, is in a state of flux and evolution, and know full well that if I come out of this I will be a different person than what I am now and what I was before. I embrace that. The frustration is that I can't process a book I'm reading or a show I'm watching with nearly the same depth and breadth that I did before.
Yes, it could be the allure of Platonism that leads me to reify, if not divinize Intellect as a static, creative, demiurgic force.
But your Freudian analysis is compelling, though in a way you may not have intended. I have always been primarily sexually driven and thought of my intellectual life as a counterbalance to my private lusts. Now it feels like I've lost both parts of my life and now there's nothing left. They had always influenced one another and now I don't know what to think because thinking is incredibly hard.
Though there's hope. I grasped most of the gobbledeegook you just vomited onto the page and am responding to it coherently (though due to my obsession, it's natural that I can speak at length about this). Then again, I just went for a grueling run and my mind always works best when the post-workout endorphins are pumping.
Yes, it could be the allure of Platonism that leads me to reify, if not divinize Intellect as a static, creative, demiurgic force.
But your Freudian analysis is compelling, though in a way you may not have intended. I have always been primarily sexually driven and thought of my intellectual life as a counterbalance to my private lusts. Now it feels like I've lost both parts of my life and now there's nothing left. They had always influenced one another and now I don't know what to think because thinking is incredibly hard.
Though there's hope. I grasped most of the gobbledeegook you just vomited onto the page and am responding to it coherently (though due to my obsession, it's natural that I can speak at length about this). Then again, I just went for a grueling run and my mind always works best when the post-workout endorphins are pumping.
Dak
mentat
As an aspiring Psychiatrist/Psychologist, one whose only Psych teacher thus far was an avid Freudian, I think Freud was mostly garbage.
Stress is generally the natural response to the divide between expectations and reality, the more unrealistic and rigid the expectations the worse the stress. Stress leads to all sorts of problems, and the "Death spiral" of worry feeding more stress is not uncommon, as the worry focuses on the divide and not on aligning expectations with reality.
I don't think it has much to do with the phallus except in a tangential relation, as our sexual worth is most often tied up with our general self worth, particularly where ever we happen to perceive our strengths. An athlete would be less sexually confident upon failing an athletic test, the academic upon failing an exam.
Stress is generally the natural response to the divide between expectations and reality, the more unrealistic and rigid the expectations the worse the stress. Stress leads to all sorts of problems, and the "Death spiral" of worry feeding more stress is not uncommon, as the worry focuses on the divide and not on aligning expectations with reality.
I don't think it has much to do with the phallus except in a tangential relation, as our sexual worth is most often tied up with our general self worth, particularly where ever we happen to perceive our strengths. An athlete would be less sexually confident upon failing an athletic test, the academic upon failing an exam.
Einherjar86
Active Member
I was waiting for you to reply. 
A big part of Freud's ideas has to do with language and word play (which is why he loved jokes), and I think a large part of the tie-in between his theory and sexuality has to do with how we commonly talk about things. For instance, the quotes I made above in reference to the intellect could also be used, almost word for word, for the phallus. I would say that the connection becomes real as soon as the subject realizes the analogue between phrasings.
A big part of Freud's ideas has to do with language and word play (which is why he loved jokes), and I think a large part of the tie-in between his theory and sexuality has to do with how we commonly talk about things. For instance, the quotes I made above in reference to the intellect could also be used, almost word for word, for the phallus. I would say that the connection becomes real as soon as the subject realizes the analogue between phrasings.
Dak
mentat
And houses are built because nails fuck wood. In the previous post I gave examples of athletes and academics. Another analogy would be someone whose self worth was tied directly to his/her sexual prowess. Failure to perform up to his/her expectations in bed would render a similar crisis to Zephs (academic). Freud focused on the phallus as a sexually minded person over academic or athletic, even if his prowess was not of personal concern. There are even different sorts of prowess within those respects. Equate that to "subgenre".
Einherjar86
Active Member
King Richard
Hello there
