What demotivates me from going out into the world.

I feel that part of the culture in the United States is wired and geared towards working. We work to live instead of live to work. I feel it should be much more than that. I feel like working is great, but is it really necessary to work so much? It feels like work is an unintentional idle in our lives. Can’t we work for four to five hours a day with a very lenient schedule that makes enough money to pay for the cost of living and the possibility to easily afford materialistic luxuries? This is a world I would definitely love to take pride in and would feel honored to participate and be a conforming member. As of the moment it saddens me that it’s hard to find a job, it’s difficult to hold a job, the cost of living is expensive, the cost of education is expensive, and i suppose medical expenses can also be very costly. It’s no wonder people often feel like slaves of a tiring and demanding system. If I could I would love to reinvision the system. I would love to enjoy more liberties, like a more regulation-free transportation system where we don’t need to pay for mandatory insurance, have low maintenance costs, extremely low fuel costs , maybe unmandatory registration, and any other unnecessary legal actions; perhaps more  personal freedoms like walking to the corner store in my boxers or if interested skinny dipping in my own backyard without having to care if anyone is bothered by it; having the ability to create a business with little to no costs with unnecessary regulations; perhaps having the ability to choose if I want to give back to the community by paying taxes; maybe even the freedom to easily join a profession, educational, protection or research institution regardless of bureaucratic systems or meeting certain requirements so that I could learn by experience. These are a few ideas I can think of as of the moment. If the nation operated like this, I would feel very motivated to get out into the world and do amazing things with my life aside from the feeling of working away my life at a potential career, business or even relying on investments. As of now, such luxury would only be a reality in my own thoughts. It seems I have no choice but to conform to be what seems to me as an unjust system (of various potentially unnecessary laws that who knows created or relative to what political purpose) and find a way to survive in such a business oriented and government regulated world. I can only dream the future will be different and much better. Until then, I’ll keep thinking and dreaming.

... I guess it's the idea of what can be, compared to what is, for what it can become...

Possible Changes to our Current Education System

Education is by far the most important things we can pass on to the oncoming generation. That being said, I feel educational institutions are declining in educational standards. Therefore, upon studying and learning sociology, I came across a part in my sociology textbook that I wanted to share about how to create a better modern educational system and what I would add to it.

1. Create smaller schools such that any given school would have a student body of several hundred rather than thousands.

2. Assign each student to an adult who has the time to talk with the student in order to provide an adult mentor to serve as a significant other and role model. 

3. Encourage small groups of students to work together to solve problems. Students would help one another as equals rather than slower students being placed in a separate group. This would mean tracking would be abolished. 

4. Organize teachers into teams with authority to revise schedules and curriculum; place control of curriculum back into the local school’s hands. 

5. Support student volunteer work in the community. Research findings suggest that students benefit academically and socially when they participate in efforts such as keeping highways picked up and serving Thanksgiving to the homeless.  

6. Involve parents in their child’s schooling. Research findings suggest that parental involvement would be beneficial to students. 

7. Have a strong basic core emphasizing reading, writing, arithmetic, and science for all students (I probably would also introduce philosophy {moral/ethics}).

8. Instigate a system of discipline and order that is perceived fair. 

9. Create a smaller class size which would allow the teachers to give more attention to each student, spot students that were experience difficulties in a subject area and get them help to master particular concept in order to build on that one and then go on to the next level of learning. 

10. Have committed teachers who like what they are doing and dedicate their time , energy and knowledge to the education of students. 

These are my additional ideas:

11. Have classes of familiar students that can learn, grow and progress in their education levels together. Doing this will create a sense of family or unity as students progress to different grade levels. 

12. Have a large mix of institutions to choose from, such as a multiple track school system (trade schools) or a single track school system. 

13. Allow for more student hands-on or real profession experience or new creative teaching methods. 

14. Allow for a more lenient-regulated or professional-expected environment.  

15. Provide students with rewards (or maybe even cash rewards). Also offer rewards for those students that help and encourage other students (students who take the role of a leader).

Source of literature: Seventh edition, Sociology by Adrian Rapp and Lynda Dodgen. 

My Personal Belief On Religion

Being that I am of the Roman Catholic and of Cristian faith, I will discuss on behalf of this religion. Foremost, I will have to say my mother is a catholic extremist; therefore, I’ve seen my own religion from multiple perspectives. A casual person, who I will refer to a laid back person, or a person of comfort faith. I would say sees this religion as more of a hobby or a tool. Seeing a person of full faith, which would be an example of that similar to a priest, is more like a living representation of the bible. I will also conclude that this person is very pacifistic, biblical, insightful and is easy to talk to and relate for advice. The extremist on the other hand, like my mom, lives on a hypocritical, confrontational, controversial and erratic level of faith and worship. Extremists see religion as a confrontation, a literal translation, and very condemning to those who do not believe as they do. That being said, I have my own different views on religion. Part of this has to do with my philosophy of life. If I may, I would like to state that if there’s a possibility to go to heaven, I believe it will be achieved by ethical association and behavior. Another way to state this would be to treat others accordingly and behave in a peaceful, rational, and in harmonious way with others; in my own words, do what is right and common sense and for the balance of social harmony. I think this is being defined as an ethicalist, much like the teachings of one of my favorite philosophers Confucius. Moreover, I personally believe there is the possibility of a God and the possibility of dyeing and becoming nonexistent. The reason for this is because I adhere to my scientific view of life. I share a scientific view for the reason that people, when they’re born, have to be taught religion. They aren’t born with it. Therefore, people have to in a sense learn life on their own without understanding their purpose, why they exist or grasp the concept of what is reality and life beyond death. Moving on, I also believe that God is everywhere and not in just the church. I see the church as a place of worship and a place for rituals in adoration of God. Nevertheless understanding the Judaic origins, the old testament, the changes in the church’s history (power and social control), I have concluded that it’s not the all-inclusive way to define oneself and be one with the creator; therefore, I respect the church and it’s values and traditions. If i may add, I also enjoy participation in the church, because it gives me a sense of peace, unity, tradition I can relate to and a sense of being in a place that makes me feel closer to the creator. I also have a large admiration for the bible. I want to include that I believe the bible should be something everyone should read, regardless of religion or if one believes in God or not. The bible offers many lessons that people in society can heavily benefit from, let-alone learn from history and not repeat likewise mistakes. Moving on, I see religion, as somewhat of a crutch one often needs in life. I think it’s proper to experience life for oneself with a union with the divine and not in life long dedication for divinity. The reason I state this is because the purpose of free will, given to us as stated in the bible, would be meaningless if we had to live to worship a God. I would also like to include that one should still include God in their lives regardless if they believe he exists or not, because God is the embodiment and representation of what's good and righteous. In addition, controversially, the bible itself is incomplete and reveals very little detail of the origins of humanity. I believe by understanding humanity’s origins we will have further knowledge on our purpose in life, a greater understanding of reality and life after death.

However, referring to the question, I don’t think I would change anything about my religion or any religion for that matter. I personally believe by changing a religion or the way one conducts rituals in their religion would change or alter the view of a religion which I believe could lead to secularization. I prefer a religion to preserve and cherish tradition. By doing so, I believe it creates a foundation for an ancient and traditional aesthetic which moves and changes people; or defined in the book, reinstitutionalizes and gives meaning to others. 

My Answers and Things I've learned in Philosophy Groups

These are my quotes, answers, things I have learned and shared within the philosophical groups.

What is our purpose in life? "Our manifest purpose in life, aside from religious creationist views, is to survive, multiply and consume. On a more psychological and personal level, it's my belief that life is about experiences, memories, and abilities."

"It's my belief that philosophy is limited to intelligence and perhaps creativity."

"There are three types of minds I've self-defined and encountered so far, scientific, religious, spiritualist, conspiratorial or irrational."

"Supposedly with our mind sets (because i think the same way you do), it's best to do what we love. Once we are happy in doing what we love, we shall remain happy. Perhaps in this happiness we should find that special someone who we can share the rest of our lives with."

"If I may, the basis of Japanese culture comes down to personal moral and ethical disciplines. Such as the teaching of Buddha. It advocates humility, harmony, and prosperity. However, the Western way of thinking is very much different without emphasis on personal moral and ethical disciplines, instead it derives from Judaic-based values."

“Why is there many people emphasizing anarchy as the best way to eliminate crime? I understand without crime there is free will; however, everyone would be subjected to the lawlessness of others. The following ideologies would be: the strong will survive and the weak will die, the most powerful family, clans, or religion will rule, and if we advance to the ideology in WWII, there will be a fight for racial superiority.  The least case scenario would be that human-kind would lose intelligence because of a lack of education resulting in going back into a primitive state of thinking. In addition, there would never be peace and human advancement. Knowing this cycle, having no laws is not the way to go.”

What makes an action moral? "If I may refer to the original post, what makes an action moral, is possibly the ability to know if an action is done with the basis of knowing what is right and wrong. Knowing what is right and wrong is done through the basis of reasoning and logic."

Morality. Subjective or objective? "I believe it's objective; however, it depends on culture.
(further explanation) I personally believe that basing things on emotion is a terrible decision. Instead, things should be done through logic. For example: if you fight with you father and you decide to leave out of rage; you have made a decision based on emotion. However, if you fight with your father and understand how being enraged isn't going to do any good and so you decide to cool down; you have made a decision based on logic. In relation to the original post, I believe morality (principles concerning the distinction between right and wrong or good and bad behavior) can be objective because it seems to have a truth value (or methods of which can be true); however, it also seems to be subjective because not everyone agrees with the same ideas. In conclusion, morality, to me, seems to be objective, however it can also be subjective. Therefore, it's left for a person's personal interpretation. If I may rephrase or translate this into English, I would state that morality can be objective because it's something that is true to everyone; however, it is also subjective because it can also be left for one's personal opinion or ideas that others can agree on."

Is prostitution ethically wrong? even in the society where the prostitution is legal? Yes or No? Please give your idea on this problem! "Morally, it is wrong; however, that does not mean it's not ethical. If I may state my political opinion, it's my opinion that prostitution should be legalized, however only inside brothels. All brothels and public servants should be cared for properly and presented with mandatory health checks. All brothels should stay away from city limits or at least from locations where children are present. The reason I think brothels should be legalized is because: 1. Brothels will allow for females to provide with services that are healthy and offer protection. 2. It helps eliminate crime and cleans up the atmosphere from an environment. 3. It allows single men who want to actively seek companionship to have a healthy, clean, and protected environment for female services. 4. It reduces unwanted pregnancy. 5. It will help reduce violence against woman. 6. It allows females to be in an institution in which they can find help (or even religion) if they so desire. 7. Allowing brothels will reduce the amount of females who turn towards this way of life. 8. Prostitution has been around throughout history, it seems like common sense that it's not going away. Therefore, it seems justifiable to legalize it and place it in a remote location where it won't be a problem. By doing this it seems prostitution which is essentially immoral can have a place in society where it does not pose a problem or further influence to society; thus, in conclusion, creating a more moral-safe and ethical environment."

Is saving a frog that's being chased by a snake moral? "I think there's not really an answer to this question aside from personal opinion. If you let the frog go, it may have it's chance or otherwise be consumed. This is nature. If you save the frog. It's like divine intervention. This just means the frog gets to live another day. Morality seems to have no meaning in this question, because there's no right or wrong."
(an inspired post) "Is the question here about whether intervention in this scenario is moral..or is it about the guilt involved in the desire to effect because you can." - gearoid macGabhann


 Is the United States of America a free nation? If not which nation is actually free? What is a free nation? “Referring to the original post, it's my personal opinion that I believe Asian counties have the most freedom. There's more emphasis on happiness and living a happy and personalized life style. However, being that Westerners don't look Asian, might not speak the language or understand their culture, it's less likely that you'll be welcomed to permanently live there.
It's also my opinion that when there is emphasis on freedom to a country, then it's possible the country isn't really free because a truly free country doesn't need to question or even consider their freedom, it's something that should seem or feel natural.”

Can murder be justified?
"This can be debatable. I personally believe that it'll never be justifiable because it is immoral. I also believe that something of this nature has a scientific explanation and solution. That being said, I would like to state that even though I personally disagree, this can be highly debatable. An example is: If there was a tyrannical king that was causing it's kingdom to suffer, and there's nothing an ordinary citizen can do about it, then murder for the greater good of the people could be considered justifiable."

"Perhaps anarchy would be a considerable form of government if people were to have personal ethics and moral disciplines, much like Asian cultures."

"I asked my dad many years ago 'what do you do, dad' and he told me he was a philosopher. So I said to him 'oh, say something philosophical then' and he replied. I can't just say something out of the blue like that, I have to think about it first. So are we philosopher when we answer with such speed, or are we just commentators voicing an opinion? As far as I can see philosophy asks more questions than it answers and really does not, or is not supposed to, offer up any solutions for how could there be solutions to anything in an ever changing and evolving world.  “Sometimes great philosophical concepts need a kick in the butt. Therefore, I think it's great to think about an idea first, as you stated, but better to come up with questions that could lead us to think further. In conclusion there is no right or wrong answer to philosophize, aside from answering out of ignorance.”

Dear philosophers, what does it mean to be civilized? Are we truly civilized?
Why is it so easy to fuck things up? Why is it so hard to unfuck things up?
Me: "Well, if you thought about not f^cking things up then there could have been a good chance that you wouldn't of f*cked things up. Sounds to me like consequence; "look before you leap". Unless you are referring to the difficulty of redemption, forgiveness or the idea of second chances."
Budos Budos Gali:"I don't think people intentionally fuck things up. I think people really try to not fuck things up but lets honest people fuck up things often. A mistake here, an error there."
Me: "It's my opinion that life is about decision, it's up to us to make the right ones. In the long run, you'll f!ck things up less or not as bad. The only drawback, life isn't as fun. :T"  (1 like)
Budos Budos Gali: "The tough decisions are bitch though! And like you said, what about second chances. Think about how rarely life gives second chances."
Me: "Hmmm. Tough decisions, like the story of bloody hands. I guess it comes down to making a decision using morals. However, it is true that life rarely gives you second chances; therefore, I think it's best not to f&ck up. XD" (1 like)

Image: Anchoring, mental accounting, confirmation and hindsight bias, gambler’s fallacy, herd behavior, overconfidence, overreactions and available bias, loss aversion (prospect theory) You are not rational.
"Referring to your image, I think this is very interesting, I personally think we determine our level of rationality; that is, if we understand/ self-perceive rationality."


If there is no God, hope of after-life and reward after death, then why do we strive to do good? If beleif in God brings out the virtues and fine qualities in those that beleive and makes them to live peaceably with one another, then i think the belief in God is worth letting be. or what do you think?
“Referring to the original post, my belief is we should not do good in seek of reward for the after-life, but to do good out of oblation for humanity. To me, it seems rather selfish to only do good for the personal endeavor reach of heaven. I see more reward in humanity having to do good to keep peace and harmony in society and to further gain working with each other to grow in technological advancement and further exploration.”


If one day you find yourself in darkness,remain calm and do not be frightened.
Pull up a chair and talk to it awhile,for it can teach you what it means to be enlightened.
“Your statement seems to have a deeper meaning. For the most part it seems to me that you're telling us to look at a situation differently in recognition to learn from it, rather than react. Perhaps it depends on the situation in which you should know when to react or not react at tall. Moreover, it seems like common sense when things are at their worst that being calm and re-examining the solution to a situation is a logical action. While understanding one's logic of action oppose to a normal reaction (something an average minded individual would do), one can examine and learn from oneself.”


Hey tell me if my assumption is correct- The majority of the population is merely "spending time" on this planet, right? And only a limited population is actually doing something that takes humanity to the next levels.
“Referring to the original post, people seem to be measly spending time on this planet; however, they are doing so in their own little world; even though in reality they are working in a political machine. Most have no clue what is really actually happening around them, nor do they care, like a mole living underground. Nevertheless, perhaps it cannot be helped. Those who want to make an influence in life look at life differently than others. They want to experience life by playing by their own rules and to seek purpose from a life in which possibly has no meaning. I say seeking or creating a meaning for life is what life is truly about.”

"The limits of my world are the limits of my language" - Wittgenstein
"I would like to disagree with Wittgenstein's statement. I think the limits of my world are limited to my creativity and knowledge, as well as the ability to communicate effectively with others. That is, if I'm referring to the same philosophical concept as Wittgensteins."

Why suicide is immoral/illegal/cowardly act or a sin ??
“It is immoral, because you take the idea of death into your own hands. As if deciding your own fate. It is immoral, because of the sadness and grief it may cause, because your acting out of emotion, and you're failing to find a solution in which you can turn your life around. For further advice, the solution is to look inside yourself, find out what is making yourself unhappy and use it to change one's life. If all fails, look to reinvent your life and start over new with a new identity.”


Is is possible to do nothing...?
“By doing nothing, you're doing something. XD”
so does nothing exist?
“Apparently so. XD”
“Perhaps nothing is a stationary state of unchange.”
“If I may maybe contradict myself for the sake of provoking thought, if something is nothing, yet is something, then the reality of the matter is that everything is constantly changing. Therefore, a state of unchange is not true. Therefore, in a contradictory conclusion nothing could be something making the objective "nothing" non existent; therefore, nothing doesn't exist.”



Is it a silly waste of time, money, and temper to advocate for peace when we know war and conflict is inevitable? (is War and bloody conflict inevitable?)
“I personally believe peace is possible; however, civility and rationality needs to be achieved first. It can be achieved by the use of moral and ethics. This must be done on a personal level, social level, and governing level.”



If there is no supreme being, will evil ever be held accountable?
“Referring to the original post, if there's no supreme being, then no, "evil" would not be held accountable. It would be left to the idea of attaining justice by human intervention.”


Why is there something rather than nothing?
The reason there is something rather than nothing is because there's something out there we don't fully understand. Perhaps beyond the scope of theoretical astronomy or understanding of dimensions, we could find an answer. As for the human race, I can state that there is nothing, with nothing something. To break this more down, we exist without purpose, and without purpose we create purpose.

Is our universe real?
I would assume so, but it's uncertain. Hume messed with my head on this one. I guess the real question is what is the purpose of a universe. Perhaps understanding it's existence or how we came to be will help us understand if it's real.

Do we have free will?
Noticing the patterns of personalities and our human nature, there's very subtle differences in every human being. I question if we actually have free will or it's part of our neural programming. Nevertheless, one thing is certain humans are spontaneous creatures.

Does God exist?
I often come back to this question. According to the biblical scripts (old testament, book of Enoch, the Torah, the Koran..etc.) which dates as far back as humanity can remember to tell of the beginning, it's a possibility in which god exists. Nevertheless, looking at the structure of nature, the planet, and our primitive to current evolution, it seems to act as if it was without. I guess what makes me think more is the question what is god? Is he a supreme creator/ entity, extraterrestrial, or dimensional entity. According to the old testament, he seems to be all these things. Nevertheless, noticing the different attitudes he has in the bible, it seems there are two versions, maybe three version of him. One as the creator, one as the lamb (gentle, kind, and loving), and one of the lion (wrath, justice, and promise). The question of god's existence will remain an unsolved one until or if he returns.

Is there life after death?
I would like to think so, I mean the only evidence we have for a scientific analysis over life after death is the fact we lose a significant amount of energy and weight after we die. And no, it's no because we poo ourselves after we cross over. According to most biblical and ancient manuscripts, there is a life after death; the most being insightful is the Tibet book of the dead.
I like the idea that you judge yourself without knowing it as you experience your death's sequence to another form of life.
I would also like to mention that we shouldn't rule out the idea that when we die, we cease to exist. An idea like that may seem irrelevant considering the universe reuses whatever it creates. Still something to consider, however.

Can you really experience anything objectively?
Everything that i have experience seems to be subjective; nevertheless, that's just me being broke. I can't say we should place our thoughts on experiencing everything objectively because down to the molecular level we don't fully understand what keeps thing together (don't fully understand what makes a solid a solid or why things have a magnetic field in which we think keeps things together).

What is the best moral system?
There was a philosopher, I forgot his name(could have been John Locke), but he thought the best moral system was an evident moral system; pretty much meaning every man for himself. Taking that into consideration it seems the best moral philosophy would indeed be an evident moral philosophy. Nevertheless, with an evident moral guide everyone would be individualistic and barbaric; nevertheless, humans were made to be social creatures; therefore, rules for harmonizing a society would be needed. Now i would like to express my personal beliefs on the best moral philosophy for governing. With an evident moral philosophy, everyone is self-governing, they also have the moral justification that they should do things to keep order and harmony between others. In other words, every person is free to do what they want but within boundaries of harmony of each other as describe by understanding the Analects known by great, and my personal favorite, philosopher Confucius.
In addition a world dictated by common sense (rules of natural order) and the rule/idea to do good or to do what's right would be the only two moral systematic blueprints one would need to understand a peaceful way of living with others. To fully understand what I’m saying you need to understand Confucius’s and John Locke's philosophical views.
If not this governing system the next best governing system would simply be a republic. A bunch of people come up with proposition, elect a representatives, and the representatives can narrow down what it is that the people want to achieve and come to an agreement. A complete democracy doesn't work because it's still chaos as a collage of people try to all work together to come to an agreement.

What are numbers?
Numbers are a simple representation of objects we perceive that exists.

Eliana Hoffman: How important should sex be in our society? Does sex have a deeper purpose than pleasure and procreation?
Me: ... This is a heated thread.
Relating to the question, I don't think sex should have an active role in society; however, there should be a necessary tolerance for sex as it is human nature. I also don't think sex has a greater purpose unless we create it to have a greater purpose otherthan pleasure and procreation. If I may, by society's standards, such a role would most likely be considered immoral due to cultural values. From a human nature or biological standpoint, it seems only useful for procreation purposes. Controversially, there aren't any rules for procreation aside from that which man creates, so technically there are no rules unless you follow rules made by institution, culture or oneself. Nonetheless, I think perhaps rules for common sense or the use of ethics is necessary for the safety or function of society.


I advise this question is highly suggestive and should be skipped due to it's erotic nature.
 Megan M.: Should it be okay for friends to share sexual or questionable experiences? Should it be normal for friends who are both the same or not the same sex to share intimate interactions or bath together?
Me: The right thing to do would be to avoid any form of arousal that could lead to sexual intent or indecent behavior. However, controversially I believe perhaps with moral personal boundaries, sincerity, proper self-discipline, personal comfort or consent it should perhaps be okay. By this I mean, I think maybe it should be allowed if both individuals respect and do not over step their personal boundaries or positions of what is consensual. For example, bathing with each other and washing each other's backs. However, if they do over step their boundaries and it becomes sexual I personally believe it should be limited to touch or oral activity only. It's my belief that penetration should be reserved strictly for marriage.

Dreaming About Video Games in the Distant Future

Imagine video games in the future. Where a head device can allow you to actually be in the game subconsciously. Being able to do anything you want within the game's or dreamer's universe. Imagine an online community all in your mind, where you can play and compete against friends, family, and strangers . No controller, console, or television needed. Now imagine that in this interactive dream world you can have the ability to create anything and design anything you desire. If you want, you can save it in a computer format and be able to transfer the imagined thoughts to consoles or even to a hyper reality hologram world stations (like the holodeck in star trek). Perhaps even more, utilizing further futuristic technology to create physical objects or environments regardless of scale.

My Guide to Becoming a Free Thinker:

1. Understand yourself. Understand the idea and meaning of civility, rationality, and being honest/truthful. Understand why you think the way you think. Does it come from culture? Is it a byproduct of subculture? Is it influenced by a form of institution (Religion, Economics, Government, Family, or Education)?
2. Understand morals(what is right and wrong), ethics, which will later allows you to gain self-wisdom.
3. Learn to think for one's self. Begin to question everything.
In a political environment it's proper to look at both sides and determine which one is moral based on one's opinion and understand why. Understand your history and how things work (or get a factual idea of how things work). It's best to never take political sides in the beginning until you fully understand the underline motives of a political side. When looking at political decisions know or try to understand the short term motives and the long term motives (or effects of the short term motives) of a situation.Personally, I often decided to start by taking sides with the person who everyone is against and understand the reason why. It seems common in history the political side that has the most undesirability and is hated is often correct. Next, I try to prove which side is right where I also try to see how much it is wrong. When I find out which side is morally correct, I will take the morally correct side; if none are correct, I will take my own side. It's proper to not stay with one side if they become more and more morally incorrect.
4. Find questions and research them. Research is the basis in which knowledge develops and expands. Research is the gateway to understanding and avoiding the unnecessary. If no answer can be found, then: 1. Break down the question into separate achievable questions. 2. Ask the very basics/fundamentals of a question and work your way up to answering your main questions.
5. Learn to critically analyze. The fulfilling time to analyze something, I found, is during the process of beginning to sleep or wake up.
6. Most will not understand this. It's wise not completely ignore conspiracy. Instead use it as selective information. All information is valuable, even if it's false. When seeking conspiracy, never take it personally and do not take action on a conspiracy's behalf. Use the conspiracy as a reference or tool and not a guide. Hopefully by utilizing conspiracies, conspiratorial topics can become more widely discussed and even perhaps used to prevent possible negative outcomes or results.
7. Learn history, psychology, sociology, philosophy and perhaps maybe theology to expand your level of knowledge.
8. Learn to read body language. It's useful and fun to read books on this subject. You will find yourself using a tool you never knew ever existed. Lean mico expressions, body language, deductive reasoning, and lie detection. In addition, learn the art of deception (much like ninjas) and strategy (story of five rings).
9. Become financially independent. I have concluded by becoming financially stable, I could learn to feel free to express myself openly with anyone. Do this by finding ways to create assets through residual and passive income streams. One can also research dividend reinvesting plans for investing.
7. Try new things, look at life differently, be compassionate and humble, and be respectful to those who are wrong and those who are ignorant. As time passes, perhaps you will find yourself wiser than those around you or seeking others with a vast array of knowledge you can learn from.
8. Do everything your own way. There are no objective rules. It is important to be self motivated; therefore, do things yourself. The steps above are tools for free thinking. Understanding the world around oneself and understanding how everything functions, one has a better understanding of how they can help and teach the world.
9. Ask yourself questions. Ask yourself questions and build upon the knowledge you know and do not know.

Old and Possibly Useless Government/ Political Ideas.

August 4, 2013

Could be an interesting idea or it's just that I have no idea what I’m writing about. 

(Caution, it's unedited.) 

My idea of evolving modern government.

Living by government party philosophy/lifestyle while allowing federal government and local government to be bipartisan.

Republicans live like republicans, democrats live like democrats, and any other political party lives by their own political standard. Federal government takes care of a unified education system, foreign affairs, and a federal funding pool which covers infrastructure and necessary agencies. The government is kept relatively small.

(maybe) The pool fund is a funding system in which is completely transparent, where average citizens who really need funding can get the funding they want with proof of receipts (also provided evidence by a surveyor after the money is spent to make sure the funding was used properly), small businesses can get the funding they desire, and government can fund agencies throughout the government or use a small portion of the funding for government or science and developmental purposes.

Going back to the first paragraph, republicans take care of republicans and democrats take care of democrats. If a person desires something the other party has, then they have to make a choice to make a change in political parties. In conclusion, it’s a government based on life styles and philosophy. If they don’t like either party they can create a new party. Furthermore, both Federal and Local governments are bipartisan and have to work with all parties to make laws that are evenly applied to all party’s or that just affect their own party. Furthermore, the constitution is the foundation of all parties.

Taxes are done through local governments. Maybe some of it can go into federal government through local governments.

Perhaps there should be a limit ( I would say four) to government parties, because of funding.

The idea is to satisfy everyone so that they can feel inspired to do something in life. In other words happiness inspires flexibility and productivity.

(For democratic view) If they become lazy or comfortable then perhaps they should be assigned a job. If they want what others have, then they should save their money, discuss to their political party members, or change parties.

(For republicans) Since I see they take a self-initiative in life, then perhaps their biggest outreach is becoming too wealthy. Therefore, they should acknowledge free choice to help out others.

Political party leaders in local government are the same as federal party leaders. Local government is bipartisan only. 

(Another idea; I like this idea) Say an environmental group pushes to go green. Both party’s discuss what they want to do. They have to come up with a unanimous voted decision. If the decision effects civilian life style, then they discuss amongst their party’s on what they want to do. Example, if you’re a democrat and it affects democratic lifestyle, then it’s not bipartisan; therefore, you’re subjected to your political party. It’s a separation of being bipartisan and political idea lifestyle. The parties can choose to work together if it’s not civilian involved or if subjected to civilian lifestyle, they can make rules for their political party.   The structure is like this:

Federal government = bipartisan cooperation or work (make solutions) within one’s party.

Local government = bipartisan cooperation only.

This new system of government operates like our current government; however, it allows flexibility in determining political party life styles and choices in government.

It is a government based on political beliefs and lifestyle along with bipartisan cooperation. 

Part 2

(Adding this for no reason) There should be a government education system along with an entrepreneurial educations system.

There should be another branch in the government that searches for fraud and corruption. It should also investigate conspiracies and prove them wrong. This agency can be best understood as a limitless investigative branch that can have no influence from any other part of the government and can only be employed by average citizens, police officials, and military personal. By limitless, I mean it can easily obtain top secret information permitted by a judge. It is against the law to stonewall this agency if there is an ongoing investigation in another department of the government in which seems to be ling or purposely stonewalling investigators. In regards to the present investigation at the IRS, they are allowed to obtain any documents desired.  

Another idea, which would mostlikely be a very unpopular idea among democrats, people who have low wage jobs should be given welfare instead of obtaining it directly. Keep in mind it's just an idea, I don't fully agree to it. 

::I'll delete this note whenever I get around to it.::

Treasures in Psychology

Behavioral Self-Management — A Rewarding Project

(From Introduction to Psychology Gateways to Mind and Behavior)

Gateway Question: How does conditioning apply to practical problems?

Would you like to exercise more, attend more classes, cut down on smoking, concentrate longer, or read more books? This is an invitation to carry out a self-management project of your own. As such, this could be the start of one of the most personal applications of psychology in this book.

Self-Managed Behavior

The principles of operant conditioning can be adapted to manage your own behavior (Martin & Pear, 2007; Watson & Tharp, 2007). Here’s how:

1. Choose a target behavior. Identify the activity you want to change.

2. Record a baseline. Record how much time you currently spend performing the target activity or count the number of desired or undesired responses you make each day.

3. Establish goals. Remember the principle of shaping and set realistic goals forgradual improvement on each successive week. Also, set daily goals that add up to the weekly goal.

4. Choose reinforcers. If you meet your daily goal, what reward will you allow yourself ? Daily rewards might be watching television, eating a candy bar, socializing with friends, listening to your iPod, or whatever you enjoy. Also establish a weekly reward. If you reach your weekly goal, what reward will you allow yourself ? A movie? A dinner out? Some time playing a game like Guitar Hero? A weekend hike?

5. Record your progress. Keep accurate records of the amount of time spent each day on the desired activity or the number of times you make the desired response.

6. Reward successes. If you meet your daily goal, collect your reward. If you fall short, be honest with yourself and skip the reward. Do the same for your weekly goal.

7. Adjust your plan as you learn more about your behavior. Overall progress will reinforce your attempts at selfmanagement. If you have trouble thinking of rewards, remember that anything done often can serve as reinforcement. This is known as the Premack principle. It is named after David Premack, a psychologist who popularized its use. For example, if you like to watch television every night and want to study more, make it a rule

not to turn on the set until you have studied for an hour (or whatever length of time you choose). Then lengthen the requirement each week. Here is a sample of one student’s plan:

1.

Target behavior: number of hours spent studying for school.

2.

Recorded baseline: an average of 25 minutes per day for a weekly total of 3 hours.

3.

Goal for the first week: an increase in study time to 40 minutes per day; weekly goal of 5 hours total study time.

Goal for second week: 50 minutes per day and 6 hours per week. Goal for third week:1 hour per day and 7 hours per week. Ultimate goal: to reach and maintain 14 hours per week study time.

4.

Daily reward for reaching goal: 1/2 hour of guitar playing in the evening; no playing if the goal is not met. Weekly reward for reaching goal: going to a movie or buying a DVD.

Self-Recording
Even if you find it difficult to give and withhold rewards, self-recording (keeping records of response frequencies, a form of feedback) can make a difference all by itself. This is because we tend to react to being observed, even when we are the ones watching our own behavior. In general, when you systematically (and honestly) observe yourself, you are more likely to engage in desired behaviors and less likely to perform undesired behaviors (Fireman, Kose, & Solomon, 2003; Watson & Tharp, 2007).

Keep track of the number of times that you exercise, arrive late to class, eat vegetables, smoke a cigarette, study, watch TV, drink a cappuccino, swear, or whatever you are interested in changing. A simple tally on a piece of paper will do, or you can get a small mechanical counter like those used to keep golf scores or count calories. Record keeping helps break patterns, and the feedback can be motivating as you begin to make progress.

Good Ways to Break Bad Habits
Are there any extra tips for breaking bad habits? By using the methods we have discussed, you can decrease unwanted behaviors, such as swearing, biting your nails, criticizing others, smoking, drinking coffee, watching TV too much, or engaging in any other behavior you choose to target. However, breaking bad habits may require some additional techniques. Here are four strategies to help you change bad habits.

Alternate Responses
A good strategy for change is to try to get the same reinforcement with a new response.

Example:

Marta often tells jokes at the expense of others. Her friends sometimes feel hurt by her sharp-edged humor. Marta senses this and wants to change. What can she do? Usually, Marta’s joke telling is reinforced by attention and approval. She could just as easily get the same reinforcement by giving other people praise or compliments. Making a change in her behavior should be easy because she will continue to receive the reinforcement she seeks.

Extinction

Try to discover what is reinforcing an unwanted response and remove, avoid, or delay the reinforcement.

Example:

Fatima has developed a habit of taking longer and longer "breaks" to watch TV when she should be studying. Obviously, TV watching is reinforcing her break taking. To improve her study habits, Fatima could delay reinforcement by studying at the library or some other location a good distance from her TV.

Response Chains

Break up response chains that precede an undesired behavior; this will help break the bad habit. The key idea is to scramble the chain of events that leads to an undesired response (Watson & Tharp, 2007).

Example:

Most nights Ignacio comes home from work, turns on the TV, and eats a whole bag of cookies or chips. He then takes a shower and changes clothes. By dinnertime he has lost his appetite. Ignacio realizes he is substituting junk food for dinner. Ignacio could solve the problem by breaking the response chain that precedes dinner. For instance, he could shower immediately when he gets home, or avoid turning on the television until after dinner.

Cues and Antecedents

Try to avoid, narrow down, or remove stimuli that elicit the bad habit.

Example:

Brent wants to cut down on smoking. He can take many smoking cues out of his surroundings by removing ashtrays, matches, and extra cigarettes from his house, car, and office. Drug cravings are strongly related to cues conditioned to the drug, such as the odor of cigarettes (Lazev, Herzog, & Brandon, 1999). Brent can narrow antecedent stimuli even more. He could begin by smoking only in the lounge at work, never in his office or in his car. He could then limit his smoking to home.

Then to only one room at home. Then to one chair at home. If he succeeds in getting this far, he may want to limit his smoking to only one unpleasant place, such as a bathroom, basement, or garage (Riley et al., 2002).

Contracting

If you try the techniques described here and have difficulty sticking with them, you may want to try behavioral contracting. In a behavioral contract, you state a specific problem behavior you want to control, or a goal you want to achieve. Also state the rewards you will receive, privileges you will forfeit, or punishments you must accept. The contract should be signed by you and a person you trust.

A behavioral contract can be quite motivating, especially when mild punishment is part of the agreement. Here’s a classic example reported by Nurnberger and Zimmerman (1970): A student working on his Ph.D. had completed all requirements but his dissertation, yet for 2 years had not written a single page. A contract was drawn up for him in which he agreed to meet weekly deadlines on the number of pages he would complete. To make sure he would meet the deadlines, he wrote postdated checks. These were to be forfeited if he failed to reach his goal for the week.

The checks were made out to organizations he despised (the Ku Klux Klan and American Nazi Party). From the time he signed the contract until he finished his degree, the student’s work output was greatly improved.

Getting Help

Attempting to manage or alter your own behavior may be more difficult than it sounds.

If you feel you need more information, consult the books listed below. You will also find helpful advice in the Psychology in Action section of Chapter 15. If you do try a selfmodification project but find it impossible to reach your goals, be aware that professional advice is available.

Where to Obtain More Information

Watson, D. L., & Tharp, R. G. (2007). Selfdirected behavior (9th ed.). Belmont, CA: 

Wadsworth.

Martin, G., & Pear, J. (2007). Behavior modification: What it is and how to do it (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Volume 3. from Mind Traveler Time Traveler

Volume 3.

Society

• ·         People have an appreciation for antiques and traditional items. Not only do they have an appreciation, they have the ambition to know everything about the item; like where it came from, who developed it, how was it developed.
• ·         Many of todays and antique conveniences are made in the future. Antiques can also be made to have modern future functionalities.
• ·         There are those who are “unplugged” who are more traditional-naturalists that live without technology. Much like the Indians of today, they either live tribally or with antique technology (like the Amish of today).
• ·         The future is very community oriented. Individuals often walk, eat, sleep, and even bathe together without discrimination of age, gender, race, or religion.
• ·         In the future people are so social that by today’s standard they would be considered obnoxious.
• ·         In society today, we have social limitation and expectation when we present our self to others in public. We often judge others or have the impression that others are judging us. In the future, social interaction is very understanding and open to others. If I may create an example, imagine walking down the street minding your own business, someone eventually walks up to you and start talking to you just to kill time. You then discuss a popular topic and go about your business. Individuals talk with a more emotional, judgment free, and profound level. You automatically feel connected and open to talk about anything and are free to express yourself openly. There is no such thing saying something stupid, awkward, or politically incorrect, because the other person would feel kindly obligated to correct you. You could also feel free to act the way you would like. Furthermore, you engage in a conversation at an emotional level and can truly express yourself.  In addition, when you depart, you never have the need to say goodbye or feel obligated to stay in contact with the other individual. If you wanted to connect with the other individual, you could simply think about him and your PIC would automatically contact him.
• ·         In the future, a single person could be connected with the entire world all at once. An example could be if someone was going to sleep. He or she has the ability to say “goodnight” and synchronously everyone in the entire world knows that he or she has told them “goodnight”. Another idea, aside from one individual could write and send messages to everyone throughout the world all at once, is that a single person can do more than a million conversations worldwide at once using their PIC. In addition to this hive mind idea, people have an individual mind separated from the hive mind of humanity. They can think as an individual or connect with all of humanity and join humanity's hive mind where everyone is in sync with each other at the same time.  

Technology

• ·         There is a controller in the houses of the future that allows people to see, analyze, and remove bacteria/ germs.
• ·         In the future there are beds made of condensed air.
• ·         In the future people can store data in physical gravityless cubes that can hover or be stationary.
• ·         People can capture or store light. They can also amplify or diminish the light. The light can also be shaped.
• ·         There is a gravityless object (I want to refer to it as a toy) in the early future. This feature is also incorporated in the later future on an individual’s PIC. This feature allows them to reach any desirable destination. I can best compare it to being in outer space, but on earth. Some people might design their houses to be more of an ant hill and use this feature to get around.
• ·         Houses can be customized and self-designed. Walls can be shaped and placed anywhere. Furniture can be self-designed and placed anywhere (it can even go through walls). Above else it can be customized with a PIC, presets, or traditional photography/art.
• ·         I have already illustrated this idea, but I would like to add additional ideas. People communicate with their mind, turning writing and readying as an outdated well-kept tradition. They can create and collaborate ideas, images, and music in their mind and share it with others. Nevertheless, there still is a need for privacy.
• ·         Individuals wear clothing and fabrics that are water proof, non-conductive to electricity, and self-cleaning. It cleans itself as air blows onto it. It can also be cleaned as an individual’s dusts themselves off. Furthermore, having this feature for clothing, individuals don’t mind walking in the rain or even swimming with their clothes.
• ·         Not all locations have doors. Sometimes a place allows individuals to pass through any wall; essentially the walls are the doors.
• ·         With PIC people can make their own music with their thoughts and share it with anyone. Individuals can make their own theme songs or humorously parody a situation by using an old song.
• ·         Why don’t individuals teleport everywhere? They can, but it’s not traditional. It’s traditional to walk, fly, drive, and take a boat. Teleportation is more for extremely long distances, such as teleporting to different planets or space stations.
• ·         Compared to today, if an individual is given super powers, there is the possibility that individuals can use and abuse their powers; however, in the future, individuals understand right and wrong and use their technological advances, much like super powers, and use it responsibly.  This feature is main stream among the youth of the future generation; however, there must be consideration for tradition.
• ·         In the future any material can share properties of another substance; such as silicon aluminum, which allows metals to grow, shrink, stretch or bend.
• ·         Objects will be able to be saved in capsules and containers. An example of this is a person can store a cheeseburger  inside a capsule and  whenever he or she pushes the button on the capsule device, a cheese burger will appear. The person can push it down as many times as he or she wants and it will continuously spawn cheeseburgers. This feature replaces rations for the military and helps those who do not have an abundance of goods.
• ·         Dailey objects will either be innovated, improved in performance and speed, or be replaced with the functionality of many objects. An example, such as an oven, can also be a dryer, microwave, traditional home heater, water heater for baths/showers/ fossetts, steam machine (for fabrics, clothes), and furnace.
• ·         Objects can heal themselves; for example: a TV breaks, it begins to dissolve and fizzle before repairing itself.

Government

• ·         Every ten years or so, the government goes through an oversight and recovery cycle in which it looks at its policies, solves issues, and makes sure everything is as proper as it should be.
• ·         In the case of a government conspiracy or civilian voted shutdown, the government can pause functioning and open a full or branch investigation. When they find an issue, it is reported immediately to its civilians and fixed immediately. Both civilians and government can determine the criminality of the situation and hold those responsible and have them trialed.  
• ·         With the possibility of life on other planets, we should regard our solar system as our territory. Other alien civilizations should seek permission and be allowed to visit whenever they want; however, they must acknowledge that they are accessing our territory and should abide by our rules and regulations. If our galaxy isn’t occupied by another civilization then our territory should expand to our galaxy or universe.
• 
  
• These are my ideas on the future. I believe by bringing everyone together, everything and anything is possible. I hope you have enjoyed reading and I hope this journal makes a difference to inspire individuals or open their minds to new possibilities. Thank you.