The Philosophy of Modern Man

[Tobias]

Hey everyone, i stumbled upon something in my freetime, and i wanted everyone to check this out. Its a pretty interesting thing to talk about, and i thought i would like to share it with everyone. And without further ado: I give you an excerpt (sp?) from The Philosophy of Modern Man

An Essay on Negativity:


When you read the title of this essay, you probably said to yourself, one of two reactions. The first would be the positive reaction, which is usually a remark in your mind like, “hmm, I wonder what this is about?” Yet, I guarantee that most of you readers probably are going to go with the second reaction, or the negative reaction, which is either, “not another lecture on negativity,” or “What does he know about negativity?”

Negativity is a common thing amongst the modern man. It is like the Matrix: It is everywhere, and it is nowhere. But this is not the only thing that is a concern of negativity, but how we, as people, naturally flock to negativity, and because of this natural attraction, it causes us to release more negativity. One of the greatest examples is of the common highway commuter. As the commuter travels to work, he sees a beautiful sunset. He keeps on driving, possibly acknowledges it, and possibly puts on sunglasses to keep the sun out of his eyes. Now this same man travels down the highway somewhat more, and sees a four-car pileup. As soon as the commuter sees the accident, he starts to slow down, and to see what is happening. He is concerned with what is happening. Now, this may be a concern of if the people in the accident are OK, but the point that I am making is that in this negative situation, the commuter wants to…no…needs to see the accident. He needs to see the other person’s misfortunes in order to satisfy his curiosity. Now, I mentioned above that the people who flock to the negativity usually produce negativity. Lets go back to our commuter for a second: He slows down, and causes the car behind him to slow down. The car behind him starts to slow down, and now they creating a chain, which is happening in each lane. This chain would be one of the greatest forms of negativity known to man: traffic. From the negativity of the accident, the commuter slows down to witness it. This, in turn, slows up everyone behind the commuter, and puts all of the people behind the commuter in a bad mood. From that one accident, the negativity of everyone behind the accident will usually be raised to a much higher form.

i'll tell everyone about hte author after i get some feedback from it, so enjoy reading it !!!



Edited By Tobias on 1051832817

[Ming]

I like it! But then again, I already read it and gave my feedback...I guess I don't count...

[Tobias]

hey, you count just as much as anyone else in this forum...THX FOR THE FEEDBACK!!!

i just wish that more peope would give more feedback

[BWS-1]

Hmmm, I don't think the author is wrong, I just think he isn't completly right... then again, maybe it's just me being weird. I mean, I use negativity, at a point that I'm fatalistic, but in a good way. In life, whatever doesn't kill you, won't automaticly make you stronger, but at least it will not kill you! That's my motto

Exemple, if I have to go to the dentist, I like to think that they might screw it up and I might end up without a single teeth in my mouth, then, poundering that thought, I imagine how it would be to live without teeth, quite a handicap, true, but at least I get to accept it, because I tell myself that I am alive, and that no matter what, if we don't accept our fate, the time we will remain stubborn against it will be a loss of time, so instead of wasting that time, you better live it, enjoy the moments you are alive.

Now, with all that, I haven got to see the dentist yet! It's all a fate I have imagined in my head, a very negative fate. At some point I will be depressed for the time I imagine it because, even tho it's a lie, I get to beleive in that lie and often end up crying for such a cruel fate (that doesn't exist) but that's for a short time, I don't allow myself to waste my life cursing a fate that doesn't and will probably not exist. Instead, I keep that image in mind, the image of, let's say, no longer having any teeth, and go to the dentist. Now, the positive effects of the fatalistic negative projection will be felt AFTER the rendez-vous at the dentist. Why? Because regardless of how painfull or how awefull it was, it just couldn't be worst then you imagined, and that's enough to bring a smile to your face and make you forget about it instantly!

Now let's see what COULD have happen in the case that the person would have come with a positive approach. The guy waits in the room, he is confident that the operation will go well, then, during the operation, the dentist realizes he needs to remove 4 more teeth, making him unable to chew with the right side of his jaw. The guy is shoked, he remains there in disbeleif, thinks of all the things he will no longer be able to do, it will probably trigger a depression since from that day to the dentist, the idea of being stuck with half a jaw haunts him everyday, affects his work, his social life and his dreams... he'd be lost in "negative negativity".

If the same thing would have happen to the other guy, the one using, what I call, "positive negativity", he would have probably shoke the dentist by telling him with a smile: "what? only 4 teeth? phew!". And instead of thinking of it has an handicap, he would have think of it as an opportunity, because he would see all the things he could do with half of his teeth, compared to the things he wouldn't have been capable of doing with no teeth at all!

Hmmm, maybe what I'm talking about is completly different then what you're talking about, but I understand the author's point.

[Ming]

BWS, I agree with what you're saying, but I think that you example is a bit extreme. Although my experience with these kinds of philosophical things are that you have to deal with the extremes, because they're the hardest to deal with, and spark the most thinking. At any rate, I see where you're coming from. Sometimes the negativity can be used as a sort of cushion to what could possibly happen, and makes the situation "not as bad". But I don't think that was what that essay was about. I think it was about how negativity seems to breed more negativity. But that's just the way I saw it...

~Ming

[Tobias]

I understand your point BWS, but i have to side with ming on this one. i think the author was trying to talk about negativity, and how its able to spread like a bad plauge. Anywho, though, it would of been much more clear if i wouldnt of forgotten the second part of the essay, which talks about the positive man. Next time i get the chance, i'll show everyone that part, but anywho...thats about it from me

that is all

[Righty The Wonder Ghoul]

this sucks, i hate my life, no one understands me, i wish i were dead.

[Tobias]

dood, justin, u ok?

[reaper]

I have no idea whats goin on above me :dozing:

But I think its right but uses negativety in a broad way, the way he put it was more of the violent and brutal nature of people. but then again i supose that is negativ

[Therin]

This is the PM I sent you.

Quote:

hey, dude! I really like your essay! I saw a couple of things that could be changed and thought I would try to help. I hope you don't mind...Anyway, without further ado, I give you the original! Quote: An Essay on Negativity: When you read the title of this essay, you probably said to yourself, one of two reactions. The first would be the positive reaction, which is usually a remark in your mind like, "hmm, I wonder what this is about?" Yet, I guarantee that most of you readers probably are going to go with the second reaction, or the negative reaction, which is either, "not another lecture on negativity," or "What does he know about negativity?" Negativity is a common thing amongst the modern man. It is like the Matrix: It is everywhere, and it is nowhere. But this is not the only thing that is a concern of negativity, but how we, as people, naturally flock to negativity, and because of this natural attraction, it causes us to release more negativity. One of the greatest examples is of the common highway commuter. As the commuter travels to work, he sees a beautiful sunset. He keeps on driving, possibly acknowledges it, and possibly puts on sunglasses to keep the sun out of his eyes. Now this same man travels down the highway somewhat more, and sees a four-car pileup. As soon as the commuter sees the accident, he starts to slow down, and to see what is happening. He is concerned with what is happening. Now, this may be a concern of if the people in the accident are OK, but the point that I am making is that in this negative situation, the commuter wants to…no…needs to see the accident. He needs to see the other person's misfortunes in order to satisfy his curiosity. Now, I mentioned above that the people who flock to the negativity usually produce negativity. Lets go back to our commuter for a second: He slows down, and causes the car behind him to slow down. The car behind him starts to slow down, and now they creating a chain, which is happening in each lane. This chain would be one of the greatest forms of negativity known to man: traffic. From the negativity of the accident, the commuter slows down to witness it. This, in turn, slows up everyone behind the commuter, and puts all of the people behind the commuter in a bad mood. From that one accident, the negativity of everyone behind the accident will usually be raised to a much higher form. and the copy I made changes to. I'll try to explain them, but mostly they just make it sound better, give it better rythm, that sort of thing. Nothing special with regard to syntax or new knowledge. Quote: An Essay on Negativity: When you read the title of this essay, you probably thought to yourself one of two things. The first is the positive reaction, which is usually a remark in your mind like, "hmm, I wonder what this is about?" Yet, I guarantee that most of you readers probably are going to go with the second reaction, or the negative reaction, which is either, "not another lecture on negativity," or "What does he know about negativity?" or some other anti-intelligent waste of neural activity. Negativity is a common thing amongst modern humankind. It is like the Matrix: It is everywhere, and it is nowhere. But this is not the only thing that is a concern of negativity, but how we, as people, naturally flock to negativity, and because of this natural attraction, it causes us to release more negativity. One of the greatest examples is of the common highway commuter. As the commuter travels to work, he sees a beautiful sunset. He keeps on driving, possibly acknowledges it, and possibly puts on sunglasses to keep the sun out of his eyes. Now this same man travels down the highway somewhat farther, and sees a four-car pileup. As soon as the commuter sees the accident, he starts to slow down, and to see what is happening. He does this out of concern, to be sure, but nonetheless, he decelerates. Now, the point that I am making is that in this negative situation, the commuter wants to…no…needs to see the accident. He needs to see the other person's misfortunes in order to satisfy his curiosity. Now, I mentioned above that the people who flock to the negativity usually produce negativity. Lets go back to our commuter for a second: He slows down, and causes the car behind him to slow down. The car behind him starts to slow down, and now they creating a chain, which is happening in each lane. This chain is one of the greatest forms of negativity known to man: traffic. From the negativity of the accident, the commuter slows down to witness it. This, in turn, slows up everyone behind the commuter, and puts all of the people behind the commuter in a bad mood. From that one accident, the negativity of everyone behind the accident will usually be raised to a much higher form. Underline = needs to be revised IMO. Again, all of the stuff I changed or underlined was solely for the purpose of making it sound better, give it better rythm, make it ring. You know? also, you may or may not want to include the occasional Type B personality in your explanation of traffic as well. Are you still working on this? Get back to me on IM later tonight and I can try and help thrash it out, you know?