don’t be a rebel, don’t be a dick. get on board, get on deck.
they say.

you’ll be fried trying to be freed. stay where you are.
they say.

you want to get fitter? oh, we’ll stop you – we have fetters.
they say.

stop trying to pick a better future for yourself. stop trying to pick a better future for yourself.
they peck.

that writing you do with your quill pen, quell it. now. or else.
they say.

those words you write, they’re six six six. those words you write, they’re sex sex sex.
we are religious. you are blasphemous.
they say.

stop writing your tails, you’re barely making taels. stop your foolishness.
they say.

your wrists, just try to wrest them from our grasp. just try!
they finally say.

…e before i, except after c.
they say.

First off, start bright. Enjoy nature, enjoy art, enjoy science. Enjoy life.

Then get brighter and brighter. Continue to enjoy all these things while others have forgot how (while others never learnt how). Continue while others have found work. Continue while others say that you have to work to fit in, to labour to live (they say ‘to labour’, they mean ‘to suffer’).

Everyone saw so much potential in you, why don’t you just use it? But why must you use it you ask? Because, they answer… These are not real answers. But how is to suffer to live you ask? Because, they answer… But why must I fit in you ask? Because, they answer… Are you happy you ask? These are not real questions they say after a brief pause.

Continue being an artist, a wanderer, an innocent. Then your stomach churns and the bills arrive; you need money, food, and shelter; and the barterers smile and say, “We’ll give you money, we’ll give you food, we’ll give you shelter; hell, have it all – first, give us your innocence. It’s too bright. We need to dim it down a bit. Just a bit. Yeah… just a bit.” (They smile.) The choice is simple, exist or live – you can’t have both they say.

Exist or live… you can’t have both they say.

But why can’t I have both you ask? These are not real questions they say, after a brief pause.

photo credit: Kyle May

We’re not happy people.

Just look at the stats. People are grumpier, sadder, tireder, and meaner than they used to be (no this is not Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs).

And why are we unhappy? Is it because the world is a harsher place to live, because we have less than we used to? No, in fact stats prove that the world has been continuously getting better over time. So what’s our problem? Maybe it’s because of where we live, America.

We live in a culture that praises material wealth and external richness over internal. We live in a culture in which we are judged by what we have, not by who we are. We live in a culture overrun with ads and commercials that constantly tell us what we are missing, what we don’t have, and what others have over us. This leads to higher crime rates because the poor, finding no other way to acquire these possessions that have been ingrained in their heads as must-haves rob. And on the other side of the coin, people work 12 to 15 hour days just to afford these possessions that are, again, deemed as must-haves. We live in a market driven economy, even if we don’t think so.

I used to think this was the best route, just let the people choose and they’ll always choose what’s good for them. Wrong. A dictatorship under the right person would do so much better. (Even if that sounds wrong and evil, it’s true.) If we continue to operate in a market driven culture we’ll just continue to be slaves to companies that know how to apply psychological tactics against us. (And most of us are unaware of these tactics.) But put in place a person or organization that is as aware of these tactics (or more) as the companies, and let them act as the counter-weight and the scales balance a little bit.

Less ads would be a great first step. Announcing what psychological factors within you are being pressed by certain ads like how digestible products must legally list ingredients is another great step. But these steps I fear shall never be implemented. Because it’s the people’s vote – and that’s the biggest deception of all. The mass-hypnotized people choose what is wrong for them because it looks more appealing and because they lack knowledge of the full harm it causes to them. And usually the right answer requires that the people suffer now to prosper later, and the people never ever want to suffer now. So the people choose what is wrong for them, over and over and over again.

And there’s no one to blame, because these companies aren’t bad people – Illuminati, as we’ve all come to believe. No these people are hypnotized too. They grew up in the culture so they were infected as well – so in their eyes they are producing good for humanity… when they aren’t.

What we need is someone with power who can give the people what they need rather than what they want. We need a parental figure who’ll feed us veggies when all we want, all we make, and all we consume is candy – which will eventually kill us. We need people like Tom Ford and Steve Jobs to look at our legal affairs. In their unique niches they listened to us and heard what we truly wanted (a faster mode of transportation and a phone that could do everything), they didn’t give us what we wanted (faster horses, and more complex phones), but instead gave us what we needed (cars, and phones so complicatedly simple that we had no choice but to shut up and stare at them in awe everytime we used them).

We’re just kids in adult bodies at this stage of life – we need true adults, and parents at that. True parents that care for us and not for their own wealth or standing in culture. True parents that want to see us grow. True parents that derive their happiness from our happiness – inner happiness, true happiness.

We need someone who shuns our culture, to lead our culture.

But the problem is that a truly happy culture will have little room for improvement. Like the Native American cultures of the old who were happy living off the land with what they had.

The unhappy shall always conquer the happy, because the happy – being happy will never develop as much technology seeking happiness externally. They would have already attained happiness inwardly.

If we were truly happy with faster horses, we wouldn’t have cars. If we were truly happy with postal mail, we wouldn’t have email, and if we were truly happy with ourselves we wouldn’t need items that scream “Hey, look how happy I am!”

So we live in a culture of fast improvements, because we are unhappy. Yet to be happy is to give up these improvements, these upgrades. And maybe genetically that’s why we are unhappy, because genetically we are bred for survival and improvement. And if evolutionary improvement is only found through unhappiness, guess what our body is going to choose every time?

Genetic layout causes males to be unhappier with one woman faster, so that men can go around spreading their ‘seeds’. Genetic layout cause females to be unhappy with the kind man faster in order for them to go out and seek the strong and brash even if they make them unhappier than the kind male. In the end, this is all about survival.

But as good marriages prove to us, we can fight with our genetic make-up and win… if we try. (But the question arises again in this matter, will we truly be happier doing so?)

So how do we create a culture that’s truly happy, yet at the same time improving at a pace so in line with our genetic layout that it actually changes (fools?) our genetic layout to seek happiness rather than unhappiness?

I don’t know.

Maybe we’re meant to live a long and unhappy, but prosperous, life. Maybe we’re meant to find true happiness and once we’ve done so die (no matter what age it’s attained at). Or maybe both routes are wrong. As I said, I don’t know.

What I do know is that continuing to live like we are is unhealthy and it needs to change, fast.

But I fear happiness and progress cannot be uttered kindly in the same sentence.

photo credit: raneko

He was a born again, gone again man.
He was a scorned again, soar again man.

He said “I have things that haunt me so.”
Please just leave, I’d rather stay than just go,
I’d rather pray than just know.
… And can’t you see I’ve got my cross to tow?

He was a born again, gone again man.
He was a throne again, thorn again man.

Can’t you see he’s been saved?
Can’t you see he’s been raised?
He’s been shown the light,
And it’s awfully bright,
And it’s an awful sight, to be beside.

Oh, he’s a born again, gone again man.
He’s an atoned again, alone again man.

photo credit: petesimon

You’re not your Facebook friends, you’re not your likes. You’re not your Twitter followers, you’re not your retweets. You’re not your number of visitors, you’re not your RSS subscribers. You’re not your iPhone, or Blackberry, or Android. You’re not your BBM. You’re not your apps. You’re not fucking Jailbroken.

You’re not your Tumblr reblogs. You’re not your YouTube views. You’re not Stumbled-Upon. You’re not the places you check in. You’re not the mayor.

You’re the all-surfing, all-procrastinating, attention-seeking crap on the web.

Slick hipster takes candid shots that look pro. Slick hipster was expecting it. She knew she’d be photographed this morning. She practiced that expression in the mirror. That one reveals too much. That one reveals too little. That one’s too bland. That one’s too shocking. That one’s perfect! It’s just right. And then slick hipster chose her outfit. Gucci. Jacobs. Versace. Dior. McCartney. Miu. Sui. Mixed in with a little thrift-store rag and tag. Hmm… That one reveals too much. That one reveals too little. That one’s too bland. That one’s too shocking. That one’s perfect! It’s just right. Nothing more. Nothing less.

Slick actor is in all the right movies. Saying just the right thing, at just the right time. Never stumbling. Never at a loss for words. Look! Slick actor’s in a adventure-romance! In an action-thriller! In a comedy-horror! He has great abs. She has great tits. He has great arms. She has great hair. Slick actor’s male. Slick actor’s female. But the same attire nevertheless. The custom made attire. The one that fits so perfectly. Not baggy. Not tight. Just right. Nothing more. Nothing less.

Slick writer writes and re-writes, over and over and over. Writing just the right thoughts. On just the right topics. In just the right books. To just the right people. Slick writer doesn’t use a semicolon. Or an exclamation mark. Slick writer get’s paid a ton to write so slickly. And so slick writer writes. Slick writer writes so… good. So… cool. And in just the right words. Nothing more. Nothing less.

Slick band’s on all the top music charts. Playing rap. Playing rock. Playing pop. Playing slick music that doesn’t skip a beat. And slick drummer never breaks his sticks. Slick guitarist never breaks a string. Slick singer never misses a note. She runs around the stage, yet still sings just… right. Hitting the notes just… right. Nothing more. Nothing less.

Everything’s so damn slick.

Give me the awkward pauses. The bad hair days. The face-covering zits. Give me the baggy-eyes. The food stains. The crooked teeth. Give me the nail-biters. The foot-tappers. The eye-twitchers. Give me the obese. The malnourished. The friendless. Give me the bad endings. The unresolved. The worse-offs.

Just, give me truth… in all it’s imperfections.

I can handle it.

photo credit: Helga Weber

Better company?

Ughhh. Their company has 10 Harvard graduates while we… Ughhh, we just don’t.

Better athlete?

Look how huge he is! I can’t possible take him down.

Better love?

Look at the size of her ring! She’s got the best husband in the world.

Better message?

That post is 1000 words, while this one is only 100, obviously this one sucks and has nothing of importance to say.

Oh, America – land of the big is better slogan. Judging on size is self-defeating. And pretty stupid. (Smaller is not better by the way – that’s just you, judging on size again.)

photo credit: Tobyotter

Yesterday I saw the future.

Not just once, not twice, but thrice.

Do you remember that scene from Minority Report where Tom Cruise walks past an ad and it recognizes him personally and talks to him directly? What about Johny Mnemonic, where Keanu Reeves surfs the web in a virtual reality environment? In a sense, that’s exactly where we’re headed. And frankly, I can’t wait.

But I can’t go about yelling “This is the future” all willy nilly. Don’t want to be compared to that guy on that corner downtown saying the same thing now do I?

So let’s look at the details of this whole interactive video thingy we have going on here.

—————————————————————————————

Surprisingly (that’s sarcasm by the way), history shows us that we are, in a greater sense, self-centered. We want happiness for ourselves, we want love, we want life, we want family, we want choice, and we want acknowledgement.

And that’s where interactive video steps in, our want of choice and acknowledgement.

CHOICE

Look throughout history and you’ll realize something, we’re getting more picky by the decade.

When the first car came out (Ford Model T) we weren’t irked by the fact that in only came in one model, and one color (is black a color?) – we were overjoyed to just get rid of our horses. Then something happened, they became available in grey, green, and red. “Wait, you mean I don’t have to get a black one?! I’ll have that green car right there buddy salesman of mine!”

And from that spilt the millions of varieties of cars that we have today.

We’re lovers of choice.

And now it’s being offered to us in the form of videos. “Wait, you mean you mean I don’t have to watch a video that doesn’t take place in some remote town I don’t know?! I can choose where it plays?! Make it play in [Enter first city that pops into your head]!”

And as previously stated, the moment choice is given to us in a specific area we never quiet go back to having no options.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

This is the part where the whole psychological know-how comes into play. Some psychologists say that this whole craze for interactivity can be explained simply through our fear or death and our grasp for life.

Anything that points in our direction and looks straight at us (personalization) in a sense acknowledges that we are here – that we exist. And thus we seek such things. We want to exist after-all.

We want to matter.

And interactive videos let us do just that, they let us matter – they let us live.

If a video can’t progress because it’s waiting for you to decide the direction in which it goes, you matter more to that video than say one which goes ahead and continues until the end whether or not you’re there.

—————————————————————————————

In a wicked sort of way, big business will actually be instrumental in you having more stuff (stuff = movies, videos, applications) that matters only to you.

Because as more and more things start targeting us as individuals, the more more companies will have to switch to this ‘system’ just to survive. I call it the 3D movie effect. Once you give the masses (that’d be us) something amazing, you’re going to have to continue offering it just to well, get by.

“The problem with being a success is that you have to keep on being a success.” ~ Irving Berlin

This problem that big businesses face, helps you – the individual. For if success continues it changes from being success to being the norm.

See, big businesses are like us (did you shudder too?). They want to live. And they want to be loved. And if they get this through offering you what you love, then so be it. Win-win situations are rare, but I welcome them at every opportunity.

I forsee businesses offering personalization the same way they offered 3D to the world, through something they control (3D = movie theatre, not the interwebs). This way they can allow the rest of the world to serve you ice-cream, but if you want that cherry on top of your ice-cream, then you’ve got to pay for it. Thus fulfilling their want of life (money in = open longer = live longer).

Now imagine the possibilities that personalization offers to businesses. Authentic albums will offer an option where all the songs on the album sing to you personally in order to counter the mass amount of pirated copies. TV shows start offering you control of plot through the remote to combat the videos on the web. (Imagine how weirdly cool it’d be if in the future, while watching The Office, Dwight personally looked at the camera and talked down to you personally? You’d be creeped out but happy right?). And maybe in the future while you’re watching that presidential campaigns you won’t here “I want you”, but instead “I want [insert your name here]“. The possibilities are endless. And to an extent creepy.

In the past our need of choice and acknowledgement could only be given to us by other human beings, ones who knew us well (family and friends), but now technology has allowed EVERYTHING to be personal. And that’s big!

Don’t you get it?! Interactive videos are bringing back the magic of the book to a generation that’s abandoned it! When you read books you interact with them; the story can’t go on until you say so, and it needs your imagination coupled with it’s words to bring it to life. The book is an interactive experience in the sense that it requires as much of you as you need of it. The television on the other hand in a one-sided deal, it gives you everything; all you’ve got to do is sit back and enjoy passively. Interactive videos might finally bring back the joy of taking part in the entertainment back to a generation that’s barely known it. And that’s pure bliss to my ears.

… Yesterday I saw the future; not once, not twice, but thrice.

Okay, okay, enough of my self-imposed rambling. Now that I’ve ranted about where I think the future is headed and what’s steering it there it’s your turn.

What object did you glimpse the future in? What’s the last thing that you last saw that made you stand with your mouth agape in pure astonishment and giddy with excitement? What’s the last thing you saw that made you go “Woah! This is going to be HUGE!”?

photo credit: aussiegall

“Not being racist is not some default starting position. You don’t simply get to say you’re not a racist; not being racist — or a sexist or a homophobe — is a constant, arduous process of unlearning, of being uncomfortable, of eating crow and being humbled and re-evaluating.” ~ G.D. of Postbourgie

You know what’s hard? Being good.

Doing the right thing and choosing the ‘right’ path is extremely hard. And it doesn’t get any easier with time (sorry to disappoint).

The only thing that changes with time is your reaction to the struggles in your life. Overtime, as you continue to pick the right, but difficult, choice it’ll become a habit. You’ll come to realize that the choice in which you struggle the most is most likely the best one. Sure, now and again you’ll pick the one with the least amount of struggling on your end – but you usually realize that you chose wrong (I know I have). Moving on from that in itself is a struggle. (Ask any ex-smoker, each slip up made it that much harder to quit, but they had to continue trying to quit.)

Unbeknownst to most is that we’re actually faced with tons of choices every day that require us to make a choice between the path of least resistance (struggle) and the path of most:

• It’s easy to be a racist.

It’s a constant struggle to go against you’re negative upbringing and respect people of all races.

• It’s easy to be a homophobe.

It’s a constant struggle to defy popular culture and support people and their individual lifestyles.

• It’s easy to go to college to get a degree.

It’s a constant struggle to drop out, against your parents wishes, when you realize you’re just getting a degree (and not an education).

• It’s easy to be messy.

It’s a constant struggle to be organized (for more than one day or week).

• It’s easy to get a 9-5, not think about your future, and party on the weekends.

It’s a constant struggle to take matters into your own hands, swim against the stream (for a lot less pay), and work 14 hour (unappreciated) days on something you love.

• It’s easy to watch television.

It’s a constant struggle to read (for more than just entertainment, but for betterment).

• It’s easy to push someone down.

It’s a constant struggle to nurture and help them grow into their own person slowly overtime.

• It’s easy to be comfortable and use the good old trusted ways.

It’s a constant struggle to constantly be uncomfortable in order to learn something new and grow.

• It’s easy to debate and continue fighting your point.

It’s a constant struggle to shut your mouth and listen when you’re wrong (because for the majority of the time we all are).

• It’s easy to walk on the neatly laid out path before you.

It’s a constant struggle to leave the path and make your own; to step where no path was before and build one.

• It’s easy to be the sheep in the slaughterhouse with so many friends around you.

It’s a constant struggle to be the lone wolf; to choose the better path and walk it alone.

• It’s easy to consume all that is around you.

It’s a constant struggle to create and add something good (something useful) to the world.

• It’s easy to hoard and maximize.

It’s a constant struggle to give and minimize.

• It’s easy to shun and hate.

It’s constant a struggle to understand and love.

• It’s easy to give up when times are hard (no one will blame you – it was hard afterall.).

It’s a constant struggle to keep going (especially when the world’s against you every step of the way… for years!).

… What I’m talking about here is not in the work you’ll be doing once you make the choice. I’m talking about the difficulty of the choice itself. For example, going to college and getting good grades is pretty hard – but the choice of going to college is easy (especially compared to going out into the world instead).

If you’re currently facing a struggle (for you are if you’re doing good), ask yourself whether or not it’s a struggle you’re facing because you’re trying to better yourself and/or the world. If it is, keep going. I beg you – keep going! I know it’s going to be extremely difficult to take your own future into your own hands and do what you love; I know it’s going to take every ounce of your mental and physical strength to change the world; and I know it’s going to practically kill you constantly being good (thus, constantly struggling) – but I promise you it’ll naught be done in vain. As two people once said “If you’re going through hell, keep going,” and “It’s not going to be easy. But it’s going to be worth it.”

To rephrase G.D.’s words:

“Being different/special/better is not some default starting position. You don’t simply get to say you’re different/special/better; not being normal (being better than normal) — is a constant, arduous process of unlearning, of being uncomfortable, of eating crow and being humbled and re-evaluating.”

photo credit: SuperFantastic

Search for eHow online and you’ll be bombarded with tons of How To’s and a thriving website. But try that with eWhy and you get a practically non-existent website.

How come there are no Why To’s on the web? And yet so many How To’s?

I do get it from a certain mindset –  the world is a scary place and it’s getting more and more complicated by the day. How To’s make it easier for us to do the things we want to do.

We want to bake a cake for our soon to arrive guests yet we don’t know how, we search “How to bake a cake”; we want to pick our own locks because we’re trapped outside with no key, we search “How to pick a lock”; we want to make money online because our jobs suck, we search “How to make money online”; And on, and on, and on. (Surprisingly one of the top hits for “How to” is “How to shower”.) How To’s help us in a moment of crisis, How To’s help us learn things we weren’t taught in school, and How To’s help us help ourselves.

But isn’t WHY as, if not more, important as how?

Shouldn’t we slow down a little and ask ourselves why we’re doing so and so? Why am I baking this cake? Why am I picking my own lock? Why am I working at a job I hate?

Sure the first two are easy to answer (I’m baking a cake because I want my friends to enjoy cake today, and I’m picking my own lock because I’m stuck outside and have no other way to get it), but what about the third one? Now that’s a doozy to answer.

Q: Why are you working at a job you hate?

A: For the money.

Q: Why are you working at a job you hate for the money?

A: Because I need the money in order to do what I love.

Q: Why do you need all that money in order to do what you love?

A: ….

It goes on and on. Just ask any parent with a curious child, Why questions make you self-reflect to the point that you find yourself sitting down and questioning everything you’ve ever done like a madman. And Why question (like “Why do this?”), unlike most How questions, don’t have a specific right or wrong answer. This shouldn’t be seen as the reason to not focus on the Why questions though (we have this habit of avoiding the hard, yet necessary, questions). It should actually be the reason to embrace them.

A Why question can save you tons of money (Why buy this expensive car?), by showing you that the reason you’re buying that expensive car is to fit in with people you don’t necessarily like. A Why question can help you marry the woman of your dreams (Why wait?), by showing you that there’s no reason to wait any longer. And a Why question can help you quit that job you hate (Why are you working at job you hate?), by showing you that doing what you love rarely needs that much money – mostly passion and drive. Can a How question do any of that?

In my search for eWhy, I’ve stumbled upon a surprising fact – the Why To posts are already here, in numbers… They’re just not as visible.

The Why To’s are hiding in the [good] blogs all over the world.

Bloggers around the world are actually talking and teaching about why to better yourself (this always warms my heart everytime I think about it … and yes, that was sappy, so what?). Bloggers are luring unwary readers in with How To’s and giving them the Why To’s on the side (I know I am, or at least that’s what I aim for). Bloggers are starting to tell more and more people to self-reflect, to look at what they really want in life, and to examine whether or not the path they’re on will lead to where they want to be in life.

Bloggers are rolling in the new world – the coming revolution of the Why To.

Now if only more real-world teachers would learn a thing or two from these bloggers and realize that although their students are there to learn How To you should teach them something they don’t quiet know they need yet, the Why To. (ps- I’m not shunning the great teachers. The great teachers already know this, but 1- I’m looking at this from a ‘webby’ point of view, and 2- I’m talking about the teachers en masse.)

I’d greatly admire the teacher who takes a step back from “How to Learn” and instead examines “Why to Learn”. And I know I’d be the first person to applaud the teacher who takes the time to individually question each and every one of their students Why they’re there. The only problem being that this requires the teacher see their occupation as more than “a job”.

… In the coming years I forsee the rise of the Why To. In a world where How To’s are getting older and older faster and faster, and where everything’s changing at a such a rapid pace that the moment you learn how to use a new technology, you’ll find yourself having to learn how to use the even newer technology that’s just now replaced it, Why To’s will start becoming more and more important. We’re going to figure out that we have all these How To’s on our hands, yet we can’t possibly learn everything. What the Why To will do for us is eliminate the unnecessary. The Why To will be sought before the How To because more and more people will want to know whether or not they need the How To (before searching for the “How to get married” post, we’ll be searching for the “Why to get married” one).

Why To’s also have a much longer relevancy time than How To’s. For Why To’s generally point at life and it’s purpose, and living never get’s old (is that a joke?). Aristotle and Plato are still as relevant today, if not more, as they were 2000 years ago. Thoughts about our purpose in life never go away. And the pursuit of happiness is one that’s beyond time; we all want happiness.

What I’m getting at through all this is that we’ve come far with the How To, but we’re going to have to take it a step further and look at the Why To.

We came from fishing for the man to teaching the man How to fish for himself. And that used to be enough, but now that the fisherman already knows how to fish, we’re going to have to teach him Why to fish… Or else he’s just going to keep collecting fish all day mindlessly, whether or not he’s full.

A brief note about the punctuation:

I know that the Why To’s and How To’s should correctly be spelt Why Tos and How Tos (they don’t have ownership afterall). But I figured that some people might confuse these correct spellings for different words entirely (what the hell’s a Tos?). I figured the message was more important that the punctuation (isn’t it always?) so I made an executive decision. So Punctuation Fanatics, forgive me… and the excessive capitalization.

photo credit: quinn.anya