Wednesday, February 22, 2017

A Quote from Man and His Symbles


"Thus a rift arose between man's traditional Christianity and his rational or intellectual mind. Since that time, these two sides of modern man have never been brought together. In the course of the centuries, with man's growing insight into nature and its laws, this division has gradually grown wider; and it still splits the psyche of the western Christian in the 20th century." - pg. 273

"His soul has lost its roots and he is threatened by dissociation" - pg. 284 
Renaissance religious art shows a reorientation to the earth and the body: plans for churches based on the body's proportions, drown by the 15-century Italian artist and architect Francesco di Giorgio.

Tuesday, February 7, 2017

Time & Place



Today in my English course we discussed the idea of time and place while analyzing a short essay. The essay being, "Dwelling: making peace with space and place" by Deborah Tall. We talked mostly about how people identify with the local or more specifically, how our "Self" is made up largely of where we identify as "home". The idea that we associate strongly with a time and place is not a new idea; however, to what extent these factors influence who we are as an individual is something that struck me today.  In Tall's work, she provides us an example of a town which was wiped off the maps, and removed from the earth by the German army during World War II. A Jewish woman returned to the area after the war to find that everything she once knew was gone, and believed it worse than the death of her family.

When we are born the first thing we learn is where we live and our surroundings. As children we explore the woods, alleys, streams, and from these adventures, we begin to define our perception of the world. This is the foundation from which we build our world around. If we think of our personality, or even our belief of what the world contains in a hierarchical structure, it is simple to see how a large part of one's overall  "Self" can be directly rooted in their place of origin. But the question which is persistently eating away at me is, "What happens to the individual's perception when the foundation of all he or she knows is obliterated out of existence?".  Think of the 1900's when the average person was thrust out of their home to fight in a world war or was subjected to horrible governmental abuse of power in such cases as Soviet Russia, or Communism China. It is well documented that those who survived these long ordeals returned to their homes and found them unrecognizable. Even soldiers today sometimes after long deployments find it hard to reconnect with their original homes. This dissociation of place and time leads to great mental anguish. This has lessened in the past 60 years largely due to the fact people have become much more "rootless". The concept of rootless is complex and this post has become rather long so I am going to end my thoughts for now, perhaps I will return to it later with a more refined paper... for now anyway I have to go to class....

Friday, February 3, 2017

Another Day

 

Went to the gym again today. Lifted four out of seven days this week and feel really sore. Probably will recoup and start up again Monday. Got my bench up to 235 lb. this week but plan on getting that much higher. I love lifting weights but I really need to do more cardio. Not a big fan running. I also read some more of Carl Jung's "Man and his Symbols". So far it has been a great book and has a lot to offer. I am also applying to jobs around Lancaster and that is a major pain. Job applications take an eternity to fill out and submit. Online applications where I have to reenter the same info over and over drives me up a wall. Wish I could just upload a simple resume. Probably going to take a shower now and keep working though my current book or jump into a case study for my psychology of personality class. I also have an Organizational and Industrial Psychology Test on Tuesday. I will study for that in the morning. Till tomorrow...

Thursday, February 2, 2017

A Statement on the Milo Riots

Milo Yiannopoulos
Last night there were riots at UC Berkeley over a popular public speaker. Milo Yiannopoulos, is a gay, controversial, provocateur who supports the Trump administration, and is a speaker for the political right. He is also an editor for Breitbart News. The fact that his and many other republican's right to free speech was silenced by the violent actions of those leftist who preach one thing, yet act in the complete opposite manner is appalling to say the least. No person's right to communicate their thought, opinion, or belief should ever be repressed. Arguments should be scrutinized and if they hold merit they will only become stronger; if they fail to hold up their integrity, they should be discarded or refined. Free speech is the tool which underpins all of western civilization, and should be treated as such. Universities who have for years become more and more radicalized should be ashamed of what they have created. As a student I am very careful about what classes I take and who they are taught by. Also, by staying off of the main campuses, there is much less radicalization. My time spent on Ohio State's main campus showed me exactly what these places have become. A breeding ground for socialistic, leftist, political ideology, and with the backing of unjustifiable departments, who use spotty if any statistics, transform young malleable students into full fledged "revolutionaries". The majority of these students do not truly understand what they are doing, but rather have been manipulated into actions which will do two things simultaneously. One, their actions are being used to forward the political agenda of the left, and secondly, they are destroying any idea of a successful future for themselves. In my opinion the educational system, and colleges have let down America's youth; in addition to providing them the false idea that they have some superior intelligence. Parents share in this responsibility for their lack of intervention when these problems first began years ago. I support Milo' s freedom to speak freely, just as I would any other speaker. The video below represents just some of what occurred last night...   



Wednesday, February 1, 2017

A Thought:


Today I finished reading Unit 731: Testimony by Hal Gold. I was lead to this book by working through the reading list that Dr. Jordan Peterson has published on his website. Other works on the list would include the Gulag Archipelago and The Raping of Nanking. As I read, I was amazed by two revolving ideas which appeared in almost every testimony provided in the book. First, All the atrocities were done in the name of the ruler, for the sake of the country; thereby, placing the weight of their actions onto the country and not upon themselves. Those who did shoulder their actions often could not cop with them and self-destructed. The Second idea I found repeated was that they seamed to justify their actions by arguing that because these events took place during the "War Time" (WWII) that this somehow lessens the crime. Again it can be viewed as a coping mechanism. i.e. what I did is inhuman, but the soviet's are doing X therefore my crime is not as horrible giving me the moral high ground. In summary, this book contextualizes some of the most inhuman, sadistic torture and killing of the past century. I would only recommend this book to a person who is willing to change. Books like this leave lasting impressions and can construe one's view of the society in an everlasting way.