Are Some People More Intelligent Than Others, Or Are They Instead Less Stupid?

From a general sense, intelligence and stupidity are used to identify how much a person seems to know and express. More importantly, I cannot say that somebody is stupid without it meaning something different to everybody else--know matter how diminutive that differentiation may be. (And the same goes with our use of the words "intelligent" or "smart".) But, as we delve into the infinite possibilities pertaining to knowledge, it would seem arrogant for a person to claim to be intelligent. (Since, again, the term is only relative and comparable to how much knowledge everyone else holds.) Not only does it take an enormous effort to admit such a lack of knowledge--especially when one is attached with accolades such as "Doctor..." or "Father..."--but what reason would anybody have to admit such a perceived weakness? Well, simply put, admitting your stupidity will probably cause ill-perceived effects from an external standpoint--in consideration to a society that consumes vulnerability--but any other claim would simply be a lie. Unless you are transcendent, I believe that you are probably stupid--minus all of the negative labels attached to such a word. But why should you listen to me, I am not very intelligent, but simply stupid.

Dangers of Religious Labeling- Howard Becker's Labeling Theory Applied to Religion

Brief Guide to Stoicisim [Happiness]

Guide to Stoicism:

- Persuade ourselves to want the things we ALREADY HAVE

- Negative Visualization- when you kiss your child, understand that it may be the last time you ever see them

- Not about abandoning all emotion, only negative emotions

- Pursuit of tranquility--absence of grief, anger, anxiety, envy, and fear--and virtue and joy

- Distinguish things in our control and things NOT in our control

- Take time--such as when lying in bed--to reflect on our lives

- Must have a "grand goal"--a goal in which we should be unwilling to sacrifice in order to attain other goals

- Begin each day by telling yourself: Today I shall be meeting with interference, ingratitude, insolence, disloyalty, ill-will, and selfishness – all of them due to the offenders’ ignorance of what is good or evil

- End our "adaption treadmill"--always adapting to the things we once desired but eventually become used to--and don't take them for granted

- Contemplate our death and the death of our friends and relatives

- "I like to say that you can rule the world because you can define your world. This is related. Your world is mostly you and your thoughts."

 - “If, on the other hand, we set playing our best in a match as our goal, we arguably don’t lessen our chances of winning the match, but we do lessen our chances of being upset by the outcome of the match. Thus, internalizing our goals with respect to tennis would appear to be a no-brainer: To set as our goal playing to the best of our ability has an upside – reduced emotional anguish in the future – with little to no downside.”

- “The Stoics, by way of contrast, welcomed a degree of discomfort in their life. What the Stoics were advocating, then, is more appropriately described as a program of voluntary discomfort than as a program of self-inflicted discomfort.”

- Self-control

- “Epictetus thinks the admiration of other people is a negative barometer of our own progress as Stoics: “If people think you amount to something, distrust yourself.”

- “Other signs of progress, says Epictetus, are the following: We will stop blaming, censuring, and praising others; we will stop boasting about ourselves and how much we know"

- "Epictetus thinks that in our practice of Stoicism, we should be so inconspicuous that others don’t label us Stoics – or even label us philosophers"

- “The Stoics therefore recommend that we avoid befriending people who values have been corrupted, for fear that their values will contaminate ours.

- “Marcus recommends that when we interact with an annoying person, we keep in mind that there are doubtless people who find us to be annoying. More generally, when we find ourselves irritated by someone’s shortcomings, we should pause to reflect on our own shortcomings.”

- “A good Stoic, Marcus says, will not think about what other people are thinking about except when he must do so in order to serve the public interest.”

- “If we detect anger and hatred within us and wish to seek revenge, one of the best forms of revenge on another person is to refuse to be like him.”

- “Suppose, for example, that someone mocks us for being bald when we in fact are bald: “Why is it an insult,” Seneca asks, “to be told what is self-evident?”

- “Suppose, however, that I don’t respect the source of an insult; indeed, suppose that I take him to be a thoroughly contemptible individual. Under such circumstances, rather than feeling hurt by his insults, I should feel relieved: If he disapproves of what I am doing, then what I am doing is doubtless the right thing to do. What should worry me is if this contemptible person approved of what I am doing. If I say anything at all in response to his insults, the most appropriate comment would be, “I’m relieved that you feel that way about me.”

- Values are in OUR control

- “Anger, says Seneca, is “brief insanity,” and the damage done by anger is enormous: “No plague has cost the human race more.”

- “… when someone wrongs us, says Seneca, he should be corrected “by admonition and also by force, gently and also roughly.”

- “… although Seneca rejects the idea of allowing ourselves to become angry in order to motivate ourselves, he is open to the idea of pretending to be angry in order to motivate others.”

- “Stoics value their freedom, and they are therefore reluctant to do anything that will give others power over them. But if we seek social status, we give other people power over us: We have to do things calculated to make them admire us, and we have to refrain from doing things that will trigger their disfavor. Epictetus therefore advises us not to seek social status, since if we make it our goal to please others, we will no longer be free to please ourselves. We will, he says, have enslaved ourselves.”

- “If we wish to retain our freedom, says Epictetus, we must be careful, while dealing with other people, to be indifferent to what they think of us. Furthermore, we should be consistent in our indifference; we should, in other words, be as dismissive of their approval as we are of their disapproval. Indeed, Epictetus says that when others praise us, the proper response is to laugh at them. (But not out loud!)”

- “… the downside of failing to develop an effective philosophy of life: You end up wasting the one life you have.”

- “… we are very much responsible for our happiness as well as our unhappiness. It also teaches us that it is only when we assume responsibility for our happiness that we will have a reasonable chance of gaining it. This, to be sure, is a message that many people, having been indoctrinated by therapists and politicians, don’t want to hear.”

- “Self-deprecating humor has become my standard response to insults.When someone criticizes me, I reply that matters are even worse than he is suggesting…Such responses may seem counterproductive since in offering them, I am in a sense validating the insulter’s criticisms of me. But by offering such responses, I make it clear to the insulter that I have enough confidence in who I am to be impervious to his insults; for me, they are a laughing matter. Furthermore, by refusing to play the insults game – by refusing to respond to an insult with a counterinsult – I make it clear that I regard myself as being above such behavior. My refusal to play the insult game will likely irritate the insulter more than a counterinsult would.”

- “We live in a world in which, no matter what you do, you might be making a mistake. This means that although it is true that I might be making a mistake by practicing Stoicism, I might also be making a mistake if I reject Stoicism. I might also be making a mistake if I reject Stoicism in favor of some other philosophy of life. And I think the biggest mistake, the one made by a huge number of people, is to have no philosophy of life at all.”

SUMMARIZED FROM:

http://karol.gajda.com/books/guide-to-the-good-life/

and ORIGINALLY FROM:

A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy by William B. Irvine

Left from Right, Right from Left, Right and Left from Middle, and All to Uncertainty

     The general perception of left and right seem relatively simple to identify but become less definable as we think more about it. When given the task to identify which is left and which is right, a person can quickly distinguish between the two and the matter isn't thought about much more. But, when you delve into this seemingly apparent system, you can discover how empty it is. (And by empty, I mean lacking any certainty or truth about it.) Let us say that you define yourself as either "left-handed" or "right-handed"--or I suppose ambidextrous in some cases. Now, although you may consider yourself to be a certain handedness, consider this: If you are "right handed", from what physical or theoretical point are you making that distinction? Assuming that a left hand and right hand exist means that a middle point must also exist. For if no middle point existed, then how is it possible that this direction is left and another is right? In addition, not only does that point have to exist, but there also must be a theoretical plane that exists for one to make such a statement. To explain what I am thinking in words is not a simple task, so let me use an example to better illustrate my point. Imagine that you are standing in the middle of a street (that street being the middle point in which I previously referred to). Located on your left is a grocery store, and on your right, a gas station. This would be seen as truth by probably the majority of minds. Now, imagine that you turn around 180 degrees. What is truth now? Well, obviously, one may say that the truth is that now the gas station is on the left and the grocery store is on the right. Now if you simply point your eyes to the sky and see an airplane and a hot air balloon, you can still define which is left and which is right, right? It is strange that one can still determine what is left and right despite these separate examples existing on the same vertical or horizontal plane. To make one last point, now imagine that you are still standing 180 degrees of your original spot, with the gas station being on your left and the grocery store located to your right. As you look a little past the the left of the gas station, you see that a restaurant inhabits the area beside it. Now if I ask you which building is on the left and which is on the right, it may be more difficult to give a definite answer. They may both be on the left, at least from the point in which you are standing, but how can they both be on the left when one is obviously further away than the other? Here is reason why I am writing down the difficulty and abstract nature of something that seemed so simple probably only a couple minutes ago. Because of the amount of concepts that we must integrate into our minds--basically to survive in the world--our brains are constantly oversimplifying ideas that really hold no absolute truth. Just because something may seem one way, absolutely does not mean that it exists that way--taking into account the delusions that our senses and thoughts often cause. The truth of what is left and what is right is always changing. In the regard, there never exists absolute truth on what makes up right and what makes up left. I really hope that you can grasp what I am trying to present here and I appreciate you taking the time to read what I have to say. The importance of this realization and how it impacts your life? I am not sure.

Stoicism: A Succinct Documentary by Katieb1111

Here is a delightful video on Stoicism that was made by Katieb1111 on Youtube. If you would like to visit her portfolio, here is the link:

http://www.behance.net/kbolte

Stoicism is a style of Philosophy in which stresses control over emotions and desires. It was developed by the Zeno, and has been practiced by philosophers such as Friedrich Nietzsche and Marcus Aurelius.

NOT FOR READERS

Feed Shark Code (Not for readers): <a href="http://www.hypersmash.com">Hyper Smash</a>

STAY HUMAN Update

The book that I published on Amazon about one year ago was far from what I had hoped to be the finished product. Since then, I have been trying to consistently work on the book but am still far from finishing it--and too be honest, it may never be what I want it to be. But, disregarding all of that, I want people to know that I can distribute what I currently have to anyone who is interested. Please don't buy the older version on Amazon, I would prefer if you would email me so that I can send you the current manuscript without cost. I don't want anything I write to cost, and would therefore be more than willing to send you a personal manuscript. Thank you so much for your time, and enjoy your new week.

EMAIL: BradleyJKim@gmail.com

The Dangers of Labeling - Religion

Evolution of Teachers Theory

A student aspiring to become a teacher observes the negative and positive attributes of every teacher they learn from throughout their education. (In the ideal performance of this theory, these teachers are presumed to have done the same before they became educators themselves, although this is most likely not the case.) If they had done this, then THIS CURRENT STUDENT learning from any one of these teachers shall be even better. X learns from Y (who has already gathered information from A, B, C, and D) and from Z (who has been taught by E, F and G). When this new student teacher W arrives, he or she will learn from X who has already accumulated Y and Z, therefore leading to a even more evolved teacher. But, instead of it being closed to the 26 letters in the alphabet, imagine this process on an infinite scale. Teachers never stop evolving as long as they continue integrating their experiences and adopted effective ways of teaching from previous teachers. This is the basic principle of evolution but from the perspective of education. What is the point? My primary reasoning for significance is that teachers should only be progressing as time continues to pass, and if they are not, then there must be glitches somewhere in the process. From my experiences, teachers have not been evolving enough for this theory to be true. Therefore, education is not traveling on the correct theoretical path (in my opinion) and must be significantly changed.

Free Books and Articles

The link provided offers numerous books that are free to read. I believe that some can be downloaded onto electronic devices, but I don't believe that all of them have that possibility:

https://sites.google.com/site/neurallibrary2012/

A large portion of these books cover religions, although there are also writings from well-respected thinkers such as Charles Darwin, Karl Marx, and Emile Durkheim. This link may be better and focuses on those listed above. Scroll down and click on the images to read the book:

https://sites.google.com/site/drlanesociologyofreligion/

Religious Hypocrisy

Religion has shown that it can serve as a positive attribute for human beings--inspiring charity, allowing people to turn their lives around, meaning, etc. But, in contrast, religion has been the root cause--or what we think is the root cause--of war and genocide. Additionally, religion commonly acts as a barrier within thousands of other barriers that separates each being from one another. Numerous people are not accepting of what other religions have to offer, usually considering their beliefs and doctrines as absolute truth. These masses are the ones who are practicing religion for the wrong purposes. Religion functions incorrectly when it gives people closure and rules to follow--and rather blindly in most cases. Of course, it is usually "God's children" who practice discrimination and  judgment onto other people. Just recently, I saw somebody condemn another human being to hell because of a churlish (rude) comment made on Youtube. This is a common occurrence although it is an example of what generally goes on in the minds of the "good". Americans believe that religion justifies their constant need to judge and hate other people. This is much different from the attitude that other countries have towards religion (although not all are the same). Religion should be celebrated to give people meaning and aspiration. Allow religion to serve as a guide but not as a law. There isn't one religion that offers absolute truth which isn't absolute truth itself. If we are going to accept these distractions--from what is real--then we should be using them for progressive purposes. All religion is truth or all religion is not truth, this is my current truth.

Image From: http://500questions.wordpress.com/ 
Video From: evanmeetsworld on Youtube

PROPOSITION 30

Provided link to decide whether you would like to vote "yes" or "no" on Proposition 30. Ignore television commercials and passed down information, and please read the proposition for yourself:

http://vig.cdn.sos.ca.gov/2012/general/pdf/30-title-summ-analysis.pdf

A Possible Step Towards Happiness

 There exists a large population of people who habitually--and possibly naturally--feel badly for themselves. This is not as simple as it may seem though and differs for the oversimplification that we use when telling our children to quit feeling bad for themselves. Feeling badly for ourselves relates to repression of feelings and thoughts. Whenever we may feel that somebody has done us wrong, we may allow them to continuously do us wrong while we allow ourselves to maintain a victim-like position. Throughout the duration of our abuse, we begin to see ourselves as victims--which we are--and develop a pattern of allowing ourselves to be taken advantage of. As a defense, we may interpret it as US being good people and allowing ourselves to be abused to make others happier. This cycle can last forever and it may be one of the many walls that keep us from attaining the Globally Glorified Happiness. It may in fact be (and I say MAY BE because I am not sure but only offer this as a potential remedy) that ending our perceptions of ourselves as "victims" may lead to a happier, or at least freer, life. It is not excusable to allow others to take advantage or our kindness or our appreciation for the avoidance of conflict. It does not make us good people but, quite inversely, makes us just as thoughtless as those who abuse us. Besides, you cannot be of much help to this world if you keep yourself from your own happiness and freedom. I don't feel badly for you, and neither should you.

Some Help Towards Constant Guilt

Do good but never expect anything in return, be kind but don't expect others to be kind, be confident and secure but realize that most people are not, don't constantly judge yourself because if you follow the previous rules, then you are good and don't need to be judged.

Human Trafficking Information

Research Paper by Colonel Sandra L. Keefer:

http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA448573

Contentment to End Continuity

We should care about all types of people but we shouldn't care about the conslusions they will draw about us; and we shouldn't draw such conclusions either because it puts an end to a perception that should always be changing. Don't settle for a end to things that are limitless.

Ron Paul vs Corrupt Politicians

Native Americans: The Abused

Since British arrival, Native Americans--native to the United States--have been abused. Explorers brought diseases that Native Americans were not yet familiar with, which led to the death of many Native Americans. They were also constantly attacked by the new settlers who were previously aided by Native Americans. After many years and many battles, Native Americans hardly exist in the United States and are rarely spoken about. People must recognize Natives and appreciate what they have done. To just be recognized would be a nice gesture towards Native Americans, because they have never been people of great demand.