I was actually really excited to pick all the classes I want to take this year, and get my edumcation underway. Today I was FINALLY unrestricted for registration (classes start Monday lol), but to my great dismay, there is a total of ONE class available that I can take that would be constructive toward my major, an introductory physics course.
So basically, I would be taking 1 real class and 4 filler/useless classes first semester, and paying $7,500 + class expenses out of my own pocket for it.
For 7,500 fucking dollars, I could buy all the calc and physics textbooks in the world, and do it myself. It will probably be significantly more difficult to self-learn subjects like Calculus and Physics (then again maybe not because I get my choice of textbooks and guides and online resources), but at this point it is my only viable option. If it doesn't work out I can always apply to WLAC or another community college next semester.
Fuck college. I am done dealing with their programs and bullshit. I quit. doodthing;
can't you just take the 1 class you need
Aren't there pre-reqs you have to take that don't really apply to your major?
sometimes you need to take those bullshit classes anyways just to fill in some elective requirements.
and besides, learning the material is not at all the point of college.
Quote from: silvertone on August 26, 2011, 04:20:18 PM
can't you just take the 1 class you need
No because if I'm not a full-time student I won't qualify for any of my financial aid, so then the cost out of my own pocket per semester would be more on the order of $18,000. :)
Quote from: YPR on August 26, 2011, 04:20:54 PM
Aren't there pre-reqs you have to take that don't really apply to your major?
I don't care about getting a degree, my plan has always been to go for 2-3 years and pack in as many useful classes as I can. I'm not interested in taking useless 'core' classes because I know I won't be there for 4 years anyway.
Quote from: Hiro on August 26, 2011, 04:21:53 PM
and besides, learning the material is not at all the point of college.
This is exactly the problem I'm encountering. psyduck;
Quote from: vziard on August 26, 2011, 04:24:30 PM
No because if I'm not a full-time student I won't qualify for any of my financial aid, so then the cost out of my own pocket per semester would be more on the order of $18,000. :)
lmao college rules.
If you just want to learn things, there's endless resources online you can use.
Quote from: silvertone on August 26, 2011, 04:27:27 PM
lmao college rules.
With 18,000 I could make a down payment on a fucking house. Universities are businesses and nothing else, this is my conclusion from dealing with U of M and LMU.
Quote from: Hiro on August 26, 2011, 04:29:27 PM
If you just want to learn things, there's endless resources online you can use.
My thoughts exactly. I was initially dissuaded from doing this because math and science are, objectively, learned a little more efficiently in a classroom setting... but fuck it, is that worth 15k per year?
Just go to Sweden maaan
the state of "college" education today is sad. what's even sadder is all the people getting in line to go to buy a degree that most people will tell you is almost worthless nowadays, especially with the current economic situation and unemployment rates. hopefully we'll look back at this time period and laugh at everyone choosing to go into tens of thousands of dollars of debt for a piece of paper that doesn't get you anything.
Lol doctors are morons :D
Quote from: YPR on August 26, 2011, 05:45:10 PM
Lol doctors are morons :D
Going to college isn't categorically unnecessary and useless. I wouldn't have the same thoughts about it if I wanted to be a doctor, lawyer, biologist studying at a major research center, etc.
this is why i dropped out from kollage
instead, i'm going to work my ass off in illustration and try to ease myself up the social ladder to network properly and hopefully all will end well and i can make a decent living doing what i like and having a calm day job
Quote from: vziard on August 26, 2011, 05:52:43 PM
Going to college isn't categorically unnecessary and useless. I wouldn't have the same thoughts about it if I wanted to be a doctor, lawyer, biologist studying at a major research center, etc.
What do you want to be?
Supposedly, brazillian colleges are free
you should move to brazil
Colleges are free in Scotland too and i believe in Sweden they pay you to go to college.
Quote from: ,,,-,,, on August 26, 2011, 09:25:38 PM
What do you want to be?
doodhuh;
I want to learn. I make enough money to live from.
Quote from: silvertone on August 26, 2011, 10:27:56 PM
Colleges are free in Scotland too and i believe in Sweden they pay you to go to college.
I used to be very interested in enrolling abroad, but now I'm in CA and like it too much to leave.
If you are going to do that you have to have really good grades and probably will need to pay for classes, unless you plan on staying in the country for a year or some set amount of time before enrolling. Even if you do pay for courses, it is still a lot cheaper than American college. It costs a foreigner 200 pounds for a whole degree in Uni of Glasgow.
Isn't LMU a liberal arts school? I don't know why you are surprised by having to take a lot of random classes then.
I have yet to take a class not at least somewhat relevant to my major. Yay tech school, bitch.
I was absolutely disgusted with the majority of my classes last semester which was especially depressing because I’m very nearly down the home stretch. I expected high level classes in the course of study that I really am excited about to actually be stimulating interesting and comfortable. Silly fucking me.
What I got was more textbook regurgitation from a few lifeless mannequins, and I had to be there because they were required courses.
Being more in the social sciences realm, I hate the fuck out of the prescribed textbooks as well and the professors that treat them like scripture. They wonder why class attendance is so low as they peddle the same highlighted definitions that any dope could read and memorize by themselves in their living room. Memorization is key.
There are obviously exceptions. I’ve had a handful of professors that are directly counter to the whole “system”, people I still keep in touch with. I can honestly thank my theory professor from last semester for giving me a little more faith in what higher education learning should be.
But for every one of those, there’s three of the former.
I just got an email today from a future professor who insists we buy the newest version of the textbook. I already bought the previous version for almost one hundred and fifty dollars less. Too bad.
I think students need to start demanding more out of their higher education. It’s not entitlement or anything. If I’m sinking a few grand a year into an education, I better feel like I’m getting something out of it. Too many people, I think, are just satisfied with the marks, with the diploma, regardless of what they may or may not have experienced along the way.
The last year especially has left me with a terrible taste in my mouth.
Quote from: applesauce on August 26, 2011, 11:11:16 PM
Isn't LMU a liberal arts school? I don't know why you are surprised by having to take a lot of random classes then.
I have yet to take a class not at least somewhat relevant to my major. Yay tech school, bitch.
I think their business and film schools are the most well known, but they have as many science courses as other LA schools. I have to take random classes because they wouldn't let me register until today and now there are no more science classes available, not because they make me (I was planning on simply 'leaving them all for my jr/sr year' and then transferring).
Maybe I should apply to CalTech (but then I'd have to move to pasadena akudood;)
Quote from: vziard on August 26, 2011, 10:35:05 PM
doodhuh;
I want to learn. I make enough money to live from.
so what happens when that fails and you have nothing to fall back on
Have to tried waitlisting and then emailing professors or showing up to them anyways and being like " I want to take this, can I please?" I haven't had to do this yet, but from what I hear, people seem to have a 75% plus success rate.
Also can't you make the random classes be a minor you like?
Quote from: applesauce on August 26, 2011, 11:11:16 PM
I have yet to take a class not at least somewhat relevant to my major. Yay tech school, bitch.
It's somewhat the same for me; all my classes are decided by the major, not by required classes for all students
Then I realized computer science majors here are required to take a few odd things throughout the four years:
Composition, Psychology, Literature, Civilization, Civilization 2, a social science elective, a humanities elective, and a few science electives
The three humanities classes in particular seem completely unrelated to computer science doodhuh;
Quote from: Travis on August 27, 2011, 12:33:32 AM
so what happens when that fails and you have nothing to fall back on
I've been supporting myself for awhile, I don't think that will be a problem. In any case going to college to have a degree to 'fall back on' isn't part of my consideration. Another reason I'm rethinking everything is that classes at LMU would take a lot of time away from developing my business, which is doing incredibly well at the moment, so as a result I would have a much more limited ability to pay tuition. It doesn't make much sense.
Quote from: applesauce on August 27, 2011, 12:53:43 AM
Have to tried waitlisting and then emailing professors or showing up to them anyways and being like " I want to take this, can I please?" I haven't had to do this yet, but from what I hear, people seem to have a 75% plus success rate.
Also can't you make the random classes be a minor you like?
Yeah, I thought of this, but then I started thinking about how much money it is. The minors I would be interested in require the same pre-requisite classes as my major, and I can't take those yet.
Quote from: vziard on August 27, 2011, 01:38:01 AM
Yeah, I thought of this, but then I started thinking about how much money it is. The minors I would be interested in require the same pre-requisite classes as my major, and I can't take those yet.
:(
Quote from: bluika on August 27, 2011, 01:24:33 AM
It's somewhat the same for me; all my classes are decided by the major, not by required classes for all students
Then I realized computer science majors here are required to take a few odd things throughout the four years:
Composition, Psychology, Literature, Civilization, Civilization 2, a social science elective, a humanities elective, and a few science electives
The three humanities classes in particular seem completely unrelated to computer science doodhuh;
Well yeah, but I'm at least able to pick things that are somewhat related to my major, and also end up with a useful minor that I'm interested in without anything extra. For example I'm filling my soc/hum requirements with things like "Chicago Politics", "US Urban History", and "The Ecological Basis of Planning", so I'll end up with an Urban Studies minor. It also helps that I had AP credit for us gov, euro, comp, lang, and us hist, so I really only have to take 2 300+ ss courses. I'm taking more because I want the minor anyways, and will quite possibly go on to get my Masters of Urban & Regional Planning. Also I might end up with a history minor as well, since I'll be only one class short of it, incidentally.
My school used to offer a BS City & Regional Planning. Wish they still did. :'(
Quote from: vziard on August 27, 2011, 12:14:31 AM
Maybe I should apply to CalTech (but then I'd have to move to pasadena akudood;)
We could party at the Rose Parade together :O
I have touched this matter before. The substance of it is possessive, never ending when it seizes hold. I have much to utter on what I have come to know. Now I must attend a wedding. You should expect no answers. But demand what holds the truth.
Quote from: vziard on August 27, 2011, 12:14:31 AM
Maybe I should apply to CalTech (but then I'd have to move to pasadena akudood;)
Where do you live now?
so when are we going to get 'open source' colleges where you can pay for specific classes and the credits are good for some sort of general accreditation regardless of where you get them, as long as the instructors are accredited akudood;
Quote from: ,,,-,,, on August 27, 2011, 08:58:24 PM
Where do you live now?
the completely opposite side of LA
Quote from: vziard on August 27, 2011, 08:59:40 PM
so when are we going to get 'open source' colleges where you can pay for specific classes and the credits are good for some sort of general accreditation regardless of where you get them, as long as the instructors are accredited akudood;
the completely opposite side of LA
That's not that far is it? Under an hour drive?
Quote from: ,,,-,,, on August 27, 2011, 09:39:01 PM
That's not that far is it? Under an hour drive?
yeah about 8 minutes but I like taking my surfboard places
Quote from: vziard on August 27, 2011, 08:59:40 PM
so when are we going to get 'open source' colleges where you can pay for specific classes and the credits are good for some sort of general accreditation regardless of where you get them, as long as the instructors are accredited akudood;
uh lol what that's stupid
Quote from: vziard on August 27, 2011, 11:00:59 PM
y
...because some schools are always going to be harder/better than others and will have different biases in their material and focus. why would you want to regulate even more things than are already regulated? this is like deciding that every person needs to be the same and standardized and interchangeable. every institution is different and they work for different people. why fuck with what people are doing? whose business is that? pardoning the negatives, what are the positives, even, of standardizing education? not even france standardizes a lot of college education, and they are the biggest believers of standardized education there is.
Quote from: applesauce on August 27, 2011, 11:07:15 PM
...because some schools are always going to be harder/better than others and will have different biases in their material and focus. why would you want to regulate even more things than are already regulated? this is like deciding that every person needs to be the same and standardized and interchangeable. every institution is different and they work for different people. why fuck with what people are doing? whose business is that? pardoning the negatives, what are the positives, even, of standardizing education? not even france standardizes a lot of college education, and they are the biggest believers of standardized education there is.
you're essentially right, why should anyone want to change something from the way it is? baddood;
The 'regulation' and 'standardization' you're talking about are what we have now. I don't think I'm talking about 'standardizing' education at all, I'm advocating a system that would let the government decide each child's occupation at birth, and you'd have no choice but to go to a strictly government regulated occupational college. also all computers should record everything we do so that google ads can be more accurate, because then advertisers would have to spend less and the products would be cheaper for us. like education in a free market system.
Quote from: vziard on August 27, 2011, 11:32:18 PM
The 'regulation' and 'standardization' you're talking about are what we have now. I don't think I'm talking about 'standardizing' education at all, I'm advocating a system that would let the government decide each child's occupation at birth, and you'd have no choice but to go to a strictly government regulated occupational college. also all computers should record everything we do so that google ads can be more accurate, because then advertisers would have to spend less and the products would be cheaper for us. like education in a free market system.
I support this.
[spoiler]
Quote from: vziard on August 27, 2011, 11:32:18 PM
you're essentially right, why should anyone want to change something from the way it is? baddood;
In all seriousness, I really don't get why you would even want to go someplace where the school is just teaching something to a standardized system. Higher education should be, at least in my mind, about theory and thought and experienced people imparting their knowledge on a topic that they are experts on onto the less experienced. It should be about discussion and discovery and research. If it's just about learning things that are already known in a quantified way to people, there are books and online courses and such for that. Why pay tens of thousands to hear some old guys tell you about it?[/spoiler]
Quote from: applesauce on August 27, 2011, 11:40:59 PM
In all seriousness, I really don't get why you would even want to go someplace where the school is just teaching something to a standardized system. Higher education should be, at least in my mind, about theory and thought and experienced people imparting their knowledge on a topic that they are experts on onto the less experienced. It should be about discussion and discovery and research. If it's just about learning things that are already known in a quantified way to people, there are books and online courses and such for that. Why pay tens of thousands to hear some old guys tell you about it?
When did I mention a standardized system? I'm imagining a fantasy world where students could pick classes from multiple educational institutions, or just one, doesn't matter. There would still be places offering STANDARD 4-year degree programs and STANDARD course levels and STANDARD prerequisites, as now. Still want to go to a contained 4-year program? Sure, do it and pay 30 grand for the 'experience'. Want to craft your own unique higher education experience, for a less valuable or more valuable degree according to the intensity and diversity of your class choices? More power to you. The purpose of an educational institution would be to hire the most able professors for the educational market they are in (arts, technology, business, etc). The purpose of a professor would be to have a uniquely intellectual course desirable to students, which would become a commodity.
This is sort of how it works now, except the appeal and price of different colleges is based on the identity of the college and its overall 'program', not the actual value of the individual classes and professors the programs contain (there basically is no 'college market' now, it's highly standardized and subsidized to put each college's crop of professors on the same level). Instead of x number of available degrees throughout the country churning out graduates whose credentials fall generally into a set amount of broad categories (their major), students would have unlimited options available. This would ideally allow every well-endowed university to produce extremely potent graduates, because they would all vie for the premium professors (which there would be more of because it wouldn't be such a narrow occupational path). It would lower the cost of higher education, and make the job market for an average graduate more dynamic by way of introducing many more possible 'degrees' that employers (who, unlike colleges, are evolving dynamically with time) might be interested in, so that most college graduates didn't have to start their careers in a restaurant. Leave that for teenagers and immigrants :)
You will probably object that 'education shouldn't be a market', I'm not saying it should be. It should be as regulated as it is now. I'm also not trying to say that education as it exists is any great injustice or criminal disservice to students (although it almost is), just pointing out the broad scheme of a system that might work better and let people become useful to society faster. There's a long way to go.
Of course, this would mean that kids would have to start thinking for themselves earlier, colleges would have to be redesigned to be less like expensive high schools and more like 'universities' in the old sense of the word, and everybody (educators and students) would have to be constantly re-evaluating what is valuable and what knowledge is worthwhile, instead of adhering to an ages-old standard of what academia should be. These are all VERY BAD THINGS. So I see why it isn't done.
I have no problem with what you are wanting, I just don't see how it can come about without a large regulatory body being instated. I just can't see credits being fully gauranteed transferable unless this change were driven by students. It's not in the best interest of any established university, so it couldn't ever get done. All them life-long academics have crazy ideas that clash completely with the business world. They like to play social engineers.
Quote from: applesauce on August 28, 2011, 01:35:59 AM
I have no problem with what you are wanting, I just don't see how it can come about without a large regulatory body being instated. I just can't see credits being fully gauranteed transferable unless this change were driven by students. It's not in the best interest of any established university, so it couldn't ever get done. All them life-long academics have crazy ideas that clash completely with the business world. They like to play social engineers.
Yeah, ideally education and business and social change would all be the same thing, that's what I'm suggesting. It's only against the best interest of established universities until they all decide to do it together -- friendly competition, instead of long-standing monopolies.
Don't be deterred, it was more painful for me, yet here it is though. Mostly for your audience, only a little for my character.
I believe that theory gives rise to practice, practice grows into function and from function unfolds form. If a system is conceived with the wrong interpretation of the fundamental philosophical principles that govern its existence--the right understanding of which being absolutely crucial in achieving the desired effect said system is intended to generate--then the processes which constitute the workings are performing properly and according to the design, but will always fail to produce the intend outcome. Because the concept of how to realize what is desired is flawed, so too the actual design suffers from the same inherent fault. The result is a dysfunctional system, since the premise is wrong, not from technical errors in construction or implementation. To correct the issue one must therefore address the idea, not simply adjust the mechanics. The latter is what we call a band-aid fix, temporary solution for dummies, or tummy tuck, for the massively obese.
I am the only person in my family and I was the first among my relatives to attend college in the United States. Naturally the concept seemed strange and was foreign to me. I was completely unfamiliar with the process. I had very little appreciation for degrees. Such things had never mattered previously in my life; they had never influenced the lives of those that were close to me, and it also was not a factor in the life of my parents. Thus for me college did not matter. This is the environment in which I grew. Those were the people that raised me. I learned from their experience. What I saw as meaningful reflected that which I viewed as significant. The columns and beams, that constitute my worldly construct, were created with their support. Their life taught me lessons.
How was I supposed to understand that attending a University was the necessary and vital course of action? Apparently. Why would I assume that my life eventually had to and somehow must progress through the prism of undergraduate education? Why should I dedicate myself to the study of some profession? Why are all encouraged pursuits of passion endeavors of talent so intimately tied with trade and business? I am not a whore and will never enter prostitution. How is the specialization of an unbound soul--something wholly mine--by embodying a given field of expertise--an entity not entirely my own--an enhancement of my perception, and an improvement in my experience, of this phenomenon I call reality? Why should I enter into a career? What is the rush and the fuss to decide immediately and do so permanently, in this manner and within third party courts of arbitration, and abide to their terms and conditions of policy, under their spell of ideology, having to follow their rule and regulations? No promise given or pledge avowed, not even a warranty for the consequences of their advice and the repercussions of their action.
My passion loves all desires mutually and tenderly; I must be faithful to all equally and love each uniquely, through many different mediums of means and ways. What significance does the choice of major hold, then? It was only but formality. It had no real power over me. The detached and abstract method, could never really seed roots and grow within. I have faith and I have belief, but I cannot worship an arbitrary deity, and I will I won't follow a false philosophy, to spread and preach lies and deceive humanity. If I say something out loud, does this make it true? If I wish something secretly, will it still become real?
Does this process possess a power, to create destiny on demand, and then definitely fulfill it? Is chance and fate or uncertainty so weak, is it so irrelevant, so menacing when it roams free and arrive incidentally. Why must a future unforeseen be considered unfortunate, and why are circumstances divided within two categories, one planned the other developing, when there is only one source from which they stem, and are both formed of the same ultimate forces, and manifest in an identically inescapable way? What does this all mean? I wish you could tell me. It always seems like I am doing most of the talking, and you cannot see where the thinking is created, in the infinite dimension which lies beneath the surface, chaotic and constant, almost overwhelming, because I want to express it all. I know it, of course. But what good is that only if I do?
In a way that cannot be explained to another, I am very sure of who I am, as I grow and progress with time. I reside on the physical and dwell in the undefined, multidimensional realm and whatever else, be it objective or imaginary. A canary in the bird cage, with the miners deep in the underground, to see where edges begin and the dangers start--as a cosmonaut of thought. I know precisely each and every innumerable feature, and the entirety of immeasurable attributes, inherently indescribable in the way that you perceive and communicate. I am always becoming. I am confident in the things I know. I am comfortable with how I approach the constant flow of existence, and I am awestruck that I remain in the present, and shocked when I observed that which I encounter become the past, and move on into history and lived through memory.
This was a revelation. I had found the secret to being. I realized that if explored reality, I had no need for change, because I had nothing planned. Each moment is a mystery. I am the investigator, you see, here to note and solve, the puzzle that your trouble over, unaware, of how much fun one can have, poking and teasing this half force two thirds entity. In this quest I am not alone. I have the greatest company. Intuition is my guide. My instructor is experience. I am on a tour of conscience. Grand and behind the scenes, the paranormal connoisseur, supernatural VIP. Thus I am always presented something unexpected, something to look forward to; I never know precisely what exactly the next moment will bring and holds--the source where my excitement flows from, and the reason why it always wells up without pause, similar to shooting springs or really high waterfall, perhaps a geyser or hot lava flow.
Internally I am spiritually at rest, in perpetual motion. My soul is infinite and of shapeless form, it has no borders and contains no matter, composed of energy, generating force, welling from our collective cosmic reservoir. Deep, an abyss, and full of color, I have an insatiable appetite and capacity to devour and absorb, what crosses my path and then orbits my world. I am a universal man. I am curious, I am ambitious, I am clever, and I am relentless. That you cannot properly recognize and adequately appreciate this as the case, is not really an area that I can help you on, so long as you choose to value things indirectly, materially, and ultimately, unfortunately, in a fundamentally pointless and superficial approach. As I recall, and suppose correctly, the highest necessity for individual fulfillment is SELF actualization. Puzzling isn't it, that you
require others in order to achieve it. I do not have that need. I have greater standards, and with just truth as my friend and witness, I am never lonely, or devoid of context. So when you look at this and ask what the hell does he mean, I have proved my point. Trying to figure out my style and form and, and to find a overarching structure or some logical sense and lineal layout, but there is none, only the free flowing force of life, which dictates and leads me to where it goes.
You should take note, that this plain and stunning principle, is what allows me to overcome greater obstacles, as I traverse the distance, that appear insurmountable, and quite impossible to those who lack in self development, because they never valued it to the same degree as I, or recognized it as chief among all features, which influence and represent your character. There are not enough courses available or degrees to acquire, which will substitute that fact, when they only barely compensate for it. What shall I have to prove? Who must I convince? Why is this a competition, and not a collaborative effort? I only have to honor that ultimate element, the one that drowns you regardless of how long you may hold your breath, and the one that befuddles you, because your world seems flat, when you are unknowingly so very tiny, and your mind cannot escape the bounds of doubt, to see both heaven and all the earth, within an imaginative reality, open to all possibility, and yet drawn from a common hand, of the moat beautiful and inexplicable divinity. Which to casting eyes appears cloudy, or foggy, when it as homely as could be, and therefore the most profound.
The mother of the cause. What more is needed? But truth and live to feel happiness. If you do not confront the unknown, and genuinely welcome it with respect, the spooky is unveiled as magic in disguise, and you never have to compromise in any circumstance, as there is nothing to worry about, and there is no reason left to fear. Everyone is friends here, and there is only living. If you can do this and go to sleep and wake up you are the envy of a crazy world. No single thing defines me, I am the one who define everything. My interests vary and I seek what pleases me, that is also positive and of course true, which secures me snugly in the fabric, of that web which ties the separate pieces of reality, to compose a mosaic picture that I want to one day see. It is where the answers are, within unimaginable beauty.
You can peak at it within the blossom of a flower, talk to it while chirping with the crickets, or when enjoying the most intimate of summer showers. You will never find this in artificial creations, made to serve themselves in order to retroactively establish, and conjure the illusion of necessity. These are false notions, and not legitimate ideals, only hollow customs, and degenerate practices, which destroy what is good, and subvert the natural, in preaching their absurd messages, among the masses and among the flocks, of those helpless and those unwitting believers of what really is obvious and nonsensical conjecture. With enough appraise the comes acceptance, and the motion of an objection, in a charge of it being ridiculous, exists no longer as a question, and lingers only in those uncommon minds, while henceforth deemed an obscure thought, of little relevance and dispensable importance, according to the prevailing opinion, of the present and presiding majority, and society, which is our own extension, and consists of a construct nature, incorporates this alteration, to reflecting the change within perception.
But no matter how much effort we invest, in distortion of reality, to accommodate a false notion or a wrong belief system, the truth will always remain the same from birth to grave, no matter the level of fervent and zealous personal insistence. It will be in vain and it will go to waste, washed away with hatred by posterity, which sees you for the fool you were, as all that you have accomplished is to make what is real seem a dream, and turn promising hope into a fancied wish, by twisting the landscape to adjust for ignorance, and the lenses of intolerance, leaving those in tune with the actual world, to suffer and navigate a surreal scene, following a straight line to truth, inside a tangled maze, stuck and knowing that they are stuck, because they are aware of the inescapable paradox, of collective wakening before individual sleep, which causes and ensures the manifestation and continuation as the terrible state of affairs and nightmarish circumstances, which bleed essence, and kill significance, that we feel and see in our shared existence, and the desperation which we are
all conscious of in varying degrees of despair, from severe for some to blissful for most.
You can tell them apart, who is who, who knows what and what they feel, by how much they travel in circles or how strongly they refuse to move, whether they speak in conditionals or talk in absolutes, if they resort to self evidence or reason with self evident truths. You can tell them apart by the story written on their face and embodied within their grace, held within a striking stare, or missing in the glossy gaze, you can spot them from ambiguity in their demeanor, or you can recognize them from the merchandise they wear and advertise. You will know them if they are like you, as you are the same, and there are more enemies then those who are friends. And this is very sad to me. I cannot write no more. It is very tiring when every few care. Who really am I talking to, right?
Quote from: Travis on August 28, 2011, 02:41:28 PM
you said it brother
and you said nothing at all. your cost for not reading.
Quote from: Socks on August 28, 2011, 02:44:42 PM
and you said nothing at all. your cost for not reading.
The way you write just seems really arrogant. There is something beautiful when people are straight-to-the-point and don't dance around with their silly riddles.
Also, you don't even say much. It's just a bunch of crap with beautiful words.
I was wired on amphetamines what the fuck do you expect? The other part I cannot understand.
Quote from: Socks on August 28, 2011, 07:03:23 PM
I was wired on amphetamines what the fuck do you expect? The other part I cannot understand.
Which part?
Socks, have you read any LaVey, or anything on earth based religions? I can imagine/predict some of the critques you might have of the systems of organized religions themselves, but the kinds of thinkers and thought patterns, often moving out of Judeo-Christian narratives into something dripping and juiced with ambiguity and the self, make some very powerful claims about the self and it's worth. I think no one could get as deep into "An it harms none, do what thou wilt" as a Wiccan, for example. And LaVey himself was creating a hyper-conscious anti-religion in his Satanic Bible.
I'm at college to actualize myself, and to be honest the college space is a useful tool for that. It allows me resources of professors and people who deeply care about thisandthat, and from different backgrounds; it also requires me to break out of its bubble to achieve any kind of meaningful development. Oberlin is a wonderful bubble of social justice and academic study, but the Lorain County it's situated in has the highest unemployment of any county in the US, making it a huge battlefield for labor struggles. So many people blindly ignore the beauty and complexity of the midwest, coming in from NYC or LA or Boston to a liberal arts college. But even in the college, there's a huge, HUGE! library, many people who know what the fuck they're talking about.
To that end, I've split myself very thin among the institution. I'm building experience (and a resume) working as a Technical Director, Stage Manager, and Producer for 3-6 theater shows (of all kinds, student and department sponsored) a semester. In the theater vein, Carpentry is one of my majors, I'm employed as a set builder and stage hand, and I serve on a student theater board in charge of their technical supplies. Theater itself is a collaborative art, requiring the reconciliation of so many personalities, so many assholes with so many ideas. I drift through that clique uncomfortably yet solidly.
And then I'm booking a few shows for touring artists every semester, hanging out with them and the venue/event staff folk. I have two other majors, Mathematics and Music Composition, connecting me with professors and professionals in all different parts of the college. I've done a small amount of music on campus. I'm a fullback on the rugby team, and treasurer for that same team. I'm learning how to cook and live cooperatively/collectively.
I'm really sensitive to space, and often I'm not able to exist in that environment while moving beyond it the same time. That's my continuing journey, and probably the most constructive thing for me: learning how to do anything and still be in touch with the essence of myself. Like a circle drawn permanently around my heart. Especially after a friend committed suicide and my depression came back, I've started studying Paganism because most forms of it stress personal responsibility and love and respect for the earth and one's current space. Spells and goddesses are beautiful, instructive means to this end, though maybe that's too intellectually manipulative.
tl;dr I'm making the most of the opportunities that college offers while building and exercising the strength to transcend it as necessary, making me fit to follow my heart in the wider world while reconciling with the necessities (basic amenities, family connections) while challenging them (eating out of dumpsters etc.)
Quote from: Socks on August 28, 2011, 07:43:15 PM
Your lack of recognition.
Oh no, I lose. doodthing;
I don't really enjoy college, or any type of "learning environment" for that matter. It seems like it's all a big scam. Pay money out the ass to go to school, take out loans, etc. I haven't done the research, but I feel like most people spend a good portion of their life paying off the debt they have accrued in college. I don't even think college offers as much in the way of knowledge as it says it does. Probably the biggest thing you earn from college is/are connections. This is at least what I'm seeing while studying art, which I'm realizing now is a stupid thing to do as well. I think that "art" isn't really something you can teach, you're better off developing your own style that suits your needs, But that is neither here nor there.
goddamn this keyboard is small. FUCK THIS COMPUTER I HAD A REALLY LONG RANT ABOUT HOW I THINK COLLEGE IS PUT ON THIS PEDESTAL AS BEING THE END ALL BE ALL PATH TO A BETTER LIFE, BUT THIS COMPUTER FUCKING SUCKS FUCKING COLLEG LIBRARY COMPUTERS WHAT THE FUCK AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA