Monotony is the name of the game where I work. 12 hours a day comprised of
the same shit over and over. It pays the bills very well so why complain. I
used to be homeless but always actively looking for employment. Most any
job you're gonna have is repititious...you didn't pick up on writing the
alphabet by just writing it down once did you?
Seriously what freedom is there with no job? You have no money to do
anything with and what are you doing with those 8-12 hours you arn't
working? Probably nothing productive. Going through the motions of doing
nothing all day, bitching about not having money and how unfair life is.
And then have the same piss and moan argument about how your job sucks and
life is unfair.
So really its all just one big repetitive circle.
____________________ My Life is like a porno-Without the sex-Just the weird music
Sorrow
Occasional Poster
Posts: 18 Registered: 21/11/2007 Status: Offline
posted on 28/11/2007 at 01:33 PM
Great posts guys-awesome. Especially that Monolycus farmer man. Tell you
what, I'll think about it at work and reply when I get back.
"I'm of the mind that routine destroys a person's potential for wisdom
and intelligence,"
While I respect independent thought, I believe you are wrong. The most
enlightened of our species were all creatures of habit and ritual. For
once, am making no citations... don't believe me, do some research...
I do agree that we are becoming less...but it is not our work that is doing
it... it is the air conditioning, the television, the cars and the easy
nature of our work...the fact that we coddle the weakest of us. it is a
departure from the natural order of ourselves that is causing all you have
cited.
I can tell this by old people always saying the same stories over and
over again you can't tell shit about what's going on in another
person's head. Plain and simple - unless you are psychic, and I don't think
you are, you would be a great deal more famous.
I do agree that you need more hardship... your instincts are being
neglected and the fight for survival awakened you... go to th woods with
nothing but a knife once a month.. experience what it is to live...
Does it make sense? no...not really
____________________ The earth turns on a tilted axis - just doing the best it can.
Hohenheim of Light~Full Metal Alchemist
Monolycus
Fanatic
Posts: 580 Registered: 31/12/1969 Status: Offline
posted on 28/11/2007 at 06:37 AM
Well, lookee here, boys. Somebody must have done gone to church 'cos God
Almighty went and dropped a philosopher in our midst. Bow your heads low
and say thanks, boys, 'cos them's mighty good eatin'.
quote:I'm of the mind that
routine destroys a person's potential for wisdom and intelligence, by
oppressing the closed minded imperative.
You're gonna have to define your terms there, boy. What's your purpose
here? You looking for clarity o' thought or are you trying to bedazzle the
teenies with a string of polysyllabics? You were doing so well until that
comma came along.
quote:See, we do the same shit
every day, because by doing this same shit, we've established some sort of
sense of security and guidance when it comes to surviving in society, most
especially because this is what, precisely, is awaited of the common
man.
Awaited "of" or awaited "by"...? Let's clean up some of those
prepositions. I've never met this "common man" you're on about, but I know
what most folk have to look forward to, and that's a whole lot of
uncertainty. You looking for security? Count on death and taxes. After
that, it's all negotiable.
quote:I can tell this by old
people always saying the same stories over and over again; such examples
show that the person has to keep reminding themselves that at some point or
another in their life, they did or experienced something worthwhile. they
learned something form it, and try to keep it alive by presenting it as
some huge feat.
Gonna need something closer to science in your survey there, boy. I reckon
that there's as many reasons why old people tell the same stories as there
are old people to ask about it. The reason this particular old person
repeats himself is because young know-it-alls didn't listen the first time
around.
Some might be reassuring themselves, and I'll place a wager that some are
just amusing themselves with the tried-and-true. For some, I reckon it's
what the boddhistavas call "habit energy"... they do the same things for
the same reason that you keep breathing in and out every day without mixing
it up a little bit. It's what they know. Repetition builds muscle memory
and that's a hard habit to break. I expect it works the same way with your
synapses; "As above, so below" and all that.
For still others, it could just be their wyrd. Don't flatter yourself into
thinking you choose everything fresh from moment to moment. You do what
works because it's time consuming and irritating to re-invent the wheel
every day. You brain saves you a lot of frustration by switching on the
auto for the small stuff. Be grateful it does that when you're not fussing
over your doorknob on the way to take a piss.
quote:Because other then this,
routine destroys everything. it like, stalls your mental or spiritual
progress...or some shit.
You mean like the way practicing playing a guitar makes you less able to
play it? Once again, you're gonna need to define your terms, boy. There's
productive routine and non-productive routine. And they are both what you
make of 'em.
Yeah, the Greeks thought work kept 'em from thinking. That's why they had
a slave class to do the washing and mending and wiping of the philosopher's
asses. The Italians figured professional moochery was a way around it and
had rich folk patronize 'em. The Enlightenment geniuses were mostly idle
trust-fund babies who had to do something to justify all their free
time.
And then there was Einstein. Patent clerk when he came up with special and
general relativity. Had a mind-numbingly tedious job and let the
data-entry free up his gears for him. Just a matter of that muscle memory
I was on about earlier. If you can't think and work, you obviously need
practice. If you can't remember your profundities come Miller Time
afterwards, buy a damned notebook.
quote:I thought I was miserable
and suicidal when I didn't have a job and didn't know what I was going to
do about the rent or food; but every day was an adventure, and I'm sure
I've learned so much more shit form struggling like a jackass then I have
been for the past three years. I have a job now and just do the same thing
over and over again. Weekends are sought after for whatever freedom I can
extract from it, and recap the shit I like to do. But it's not the same.
It's like sniffing a book instead of reading it.
So, let me get this straight. When you were unemployed, you were miserable
because you didn't appreciate what you had going for you. Now that you're
working, you're miserable and you assume it's for a different reason? I
don't think anyone's handing out solid gold houses and blowjobs... might be
you're just gonna want something different and not appreciate the present
no matter what it looks like. There's that habit energy the boddhisatvas
keep going on about again. Food for thought, if you're not too busy.
quote:But I still don't want to
end up on the street or jobless again. I don't know. Does it make
sense?
"Want" factors into a lot when you're four. After that, not so much. My
advice is to deal with what you have instead of wrestling with the fiction
of what you want.
In other words, you're not paid to think, boy. Shut up and get back to
work.
____________________ "I believe that woman is planning to shoot me again."
Schizo
Extreme Fanatic
Posts: 897 Registered: 31/12/1969 Status: Offline
posted on 28/11/2007 at 02:58 AM
Certainly, today's set-up of the 40-hour work week and two-day weekend is a
very artificial arrangement - a sort of hamster-wheel lifestyle which can
be very numbing, and yet supplies security both for employers and employees
alike, and as such, it makes sense. A sort of necessary evil.
A more natural arrangement, however, was, say, the subsistance farmer's
lifestyle. Everything for its season, and a season for everything.
Plowing and planting in the spring, caring for the plants over the growing
season, a harvest, and then a winter to survive. And always, still, the
daily routines of caring for animals, making food and clothing, and such.
And yet, I am sure the farmer thought his routine difficult, numbing, and
restrictive at times.
You could go further back, to the hunter/gatherer days, when things were
less structured, and also far more dangerous. Less structure, but also far
less security. You survived as long as you could kill your prey or find
food growing, and you died when you could no longer manage it, or when
something else decided you were food.
I don't think it really matters. I myself work a 50 hour week, and come
home to be a single mom of a kindergartener. Not exactly a lifestyle
fraught with freedom and adventure. I've achieved a certain amount of
security that I am very proud of, but I also remember the days when I lived
in a homeless shelter (and was a happy woman).
Generally, I think if you feel numbed or unhappy, it's your own fault and
not that of your routine. I can find happiness wherever I am, and if I
really find that a situation I am in is unhealthy, I have the courage to
rock the boat and sacrifice security to change things.
Some people just seem to prefer to have numbed minds, some don't. It
doesn't seem to have much to do with their circumstances or schedules. I
can find adventure working in a factory assembly room (doesn't mean I
wouldn't mind getting out).
Some people say "I want to go out and live my own life." They don't
realize that this is a meaningless statement. You are living your own life
right now. The good, the bad, and the ugly. Dig into it deeply, whether
you are changing it or not. There's good stuff (and wisdom) to be found
wherever you are.
Thus Schizo ends her sermon. Time to get ready for work.
____________________ "You can tell by the scars on my arms and the cracks in my hips and the
dents in my car and the blisters on my lips that I'm not the carefullest of
girls." - Dresden Dolls, "Girl Anachronism"