Friday, December 2, 2011

Open-Mindedness: the new Assimilation

Have you ever expressed your opinion recently, only to be told "You should be more 'open-minded"?

This new word, seems to have sprung out of nowhere like a new discovery, and turned into a star. People follow it, people live by it...
Most of all, people claim that it is the "right" thing to do....to be open-minded.

So than I ask..."Is this just a new fad that will die like the rest, or is this the new form of assimilation?"

I have opinions, admittedly, that do not agree with many others...most of all, those of the "open" mind. Do not get me wrong; I'm not a warmonger, I don't consider myself heartless, or soulless, however, whenever I encounter these people, I feel like suddenly I'm this portrait of a monster.

Now there is nothing wrong with opening up to new ideas, to accepting new theories or ways of life, because to adapt is healthier than to hold onto something that won't be here tomorrow...
however,
I get this feeling of blind sheep following the media like, well...sheep. The television has a powerful affect on these people.
Do I have to go into detail of "Kick a Ginger Day"? the open-minded would hurt me if I even compared them to those children...but really, it's the same idea.

When I get told regularly to "open up", I don't take this any longer as a sign to "be stronger", no...I take this something a little more like..."be like us, and everyone will love you".
Do I than care, if they will love me? No!
So much opposition and defensiveness flows out of these 'open-minded' folk. They claim they are not here to judge you, yet immediately, they do the exact opposite. Dare you mention anything in theory or just open opinion that doesn't agree.

Did you also know that if you don't drink once in awhile, you don't know how to live?
Yeah....that's basically what I see from a lot of these people.

There were 2 boys. They were talking about their drinking and so forth, so I openly asked in a casual tone "I don't, drink, party, or smoke...I know, I'm boring, right?" with some kind of cynical smile. I felt amused deep inside.
And the boy replied "Yes.."
And with that, I ended my conclusion. I didn't feel hurt, putting my personal feelings aside, I only wanted to hear my place in this wretched society, even by the voice of a person who lives by video games, drugs and alcoholism.

Did you know to the extremes, "open-mindedness" is like a cult?
When they viciously defend their idea, opposing all others, and attack your own personal beliefs relentlessly.

Did they remember they dislike religion? did they remember that following an idea with many followers blindly is what they view of religion? Do they realize they follow the path of war and genocide?

To guilt your peers to become "open-minded" is to make them question their own ideals, to pressure themselves to change to feel accepted, to become someone for this "idea" they do not even understand....

Also, do they realize....that No single human is fully capable of being "open-minded"? Not in the history of man, religion, and mythology do I recall a god or man who was 100% open to the theories and ideas and acts of others.
To be on the extreme end of "open-mindedness" is to say you are a god of your own creation, to say others are not, are to judge them to your own personal hell, to damn them in your mind.

By doing this, not only are they saying their way of life is the right one, they are causing those who are new tho this term and idea to struggle with themselves, and to feel cornered. What does this lead to?
Violence.

Another reason for one to believe they are open-minded is to redirect their own human imperfections and humour their lack of clean humanity. It is the easy, self-righteous way to not look at oneself. Id you judge them, they feel like they are already on the high chair of morality. They are so insecure, that they take on some new idea and pretend they are innocent and forgiven..?....forgiven, wait? by who? by what?
If there is no "god", there is no one to forgive them, no one to cleanse them, they are as filthy as they were the moment they damned others, with no one to forgive them.

If this continues, not only will those feeling oppressed for having their own ways of life, which are either extremely harmless in society like not drinking, to any number of of crime, but this is a new fuel to war.

The term "open-mindedness" Is a new oil. Once backed up by blind believers, it will fuel a fire that we cannot afford to start, and that's when the war of morality comes out again...is it so different than, from religion?

Religion does not instigate war, however individuals become so heated by different views that they destroy the fragile image of the believers. This damages the confidence in young religious people, in fear, afraid to admit they are exploring religion. Is this fair? no, it's not.

So, to admit I'm not open-minded, if this was the new fad in high school, I would be afraid to be treated by other children. I would be bullied to drink, to smoke, to be force myself to make gay friends, to become someone else....when I didn't do anything to harm others.
Nothing wrong with a gay friend, don't get me wrong....but you should NOT feel pressured to make one just to fee accepted!

Also, if you dare to bring up a mental illness...will they treat you equally? Will they really?

If you say you are gay, they may open arms to you.....but if you say "I have a chronic mental illness", that awkward moment you wait for an answer.......do you feel accepted? do you?


Open-mindedness is just a new word for assimilation. If you want to open up to a new idea, do it. If you want to try something new, try it. If you desire to explore new theories about the universe, whatever man, just do that.......but,
If you get pressured to try something that you feel uncomfortable about...don't do it!

Society may have the power, but don't forget who you are.

To be the goat and not the sheep makes all the difference down the road of life. To live up to society's expectations.
Sadly, there are times we have no choice. These times are when we apply for a job, when we have interviews, and when we want to appeal to legal issues. You have to conform to a certain extent, however, this does not mean that you have to change underneath, unless you are an angry, loathing person without anything respectable about you.

I am not trying to fuel against being open, but to oppose this stupid idea of being pressured to part of someone else's morality.

I quote this off a user from a blog below:

"Your morality does not match my morality, so you should "open your closed mind" and take on my morality, or at least be quiet about it so I don't have to hear about it from you"-user from city-data.com forums.

I think this sums it up.

In other words, to say someone is closed minded is to say they do not equal your own morality, what morality may that be?

If you want to follow morality, follow your own or follow a religion, but if you follow your own, you have no right to force others to follow, even more than you cannot force others into religion, which is not following your own ideas, but a higher one's ideas that you are following. Otherwise, you are rising yourself higher than you ought to.

Hypocrites are hypocrites, no matter what they call themselves.

In the end, all you can do is follow what "feels" right, live life the way you want to...preferably without purposely causing too much strife.

I hope this eases the mind of the cornered and socially-unaccepted. You should try to be better version of yourself ,but not to conform to the majority simply for peer pressure. If you want to follow and be accepted, that's up to you......but I just wanted to share my opinion and help those others feeling oppressed and pushed around with words to realize that not everyone is like that.

Be your own version of open, and open to things one at a time, if it feels right. Have your own opinions, state them, and if they want to start a fight, move on. If everyone was the same, wouldn't the world be boring?

I am tired of being told to conform to the mass.
I oppose this war......I just want to live in peace.

The inaction does more good than the action in this case. Accept and move on, see and continue. Things will always happen around you, bizarre and normal people will always exist, so just take notice and realize you cannot stop it.
If it is not harming someone, let it go. If it harms someone, tell someone.

We can all be hypocrites sometimes, and we all judge others...
'Till next time...

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Friday, November 11, 2011

Skyrim: Special Edition is worth it? I think so. + rants on nerds

I see a lot of controversy about the Elder Scrolls Skyrim Collectors edition...

Many are saying it's not worth it.
"for a useless plastic dragon and coffee table book"

Um....so, basically you aren't even in the right mindset to bother with special editions of any game, really. Most come with some for of "useless" collectible.
Did I mention those are worth double their price on Ebay already? They are....I checked.

So, to the wondering, doubtful, and to those ungrateful bastards who know nothing about art"

That dragon is massive. That dragon is limited in quantity....AND...that dragon? yeah, it took effort to design. Do these people even understand the concept of creating a piece of physical work?

No duh, it was fabricated mechanically....that is, before it was probably hand-detailed...and don't forget the CG models are based off sketches.

I myself Love to collect things. I love dragons, esspecially beautifully made ones like this one we are talking about. I appreciate statues. I'm like a dragon, if you may....and I don't forget about my hoard. Quite the opposite-I'll scorch you if I find a filthy fingerprint on my paid for pieces of art.

As an artist, I appreciate and admire the artwork and the sweat the game artists put in for us. That 200 page concept work book? WORTH IT.
It's hardcover no less, and it's full-sized.

These 2 bonus items alone are worth at least $50-70 on Ebay right now....and they are getting more expensive. The average hard cover art book of any project is worth no less than $40 retail. The average dragon statue of quality pvc and detail is worth no less than $50. I spend more time than I'd like to admit staring at things I wish I could afford.....and for $150, I get a great deal as it includes a $60 video game with it, and the rest is basically tossed in for free after (the map and dvd).

So for those ungrates....I honestly ave neve4r played Elder Scrolls. Never. I barely touch any of the products they ever made....I'm more of a J-rpg gamer myself.
I'm not hardcore...I play casually and would see no long-term, out of game- benefit in paying for extra in-game items..because I won't be spending my life trying to prove how awesome I am..(hence why I won't get the AC:R pre-order...>I can wait till I finish the other 3 assassin's creed titles.
.but if it's got an amazing dragon statue, a wonderful book of illustrations, and than some, why the hell wouldn't I want that?


For the record....this GAME is considered "useless"....why? because in the context of useless statue, Id like to add that you do NOT NEED VIDEO GAMES!
Basically almost every video game on the planet is not required for you to survive...and anything that does not contribute to your health or personal life goal is considered useless.

Really, to me, your unappreciative opinions are useless.

If you really love your video game, take some time to think about what goes into that game. Take some time to appreciate the hard work.....Also, it's remembrance day in Canada, so...if you live here....be appreciative in general.

If it wasn't for our veterans, you wouldn't be playing your Skyrim...for that matter.


This is one reason I refuse to classify myself as a nerd.
Aside my obvious lack of hard core gaming and lack of new-gen consoles, I hate the attitudes. I also hate the stupid made up words that make no damn sense to us people who prefer to speak English or any other real language. Keep WoW between you and your fellow W.o.W buddies.....it sounds freaking retarded.

I'm sorry, but I don't feel WoW'd, and when I think of the silliness, I 'LoL' at all of it. HA, see what I did there? Who makes these games on abbreviations that are fun to make fun of?

Nerds can be as much of assholes as the jockeys in high school. The sad thing is they know it...picking on "noobs" kind of like the preps picked on them....yeah, you're a great person.

Also...if you cannot appreciate a nice statue besides one with a chest, just stop ranting about it...no one told you to buy it. Go spend $60 instead...IMO, I'm going to wait till it's cheap if I cannot get a hold of the collectors edition....I just want the collector items.

Hate me all you want, but I thought it was worth throwing a different opinion out there.


Last thoughts:

IF you think paying for the artistic items that come with a game you love, or simply just admire the craftsmanship, this is totally worth it....maybe it's expensive, and it's understandable if you cannot afford it....but "too expensive" and "I don't have that kind of money" aren't really the same thing. If you really want it, save up for it, charge it to your credit and pay it off per month (only if you can afford to do this), whatever--it's worth depends on the viewer, but to say it is rediculous waste of money is to say one is too cheap to spend money on things people didn't even have to create in the first place....it's their investment in us.

Whatever your budget is, don't listen to the idiots boasting about what is useless...you decide that for yourself. Technically, most things we want or buy that add up to numbers we are afraid to count are useless.

IS this something you will admire the week after you buy it? Will you still be flipping through that book next month?Will you get some artistic inspiration from the artwork? Think about it.

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Dragon's List

I am going to create a list of dragon-related products featuring dragons!
This is going to include: Video Games, Movies/Animation, and MAYBE books!
The books will include a dragon as a character, or as a overall theme:no generic fantasy titles will be listed unless dragons have more roles than being the bad guy :)

In no specific order:

Movies:

DragonHeart I & II
Reign of Fire
Dragon Storm
Eragon
Lord of the Rings (fell beast)
Mortal Kombat 2?
Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dream Treader (2o1o)
How to Train Your Dragon
Dragon Wars
Merlin and the War of the Dragons
Tales from Earthsea
+more (I will need to remember more)

Animation:
Record of Lodoss War
How to Train Your Dragon
Dragon Ball
Origin:Spirits of the Past
Tales from Earthsea (Miyazaki film)
Beyblade
YuGiOh


to be continued