I'm sometimes amazed at how few people consciously reject their systems of belief for the express purpose of examining them in as clear a light as possible. It seems to me that the vast majority of people believe what they were raised to believe; most of the rest believe either a variation of what they were raised to believe, or reactively seek out an opposing system of belief (eg, the kid raised in a strict christian household growing up to listen to death metal music and buy a subscription to SG). I think that at some level, most people understand and recognize this trend, but I don't think most people think it applies to them. I doubt most people consider what their system of belief would be if they had been raised in, say, an inbred Mormon sect, or a Sunni tribe that believes in female genital mutilation. If pressed, most like to believe that they would be the exception--that they would seek to escape such a belief system and culture, to better themselves. This, despite the fact that a huge number of people go to the same church their parents went to.
My amazement generally evaporates when I remember what a difficult task this actually is. When stressed, I pray. I am occasionally uncomfortable when listening to songs that mock christianity (for instance, Judith by A Perfect Circle). This behavior seems fairly hypocritical, considering that I consciously reject--and have rejected for all of my teenage and adult life--the idea that anyone is actually listening to my prayers, or is frowning down at me from on high for listening to the devil music. I can't help it, though; this is simply how my mind reacts to certain stimuli. I control these reactions as best I can, but it'd be very easy for me to slip under the comfortable blanket of belief that my upbringing wants me to accept.
I think that's the key to why so few people closely examine what they believe. Part of me wants to go to church; the fact that this desire springs only from old habit, and not from any actual faith or fear for my immortal soul, has no mitigating effect on that desire. By rejecting that part of me, I'm basically admitting to myself that I--the internal I, my mind, that which makes me me--is horribly fallible. And like all humans, my capacity for rational thought is limited, meaning that I can't necessarily think my way out of problems that my inner being can't guide me through. There is every chance that, on any issue, I could be completely and inescapably wrong.
To accept that, and then on top of that, to try to accept the idea that every person is wholly responsible for their every action--fuck, man, no wonder people don't like to think about this shit.
My amazement generally evaporates when I remember what a difficult task this actually is. When stressed, I pray. I am occasionally uncomfortable when listening to songs that mock christianity (for instance, Judith by A Perfect Circle). This behavior seems fairly hypocritical, considering that I consciously reject--and have rejected for all of my teenage and adult life--the idea that anyone is actually listening to my prayers, or is frowning down at me from on high for listening to the devil music. I can't help it, though; this is simply how my mind reacts to certain stimuli. I control these reactions as best I can, but it'd be very easy for me to slip under the comfortable blanket of belief that my upbringing wants me to accept.
I think that's the key to why so few people closely examine what they believe. Part of me wants to go to church; the fact that this desire springs only from old habit, and not from any actual faith or fear for my immortal soul, has no mitigating effect on that desire. By rejecting that part of me, I'm basically admitting to myself that I--the internal I, my mind, that which makes me me--is horribly fallible. And like all humans, my capacity for rational thought is limited, meaning that I can't necessarily think my way out of problems that my inner being can't guide me through. There is every chance that, on any issue, I could be completely and inescapably wrong.
To accept that, and then on top of that, to try to accept the idea that every person is wholly responsible for their every action--fuck, man, no wonder people don't like to think about this shit.
Sometimes I sit back, reflect, and wonder who the hell has been living my life up until recently.
I've come to the conclusion that it's impossible to lead a morally or ethically good life. If you've never encountered a situation in which there is no 'good' choice, in which you are not forced to compromise your morals and/or your ethics in one way or another because no alternative which is not morally or ethically compromising exists--if you've never had to do wrong because the alternative was worse, then I think you've probably made the morally and ethically reprehensible choice of disassociating yourself from the world almost completely. Which is like refusing to perform triage because you might have to let someone die.
What one should strive for is to view one's choices, good and bad, honestly and with integrity to one's self.
Heavy, possibly even melodramatic material for a blog post, I guess. Some of what I've been discussing on the boards has put me in an odd place.
What one should strive for is to view one's choices, good and bad, honestly and with integrity to one's self.
Heavy, possibly even melodramatic material for a blog post, I guess. Some of what I've been discussing on the boards has put me in an odd place.
Over a year since my last post. Ah, well.
I've been tearing shit up in the CE boards again. As a result, I've been called the most interesting things, perhaps the most interesting of which is "conservative". I don't mean to offend, but I've never thought of myself as being particularly conservative. Nor have I ever thought of myself as being particularly liberal. I'm pro-choice and anti-gun control--as best I can tell, I piss off pretty much everyone. What I believe in, above all else, is personal responsibility. I don't believe in imposing my will on others, and I don't allow others to impose their will on me. The most important function a society can fulfill, in my opinion, is to allow and encourage everyone to leave everyone else alone.
I've been tearing shit up in the CE boards again. As a result, I've been called the most interesting things, perhaps the most interesting of which is "conservative". I don't mean to offend, but I've never thought of myself as being particularly conservative. Nor have I ever thought of myself as being particularly liberal. I'm pro-choice and anti-gun control--as best I can tell, I piss off pretty much everyone. What I believe in, above all else, is personal responsibility. I don't believe in imposing my will on others, and I don't allow others to impose their will on me. The most important function a society can fulfill, in my opinion, is to allow and encourage everyone to leave everyone else alone.
New piercings are a goddamn chore to care for. I have to slot an extra half-hour every morning for it. When you're used to spending only ten minutes from waking up to getting out the door, that's a hell of a long time.
I hate being the asshole. But my first instinct is always to say what I think. If I think you're a retard, an idiot, or a moron (or all three), you'll here it here first. Except that you won't, because my post will get deleted and the mods will send me a nasty letter.
At least nobody has to wonder what I think of them.
edit: Oh, and what's up with the mods emailing you instead of using SG's built-in message system? I hardly ever check my email these days, so it wasn't until the second warning message that I realized why my posts were getting deleted.
At least nobody has to wonder what I think of them.
edit: Oh, and what's up with the mods emailing you instead of using SG's built-in message system? I hardly ever check my email these days, so it wasn't until the second warning message that I realized why my posts were getting deleted.
I got pierced! Two in my left ear, one in my right. I might get around to posting pics tonight.
So, I sat down last night and plotted out my WoW wishlist for my L70 rogue. This is not the best gear in the game, it's the best gear I can realistically acquire for the role I want to fill--namely, handing out massive fucking crits with my backstabs, ambushes, and eviscerates, specifically in PvP. My PvP build is assassination/sub, giving me both Cold Blood and Preparation, with Master of Subtlety as an added bonus. The point of the build, specifically, is to be able to open up with a massive ambush, get in a massive backstab or two, and have 5cp for a massive eviscerate. this should, ideally, all but destroy any clothy and most leather classes, and hit mail and plate hard enough that I can finish them with little problem. As a secondary focus, I want to be completely undetectable in stealth, while being able to penetrate the stealth of just about anyone else.
So, here's my gear list.
Head: The Night Watchman
Neck: Adamantite Chain of the Unbroken
Shoulders: Mantle of Perenolde
Back: Netherfury Cloak
Chest: Chestguard of the Dark Stalker
Wrist: Armwraps of Disdain
Hands: Fel Leather Gloves
Belt: Liar's Cord
Legs: Mennu's Scaled Leggings
Feet: The Master's Treads
Ring: Aggressor's Mark of the Shattar
Ring: Ring of the Shadow Deeps
Trinket: Hourglass of the Unraveller
Trinket: Bladefists's Breadth
Main: Gladiator's Shanker
Off: Gladiator's Shiv
The final stats on this gear, not include gems, enchants, and so on:
334 crit rating
+508 AP (+596 including stats)
85 hit rating
18 resiliance
+69 Agi
+243 Sta
+19 Str
The crit rating, as I said, is the important part. 334 crit rating equals +15% crit. I'll have +5% from talents; my ambushes will be at +45% (total +65%), and my backstabs will be at +30% (total +50%).
I could get even more crit (or other stats) if I replaced my choice for helm and boots, but The Night Watchman and The Master's Treads are instrumental to my strategy. In addition to the +stealth afforded by the boots, I'll have +stealth on my cloak, and might replace one of my trinkets for a +stealth trinket. That means I will be, hands down, the sneakiest motherfucker in the game--the only possible way to have more +stealth would be to be a Night Elf and/or to go with the Darkmantle Boots (L60 stats, but slightly more +stealth). So I will, effectively, be invisible; I had this build at L60, and I could often ambush warlocks with felhunters before they could react.
So, yeah. That's my goal, right now.
So, here's my gear list.
Head: The Night Watchman
Neck: Adamantite Chain of the Unbroken
Shoulders: Mantle of Perenolde
Back: Netherfury Cloak
Chest: Chestguard of the Dark Stalker
Wrist: Armwraps of Disdain
Hands: Fel Leather Gloves
Belt: Liar's Cord
Legs: Mennu's Scaled Leggings
Feet: The Master's Treads
Ring: Aggressor's Mark of the Shattar
Ring: Ring of the Shadow Deeps
Trinket: Hourglass of the Unraveller
Trinket: Bladefists's Breadth
Main: Gladiator's Shanker
Off: Gladiator's Shiv
The final stats on this gear, not include gems, enchants, and so on:
334 crit rating
+508 AP (+596 including stats)
85 hit rating
18 resiliance
+69 Agi
+243 Sta
+19 Str
The crit rating, as I said, is the important part. 334 crit rating equals +15% crit. I'll have +5% from talents; my ambushes will be at +45% (total +65%), and my backstabs will be at +30% (total +50%).
I could get even more crit (or other stats) if I replaced my choice for helm and boots, but The Night Watchman and The Master's Treads are instrumental to my strategy. In addition to the +stealth afforded by the boots, I'll have +stealth on my cloak, and might replace one of my trinkets for a +stealth trinket. That means I will be, hands down, the sneakiest motherfucker in the game--the only possible way to have more +stealth would be to be a Night Elf and/or to go with the Darkmantle Boots (L60 stats, but slightly more +stealth). So I will, effectively, be invisible; I had this build at L60, and I could often ambush warlocks with felhunters before they could react.
So, yeah. That's my goal, right now.
Woo, I'm stirring up shit in the news forums again. People here--and everywhere, I guess--are so reactionary. I say one thing slightly counter to the prevailing opinion, and people start accusing me of the wildest things, of holding the craziest beliefs. I say "I don't believe that waterboarding is necessarily torture", and the response is "YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT IT MEANS TO BE AN AMERICAN." Sigh.
