Ulta's Utopia

Name:
Location: Jersey City, New Jersey, United States

Searching for my next goal in life

Saturday, May 18, 2013

Deleting older blogs

Now that I read my recent blog, I wonder why I deleted my older blogs about my definition of Utopia and Friends. Ah, I remember - I was afraid of what people might think of me when they read it. I was worried that I was having an opinion about things. I was worried to let somebody else in on my thoughts.

And then I start thinking about people who post about their lives on Facebook. These people seem to "like" the fact their life can be chronicled online for others to see. Another parameter in this scenario, is whether other people actually appreciate what these people share. In the case of celebrities, everything that is shared is liked or commented upon. In some other cases, well, u know - that's not the case. What's my point - my point is that people seem to strive for attention. That's maybe another part of being "social". Being recognized and appreciated by fellow members of your species seems to be quite a nice incentive for people. And that's a big part of what Facebook is feeding off of - big part, not the only part..

I think there's where Twitter has an advantage. Micro-blogging forces you to be succinct - and make you make your point as quickly as possible. Ah, the random ramblings of a human brain that's trying to decide how expressive it wants to be ;)

Saturday, March 09, 2013

Being social and selfess

Man is a social animal, they say.

What does it mean to be social? From the little I have learnt so far: It means being around other humans, humans whom you can communicate and co-exist with. Social humans get a sense of belonging around other humans. Sometimes, it means fitting in; other times, it means setting an example that leads other humans to a better life. But then, by this definition, all animals seem to be fit into the category of being social, don't they? Any animal that I can think of - dogs, cats, lions, elephants, tigers, monkeys, birds - seem to want to co-exist with other beings of their species. So, being social is not a unique trait to humans, its just how life has been throughout evolution.

Let's try another term. Being selfless. The opposite of selfish. A man is deemed as being selfish, when his actions seem to be benefit him, and him alone. Quoting http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selfishness: Selfishness is placing concern with oneself or one's own interests above the well-being or interests of others.
Well then, selfessness is placing others concerns before your own. Why would a person do that? A person does any activity because there is a motivation. Motivation behind selflessness, then, would be the pleasure that the mind derives out of doing such an activity. So, isn't the mind then being selfish at this point? So, being selfless is being selfish, but with the difference being that your selfishness helps others rather than hurt them - is what I postulate. These terms are not true opposites. Selflessness is a kind of selfishness - the good kind.