16 Random Questions
For this post, I’m not providing answers, or even opinions. I’m reversing polarity on this blog post, and instead asking questions, any and all of which you are free to provide answers to if you have any.
-Why are so many people and organizations unwilling to be small?
-Is there an intrinsic value to indiscriminate change?
-Is “that’s the world we live in” ever an intelligent answer?
-Is it healthy or even moral to be selling ourselves in every field of our lives, all of the time?
-Should people with their own rigid expectations ever complain about being discriminated against?
-Where does the unhealthy obsession with income potential as a dating criteria come from?
-Why can’t the woman in a relationship make more or all of the money?
-Why can’t she be taller, for that matter? Or older?
-If two people are of legal age, why should an age difference matter? What exactly is so creepy about a large age difference between two romantic partners?
-Why is it creepy behavior when you have no interest in the guy, but flirtation when you find him attractive? Is this a double-standard?
-Is there truly a standard for quality art or writing, or do we just like what we like?
-Why do so many religious people see academic intelligence as a threat, or even something to be mocked?
-When people that “love” you can stop talking to you without explanation, does that say something about them, or you?
-Is there an actual, intellectual defense of the death penalty in a civilized society? One that doesn’t involve the concept of “eye for an eye”?
-How many people truly feel better about themselves when they change their entire life to lose weight, as opposed to thinking they feel better about themselves, because culture says they should be skinny?
-Have you in any way conformed so much that you don’t even realize you’ve conformed at all?
- Posted in: Days in the Life ♦ Personal Success ♦ Too XYZ
Ty Unglebower 
-Why are so many people and organizations unwilling to be small?
I don’t know what you mean by that: small?
-Is there an intrinsic value to indiscriminate change?
Offhand and with little thought I would say: no.
-Is “that’s the world we live in” ever an intelligent answer?
I don’t think that’s a real question, I think you’re just trying to say it’s not ever an intelligent answer. Maybe all of these questions are asked in the spirit of holding a mirror up so we can see ourselves better, rather than a genuine interest of different perspectives.
-Is it healthy or even moral to be selling ourselves in every field of our lives, all of the time?
I don’t know what you mean by that one either: selling ourselves?
-Should people with their own rigid expectations ever complain about being discriminated against?
“Should” and “rigid” are too emotionally leading. I would reword this as: Do people with their own mental blind spots have the right to feel badly when they are discriminated against? And then I would answer: yes. Do I think that’s fair? No, I think it’s silly.
-Where does the unhealthy obsession with income potential as a dating criteria come from?
Evolution. A fascinating book on this subject is: Why Men Don’t Listen And Women Can’t Read Maps
-Why can’t the woman in a relationship make more or all of the money?
See the above mentioned book on why this bothers some men and women so much.
-Why can’t she be taller, for that matter? Or older?
It’s all in the book. Also I would think these things are becoming less important to most people as our brains evolve to fit our society. It will just take time because society evolved at a pace our brains couldn’t match.
-If two people are of legal age, why should an age difference matter? What exactly is so creepy about a large age difference between two romantic partners?
I worked with a woman in her 40’s that married a 17 year old boy (legal age in my state). Had she been 70 and he 47, I would have thought it was sweet (if witnessing a true mating of the minds between them) or been indifferent (if it was the case of a sugar momma and young stud). As it was, I felt it was taking advantage of a person before they had fully formed their identity or learned what they wanted in life. Creepy.
-Why is it creepy behavior when you have no interest in the guy, but flirtation when you find him attractive? Is this a double-standard?
It’s not creepy behavior till they act like creeps. First they’re just some guy you’re not interested in that makes his interest in you known. You tell him you’re not interested and instead of looking for love elsewhere, he persists in what he now knows are unwanted advances, now he’s an annoyance. You get harsher about it, tell him to back off because he’s bothering you and he still persists, now he’s a creep and an obvious danger.
-Is there truly a standard for quality art or writing, or do we just like what we like?
I have no knowledge of this subject.
-Why do so many religious people see academic intelligence as a threat, or even something to be mocked?
This is a statement disguised as a question. So assuming your statement is true, and many religious people do see academic intelligence as a threat, I would say the “why” of it is probably the same reason “why” many people see things that disagree with or are different from them as a threat and something to be shamed into submission by mocking – whatever that reason is.
-When people that “love” you can stop talking to you without explanation, does that say something about them, or you?
Something about them.
-Is there an actual, intellectual defense of the death penalty in a civilized society? One that doesn’t involve the concept of “eye for an eye”?
I do not know. I have never lived in a civilized society.
I will say many people take the lex talonis, or “eye for an eye” more literally than it was intended. Both in the bible and in the older codes of law that part of the bible adopted, it was possible to pay for an eye, and even a life, with a ransom of cash and goods.
I will also say the death penalty does not bother me any, more than putting down a rabid dog would bother me.
-How many people truly feel better about themselves when they change their entire life to lose weight, as opposed to thinking they feel better about themselves, because culture says they should be skinny?
That is an interesting question. Are there other problems which the excess weight is just a symptom of? Do they want to lose weight because they “should”? I think I would be proud if I was overweight and decided I didn’t want to be, and then worked hard and changed my reality. I would feel achievement and strength. Right now I’m comfortably overweight, and the standards of “culture” are obviously inferior to my own. “Culture” is not a real thing, it is just a word meaning collective wisdom (etc) of people. It would be silly to live according to what “culture” dictates because 5 people in the same room can hardly agree on anything, let alone millions of people in the same country.
-Have you in any way conformed so much that you don’t even realize you’ve conformed at all?
Well, how would I know if I had?
I have in many ways conformed so much that I don’t like myself at times. Which is strange, I guess it’s a pressure *not* to conform that works exactly the same as the pressure *to* conform.
Though I take some degree of exception to how you have interpreted my motivation behind some of the questions, i thank you for taking the time to read the post and give your opinions on some of the questions.
Yeah I did go a little overboard.