http://www.alien-ufos.com/blogs/crazee/ Discuss: aliens, alien abduction, alien invasion, alien sightings, alien pictures, ufos, ufo sightings, ufo news, ufo videos, crop circles, paranormal, cryptozoology. en Tue, 21 May 2013 19:56:11 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.alien-ufos.com/images/styles/ChitChat/misc/rss.jpg http://www.alien-ufos.com/blogs/crazee/ http://www.alien-ufos.com/blogs/crazee/1358-dreams-reality.html Mon, 03 Oct 2011 03:48:42 GMT Dreams and Reality

I was sitting in my philosophy class a few days ago. I just started college was pretty sleepy since I'd had back to back classes starting at 8 that morning and hadn't eaten since breakfast (about 5 hours ago). My roommates are also the type where getting to bed at 2:00am is early. Although I missed a large part of what was being discussed in the lecture since I was nodding in and out of sleep, I was able to follow the general discussion that was being held. I tried to contribute when I was a bit more awake, but the professor didn't call on me (likely because he'd seen me drifting in and out of sleep earlier).

Ironically, the discussion was about dreams, and whether or not we can know if our entire existence in the physical world is only that… a dream. You'd think I was participating very well by being half asleep lol.

So, I'm sitting in class. The students and professor were throwing around a lot of phrases like "how do we know this is real?" and "what if none of this is really happening?" "All could be just a dream" etc. You've probably heard this before.

I'm writing this to say why I think thinking about it that way is illogical.

First off: How do we define reality?
I would say that reality is what our consciousness perceives. We have perceptions when awake, and perceptions when dreaming.

Currently, we face a problem when thinking about reality due primarily to how we think about dreams. Basically, the majority of society (or at least, the society I know) would say the experiences we have while asleep do not actually happen. They are, so to speak, just our imagination, and not worth lending credence to as a real experience.

So now we see the paradox that arises. Since we've labeled a part of our life's experience "not real", a part of our experience that feels completely real in the moment, we have reason to think anything could be, fake, not real, fantasy, etc. This has troubled philosophers and non-philosophers alike ever since it was first thought of.

But, in my humble opinion, this problem of reality is easily solvable. Dreams are real, and the material world is real. One does not detract meaning from the other. If we choose to disregard one of them as fantasy and impossible, then we must do the same for the other. But if we say that both are real, then we can get back to our lives and stop worrying about all being pointless.

...or maybe I'm just crazy :wink2: ]]> Crazee http://www.alien-ufos.com/blogs/crazee/1358-dreams-reality.html http://www.alien-ufos.com/blogs/crazee/1315-confidence.html Thu, 08 Sep 2011 20:23:56 GMT Confidence is something that everyone can make great use of. I think of it as the fuel for creative ideas. At their core, Everyone is highly... Confidence is something that everyone can make great use of. I think of it as the fuel for creative ideas. At their core, Everyone is highly creative. But oftentimes one’s potential for the expression and tuning of their creativity is hampered by a lack of confidence in personal ability.

The world is built on seeming paradoxes. One paradox that we all struggle(d) with as kids, was when we first had that convincing feeling that we were special. Society tries to tell us that only those that are rich and famous are truly special. Yet from our parents we would hear: “everyone is special”.
So how do you define “special”?

In Pixar’s The Incredibles, The son of Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl (Dash) is complaining about not being able to show off his super powers even though they are something that makes him “special”. Elastigirl tells him: “Everyone is special”. To which he replies: “Which is another way of saying no one is.”

This response stuck with me for a long time since Dash’s answer so powerfully illustrates the mental struggle we all go through as kids. We know we are special, we can feel it in every move we make, every sentence we form, every action we take…

But this form of special is not based upon society’s definition of wealth and fame. We know we can’t all be rich and famous. This kind of special is based upon the fact that everyone is so perfectly unique, so perfectly geared towards a certain means of expression that no other being could possibly recreate it in its exact form. This expression is what we are, beyond our physical experience and characteristics. It is what we were meant to show the world, so that consciousness can advance.

Because of our differences, others sometimes tell us that our method of expression is bad or unskilled. It is no such thing. It may be as of yet unrefined, but it is only due to the fact that it’s a difficult chore to relate your inner thoughts in a way that will leave a definite impression on another individual who is infinitely different, yet also so similar, to oneself.

If confidence in your own abilities is low, you are less likely to be true to your Self. Instead of listening to your own impulses that come from the deepest layer of Being, you try to change to imitate others. The confidence is low, the tank of fuel that contains a grand sum of infinity is fast disappearing since you don’t believe it is there. If you can believe in yourself, doors will open and you will become more and more amazed by what you can do and how much inspiration you can generate. Stores of energy that lay dormant for years will spring forward since you once again acknowledge their existence.

But don’t be cocky, cockiness is society's evil twin of confidence. The powers that be have adopted the doctrine of the cocky, and we are all paying for it big time. I hope to go into more detail about cockiness another time.


I was inspired to write this essay and present my own thoughts on the matter shortly after reading Emerson’s writings on self-reliance. I highly recommend it to anyone interested. It can be found here: Ralph Waldo Emerson - Volume II - Essays I ]]> Crazee http://www.alien-ufos.com/blogs/crazee/1315-confidence.html