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BrainChemistry
Captain Obvious



Registered: 06/19/07
Posts: 3,657
Loc: Mountains of N. America
Last seen: 10 years, 1 month
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Re: Why do humans have such a strong propensity to take things for granted? to not appreciate? [Re: Kukaracha]
#10123491 - 04/07/09 02:06 PM (14 years, 10 months ago) |
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Alright, well I'll still argue that contemplation can lead to creative action.
Maybe I waste time contemplating the nature of the universe....maybe I waste hours every day on it.
But maybe its not really wasted, because someday I will write a book on the topic. Or maybe I'll teach my opinions to my children, or share them with you all here on the shroomery.
Using your telephone example...if you DID contemplate how amazing it is you can hear the other persons voice...well maybe that might get you thinking about communication in general. Maybe it will make you think about radio waves, or satellites in orbit, or instant communication through particles....whatever. All that thought opens up creative energy.
I don't need to contemplate anything in order to be able to survive. A single cell survives in the environment simply by its reactionary and genetic nature alone. You can survive on instinct.
But I'm human and have an imagination...so I'm gonna contemplate things.
You know...I honestly don't know what point I'm trying to make, but there you have it.
-------------------- Word to your mom.
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Kukaracha
Cat wannabe


Registered: 12/18/08
Posts: 1,682
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Re: Why do humans have such a strong propensity to take things for granted? to not appreciate? [Re: BrainChemistry]
#10124093 - 04/07/09 03:48 PM (14 years, 10 months ago) |
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I think you misunderstood my post. You seem to think that I consider contemplation as a negative thing, whereas I don't. I'm just saying contemplation does not fit with what people call "concrete actions".
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Noteworthy
Sophyphile


Registered: 10/05/08
Posts: 5,599
Last seen: 11 years, 1 month
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Re: Why do humans have such a strong propensity to take things for granted? to not appreciate? [Re: Kukaracha]
#10129052 - 04/08/09 10:15 AM (14 years, 10 months ago) |
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The weight of a concrete action can be increased by prior contemplation. Without any contemplation, an action is just impulsive and reactive.
The point of any contemplation should be to prepare yourself with mental tools, ways of being comfortable with the world, so that one day it may help you solve a problem.
Contemplation merely for the point of glazing over notions is indeed quite indulgent and passive
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Noteworthy
Sophyphile


Registered: 10/05/08
Posts: 5,599
Last seen: 11 years, 1 month
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Re: Why do humans have such a strong propensity to take things for granted? to not appreciate? [Re: Mufungo]
#10129071 - 04/08/09 10:20 AM (14 years, 10 months ago) |
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Quote:
Mufungo said:
Quote:
Noteworthy said: Taking things for granted is always bad in a certain way, because if we take things for granted we are just assuming that someone else is taking care of things for us.
This is quite the assumption about what happens when people take things for granted. Due to the narrow perspective it takes, I disagree that a person taking something for granted assumes that someone else is taking care of it for them. People take things for granted for all and any number of reasons. But despite the reasoning for it, the purpose seems to me to be (sorry to repeat myself many times in one thread) about efficiency of time and energy of the organism.
Edit: I wanted to add that by saying that taking things for granted is always bad, this is ignoring the multitude of evidence to the contrary where people take things for granted and it works! It's just easy not to notice how taking things for granted can be good because it's only when it goes wrong that people seem to notice.
It is only efficient to not care about something if:
a) it is insignificant
b) someone else is caring about it
c) the system is intricately organised around a common goal (the sort of organisation that is not really possible in today's individualist western society)
thus I would say the efficiency of taking things for granted is bound up with the assumption that other people or forces (god? nature?) are taking care of something.
So taking things for granted is only bad if no one is taking care of something, otherwise it is a good thing because people do not waste their anxieties on problems that are taken care of.
But taking things for granted is very bad when people overstep what their selves or their societies are giving back to the world.
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Lakefingers

Registered: 08/26/05
Posts: 6,440
Loc: mumuland
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Re: Why do humans have such a strong propensity to take things for granted? to not appreciate? [Re: NastyDHL]
#10134424 - 04/09/09 04:23 AM (14 years, 10 months ago) |
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Rerouting to the original post:
Why do humans also have such a propensity to appreciate anything and everything? It's funny how starry eyed we become when we gain insight.
Why do humans believe lies? -- Why do humans believe truth. etc, etc.
Is either of these a flaw? Is the function itself something that differs only by degree from other animals? Does the negative push of a magnet make it bad?
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