A Man

Today I saw a man. His face was obscured by the shadows cast from the late afternoons lack of sun. He sat low in his chair, his head bowed, his body sitting low in the chair. I noticed he wore headphones, and that his eyes were closed. Oblivious to the people around him, the steady movements of the boat were all this man could feel. However he must have felt my gaze for he opened his eyes. His face was young, he looked in his mid-twenties, his skin dark and his eyes more so. 

Instead of averting my eyes quickly I continued to look at him, for it did not feel rude. He looked at me for several moments before we both looked away. I had a magazine in my bag I remembered. I rifled through my overly used handbag and quickly found the magazine in question, which was sitting on top of my everyday rubbish - a cellphone with a flat battery, chewing gum and half opened letters, lying in their envelopes daring me to read them. Pointless, futile and draining. Those letters will stay unread. I opened the magazine on the fold I had left there earlier. Small black words screamed up at me, challenging me to read them; and I obeyed the words, and they glorified at their ability to have such power over me.

Once again, the magazine succeeded in engaging my mind and body. I was a quarter down the page when I subconsciously stopped. The man was looking at me again. I looked back at him. This time neither myself nor him looked away until twelve seconds had passed. I was fascinated. This man seemed to feel the same way, and I knew it was not a look of lust, of want, desire, or discrimination. 

I spoke not a word to him, and when I left the ferry his gaze followed me until I disappeared into the crowds of tourists and locals- all heading towards the cafe opposite, and the bookstore that was advertising a new best seller. Not a smile, or a hint of welcome did either of us transfer. All I knew of that person were his eyes, dark and unyielding. 

Who was he? And what did he mean.

Epiphany- Memories, and how they impact my friendships and development as a person.

I had an epiphany last night, whilst on the phone to Shyla - God Bless her (:

I have voiced before about memories, how I see them as entities belonging to us infinitely. (this is of course both true and false, we naturally do forget things as humans) I can of course blabber on about how they are metaphorical things, underlying necessities to our existence as beings, but I have also discovered (Shyla and myself being 'I') that there is a logical explanation of how memories can contribute to your overall life time, and making it the best it can be.

Friendships. For me, the physical form of a friendship would be a spider web. (And to all that are arachnophobic out there, this is probably not the best example). Beginning with but a single thread, latched onto a lamppost, connecting with another thread, each link strengthening and preserving it. At times the wind may blow, a thread will snap, and there are occasions when the spiders web is destroyed all together. Occasionally, spider webs are fortunate however. Staying free of the wind and other predators, it grows into a work of art, each thread leading onto something more extraordinary, something unique.

Each memory created with my friends are silver spiders threads in a sense. I have known Shyla for the best of twelve years now, and it is our memories that keep the friendship as preserved and everlasting as it is. Our past memories are the basis for many of our conversations, giving us moments to look back upon, laugh about, and analyse. We have experiences to learn from, points in time that we regret, but nonetheless each as valuable as the next. Without those memories as foundations, perhaps many of our conversations would have been awkward, suppose we grew to have nothing to say, and then the friendship fell apart.

I can not think of one conversation I have had with Shyla that has been awkward. We sit in silence and yet are never bored. We don't mind if the other doesn't want to hear our 'fascinating story about this guy in the television store,' and we tell it anyway. We have reached a point in our friendship that we are convinced, certain, that the other is a loyal, caring friend. And we never doubt it. (well at least I am pretty sure she doesn't doubt it, if you do Shyla I am going to be incredibly pissed off, so be careful).

It is the same with Fabienne, a second friend (and as good!) that I have known now for the same period of time (thank Lord for ballet girls!). We discuss memories, laugh and learn.

I have known people in the past that have seemed potentially capable of being good friends of mine. After an amount of time however, we grew tired of the awkward conversations, the lack of topics to discuss. Without realising, we grew apart. It happens to everyone, it has occurred more than once in my life. It is not a bad thing necessarily, but a thing to learn from.

Why did the friendship not work out, what went wrong. And how can I prevent that from happening in the future.

Or perhaps we should not be preventing it.

It is a strong belief of mine that every human being that enters into my life, whether for ten years, or two, impacts me as a person- and whether they impact me well or badly, it is fundamental for my growth as an individual.

I am absolutely starving and think I am going to pass out from caffeine overload.

- Joy

Science, fact or faith?

Check this out:
http://www.bebo.com/ForumThread.jsp?ForumTopicId=8943094831&MemberId=4394229250

Opinions

Does having religious beliefs, opinions, automatically make your ideas worthless to those who have no beliefs of the same sort?

I would really like to be able to archive my posts into categories.
Blogger doesn't seem to be capable of this however.

Does everything that has a beginning have an end?

Philosophy- Morality, what is it? And does it exist.

It unnerves me how rapidly time passes when I have nothing in particular to do. The past few days have consisted of me, seated at the computer, writing and drinking coffee. The high I get from writing itself is on its own, remarkable. Tie that in with twelve strong coffees and I'm flying off the walls.

The last two evenings I've been reading up about philosophy and other topics that interest me, to about five am in the morning each time. Philosophy forums are great ways to get other individuals' ideas and grasp the concepts of philosophy itself. I was recently reading up about morality, which was an incredible forum I must say.

Morality. All right so the first question is this: What is morality? Morality is about principles and ethics that concern differentiation between good and wrong and the behaviour of individuals. The actions and behaviour of human beings is influenced by these principals, depending on whether the person in question holds morals. There has been debate over whether morality does in actual fact exist and that perhaps all that exists is the idea of morality.

It is said that morality is (and I quote) an idea created by man to create a sense of "control."
I regard this statement as being both true and false. It could be that morality is a creation of man, used as a means of self control. Indeed, without morals, we would be living in a world overrun by un-lawful beings (more so than now). Morals do in a way, protect mankind against itself, but if morals do not exist, then is it just the idea of morals that protect us from a world of cataclysmic beings?

I disagree with the statement 'it is but an idea, not a reality.' Morals are a personal choice, and from the beginning of time humans have set expectations of themselves, and to an extent understood what is right, and what is wrong. An example of this: human beings understand that killing another person is wrong. As the human race has advanced and developed, this moral has become more and more significant, and identifies the difference between humans and animals. Animals will not (and this is a piece of information I retrieved from a philosophy web-page) have sex with a dead corpse as human necrophiliacs do. This raises a question. 'Do we as humans need morals because we are smart?'* Our brains are well developed, thus we are capable of carrying out actions that other species are not capable of. Yes, morals are a natural virtue that a majority of individuals possess, but how much of that virtue is taught? And how much of it is instinct. This brings me back to education and parenting. I personally believe that the outcome of a person reflects their childhood and upbringing.

Morality, taught? Or an inherent tendency. Either-or, I do think that morality is more than just an idea. It is also the basis of all religion. Many humans need morals and religion (for a multitude of different reasons) whereas many do not, as animals do not (and yes I am referring to mass murders who feel no guilt for taking another's life, and yes I do consider them animals)
God teaches (and whether you are Christian or not it doesn't matter, because this applies to a majority of people world wide, which adds up to the statistics) that 'thou shall not kill' however support a war where people are shot dead everyday. Moral? Or immoral.

As humans we understand things, parts of life, that are how they are.
-Killing another human is wrong
-Raping another human is wrong
-Humans commit suicide
-Suicide is considered immoral

Suggesting that morality does not exist is suggesting that we as human beings do not care about anything.

Therefore, morality does exist.





* - I really dislike having the words 'smart' and 'human' in the same sentence.


- Joy

Personal Opinions - Bias, Plagiarism, and Fabrication in Journalists and the Media.

Many forms of journalism have been fabricated and plagiarized in the past years to satisfy the public’s ever increasing demand for information. Journalists are vital and conduce towards meeting the expectations of the information-hungry society of today. The ethics of journalism are incredibly important and straight forward, centring on truthfulness, fairness, integrity, independence, accountability and most importantly, public trust. The industry of journalism depends on public interest to be successful. Their work must sell to their targeted audience, because without readers, the journalism industry will fall through. Many journalists desperate for a good story have taken to measures falling against their ethics in an attempt to sell their piece. Fabrication and plagiarism are two of the most critical scandals facing the media today. Journalists should not be acting as agents of change, but good solid reporters who give society what they expect and need, the facts.

One of the biggest fabrication scandals in recent journalism history was the Jayson Blair Scandal. Blair resigned from the New York Times in 2003 after being caught plagiarising and fabricating elements in his articles. One of Jayson Blair's misdeeds was when he was found to have lied about interviewing four soldiers in a naval hospital, attributing made up quotes to two of them. Blair in-fact never visited the hospital, and spoke to only one soldier on the phone. Blairs offences caused headlines, and increased debate over why journalists plagiarise and fabricate their stories. The answer to that, is simple. When journalists act as agents of change, they are altering the human capability and organisation systems. They do this to achieve a higher degree of output or self actualisation. Although this may attract the readers eye and interest, the writer will eventually loose the publics trust, and ultimately, their job. Journalists are trained professionals, and understand more than most that the majority of human beings are more aware of bad news rather than good. They want to hear astounding stories of death, sorrow and drama. Either this, or over exaggeratedly good news. The reality of life however, is that it is not always that way. To keep the readers eye attached to their story, journalists have found ways to slip falsehoods and lies into their stories, turning them from something ordinary, into something extraordinary and appealing to the public. They are also turning something that is the truth, into a lie.

Journalists also have a tendency to place unnecessary additives into their stories. This does not only create biased articles, but draws the publics attention to incorrect conclusions. Appearances and lifestyle are a huge issue when biased journalism is involved. The impact on stating ideas and suspicions about things that may alter the readers views on the important facts is huge, and also runs against the ethics of journalism. By adding details such as appearances of people (for example body modifications, such as tattoos, piercing's etc,) can send someone's personal opinion flying and obscure the important information that contributes to the actual story. Although it is not incorrect, it is unnecessary, and a good journalist would exclude any information that could be seen as dispensable.

Journalists that act as agents of change live in the future, not the present. They see how they can bias their stories to benefit their future success. They will take sides, and sides that the majority of the public will agree on. The recent War in Gaza has shown the biased ways of the media in full light. Journalists have portrayed the war in Gaza to be a simple fight of good and evil. The people of Gaza have been made out to be the victims, and the Israelis, the wrong doing murderers. Has the Media even attempted to understand the Israelis side of the matter? Or perhaps write about the issue neutrally? No. The Israelis story was never portrayed to be the correct one.* If they had bothered perhaps the public would know that maybe the Israelis justification of Israel entrance to Gaza was to stop the constant flow of attacks against them. That they, in actual fact, were the only ones complying by the rules of ceasefire. Meanwhile the Al Qaeuda terrorist firing home-made rickets into Israel from civilian populated areas making it impossible for Israel to destroy them from range without huge civilian casualties. This opinion, correct or not, was never shown as an equal option to society. The biased journalism of today has created a right and wrong, brainwashing the preponderance of society into believing this as pure fact.

Journalists need to stop resorting to lies to achieve their goals. We need an industry of journalists who report good solid facts, because until then they will not accomplish their goal of being the change that we all want to see.


* Thanks to a friend who gave me the information I needed for this part. I quoted you in the original but my marker for some bizzare out of this world reason said it was better stated if it was also an opinion of my own.

-JOY

Smashing Magazine 2:50AM 19/04/09 Sunday

For anyone who's interested, this is an incredible site.
If you're interested in photography, design, art, or are just an all around creative person, then you must check this site out. (and even if you despise anything to do with art, you will still be amazed I promise you)
It's absolutely magical!
Have a look in the 'inspiration' section of the site. It's worth time looking at it! I have some of the images posted on here to the right. --> That way.

www.smashingmagazine.com

If you've got feedback, share it!
(:

Photography

I have possessed a love for photography since early childhood. Photography gives me the ability to, in a single moment it stop time, there forever to hold. More so than a moving image because the still version leaves something to the imagination, it doesn't yet give you all the answers. Photography is a language that not all people can experience or learn. I grew up living and breathing music and the greatest epiphany of my life was when I realised that I would rather be deaf than blind. I think that I may have some brain structure that makes me prone to experience things more strongly when they are visual however. One might occasionally think I grew up in a cave or something, I often just stop in my tracks in awe of the way the light hits something, as silly as that may sound. I've always had this characteristic and I am thankful for it, because it is, in a way, as if I have been practicing photography for my entire life, before I even picked up a camera.

Personalities- 12:37am 19/04/08

Personalities.

I watch people as they move slowly down the street. Completely unaware they disappear into the crowd. And yet I continue to stand there, unnoticed, and unremembered. The old woman, who is she? Where has she been, where is she from? And what has she seen with her two green eyes, do they reflect her past? She looks sad. Result of a difficult childhood? Or perhaps her present. Was she a pottery maker? Did she live through bombs and pain, did she know love.

I see people, I look into their eyes- the doors to their soul. I wonder, I question, I think. 

Sitting beside a girl on the bus, what is her name? The opportunity of knowing a lifetime, the chance to know six billion individuals stories. She is so close, barely a few centimeters to the right, and yet a lifetime of unspoken things sits between us, mocking me, daring me.

Having the opportunity to know someone, and not doing so, is terrifying.

What if that person could have changed my life? 

What if.

Music

Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.  -Berthold Auerbach

Music, a bath to the soul. Washing away the dirt of everyday life, and bringing with it a pureness. The second thing in existence that has the power to express emotions as humans do. Happiness, sadness, anger, jealousy, love. Music which connects with the mind, the soul and the heart, a being of its own. Music, the central essence of us all, shows us what feeling sounds like. 

-

I cried because I had no shoes, and then I met a man with no feet.

There's always something to appreciate.

Sat 4:25PM 18/04/09 The multi mind? Or mentally unbalanced? The latter.

Multi Mind? Or Mentally Unbalanced? The latter.

What I really need to write about is how frustrated I am. Today has been an absolute f*** of a day. But if I rant on about my personal issues, people will think I am directing it at them. Which, by the way, I am not. Like you're special enough.

The motivation for this blog was a discussion last night with a friend. 

It made me come to terms with the enormity of people and just how they affect you, and your life. 

Every individual you know changes your life. From influencing you to buy a new shirt, to brainwashing you to believe in segregation (harhar), people have the ability to change your life, almost as much as you have that ability to do so.

I guess that is where the saying 'your friends reflect you as a person,' originated from. The people we socialise with will influence us, and we them. Our beliefs, actions and dreams all effect someone in some way. Every person is prone to being influenced by others, some more than most. 

I just find it remarkable how the mind can connect with a person, whether it is a conscious connection or not, it makes little difference. Why do our brains choose that person, what is special about them that makes us like them as people? And surely we have to know the person before we can classify them as a person whom we will get along with?

I for one, have definitely experienced connecting with people before knowing them. Maybe it's a vibe I get from them, an aura, whichever you wish to call it, but my mind and body subconsciously makes a connection. And more times than not, those people  have turned out to be magical. 

But what the hell is up with my mind deciding that someone is absolutely incredible, when as far as I can tell, they're nothing special. Brilliant, my mind is completely messing me up again. They're incredible, they're average, incredible, average, incredible. Make up your mind mind. It is driving me slowly psychotic. It's entirely absurd, the human mind. We make decisions without physically making them.

I am probably mentally unbalanced but to be perfectly honest, that decision that my mind made? I completely disagree with it. 

Is there some multi mind within us all? There must be, there is no doubt about it. Because I didn't make those decisions. It'd be nice if my 'multi mind' would un-decide them for me. 

So, these people impact your lives right? The next question is whether it applies to falling in love. And once again, why that person, why do we choose them. What is it. 

And once again, I am entirely confused.

I will resort to cramming my brain full of caffeine. 

-Joy

Well that blog failed. Turned into me ranting about things anyway, what a failure.

Fri 2:43 PM

People need to stop trying to define and understand what love is. 

It is as impossible as breathing in outer space, and as complex and vast as the universe itself.

-

I seriously think that the driving system in New Zealand needs to die.

Personal Opinions- What is success?

Personal Opinions- What is success?

Recently I read an online blog. The topic of his post was 'Humans,' and revolved around discussing their faults and imperfections. The discussion quickly became a debate over several areas of human issues: Religion, politics, and philosophy. One idea that raised questions for me was that of 'human success.' What in actual fact is success, how do we acquire it, and does being 'successful' automatically fulfill you as a person.

Money. Merely pieces of paper, metal and plastic. Worthless and unusable as an object, yet the lives of human beings revolve around it. After years of bartering (exchanging goods in trade, not money) the first use of money as a means of trade emerged. The shekel, a large piece of solid silver around the size of a babies kidney, appeared around 12, 000 BC and would value around $700 today. Thousands of years ago human beings were already using money, not goods, to trade. In the past few centuries, money itself has grown into a necessity, bartering no longer acting as a way of trade.

The economic crisis is proof of how seriously money effects the lives of people. Food, water, accommodation, education, travel, child birth, medicine. All of these things rely on those worthless pieces of paper and plastic.

The question that I face, which is also an opinion and perspective, is this:

Has the human race become so brainwashed? Is money really the answer to becoming successful? Surely material gain, in the end, is worthless. Should it not be metaphorical success that we, as people, aim for?

Human beings in the present day are exposed to material every moment of their lives. Television, vehicles, clothing, and other lifestyle items, all an everyday part of the western society. The media has also contributed to the propagandized society, portraying the message of 'without this, you will not succeed.'

It would be hypocritical of me to say that money does not play an important part in my life. Because of course it does. I am one of the billions of human beings in the world today that is ruled by the overshadowing currency. My education costs money, and in a years time university will also cost me thousands of dollars. My food, clothing, and accommodation all costs me money (however I do live at home, so it is my parents who are paying accommodation). But my idea of success is not to live to one hundred years in a house the size of Auckland City with gold plated walls. In my eyes, if I live my life with peace, strength and love, then I will have succeeded.

I try to focus on the important things in my life, prioritize, and not let my selfish, conformed side of my personality, get the better of me. There will be moments when I see something that I want, and not necessarily need. Times where I desire to have more money so I can buy more clothes, more makeup. I try my hardest to appreciate what I have now, and I definitely don't take it for granted. It is, like was discussed in this recently read blog, a choice to succeed how you wish. Whether you believe to be wealthy is succeeding, or to live with love in your life, that is up to you.

More people need to focus less on material gain, and instead on those that are metaphorical. Human beings have become proud, money obsessed creatures, assuming that they are better than other species, and it is slowly killing them. However that is a completely different subject, which I will touch on later.

- Joy Foster

Personal Opinions- The Educational System of New Zealand

Personal Opinions- The Educational System of New Zealand

I'm a huge fan of blogs. I think it's an excellent way of communicating ideas and perspectives. 

I don't write to force my opinions on others, or to stand up for what I believe. 

I write to hear other ideas, and open my mind to knew concepts, ideas, views, and so on.

I'm interested in philosophy, it's a subject that can never give you a definite answer, correct or incorrect. I think that's why I love discussing it so much. No one person can be wrong to an extent. Hence there are various perspectives for one to consider. 

I was on a boat trip in the weekend and had a brief discussion with some interesting people, (it's incredible how many people there are on this earth, how individually unique they are, and how much knowledge they have to share with others), and we found ourselves on the topic of the education system in New Zealand. (I am also sure this applies to many other countries but I don't want to state falsely just in case). Conformity in the education system in this country has always been an issue for myself. 

Public schools, especially High Schools and Colleges, are coming to be the most highly hypocritical of all educational structures. One of the key virtues that Principals, Teachers, and Heads of Education Departments adhere to is that 'every student is unique.' They enforce the idea that each individual should not conform to their peers. That they should strive to be different, the best they can be. They are automatically falling into the dissimulation category. 

Throughout schools today the curriculum has become so precise and intransigent that the human brain is adapting to the lack of flexibility given in the classroom. For example, in a science class 2008, I was speaking to the class teacher about velocity, time, and distance (yes we were studying physics) and she told us that 'velocity' has a meaning that is more extensive than the one she had previously given us in class. After enquiring what the more extensive meaning was she stated that 'I am not eligible to know until next years science class.' I find it difficult to only understand what I am given, so naturally I researched it when I got home that evening. The human brain is a world full of files, both empty and full. The information that we are given is automatically saved, (excluding the many children who find it unnecessary to learn anything and have the ambitions of a slug), and personally, I find it absolutely inevitable to learn the most about something as possible. It really frightens me when I think of the extensive amounts of knowledge in this world, and how little I know myself. 

In the classroom the thirty three or so students are taught the curriculum. From day one each individual is learning the equivalent as the one opposite them. Their knowledge is cloned (unless, like myself, the student spends countless hours at home researching the information that was not given by teachers), and their abilities are alike. Not conforming? I am fairly sure that this system has already produced the educational world an army of identically able people. Of course, to an extent, this is an unfair statement. I am not expressing that I believe every human being in the schooling system to be of the same capability. Indeed many children have incredible amounts of brain power, and every person will learn differently to the other. I am however conveying that I believe the educational establishment to be confined, restricted and narrow.   

For children to adapt, and in many ways for mankind to advance as a species, the knowledge provided to young minds needs to be divergent and expansive. Perhaps the government is afraid. While the young people of today learn what they can understand themselves, they have the ability to limit and administer their actions. Without knowledge disparate to that of the Government, they will always be above that of 'us'. 

Home-schooling for the majority of my educational life has really opened my eyes to the lack of flexibility in the educational systems of today. Tied in with the conformity of uniforms, and appearance, the public schooling methods are indeed creating a mass army of clones. Surely after year thirteen of education in a school you can become your own different person? The human brain is the most adaptable of living creatures on this earth, capable of religiously getting into routines. After thirteen years of conforming and being hand fed what everyone else is given, it is difficult, and almost impossible to rebel from these traditions. Learning at home offered me the opportunity to learn what I chose to, and to be different and unique in any way I chose (in too many ways I must admit!), thus I have been very conservative at high school, aware of the conformity that I could very easily fall into. I have however achieved to maintain a very un-biased way of learning, both at high school and in my own home.

Is it the Governments way of maintaining a manageable group of people? Or is it a safe and reliable system of learning? Universities have this far managed to keep their knowledge supply fairly flexible. We can just hope it stays that way.

- Joy Foster