OddballGreg - The Need To Believe

A black shirt with "Believe" written across the back. Stylish no?

Have you ever had a truly difficult day? A day where it seemed like the whole world was against you and there was nothing anybody could do to help? How did you get through that day? There are many answers to that question, but if you say "You don't know.", I worry for you.

Life is a difficult and traumatic experience for all of us as I have mentioned various times on this blog. But it is also these very challenges that define who we are and what we will become; which makes them an integral part of our journey through life.

But what about those days when the challenges become too much. When the strength of opposition threatens to engulf your will to stand against it, and you can simply weather the storm no longer? Some people turn to a deity of their respective faith. Whatever your faith though, I believe that it is a necessary thing to have something to believe in. (And it needn't necessarily be a religious deity. Just in case any atheists are reading this.)

Imagine a life devoid completely of hope. Where nothing could ever be guaranteed. It's a pretty abysmal world where even hard work and the sweat of your brow could not get you what you wanted. But if someone could guarantee something to you somehow, how greatly would that change that world? How happy would you be as your deity told you that your labor would be rewarded or that your good behavior would earn you a place in eternal paradise? Or for those less focused on theism, perhaps a promise from a lord to reimburse you for your works, or even, a personal guarantee to yourself that you will always be there for you. (That last one is a very interesting one that I maintain myself.) In a world where there is a guarantee, even a false one, there is hope for better times and a reason to keep working and to keep surviving. Quite simply, without believe, it is impossible to truly substantiate meaning into our lives and actions.

While I cannot say which is exactly the best thing to believe in, I do believe that it is important to understand what it is that you believe in, and why it motivates you to live your life, as it makes for happier, more ambitious people.

 Of course, not everyone may agree that ambition is necessarily a good thing, and perhaps you think that there is something significantly more important than belief in our lives that we should know about. If so, do be sure to let us know down in the comments below, or via Facebook/Twitter. We here at TCSA love to hear your feedback. And of course, if you enjoy finding out about awesome stuff on the web and world then do please be sure to like the Official TCSA Facebook page and/or follow us on Twitter using the associated buttons on the bar to the left to get all the latest posts as they're published. Also, do be sure to share posts you enjoyed with your friends as it helps us out a great deal. Regardless of what you do, I thank you for having taken the time to read this post; hope that you have/had an absolutely FANTASTIC day, and I will speak again soon.

Think carefully my friends.

OddballGreg - Hoarding (Keeping What You Don't Need)

A screenshot of the bountiful aid supplies I had "liberated" in a short 5 hour stint of Fallout: New Vegas.

Hoarding. It's a problem people suffer from when their belief of an items possible usefulness in the future overrides it's actual necessity in any likely situation. Some people are good at logically working out what they need, but others occasionally just can't let things go. Let's talk about that.

A couple days ago, a Kotaku article about a YouTube channel called ManyATrueNerd caught my attention when they mentioned that this one, enterprising individual, had taken it upon himself to play the widely acclaimed Fallout 3 and New Vegas games from Bethesda Softworks in what was perhaps the most psychotic, hilarious playthrough of a game I have ever watched. 30 episodes of listening to a British madman "Kill Everything" was quite literally the most most absurd thing I had watched in ages, and I loved every minute of it. (I am OddballGreg after all. It's all in good humor though.) I highly suggest you watch that very humorous playthrough.

In any case, watching him play these old, favorite games of mine made me want to play them again myself, and promptly installed Fallout: New Vegas, only to remember 4 hours in why I had never finished the game in the first place:

Turns out I probably missed the day at school where they explained what "Packing Lightly" meant.

 Hoarding. We've likely all done it in some capacity over the course of our lives, digitally or not. Why is this a problem? Well, in terms of Fallout: New Vegas, a character can only carry so much before they get encumbered, which removes their ability to run or jump and makes them walk slower than a crippled grandmother with a walker. The many times I previously played this game, I spent hours walking at this snails pace with my overly laden pack until frustration made me stop caring.

This time though, I was interested to find out, why exactly, did I keep doing this to myself? What was the source of all this weight in my pack? To people on the outside, the obvious answer would be all the heavy guns and armor I carry around.

While carrying 3 sets of armor and a FREAKING FLAMETHROWER is certainly heavy, they were only a small part of the issue.

For myself, I was somewhat more convinced that my issue came from my incessant need to carry anything that could be made into something else. Crafting materials and whatnot. Strangely, even this pile turned out to be somewhat underwhelming.

You would think that scrap electronics, wrenches, whet stones and scrap metal would be the problem. Apparently not.

However, the revelation was when I finally came to the "Aid" section of my inventory. Healing items, food, water, various fictional drugs that provide bonuses to the game character. Things would expect to be useful. So dropping a couple items, and then a few more, and then another hundred, I quickly realized why it was that I was so frequently overladen in this game.

Listen, I know "Waste Not, Want Not" is a thing, but this is ridiculous. This pile probably weighs more than I do.

That is over 200 units of in game weight of "Aid" items. Considering the fact that the heaviest item I was carrying was metal armor which weighed 15 units, I think it's fair to say that I think I found the problem.

An old habit of mine from many a game has always been to take anything that could be useful or save your life. Healing items are excellent, so is food when you're playing on "Hardcore mode" which requires your character to eat, drink and sleep. But at no point did it ever occur to me that I might be carrying too much food, water, medical supplies and other assorted items. "Surely I'll just naturally go through all this supply?" That would be true if I wasn't such a strategically frugal person. I saved everything I could whenever I could, and the consequence of this is that I just never stopped adding more and more to my characters pack. Perhaps in a humorous moment of disbelief, the total equipment on the floor of that room was likely several times my character's mass and weight, and would probably not have fit into the trunk of car, let alone my character's seemingly depth-less pockets.

It's interesting to consider that this is the same issue that people all over the world have to deal with in a very real capacity. That they simply cannot bear to give up something that could be so very useful, even if they don't actually have a use for it themselves. Even I need to frequently clear old and useless from my desk every so often, limiting myself to keeping only what has been useful in the past year or so, and is not readily or cheaply available. (The rest gets pushed off the edge and into a convenient green bin that I keep nearby.)

Do understand that hoarders are not stupid or silly in any capacity, and like all of us, are the result of their experiences, which makes them into the way they are. I like to keep useful things, because I've known what it is like to not have things when you need them. I've seen the more fortunate throw away perfectly good food and drink for arbitrary reasons, not because they're spoiled, but because they don't understand just how lucky they are to have what they do. Despite this, it is an occasionally unhealthy habit that is good to deal with in what ways one can. Organisation, as I am quickly learning thanks to this blog, far outweigh keeping the "possibly useful" objects I like to have.

While I don't expect this game induced revelation to change much in the world, I do hope that it has at least provided you with something entertaining to read, and interesting to consider. If it has, then please do let me know about it in the comments below or via Facebook/Twitter, as we here at TCSA love to hear your feedback. It would also be greatly appreciated if you share this post with anyone you think may find it interesting, as I am sure they will appreciate the thought as much as we appreciate your support. Of course, if you would like to read more interesting posts like this one, then do be sure to like the Official TCSA Facebook page and/or follow us on Twitter using the associated buttons on the bar to the left, so that you can get the latest posts, as they're made. Regardless of what you do, thank you very much for having taken the time to read this post; I hope that you have/had an absolutely FANTASTIC day, and I will speak again soon.

Pack lightly my friends.

JovialJMan - Mythical Creatures and Their Uses

"Turns out there's no pictures of mythical creatures on the internet. Who would've guessed?" - OddballGreg

Have you ever wondered how mythical creatures would fit into society or if they would even help us. It could be interesting to see how the world would be different if these fantastical beasts were an actual part of our everyday lives.

The following is a list of some of the mythical creatures I know of and the uses they would have in society. I use the assumption that they would be domesticated in some way to help in society but still may keep some of the bad traits they may have. Most of these creatures are from Greek mythology.

Unicorns - are beautiful creatures, but as the myths go, it is not tamable by man, thus making it is a very dangerous creature. In Harry Potter, the blood of the unicorn would be able to heal any wound but at a price, so for anything other than their beauty and their uses as pretty horses, they are rather pointless. (XD see what I did there)

Dragons - can emit fire from their mouths. In movies such as "How to Train Your Dragon", and series such as "Game Of Thrones", people seem to be able to tame them to some extent. The Fire breath would be of use for starting fires, melting metals and smoldering your enemies. (sorry Kraznys mo Nakloz)

Centaurs - all but one in Greek mythology were unruly and got drunk often. Except for the horse part there are a lot of people who act like that today so they would just kinda blend in wouldn't they?

Giants - are very angry creatures that throw rocks, trees, (and people), at Mt. Olympus for fun. The only use they would have is moving heavy things and the destruction of unwanted land/buildings. (And throwing people.)

Griffins - are amazing creatures. Their feathers are believed to change colour in the presence of poison and their nests are made out of gold. So they would be able to assist in gold mining and their feathers could be made into something that detects poison.

Trolls - They already exist, and are natives of the internet. Wish they didn't. Let's move on.

Harpies - are women mixed with birds. So yeah...

Hydra - is a beast that has usually 6 to 9 heads and will regrow 2 heads if one is chopped off. So if it's true that 2 heads are better than one, then this is the best creature in the list.

Kraken - is a huge sea creature that devours ships and sea goers. SUSHI. 'nuff said.

Pegasus - is a white winged horse that was entrusted to bring Zeus his bolts and thunder. He would be used as a faster means of travel to someone that would be able to afford such a thing. (Because obviously somebody is going to charge you to ride them.)

Phoenix - is a beautiful bird that is born from the ashes of another Phoenix. It is believed that it's tears can heal any wound and, that until its death, it is completely resilient to fire. So they would be able to look for survivors in a burning building and try and rescue them, and they could be useful in winter.

Sphinx - were the guardians to tombs and pyramids. They would make a rather good watchdog(cat?), provided they don't sleep all day. 

Titans - were the rulers before the Olympians. They are of enormous size, of which one is said to hold up the earth. So they could move anything including planets. 

Mermaids - have the torso and head of a female and the lower end of a fish. So yeah...

Sirens - would sing songs to entice sailors to steer their ships towards them and often into rocks, leading to a very water grave for the sailors aboard. They would make really good music and be able to make instruments out of your bones for others to play. (Teehee)

Anyways, if you have enjoyed this article, or have other uses for mythical creatures perhaps, then please let us know in the comments below or over Facebook or Twitter. If you have any friends that enjoy mythical stuff or are really into Greek mythology, please share it with them. They will probably thank you for it. If you would like to read more posts like this one, do be sure to like our Facebook page and/or follow us on Twitter using the associated buttons on the bar to the left so you can get the latest posts as they go up. Regardless of what you do, I do hope you have a fantastic day and thank you for reading.

Be wary of the trolls my friends, farewell.

Philosophy Friday - Is Anything Actually Free?

Hello and welcome to Philosophy Friday; the day of the week where I make you question if the word free means what you think it does, and then talk about why.

Random animated coins. Seems legit.

Sometimes people help out strangers. Sometimes they donate to the poor. Sometimes shops give out "free" samples. To be technical, none of these things is actually free, as every action in the world comes with an inherent cost, regardless of whether you perceive it or not. Lets talk about that.

Have you ever wondered why someone would help you out for no reason? Maybe you were a damsel in distress with a flat tire and some burly man with chest hair came along to help you replace it. Whether you consider his inability to think with both brains at once and influence or not, the fact is that he got something out of the exchange regardless of whether he actually *got* anything out of the exchange.

As I mentioned in yesterdays article, the human brain is very concerned with itself, and likes to get things out of it's exchanges. As an altruist, I myself even understand that I do not do things purely out of a want to help people. While it can be effectively surmised as such, the technically correct way to say is that I am an altruist because I like the contented feeling I get when I know that I have helped someone. Any fans of the anime Full Metal Alchemist would understand it as the law of transmutation. A fair exchange is always required. (*Greg busies himself with elbowing nerdy Greg back into his box*)

The point is that things always have a cost. Donating to the poor costs you money and costs them dignity. Helping a stranger costs you time and they must react in some manner. (Preferably with thanks, I've been known to get angry at people who don't say "thanks".) The definition of "Free" is "without cost or payment". However, in essence, the word "Free" is rather extremely redundant in terms of this meaning. It would be far more correct to assert that something is "Free" when it's costs are not readily apparent nor clearly stated. (Unfortunately, I don't think such a definition would catch on... the "Ain't broke, don't fix it" mentally being what it is.)

In any case, the next time somebody offers you something "Pro-bono", take a moment to consider the true costs of what such an exchange might be. You might find it to be an interesting exercise, if nothing else. If you found this article interesting, or have anything to add to the argument, be sure to do so in the comments below or via Facebook/Twitter. And of course do be sure to share this article with anyone you think might be unsure of the actual meaning behind the term "free". If you would like to read more interesting articles like this, do be sure to follow me on Twitter and/or like my Facebook page so that you can get the latest posts, as I post them. Of course, regardless of what you do, I thank you for taking the time to read this article; hope that you have had an absolutely fantastic day, and I will speak again tomorrow.

Au revoir mes amis.