OddballGreg - The Human Need For Progress

Debatable that there is no greater symbol of progress for the human race than the first time man stepped foot on another planet.

Progress. In life, humans actively seek progress in order to substantiate their lives, either in progress towards ambitions and goals, or by simply progressing through life itself. What is, however, interesting to note is how important this progress is to the very existence of humanity. Lets talk about that.

Water is frequently used as a metaphor for life. (Probably because it's so important for sustaining life.) When stagnant, it is foul, disease ridden and often filled with decaying matter which is likely to turn any a stomach which has the displeasure of drinking it. Suffice to say, drinking stagnant water is usually a good way to have a disease induced death. Flowing water, on the other hand, is typically free in it's movement, flowing wherever it may. While perhaps not 100% clean at the best of times, the fact that it remains in motion allows it to filter through all manner of rocks and vegetation, often cleaning it of substantial detritus, if not microbial dirt. (Please... at least boil water you get from a natural source before you drink it... Even clean water can probably kill you, which is ironically accurate for this topic.)

Both examples are accurate metaphors for human life in a multitude of ways, and feed back into the human need for progress. Let us take the more literal for example. A sedentary lifestyle, in which a person sits doing nothing all the time, leads to all manner of health issues such as muscle atrophy, obesity, heart issues and various other problems, and that's without even considering the psychological issues which may arise. Basically, it doesn't do a person much good to do thing and make no progress. Your average healthy person on the hand typically does some amount of exercise in their days, either actively or just from the need to move around with their lifestyle, they are continually making progress as they move to different destinations, accomplish goals which progress them towards their life's ambition, and are just all round healthier and happier for what they do. Like the flowing water example, they might not be in perfect happiness or health as things can happen, (like picking up strange diseases from drinking unpurified river water), but they are far less ill and sickly than the stagnant variant.

Clear as day, progress is important. Very important. Interestingly enough, this need for progress in the sustaining of human life is multi-faceted and applies in some interesting and somewhat less obvious ways. Economy, Education, Healthcare, Research, Civilisation as a whole and many other things, are all based upon progress and require it in order continue functioning.

Consider the global economic depression that was suffered by the world back in 2009. While perhaps not as harrowing as "The Great Depression" was for the USA back in the 1900's, it was still a somewhat frightening time for many countries in the world. And part, if not the main reason for it, was the lack of economic growth for an extended period, which ultimately resulted in the world's economies starting to fall in on themselves due to this lack of progress. In terms of this article's argument, the system began to decay due to it's stagnation.

In grander scheme's, consider ancient civilizations such as the Inca's, The Zulu Kingdom, or even the Roman Empire. All 3 of these, among others, came to their untimely demise due to a lack of progress. The Inca's had not progressed enough to defend themselves from the Spanish Conquistadors or to treat themselves of the diseases that they brought. The Zulu Kingdom, though strong and lead by a brilliant military strategist, was met with it's demise due to it's lack of progress towards more effective methods of warfare, as the various colonists vying for Southern Africa brought their European gunpowder weapons to bear against them. The Roman Empire's decline was the result of it's inability to make progress against the growing Gaul and general barbarian populations, as well as the stagnation of it's politics and culture as continual vying for power in the empire fractured it between multiple factions.

I can continue to list examples, but the point, I think, is clear enough, humanity is somewhat rather dependent on progress in order to survive and thrive, where the success of any one man, civilization or the race of the whole, is dependent on it's ability to match progress against it's adversaries, or even nature itself, as without progress, the ultimate result cannot be anything other than slow decay and ultimate death. (Phew.... that's not a somber thought. Listen to this to lighten up.)

This is probably going to change your outlook on how the world works from now on... maybe. If not, it is an interesting thing to consider, and I look forward to hearing any counter-arguments or theories you may have, down in the comments below, or via Facebook/Twitter. Of course, if you have some friends who would enjoy weighing on such a discussion, then perhaps share this article with them as well. I'm sure they will appreciate it. And if you yourself would like to read more interesting and thoughtful posts such as this one, consider liking the Official TCSA Facebook page and/or following us on Twitter using the associated buttons on the bar to the left. Regardless of what you do, I thank you having taken the time to read this post; hope that you have/had an absolutely FANTASTIC day, and I will speak again soon.

Happy thinking my friends.

OddballGreg - Funerals (Respects For Those Passed)

The Riderless Horse from the funeral procession of Ronald Reagan, 40th President of the USA.

Death is a somewhat unfortunate reality of life. It has been said that in life, there are only two things for certain: Death... and Taxes. While perhaps not the most lighthearted of subjects, it is an important part of allowing those of us still living to grieve, pay our respects, and move on while remembering those who had an impact on our lives.

In the post "Social Awkwardness" from the 2nd of September, I mentioned that I was at a funeral of sorts that weekend past. Although in technicality, it was more of a sober wake for one of the good gentlemen of the N-Gauge Guild Of South Africa, who I have mentioned before on this blog. My condolences to his family again. It is always a shame when the world loses good people.

Being the first funeral/wake that I had ever been to, I will admit to have been being unsure how exactly to deal with going to such a thing, despite my sureness of wanting to pay my respects to him and his family. Today's common media had led to me to expect people crying while wearing very dark clothing and very little talk or laughter while the actual event was a lot more akin to a pleasant remembrance of the passed with a few somber jokes about his habits for good measure. 

It is an interesting thing to consider how precisely it is that people in the world want to be remembered once they are no longer among us. Some wish to have grand funerals in cathedrals, with every person they ever met there to see their passing. Others wish to have small and fairly jovial gatherings of those that were important to them, so that they can happily reminisce about their experiences with those no longer among us.

It is perhaps one of the most revealing factors of who a person is to see how it is precisely that they wish to be remembered. The proud and ambitious wish for a large and grandeur filled funeral. The friend oriented hope for a wake, with a drink taken in their memory, and a kind-hearted joke in their honour. And others have many other ways that they wish to be remembered, too numerous in their counting to all be mentioned. 

It has been said by many in a variety of ways, but it is commonly believed that a persons legacy is not what they leave behind after they pass on, but in the stories told about them when they are no longer there to hear what is said. Some people are forgotten with snide remarks, and others praised for generations more as paragons in their lifetimes. In the case of the kind gentleman from the aforementioned funeral, I believe his stories will all be fondly remembered and retold for a long time to come, their joy as happily passed on through words as they were by his presence and actions.

By the way, if you happen to ever come to my funeral by any chance, I will mention that my will is going to entail the hiring of bodyguards to eject anyone who cries from the event. If you aren't laughing by the time "Another One Bites The Dust" starts playing or when they start telling jokes about all the miserably unintelligent things I've done in my life already, then do me a favor and kick whoever planned the event in the shins. I've always made a point of trying to bring joy to peoples lives in life, I would prefer that I do that afterward too if that's alright with you.

In any case, that's enough about this morose subject. If you found this post particularly thought provoking for any reason, then be sure to let us here at TCSA know in the comments below or via Facebook/Twitter. We love to hear from you guys. And of course, your sharing of our posts with people is always thoroughly appreciated, as is your liking of our official TCSA Facebook page and/or following of us on Twitter in the event that you would like to read more articles like this, as they're posted to the web. Regardless of what you do though, 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.

Live long and prosper my friend.

JovialJman - Stereotypes

"Irony is when you use a picture of a woman with a tattoo as your header image for a post about stereotypes." - OddballGreg

The Human brain likes to order information into groups of data which can potentially assist them in their endeavors. Unfortunately, this grouping of data can often lead to various negative social beliefs, most importantly being that of stereotyping which can lead to tension between racial and ethnic groups. Lets talk about that.

Stereotyping is defined as when you classify a group of people or things on certain characteristics or traits that they may have. These classifications are usually oversimplified and often a fixed notion in peoples minds. Stereotyping is very widespread and most of us contribute to it, usually without even realizing it. Consider the following cartoon from Cyanide and Happiness:

Taken from here, the original from here didn't want to load.

 If you laugh at it, then you likely know of the stereotype involving Jewish people and understand how ridiculous it is. Now Jewish people do not eat non-Kosher food and shellfish, in this case shrimp, is one of those non-Kosher foods that they are not allowed to eat. So the joke is on the person offering the shrimp, but he doesn't know that they do not eat it and thus thinks the Jew doesn't want to pay according to the widely known stereotype.

Stereotypes can help make sense of the world and can be classified as a way to categorize things. This helps to simplify and add structure to the information which thereby enables you to identify, recall, predict and react to new information a bit quicker which may potentially save your life in a threatening situation, or simply save time and energy. This way stereotypes are somewhat like a shortcut to make sense of one's social context, often at the cost of being judgmental of those you know nothing about yet.

Taken from here.

There are some stereotypes about nations like the belief that Africa is a country. It's also believed that we have lions and various other wild animals running around the streets that we build our mud huts around. (Hang on a sec while I go pet my pet lion and  feed my elephant which I ride to work each day). Then there are people who know we have cities but think that they will get robbed every 10 seconds if they ever visit them. While it is true that we have a fair amount of crime, it is merely one of our country specific social issues, such as those any other country like America or Britain have, that we have.

Then there are more widespread stereotypes like those involving gender. Men open up jars with tight lids and they think of sex constantly while women stay in the kitchen and take long to get ready when they are going anywhere. (The latter is frequently true, but it's often worth it for how AMAZING they look afterwards.) Then there are those involving specific characteristics like blonde and dumb or gingers having no souls.

This is a good representation on some stereotypes. Image taken from here.

I will admit that I knew less about the stereotypes pertaining to my own specific traits as I never really hear about them. I often hear those of other races and the other gender, as it's typical for people to discuss these stereotypes with those it does not pertain to. It was rather intriguing that  people tend to spread the stereotypes of the groups of people they do not relate to, perhaps as a way to promote their own stereotype. (This is likely driven by the human need to relate to other people. Food for thought).

People are not the only thing that gets stereotyped. For instance the "all rabbits eat carrots" stereotype originated from the popular cartoon character Bugs Bunny. At the time that Joseph Benson "Ben/Bugs" Hardaway was designing the art for Bugs Bunny, there was a film called It Happened One Night, in which a character was seen eating a carrot and talking nonchalantly while his mouth was still full. Joseph decided to mock that scene in his design of Bug Bunny, and at the time people would have understood the reference, but since then over the course of years it became common belief that all rabbits eat carrots. (Which is actually not that good for them.)

All in all, stereotypes are a common human psychological element that mostly everyone does as it is an effective strategy for self preservation on a subconscious level, despite the deplorable consequence of judging people you do not yet know anything about. If you enjoyed this post and found anything interesting or thought provoking, please let us know down in the comments or on Facebook/Twitter as we LOVE to hear from you. If you think any of your friends or relatives would like to read this post, please share it with them. Of course, if you enjoyed this post and would like to see more like it, please consider liking us on Facebook or for the twitters you can follow us on Twitter with the associated buttons on the bar to the left, so that you can read the latest blog posts as they are published. Thank you for reading today's post and I shall speak again soon.

Keep well friends.