I'm a big fan of quotes. It's funny that the simple act of removing a single statement
from it's larger context somehow renders said statement more relevant. In fact, there's
a quote about that very phenomenon out there somewhere. Now, as with most things, there is
a flip-side to this. Sometimes statements are taken out of context and become much more hurtful
than they were ever intended to be, if, that is, they were ever intended to be hurtful in the first
place. Sometimes, great meaning is found where no meaning was actually intended. It's a
funny thing; perception. There are no statistical analysis to base this on, that I know of,
but I am of the opinion that, by and large, the general populace all but ignore the fact
that their view of the world, and everthing in it, is all tempered by their own particular
perception. Are you Conservative or Liberal, wealthy or poor, optimistic or pessimistic?
Are you open or closed-minded, helpful or hurtful, criminal or victim? Because how you see
yourself, just like how you see the world, is, and can only be, in accord with your very own,
individuated... wait for it... that's right, kids... perception. So, what can one do with the
knowledge that everything they "know" about themselves and the world they live in
is colored by this mysterious, universally-scaled pair of beer goggles? Well, that
sounds like a personal question to me, but since I'm the only one talking at the
moment, I'll move forward with my own postulation. Perhaps the next logical step
would be to define what it is that causes my particular perception to be that which it is
at this particular point in time. "Time," however, is another matter and, consequently,
we'll be discussing "matter" another time, so please stop getting distracted. There is,
I believe, a point to all of this. The "point" being that which all things, and I do mean
all things, stem from. Being that all things are circular, it's only fitting that all things
wind themselves back up at a point, don't you think? Fantastic! Now, where were
we and what did I tell you about getting distracted?! We're never going to get
there from here if we don't forget from whence we came, will we not? I think
so! Precisely. As I was saying, if one cannot specifically define their own
perception, as it pertains to that which they percieve, then the least they
can do is to define that which causes their percpetion to be as it is. As an
example, I am of the opinion that a general tendency is to adopt particular
fundamental beliefs from one's parents, primary care-givers or other such
comparable influentials from one's early life. This theory applies up to a
point whereupon life experience, or self-reflection, brings to Light a
conflicting... feeling. What then is one to do with this feeling? By
this point, it's too late. Your perception has been altered. Either
one's previously held beliefs strengthened itself under the
scrutity of this new Light, otherwise the perviously held
belief has been replaced by that which this Light revealed.
Now we're getting somewhere. Now we're taking an active role
in the formation of our own perception. This, as an aside, actually
occurs all day every day. You are observing, categorizing and reacting
to your environment constantly. You are not the same person today that you
were yesterday. It's time for another quote. That is what brought us here in the
first place, is it not? This quote comes from a very wise man and the quote is this:
"A new day is a new day." Generally speaking, the simple things are the most true.
Though I admit that, on occasion, truth can be relative. Relative to what, you may ask.
To your own perception, I would reply. Now, we have concluded that our own perception
changes relative to our conclusions about our observations, which themselves are generally
inherited from influentials in our early life. Nature or nurture? A little bit of both, if you
ask me, which, by reading this far you have, in effect, asked me. So then, I feel that for
our purposes here, it's safe to define one's perception as being the whole sum of all
reactions to categorizations based on observations one makes in, and of, the world
around them in relation to the set of pre-existing conditions within themself that
were either natured or nurtured into them from the age at which they became
susceptible to such influence. Agreed? Good. Now then, taking this into
account, it becomes apparent that, for the reasons stated above, that
some individuals would then be wholly incapable of seeing the value
of a singular statement when said statement is presented within
a larger context. And this, ladies and gentlemen, boys, girls,
hermaphrodites and eunichs, is why removing a single
statement from it's larger context renders said
statement more relevant. Now that we've
brought things "back home," so to speak,
brought the point back around from whence
it came, I shall reveal the actual purpose of this
little excercise. The underlying reason we've had
this small dialogue was so that you could see, first-
hand what it would be like if you were to choose
to excercise your very own "sense of reason."
Thank you very much for reading. I hope
that you do not feel as though your
time has been wasted.
Thanks again.

senseofreason@gmail.com