2820 Friday, August 5th - afternoon

12:25… one thing in this world that I have never quite understood is the feeling of hate. I mean, if you don't like something or someone, fair enough. You're well within yourself to dislike, but to me, it looks so inefficient to spend so much energy on the extreme feeling of hate. If history has taught us anything, it should be that hate is rarely appreciated. Historically, the people who have decided to turn their hatred into a cause, never have their cause celebrated in the history books. Those people are generally too caught up in their hatred to look back upon themselves and see where they have gone wrong.

There is not enough acceptance in this world and I think it is fair to say that has been a common theme throughout time on this planet. There are plenty of people out in the world, who may not look close enough like you, who believe in the same things you do or even like the same things that you do, but there's no good that can come out of hating any of those people. Out of the billions of people on the Earth, there is going to be more than your fair share of people, who don't agree with you. Accepting that will only make things easier for you, in the greater scheme of things. You don't have to like it, but just don't hate it.

Do I dislike things or people? Sure. I'm human and I have opinions, both positive and negative. What happens when I dislike something or someone? I try not to spend any time with them. If I'm required to spend some time with those that I dislike, I just quietly get through said time and not make the biggest deal out of it. There might be some people who do like those things or people, which is well within their being, and I don't need them to dislike me for disliking what they like. I'm not there to make you believe what I believe.

If you ask me whether or not I like something or someone, I can be honest without being overly passionate about it.

13:19… there's clearly a level of respect that should be maintained for everyone's well being.
"a feeling of deep admiration for someone or something elicited by their abilities, qualities, or achievements."

Now "deep admiration" might be a tad excessive, but that definition of respect is the closest I'll come today, I think. I might disagree with someone's opinions or beliefs, but I can still respect the fact that they're human. I think that is a big point that is lost in this world and my level of respect can vary depending on the situation. Will the degree of respect for someone change, if they don't agree with me? Unlikely, but it will change if our disagreement causes them to hate or be consumed by rage and then deal with those feelings poorly, like most do in that situation. What will my low level of respect earn? There is a good chance that I will stay away from that person or thing.

I like to live a simple life, the easier life can be, the happier I can be. The simple problems, like hate, have simple solutions, like staying away. Of course, more complex problems could involve more complex solutions, but not always. It really works on a case by case basis.
What I've never been able to translate is the passion of hate turning into violence. I can see how the height of competition could lift the levels of passion up, I've watched enough hockey to see that. I have a great respect for the warriors that want to take space or ensure that the space is there for their teammates. Yes, that sort of violence is accepted and understood, mostly because when those guys are asked about it after the period or the game, it rarely comes down to one hating the other. There is usually a level of respect between the warriors, which is outwardly shown.

It's those bouts of rage and uncontrollable violence that I just can't translate. I have never felt that sort of nonsense and I feel that there is a good chance that those who do don't have the thinking capacity to let them work around it. I've also never been in a competition that involves that much passion, but that I could translate and understand.

13:59… I didn't add “hate” to my random thoughts page, but it came to me yesterday.

2811 Tuesday, August 2nd - afternoon

12:02… I think I came up with another random thought last night, but I couldn't write it down for whatever reason.

I did come up with one the other day, my distaste for the saying that "it's all meant to be." As I wrote that down I remembered the other one… I don't hate anymore. It's debatable if I ever did, but the "meant to be" was here first.

I'm not sure how long this will be in the end, but I thought I would explore this idea a little bit.
The thought that life, as we know it, is predetermined by a glorious overseeing presence and they have a plan for us. That's a comforting idea, as if we don't have any control over anything. But the issue with that, in most religious circles, is that what you do in your life can affect your place in the afterlife.

Of course, my logical brain is rejecting those ideas to start with, but that's not the main focus here, although it certainly helps my eventual argument.

There is a certain comfort that comes from the idea that something was meant to be. The idea that something was predetermined, rather than the result of a string of events, is way easier to conceive.

It's so much easier to say "it was meant to be" rather than try to decrypt the series of events that got you to where you are. I understand the difference between the two and can see why a lot of people say it. It just kind of irks me, when I read/hear that and my brain immediately goes to how they meant it. I've got to learn to let that go, until otherwise provoked.

See? This is why this writing helps!

12:27… to the topic of hate.

It's quite interesting when I try to look back at all the times I may have said that word. Hate and anger are two words that I rarely use and for good reason. I look at society nowadays and see a lot of rage out there, which could be the better word for me to use as the descriptor.
I generally use the term hate when I dislike something the most by comparison. My hate for the Calgary Flames mostly means I dislike them the most and I want nothing good to happen to them. I'm not wishing for terrible things to happen to them, but I wouldn't be too disappointed if something terrible was to happen.

I most recently used the term angry when I confronted Dad via email with his picking on my weight. It bothered me to the point that I may have lost some sleep thinking about it. That was how I could use that in a constructive fashion.

Now, rage… let's go to the Google definition… "violent, uncontrollable anger." Yeah, that looks about right. That is one thing I cannot remember ever suffering from. I'm sure there could be a few words that can describe different levels between anger and rage and I'm confident that I've stayed away from the bulk of words to describe them.

I have been annoyed, which I would consider as less than anger. "A strong feeling of annoyance, displeasure, or hostility." For argument's sake, there's the definition of anger. A strong feeling of annoyance, okay the key word being strong. I stand beside that last descriptive comment by me, my annoyance has rarely been strong enough to consider as anger.

12:58… it really saddens me to think that there is way too much hate, anger and rage in this world we live in, which leads to other more distressing emotions and feelings. My logical brain can see it all, but without a way to help, it resigns itself to accepting what it can’t change. The human race has done such a terrible job in preventing that madness.

The animal instincts that have led to war, not to mention the levels of superiority throughout the human race, have really done a disservice to our survival. The need to move everything further and improve our living conditions have hit an unlimited amount of speed bumps, all related to these horrible ideas.

The levels of power that some of these groups have assumed are absolutely ridiculous. I’m not in any place to try and fix these things here, because I can’t type the way I used to. It would just take way too long and there wouldn’t be any power in writing these ideas out.

The main point that I can think of is to just slow down and ask the right questions. If people get angry from just answering questions, then there is no real hope for this race. If these same people can’t accept that there are individuals, if not groups, that are different from them, then there is a vacuum for said hope and there are now less than zero units of hope.

Everyone seems to have a belief structure to stand on, when they determine that they are right and anyone who disagrees is evil or really, really bad. The art of compromise has really been lost on a lot of these groups, especially when it comes to the methods of capitalism. There are definite downsides to the other social systems that this world has seen, but they seem to get lost to the glossy shine of the perceived good things.

The social systems are just the tip of the iceberg, which goes deep into the oceans of general survival and other luxuries. The need for energy to help power said luxuries has hampered the thinking of many for numerous reasons. If the human race is going to survive, there has to be better compromise between these groups.

In my opinion, there isn’t enough money being spent on the studies to advance the technologies to help power our luxuries in a manner that won’t end up being the reason for our extinction.

How did I get into productive uses of feelings?

13:42… Other than my loyalty to certain professional sports teams, I certainly don't have any causes of the everyday hate that we've become accustomed to in this world. I can understand the need for religion and I can understand the animal desire for people of the same gender. The need to identify differently is definitely a thing and as different from the issues that this race has seen before, the biology and chemistry of the human brain still isn't completely understood and with the billions of people on this planet, it couldn't possibly come as a surprise. It has likely existed for countless years, but it's only being identified now.

Acceptance needs to happen more, especially when it comes to the human brain. Logic also needs to be taken into consideration more. Acceptance and logic might need to make some compromises as well, especially when it comes to that biology and chemistry.

It's not out of the question, but it'll be difficult. Everything is difficult, especially the solutions to these seemingly obvious problems.

14:15… I forgot to mix my smoothie and I was feeling a wee bit hungry, so I had a Clif bar and the banana that I would have had with the smoothie.