(no subject)

[missroserose]

"Though I am surrounded by people, I am always alone."
"She'll kill herself. She'll kill herself over something that doesn't seem to matter."

Though I am nowhere near suicidal at the moment, I have been appreciating the above two quotes all day today. Part of it is having an abnormal psychology test that consists mostly of short answer and essay questions; part of it is just being in a reflective mood. And part of it is probably the fact that I've got two shots of espresso and a thing of Snapple Lime Green Tea running through my system. Damn caffiene.

So many people go through life without any sort of meaningful human contact - the sort that makes us realize that we are both alive and also human. Even if you are a socialite who constantly throws parties, if you don't actually connect with people, you're not going to feel like a person. City life, especially in larger cities, is notorious for dehumanizing people, but the psychological damage of teaching people to ignore those around them is often underestimated.

As for myself, I don't currently life in a city, nor have I for the past three years. And yet I still feel alone much of the time, simply because so few people seem to relate to each other on anything but the most superficial of levels. Does anyone actually care about each other anymore, or must topics always stay on "safe" subjects such as classes, food, hair and clothes? Don't people ever wonder what is going on emotionally and mentally with others? Even when studying psychology, which is supposed to be about what goes on in people's heads, I find this detachment - a lack of value placed on the subjective person, and an emphasis on what can be objectively measured. Which then begs the question: Considering that everyone percieves reality somewhat differently, can there be such a thing as "objective reality?" Or is the world created through the collective perceptions of millions of people?

My apologies for the incoherence of this entry. Extreme amounts of caffiene do that to me on occasion. I'm reminded of another quote: "Philosophy generally consists of deciding that there is no such thing as reality and then going to lunch. You should major in philosophy if you plan to do a lot of drugs."

Brownie points to anyone who can identify the three quotes...

@->--Rose

Comments

Finally, a reply...

[eventhewaves.livejournal.com]

Lousy stinking windows that close without asking you to save your work... *Grumble* And yes, this will be pretty choppy and -- dare I say it? -- random.

Short answer and essay questions are the bane of every student's existence -- you usually can't fake them like you can multiple choice or matching questions, and they often require so much writing that your hand'll go numb minutes before you're done.

And while you may be damning caffeine pretty profoundly, there, I could really go for that level of caffeinated buzz right about now. =) *Yawn.*

We live in a very interesting time for human contact; and you know what the Chinese say about interesting times. Between the rise in popularity of the Internet as a means of communication between human beings -- it really is about more than spam and amateur porno -- and the on-going sense of paranoia and mistrust of other human beings the modern world can inspire, I'd say we're on the verge of creating an entire generation of perfect strangers. It's almost easier these days to trust the ghost in the machine -- at least we can be fairly sure they won't turn out to be terrorists, or Communists, or extremist theocratic nutjobs who'd rather kill 'em all and let their God of choice sort 'em out, right? (Note the vague sarcasm.)

Topics don't always have to stay "safe," per se -- although maybe that's just my habit of generally wanting to know about the people I surround myself with talking. I just think people find it easier to stay casual and non-serious than to try digging deeply into their neighbor's psyche, or to try to get to *know* their friends, lovers, and fellow travellers. Less grueling.

As far as objective reality, here it is -- the Earth exists. Within this world, there are fluctations and variations in environmental conditions and the technological development of Men. I think that about covers it. The rest is pretty much what we make of it.

Finally, the quotes -- I'm reasonably sure the first two are from "The Hours." I know for a fact that the last one is one of Virginia Woolf's notions about where to take poor Mrs. Dalloway; the first one sounds suspiciously like something else her character might have said, although I wouldn't swear to it in court. The "philosophy" quote could be -- and probably is -- Dave Barry, although it's possible it's Douglas Adams. So, having said all of that, do I get a third of the brownie points for actually guessing one correctly? =)

Take care, and talk to you soon.

Re: Finally, a reply...

[roseneko.livejournal.com]

It's times like these when I really see the wisdom in the saying "The world is what we make of it"...

The second one is indeed from "The Hours", though the first isn't. I thought they went together rather well, though. And the third quote is indeed Dave Barry, though interestingly enough you're the second person to guess Douglas Adams as well.

Thanks for your thoughts, disjointed and random as they are...it's not like mine are any better, nu?

@->--Rose

Re: Finally, a reply...

[eventhewaves.livejournal.com]

So... where is the first quote from, then?! Desperate and inquiring minds want to know. And you're welcome for the thoughts; I won't even charge you a penny for getting to hear 'em, since they came out so disjointed. =)