Author Topic: Ask Pyraxis anything  (Read 50408 times)

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Offline Pyraxis

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Re: Ask Pyraxis anything
« Reply #15 on: May 27, 2006, 10:58:47 PM »
do you think it is possible to stump you with such a deep, profound question that you hadn't already considered and asked of yourself?

Please try. :)

Sure it's possible. Happens more often than you might think. Just a few days ago, I asked Happeh one I hadn't figured out yet. I was impressed by his answer, which was actually equivalent to the best I'd come up with for that question. Still full of loopholes, and raises other questions, but a decent starting ground. I tried to raise more in my X-men 3 thread, but sadly I think I screwed up the presentation of them and it just came across as random bitching.
You'll never self-actualize the subconscious canopy of stardust with that attitude.

Offline McGiver

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Re: Ask Pyraxis anything
« Reply #16 on: May 27, 2006, 11:04:19 PM »
Quote from: Pyraxis on May 20, 2006, 05:47:09 PM
Now I don't particularly care whether Happeh thinks I'm a parakeet or a sperm whale, but I do care about the ethical questions that situations like this raise. When exactly is it okay to give up trying to communicate with a person?

See Dunc's message. When he says "I understand I am a sheep. I am OK with it and I give you permission to not try to change me into a human being", that is when you can walk away from them.

If they rationally admit knowledge of their problem, rationally state that they are OK with their problem, and rationally tell you that it is OK for you to walk away, then you can leave them be.


but he was using dunc as an example and dunc was clearly being ironic.  so he answered and used a misinformed example.  the rest of it seems like a copout.  he is trying to wriggle himself out from under,  but his pride won't allow him to leave abruptly, he needs to leave having convinced himself he did all he could.
but he used an ironic comment as his exit strategy.
i am not impressed with his answer at all.

what did you find impressive about it?
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Offline Pyraxis

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Re: Ask Pyraxis anything
« Reply #17 on: May 27, 2006, 11:12:06 PM »
That if you strip away all the posturing, troll-baiting, ridiculous points of view, and bullshit, you get "The time to stop trying to help people is when they, rationally and with full knowledge of their situation, tell you they don't want your help." Which can be applied to everything from raising a teenager, to international politics (USA imposing "democracy" on nations) to dealing with suicidal people.

Edit: I don't care if Happeh was ignoring or misinterpreting Dunc's irony... from his point of view, for all intents and purposes, Dunc's irony doesn't exist, so he was answering the question as if it was real. I don't care if his answer has the side perk of allowing him to wiggle out of an argument while thinking he's salvaged his pride. That falls under the category of bullshit and doesn't change the fact that there is some value to his words behind the misguided intent.
« Last Edit: May 27, 2006, 11:17:27 PM by Pyraxis »
You'll never self-actualize the subconscious canopy of stardust with that attitude.

Offline McGiver

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Re: Ask Pyraxis anything
« Reply #18 on: May 28, 2006, 12:20:32 AM »
touche!
now i see the point.
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Offline Draggon

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Re: Ask Pyraxis anything
« Reply #19 on: May 28, 2006, 06:12:53 AM »
But certain of my friends would beg to differ. A quote from an IM conversation a few days ago (reconstructed as best as I can remember): "For someone who thinks about the human mind as much as you do, you really have no freaking clue."
What kinds of thoughts do you have of the human mind? 
Do you think you know your own mind well?  Do you think anyone can ever truly understand the workings of their own mind?  Or will they just be caught in an endless loop of doubting and questioning their own nature and motivations?
Do you work as hard as you do because you enjoy it, you like money, or because you don't know wtf else to do with your life so you just go through the motions to preserve some sense of sanity?  (not an insult if you do, most of my life has been spent living like that)
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Offline McGiver

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Re: Ask Pyraxis anything
« Reply #20 on: May 28, 2006, 06:49:08 AM »
may i say damn?
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Offline Peter

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Re: Ask Pyraxis anything
« Reply #21 on: May 28, 2006, 07:23:31 AM »
How would you describe your sexuality?
Quote
14:10 - Moarskrillex42: She said something about knowing why I wanted to move to Glasgow when she came in. She plopped down on my bed and told me to go ahead and open it for her.

14:11 - Peter5930: So, she thought I was your lover and that I was sending you a box full of sex toys, and that you wanted to move to Glasgow to be with me?

Offline El

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Re: Ask Pyraxis anything
« Reply #22 on: May 28, 2006, 08:41:38 AM »
Have you ever actually told someone to eat shit in Watership Downish?
it is well known that PMS Elle is evil.
I think you'd fit in a 12" or at least a 16" firework mortar
You win this thread because that's most unsettling to even think about.

Offline Pyraxis

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Re: Ask Pyraxis anything
« Reply #23 on: May 28, 2006, 11:29:39 AM »
What kinds of thoughts do you have of the human mind? 

That's kind of a vague question. Too many to list here, can you narrow it down some?

Do you think you know your own mind well?  Do you think anyone can ever truly understand the workings of their own mind? 

I believe I already answered these ones. To summarize: yes and mostly yes.

Or will they just be caught in an endless loop of doubting and questioning their own nature and motivations?

That's a valid trap. You have to know when to stop, when it would defeat your point to continue, or you're quite right, you'll end up in the same place as some unfortunate lifetime psych patients whose therapists have bought into the idea that if a motivation can be named, it must not be the truth yet, and there must be something deeper.

That's why you have to monitor your own emotional reactions when you're doing self-analysis. For example, when you first start out, it's all virgin territory and quite fascinating and exciting. If you've got past trauma, pretty soon you'll start waking it up and getting all kinds of arbitrary and bizarre emotional responses - anger, fear, jealousy, etc, and also positive stuff (especially if you have depression issues) like unhesitant joy or the sense of your life having purpose. But after that, you get to a point where thoughts that had once been too potent to even admit to will lose their intensity and you'll find you're just going through the motions of analysis, with a growing sense of sickness or futility. That's the point where I think it's important to stop and ask whether your goal is really to erase all the intensity from your life, 'cause that's what'll happen if you keep going. I'm most definitely not Buddhist and I don't believe life's goal is serene emptiness.

Of course there's also one other thing to keep in mind, and that's that in some cases your brain will try to throw all kinds of defenses at you in order to prevent you from looking at certain trauma. And these can look like the desire to stop analyzing. So you also have to learn your own patterns well enough to spot and avoid these defenses. For example one I used to get is exhaustion, suddenly falling asleep when I tried to go down a certain path, regardless of having no sleep debt. So I had to demonstrate to my brain that it couldn't get away with it, by resisting it a couple times, and then it stopped happening.

Do you work as hard as you do because you enjoy it, you like money, or because you don't know wtf else to do with your life so you just go through the motions to preserve some sense of sanity?  (not an insult if you do, most of my life has been spent living like that)

At the moment, I work for money and industry contacts. Money, so that I can take enough time off to make a really stunning demo reel, and contacts so that I can get the industry job I want, once I can demonstrate I have the talent to back it up. I actually don't particularly enjoy my job at the moment, it's too technical. I want something that has a combination of technical work and creativity, and so far it's been mostly code and error tracking.

Though there's also some question at the moment as to whether I'm really taking the most direct path to my goals or whether I'm holding myself back based on fear, habit, and a couple other unproductive motivations.
You'll never self-actualize the subconscious canopy of stardust with that attitude.

Offline Pyraxis

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Re: Ask Pyraxis anything
« Reply #24 on: May 28, 2006, 11:30:24 AM »
may i say damn?

Be my guest  ;D though I don't know what you're saying damn to...
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Offline Draggon

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Re: Ask Pyraxis anything
« Reply #25 on: May 28, 2006, 11:34:54 AM »
I get the impression that you were raised conservative christian and finally broke away to atheism more or less, correct?

At what point in your life did you say "Fuck this fucking bullshit" for good?
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Re: Ask Pyraxis anything
« Reply #26 on: May 28, 2006, 11:42:49 AM »
Do you keep yourself in shape on a regular basis?

Offline McGiver

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Re: Ask Pyraxis anything
« Reply #27 on: May 28, 2006, 04:44:30 PM »
during gym class, when you were in high school, did you ever find yourself aroused by the other females young naked bodies?
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Offline Pyraxis

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Re: Ask Pyraxis anything
« Reply #28 on: May 28, 2006, 05:16:31 PM »
How would you describe your sexuality?

Semi-repressed. Only semi, because I'm not traumatized and I doubt I'd get any kind of earth-shattering emotional release if I started being sexual.

I just used it in unusual ways when I was a kid. I don't remember ever not knowing how to masturbate, though I didn't figure out what I was doing till I was 13. I remember being 6, climbing tetherball poles at recess and humping them at the top. The other kids would be standing in a circle, waiting for their turn to climb and calling for me to get down. I guess nobody figured out what I was actually doing up there, since I never got rushed off to counselling.

When I was 11 or so, sound sensitivity started to get bad. When I was 13 I discovered that the frustration and pain of having to sit still while it felt like your head was getting ripped apart, could be converted into sexual energy. So I taught myself to masturbate to orgasm without changing expression or moving beyond crossing/uncrossing my legs a couple times. It was the most effective way I could find to drown out and numb my nervous system. So I'd do it over and over, at the dinner table or in a crowded classroom or in the car with my family.

It was worth it, but the inadvertent result was that my sexuality, which had already been a bit off kilter, got even more strongly tied to frustration/endurance. It doesn't have anything to do with people - I was 17 before I got even a little interested in dating - but I respond to (warning - explicit and potentially disturbing adult material) scenarios like this one that push the limits of self-control. So basically I have a lot of re-conditioning to do before I'll really be able to have a natural sexual relationship with another human being. It has its perks though - I'll be able to pick my sexual orientation, and I've always wanted to be a Kinsey 3 in order to keep my options open.

So, do you think Happeh will be able to resist having a field day with me?  ::)
You'll never self-actualize the subconscious canopy of stardust with that attitude.

Offline El

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Re: Ask Pyraxis anything
« Reply #29 on: May 28, 2006, 05:20:50 PM »
Does it mean something that you skipped my question?
it is well known that PMS Elle is evil.
I think you'd fit in a 12" or at least a 16" firework mortar
You win this thread because that's most unsettling to even think about.