Deeper Thoughts of Society

Picture yourself walking down a busy street in New York City. The sun is shining, the birds are cherping, and you hear a newspaper stand owner yelling out to potential customers. Next you take a walk though Central park, there are hundreds of people of all ages there, it's a nice break from the busy streets of the inner city. Sounds like a pretty good day right? Well it all has to do with your thought process. There are many different ways to think about a day like this.
Think about all the people you saw. Did they seem Happy? Rushed? Relaxed? Perhaps angry. Now think to yourself, do you really care about how they felt or why they felt that way? Most people will answer no, and that's ok, deep down people often don't take time to understand how people feel and why.
If you take a moment or two and think about how people as a whole act, you'll realize we're not as sophisticated as you might think. If you believe in evelution, you'll know that we evolved from monkeys, to bacically cavemen. Since then we have changed into a society of self governed human beings, who walk around all day trying to make their lives better for themselfs. If they have to knock people out of they way to prosper, than so be it. Survival of the fittest I suppose.
Now this may seem rather sophisticated, but let me break it down. We are somewhat self governed, basically people do what they want as long as they don't get caught. We also don't have a problem with prospering from someone else's failure. It's a shameful system, but that's the way it is. If you think closely about todays society as I have described it, how are we any different from say, a caveman wearing nice clothes?
Today's generation is focused only on gradification, everyone wants to be the best. Everyone wants the fastest car, the most expensive clothes and homes. It's no different from when the cave men discovered fire. One man will always want the warmer fire, it seems to be a continuing trait that is extreamly contagious. The biggest problem with gradification is that soon enough, it will lose it's potency. Cars can only go so fast, houses can only structurally be build so high, and fire can only burn so hot. Man has already started to sruggle for satisfaction, and I pray that I am dead before man can no longer find satisfaction.
At one point in my life, I believed that if the world continued like this, everyone would be wealthy, but it's completely untrue. The richest man in the world couldn't care less about the hungry and the homeless. Soon enough, wealth will only count for the amonth of money you have, all rich men are poor in charater and principles.
So ask yourself again, after considering all of the above, does this sound like a good day, did you still enjoy yourself knowing that deep down, once those people around you were out of sight, they no longer exested?

What a sad world we live in.

Hayden Vachon

Religion Vs. Philosophy

This is a topic I have been waiting to discuss for quite some time now. In class yesterday, we were talking about Ralph Waldo Emerson. Emerson in an old famous philosopher. He started a little club that met at his house once a week. They called themselfs the Transendentalist club. Everyone in the club seemed to be ahead of their time: Femenists [50 years before they could legally vote], abolitionists, vegitarians, and ministers. They all believed that there was more out there than God. They came up with logical reasoning for everything. These may have been some of the most abstract people of the time.

I was thinking to myself, that would be something I could get into. I would honestly enjoy practicing Transendentalism. My biggest question is: "Is transendentalism a religion?" A religion is sharing the same ideas and belifs. When you think about science and philosophy, they all share similar ideas and beliefs. So there must be more to religion. I believe what makes religion different from philosophy is faith.

Everyone knows that there is faith in religion, but what if there was faith in science or philosophy? In religion, you have faith that your God will save your soul after death. In science, you could just as well be faithful that someone creates a peice of technology that grants extended life.

So is there really a difference at all?
I believe the main difference between religion and philosophy, is that there are no rules in philosophy. In religions, you have set standards that determine if you are a good person or not. In philosophy, you can do what you want. There is no standard for the abstract ways of a philosopher.

I hope this discussion has opened your mind as much as it has opened mine. Regardless what you believe in, be it religion or sceience, make sure to have respect of other peoples beliefs.

"The disrespectful are the disrespected." - Hayden Vachon

What is life?

What about the world? Not only life, but the life all around us. Life within everything; Mentally or Physically. In this time and place, people move too fast. They focus on making it through the day with no trouble at all. Think for a moment: What does trouble do for us? Is it a hassle? Or does it simply make us think?

Certain troublesome situations may force us to search deep within ourselves. This is where the concept of personality comes from. Acting upon any given situation is one of the few natural rights we still have. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and everyone has a personality. No law can ever strip us of these personal values.

As well as personality; We all have our own perception of life, death and everything in-between. Think to yourself: How do you perceive everything around you? Do you walk around everyday, wishing you were somewhere else? Or do you stretch your mind, searching for a better understanding of life in general?

To understand life, you must first understand yourself. How do you see yourself? How do other people see you? These are questions you need to answer to begin a comprehension of life.

Please think about these questions with an open mind.