A matter of Identity: how do you see yourself?

JudasMyGuide said:
This whole "let whomever believe in whatever unless it concerns me" is... well... not good, in general. IMHO, sorry.
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It's the "Live and let live" principle, it's not that I'm not concerned in others. I'm perfectly fine with everyone else's opinions and beliefs.
 
Magnus said:
I care about you, and I don't want you to live in what I believe to be a lie, and yet I have enough respect for you and your beliefs not to meddle with them.
How on earth is this wrong is beyond me, frankly.
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Well, first of all, you don't know me, you're not really my friend, so you're not in the position to do so or to feel that way, actually. Sure.

Second of all, if that was the case anyway, I'd suspect you don't think the metaphysical question of the existence (and our relationship to a) higher being is of the greatest importance (which I do). It's like in Brothers Karamazov - the main question there surely is IS or ISN'T there a God? With all the metaphysical implications. With all the real-life implications. The "persons" there serve merely as a points of view (which is not how real life is, but the questions are).
If you did, you couldn't respect my beliefs, because if I was wrong, I'd be delusional and hurting myself by corrupting my mind and my soul. Crippling myself.

It'd be like saying "I respect that you are choosing heroin. I won't try to stop you, because I value you that much." Or that you respect your friends decisition to commit a suicide. Point being, caring about your friends' and family's orientation regarding to what is good and truthful is okay in matters we find important.

I'm not saying you have to agree with me, I'm just trying to explain what I mean. Like, not "how on earth is it wrong" but how it could be perceived as wrong, in a way.

Hope I wasn't too offensive, sorry if I was. Again, see my first post here, might explain a lot.

Anyway, peace and I always appreciated our interactions here. <3
 
I want to write a post that is eloquent and deep like the ones already posted, yet I find myself stuck at the keyboard, like I've been asked to "write something about myself" for a job interview.
 
JudasMyGuide said:
Second of all, if that was the case anyway, I'd suspect you don't think the metaphysical question of the existence (and our relationship to a) higher being is of the greatest importance (which I do). It's like in Brothers Karamazov - the main question there surely is IS or ISN'T there a God? With all the metaphysical implications. With all the real-life implications. The "persons" there serve merely as a points of view (which is not how real life is, but the questions are).
If you did, you couldn't respect my beliefs, because if I was wrong, I'd be delusional and hurting myself by corrupting my mind and my soul. Crippling myself.
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I get what you’re saying, but I think most atheists would agree that as an atheist — someone who believes that there is no higher power and that this life is the only one they’ve got — the most important thing is to simply live your best life. And living one’s best life is different for different people. For some, religion plays a big role. “God” can provide a better level of comfort (for lack of a better word) than they’d get just on their own. And that’s respectable.

I do agree that debating religious beliefs has a time and a place though. I just think it’s also important to respect other people without having to debate these things. Sometimes I personally fail in this regard. My life has almost always been with the Watchful Eye Of God above me, and it took me years to actually form my own opinions on things. Sometimes I still get confused. But life is a learning experience after all. Tomorrow I’ll be more cemented in my beliefs than I am today.

But yeah, if I believe that the highest good is to just live the best life you can right now while you have a life at all, then I don’t need to try to win you over to my side if you already seem to be living your best life. My views don’t hinge on what comes next, but rather, what’s here right now.
 
There's so many different levels here. I'll start with the basic, and work out.

My name's Benjamin. Not Ben. I despise being called Ben, but I likely won't correct you if you do it. When someone uses that short form, it feels like you've just sliced out 5/8ths of my identity.

I'm a Caucasian, cisgendered, heterosexual male from a lower-middle class household that has worked its way into upper-middle class, with all the privileges on the same.

I am a Maidenfan, a gamer, and a writer.

I am an atheist, but I don't really feel as strongly about telling you about it as I did ten years ago. If you ask me what I think, I'll tell you, otherwise I'll let you do your thing unless you are pushing it on me or through government, at which point I will tell you to fuck off as loudly and furiously as I can. Religion is for churches, not governments and schools.

I identify as progressive with some hawkish tendencies. I believe government should be providing a universal basic income, health care, etc, for all people. I also believe that the current global belief that we can do much of this and have low taxes is silly. I believe in the redistribution of wealth from the massively wealthy to the poor, but I also believe that the taxation/social system structure is the best way to do that. I believe that carefully regulated capitalism provides the best combination of incentive and protection, inside a democratic system.

I am Nova Scotian. I believe in the values of community and home. I believe that it's better to give your last bite or your only blanket to a stranger than to keep it for yourself. I believe that being friendly and joyous pays dividends. I believe fish is better when it is prepared fresh off the boat.

I am Canadian. I don't mean this in the deeply nationalistic sense that some people identify as being part of a country; I mean culturally, I am Canadian. I believe in basic human equality; I believe the state has no business in the bedrooms of the nation; I believe that your right to practice your religion on your own is a right; I believe in freedom of speech as long as your speech hurts no others, and freedom of association. I believe that we've made mistakes on this in the past, but we try to do better. And for every horrible moment, there is a triumph; be it of science, superheroes, selflessness, sport, sacrifice, sailing, or souls saved. And in these times of madness, there are days I feel like I live in the only safe and sane place left in the world.

Also, hockey is so important to us that we put it in our official citizenship welcome video. I'm a Habs fan, through and through. I like other sports but only le bleu, blanc et rouge really matter to me.

So yeah, that's me.
 
Zare said:
I want to write a post that is eloquent and deep like the ones already posted, yet I find myself stuck at the keyboard, like I've been asked to "write something about myself" for a job interview.
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It doesn´t have to be long to be strong,Zare. Just write down what comes up in your mind. :)
 
Black Wizard said:
"I am a highly motivated team player with good problem solving skills."
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I negotiate everything for a job that was foreign company local office, in one to one talks with the general manager. He says I'm ready to employ you, but our CTO (chief technical) may come down to the country and have a word. As predicted I get invited to talk just before signing the contract, however there's not only CTO but a bunch of people in the conference room sitting on the same side of the table, interview style. I sit down, they ask me to say something about myself. Having in mind that I'm about to be employed on a senior technical position for a company that has worldwide presence in the out-of-the-ordinary field which 99% of IT people never heard about, and I have prior experience with, I answer with :

"Hi, my name is Zare and I play the guitar."
 
Zare said:
I negotiate everything for a job that was foreign company local office, in one to one talks with the general manager. He says I'm ready to employ you, but our CTO (chief technical) may come down to the country and have a word. As predicted I get invited to talk just before signing the contract, however there's not only CTO but a bunch of people in the conference room sitting on the same side of the table, interview style. I sit down, they ask me to say something about myself. Having in mind that I'm about to be employed on a senior technical position for a company that has worldwide presence in the out-of-the-ordinary field which 99% of IT people never heard about, and I have prior experience with, I answer with :

"Hi, my name is Zare and I play the guitar."
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What would you say are your greatest strengths and weaknesses? What would you contribute to our team? Where do you see yourself in five years?
 
What do you think, how many people in history, after mentally processing the "strenghts" word, thought "sitting through bullshit meetings". I just hope one madlad said it out loud.
 
I wonder whether they'd actually even notice.

Like...

"Well, I'd say one of my strengths would be my supreme managerial skills - back when I was pimpin', I found out I had to slap the girls around only in the direst of circumstances, most of the time we managed to solve the conflicts quite amicably, via mere food or drug denial."

(the interviewer doesn't even blink, makes a note, silently mouthing to himself "managerial skills")

"Mhm, and what do you think you could contribute to our team?"
 
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